Atlanta Regional Commission

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the metro Atlanta, Georgia, USA region, defined as the 10-county area of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties. The city of Atlanta is contained within this region. Forsyth County is also sometimes included but is not considered by the Georgia Department of Economic Development to be part of the area. It also serves as the metropolitan planning organization for those and nine more counties in the region: Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Coweta, Hall, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, and Walton counties.^[1][2]

ARC and its predecessor agencies have coordinated the planning efforts in the region since 1947, when the first publicly supported, multi-county planning agency in the United States was created. At that time, the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) served DeKalb and Fulton counties and the city of Atlanta (which is already in both of those counties). Since then, ARC membership has grown to its current size of 11 counties and 75 municipalities. About one in ten (10.6%) of residents served by the ARC live within Atlanta city limits.^{[citation needed]}

The ARC is one of 12 regional commissions throughout Georgia. The ARC is funded through a number of sources: local, state and federal government entities and private funds.

Largest cities in the region: Atlanta (pop. 499,868), Sandy Springs (pop. 108,163), Roswell (pop. 92,939), Johns Creek (pop. 82,575), Alpharetta (pop. 65,960), Marietta (pop. 61,026), Stonecrest (pop. 59,265), Brookhaven (pop. 56,807), Smyrna (pop. 55,867), Dunwoody (pop. 51,614), Peachtree Corners (pop. 42,237), Mableton (pop. 41,647), Milton (pop. 41,392), East Point (pop. 38,390), Peachtree City (pop. 38,367), Tucker (pop. 36,278), Woodstock (pop. 35,235), Redan (pop. 34,870), Douglasville (pop. 34,780), Canton (pop. 33,419), Kennesaw (pop. 33,366), Duluth (pop. 31,871), Lawrenceville (pop. 30,557), Chamblee (pop. 30,207), McDonough (pop. 29,332), Stockbridge (pop. 29,030), Union City (pop. 27,051), Sugar Hill (pop. 25,122), Decatur (pop. 24,891), Candler-McAfee (pop. 24,419), Acworth (pop. 22,397), Suwanee (pop. 20,980), Snellville (pop. 20,597), Forest Park (pop. 19,729), Fayetteville (pop. 19,015), North Druid Hills (pop. 18,074), Lithia Springs (pop. 17,545), Norcross (pop. 17,541), Conyers (pop. 17,393), Buford (pop. 17,110), Powder Springs (pop. 16,902), Fairburn (pop. 16,568), Holly Springs (pop. 16,474), North Decatur (pop. 15,833), Belvedere Park (pop. 15,028), Riverdale (pop. 15,000), Clarkston (pop. 14,730), Lilburn (pop. 14,488), College Park (pop. 13,925), Mountain Park (pop. 13,176), Vinings (pop. 12,546), Scottdale (pop. 11,196), Doraville (pop. 10,616), Lovejoy (pop. 10,272), Panthersville (pop. 10,164), Fair Oaks (pop. 9,447), Locust Grove (pop. 9,156), Gresham Park (pop. 9,148), Druid Hills (pop. 8,525), Hampton (pop. 8,391), Irondale (pop. 8,107), Tyrone (pop. 7,724), Austell (pop. 7,717), Dacula (pop. 6,893), Stone Mountain (pop. 6,702), Morrow (pop. 6,668), Conley (pop. 6,645), Hapeville (pop. 6,562), Palmetto (pop. 5,088), Grayson (pop. 4,669), Jonesboro (pop. 4,225).