In today’s blog, I want to focus on Atlanta and how it will hopefully thrive in 2026. Atlanta is already a major financial hub, having hosted international events such as the Olympics and having one of the largest airports in the world, the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport. With advantages like these, Atlanta has grown into one of the largest cities in America, and along with that has come opportunity. This year Atlanta will host one of its largest events ever, the FIFA World Cup. Successfully hosting this event would be a huge boon for Atlanta’s economy. The increased tourism alone would be a huge boon to Atlanta’s travel industry, and international attention would be brought to Atlanta, increasing its chances of hosting future events. I’d say the success of this event is a bi-partisan issue as everyone stands to gain from this event succeeding. Something that might heavily affect Atlanta in 2026 though are Trump’s budget cuts, something that the left and the right has been fighting tooth and nail over.  

People have already lost many government benefits such as SNAP and EBT cards, and Atlanta is a city with a large population of people dependent on welfare. Of course, Republicans are in favor of the cuts believing that they’ll make the government more cost efficient while Democrats are against them, believing that these cuts could destabilize low-income communities. Due to the government currently being dominated by Republicans it’s unlikely that these programs will be restored in 2026, so Atlantans will simply have to weather the effects of the Trump administration’s budget cuts. Despite this misfortune, Atlanta still has many opportunities to succeed in 2026, thanks to its constant revenue streams from things such as the airports or stadiums used to host events, and hopefully the federal government does something to help Atlanta citizens this year rather than hurt them. As always, stay safe and have a great new year!