Click for full-sized image

According to an update to the city’s Wi-Fi page in January, our extensive wi-fi network is finally finished!

After two years of network design and construction, the City’s wireless network is complete. The network consists of 190 wireless mesh radios over approximately 4 square miles within the City limits. The radios are attached to a variety of structures including Georgia Power utility poles, traffic signal poles, city-owned poles, and government and commercial buildings.

The network provides outdoor, high-speed Internet access to devices with wireless networking capabilities. For indoor access, most users will need a device called a CPE (consumer premise equipment) or wireless modem to strengthen the signal.

There’s also a new map (above) that shows more specific signal strength along our streets.  From the looks of it, I seem to have some of the worst signal strength on our street.  Oh well, all’s fair in love and wi-fi distribution.

If most indoor users will need an extra “CPE” to have a chance of accessing the wi-fi network, I still think it would be a good idea for “Get the Speed” to have neighborhood “fairs” or something so interested residents can test it out in their homes without having to order one, find out it doesn’t work for them, and then have to return it in the mail.  That’s just too much effort for most people.

In terms of comparison shopping, if you signed up for the 12-month high-speed access plan and needed a CPE, your total monthly cost would be somewhere around $30.  That’s about 12 bucks cheaper than my current Comcast.

Scott sends in a pic of our newly redesigned Hi-Tech gas station, courtesy of Zombieland Pictures.

I gotta believe its not permanent.  What a strange property.

Strap on your helmet and help raise bicycle awareness with a ride to the Capitol with Mayor Floyd and Commissioner Fred Boykin next Tuesday, March 3rd!

The Decatur group will leave the East Lake MARTA station north parking lot at 10:45a on a police-escorted ride that should reach the Capitol around 11:40a.

For all the details, click here.

Oh snap!

Though Scott and E reported that smart growth “godfather” Andres Duany mentioned Decatur in a recent presentation, they didn’t mention how, in the words of CL’s Thomas Wheatley,  “deliciously brutal” he was about metro-Atlanta.

For instance…ehem…wanna make sure I get this right…

“If Decatur’s great, it’s only in the absence of anything better.”

And while that particular nugget certainly stings more than just a little for a community that’s been trying hard to reverse its bad development practices for over 20 years, you’ll probably find yourself agreeing with Duany as he turns his attention to other, less flattering aspects of Atlanta’s urban landscape.

All of these delightful Duany bites can be found in Wheatley’s post over on Fresh Loaf.

Today’s interesting fact comes straight from an AJC article predicting nothing resembling sunshine for GA’s economy over the next two years.

“Georgia has about 3.9 million jobs, nearly 60 percent in metro Atlanta.”

Hopefully our state legislature can keep this “60%” number in mind when its doling out federal stimulus money.  This ain’t time to overdo the favors to other, redder areas the state.  You need to keep Atlanta healthy and vibrant, otherwise GA can just go back to being Alabama.

A recent study released by the traffic information firm INRIX shows that Atlanta’s traffic congestion dropped 36% in 2008 to the 12th worst in the nation from the 10th worst the year before .

But is this drop in congestion something to cheer about?  Well certainly high gas prices – while they lasted – had something to do with it.  However the other major factor contributing to a 30% drop in congestion nationwide this past year is a slowed economy.  Less people commuting to jobs, fewer goods being shipped, etc…

So you be the judge.

Did Atlanta drop from 10th to 12th because we saw a larger percentage of people hop on public transportation than our U.S. city competition?  Or is our economy actually just slowing at a faster rate than cities like 10th ranked Minneapolis or 11th ranked Philly?  The answer is some kind of combination of those two.

h/t: Atlanta Business Chronicle

Intrepid Rus reports that Caribbean Harry’s grand opening is this tomorrow February 27th, with live reggae music and $3 Draft beer.

Its opening in the old Birdi’s space on the Square.

Hildreth forwards this note from the City Schools of Decatur…

In an effort to inform our CSD parents and community of the discussions related to impending legislation, City Schools of Decatur will be hosting a legislative forum on Thursday, February 26, 2009.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Office at Westchester, located at 758 Scott Boulevard, Decatur, GA 30030. Members of our legislative delegation will be present at this meeting to discuss various legislative topics and to answer community questions. Panelists include: Angela Palm (GSBA), Representative Stacey Abrams, Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield and CSD Board Member John Ahmann. We hope that you will be able to join us for this important panel discussion.

I followed up with Maria at CSD and got this additional bit of info about this session…

The superintendent wanted to hold a forum that would give the community an opportunity to hear from our local representatives about upcoming legislation related to education (this could be any number of topics). The panelists will have an opportunity to speak about legislation that they feel is important to our community and in turn, community members will have the opportunity to ask the panelists questions about legislative topics. The panel will be moderated by CSD board member Mr. John Ahmann.

Oh, if only Sonny would come to town and we could ask him our questions!  Actually that raises an interesting point….Has anyone ever seen Sonny Perdue inside the Decatur city limits?  Has he ever snuck in for some fried chicken at Watershed?  (I wouldn’t think Scott Peacock would be as willing to hand-deliver fried chicken to the Gov as he was for Martha Stewart at the aquarium!)

Ripped straight from my good friends over at The Decatur Minute.

I’ll let the sign do the talkin’, if you let the wine do the walkin’.

The Atlanta Police Dept, along with East Point and Fulton County police, are creating a task force to deal with the rampant flat-screen television theft in the Atlanta metro area.

According to the AJC, the task force is a lot like the one created last summer to deal with the “blue jean bandits”.  The article continues…”The group, which will meet every other Thursday, will pinpoint neighborhoods in the county that have the heaviest number of burglaries and try to identify those involved in the crimes, through surveillance, undercover decoys and other police tactics, Williams said.”

Perhaps Decatur will also soon join this task force, since we’ve seen our fair-share of flat-screen theft.

Also, might I suggest that they wrap GPS theft into this flat-screen task-force?  These two electronics are so frequently stolen, it almost seems like there is some sort of clearinghouse where these items can be quickly sold onto the black market.