separate it from the new City Hall. New city hall After February 2007, the city had plans drawn up to build the new city hall. The plans called for the new city hall, park, and green space to be built around the florist's shop that started the now famous eminent domain lawsuit. The city said that the new development would strengthen the old and worn-down downtown business district. Stockbridge City Manager Ted Strickland said that the new city hall was absolutely necessary, because some current city employees were working out of closets and supply rooms. Secession movement A group of residents in Stockbridge attempted to secede to form their own community called Eagle's Landing in the 2018 general election. The referendum was defeated. Geography Stockbridge is located in northwestern Henry County at (33.534068, -84.231185). Its northwestern border follows the Clayton County line. Some unincorporated areas in Rockdale County have a Stockbridge mailing address, without actually being a part of the City of Stockbridge. U.S. Route 23 is the main road through the center of the city, leading northwest to downtown Atlanta and southeast to McDonough, the Henry County seat. Interstate 75 passes through the southwest side of the city, with access from Exits 222, 224, and 228. I-75 leads northwest to Atlanta and southeast to Macon. Interstate 675 splits from I-75 in northwestern Stockbridge and provides access to the city from its Exit 1. According to the United States Census Bureau, Stockbridge has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.97%, are water. Demographics 2000 census At the 2000 census there were 9,853 people in 3,749 households, including 2,654 families, in the city. The population density was . There were 3,991 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 71.63% White, 20.51% African American, 0.27% Native American, 4.55% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 1.44% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.21%. Of the 3,749 households 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 22.3% of households were one person and 4.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.06. The age distribution was