Georgia PIRG's Jill Johnson (Jan Pelton)

I have been telling everyone that I finally ran my first Peachtree Road Race this summer. Pounding the pavement with 40,000 Georgians was gratifying— especially after all the time I spent preparing for the race.

To help me train, I plotted out and ran different routes through my neighborhood. Somewhere in the midst of all the sweating and shin splints, I fell in love with the trees and hills of my neighborhood all over again.

Every Georgian has their favorite part of the state and for many of us, it’s the place where we live and raise our families. Unfortunately, many of these places are threatened by rampant development. Some of you recently shared stories of how your favorite places in Georgia are being threatened or altered by development:

When I was growing up, there were two horse farms right down the street from my house in Atlanta. I would take detours just to see the horses, but now developers have bought the farms and converted them into multi-house lots that are way too cramped. -Katie

Since I moved to Thomasville about 20 years ago, I have seen our small, peaceful town grow too fast. Out on U.S. Hwy. 19, entire forests have been leveled for strip development. -Jerry

I grew up on 15 acres in Baldwin County. Our home was a 200-year-old farm house that had been part of a family farm. With unchecked growth, I have seen all signs of my childhood paved over. –Kate

We can protect our favorite places by encouraging landowners to permanently limit development on their land through a land conservation income tax credit. Establishing a tax credit would put landowners on a closer-to-level playing field with big developers.

I can assure you that saving our open spaces will be one of Georgia PIRG’s top priorities during the legislative session and we’re going to be able to make it happen because of you.