11Alive Talks CCP Games and Decatur’s Walkability
Decatur Metro | March 5, 2011 | 2:37 pm
11Alive’s Doug Richards contacted me yesterday and inquired about Decatur’s recent accolade of being deemed “Georgia’s Most Walkable City” by Walkscore.com. I rattled off a couple potential contacts and suggested that he also might want to include a “CCP Games Moving to Decatur” angle to make the story a bit more topical. Above is the result. (Also, if you’ve been wondering about CCP Games current location, watch the video.)
Here is CCP Games company video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ccpgames?blend=1&ob=4#p/c/0/VgvM7av1o1Q
Oh My Goodness!
Normally I don’t reply to individual posts but I want to personally thank Mr. Alton for the link. I was a little suspicious of the news when the announcement was first made concerning the company’s move to Decatur. It seemed too good to be true. I mean, what was not to like about an international technology company relocating to downtown, bringing 300 jobs to the city. I couldn’t find anything negative about CCP on the web. I thought, Decatur has hit the jackpot!
But after watching the video several times now, all I can say is,
Oh My Goodness!
“Oh my goodness” what? Is there some hidden message in that video that causes you such trepidation? Playing it backwards, perhaps?
I thought that was great. It’s creative, comical and shows passion. I can’t wait for these guys to get here.
Curious to know why were you ” a little suspicious”.
Ha ha…that was hilarious! Be sure to watch the outtakes too at the end. I love the red car…whatever that is!
Oh noes! an employer that makes work fun!
I hope they bring that red Diahatsumacallit to Decatur when they move in.
I heart Techno Viking! He should definitely be featured at one of our many festivals…or maybe the Homecoming Parade…along with that red car of course.
I don’t get the hype about Decatur being SO walkable. Other than around the Square, it’s not really a walker’s paradise.
I moved to Sycamore Street from Los Angeles in 1988 just for the walkability. Back then there were only two restaurants to speak of Buck’s (Mick’s) and Thumbs Up and the homeless lived on the Square. Today, my office is a block from my house and I walk to the Square daily. The official test for walkability is the likelihood of bumping into people you know. Decatur is high on that list.
To me, walkable simply means that you can actually walk somewhere and do something. Without fearing for your life, walking over 5 miles, or dodging traffic. Add a bike and you can really function.
Here’s my test for walkable: I take your car AND your license away for 90 days. Are you able to go to work [mass transit, however long it takes: paycheck is still coming in], get food/veggies you can cook yourself, exercise [outside your house, safely] and find entertainment [library, restaurants, shops, entertainment venues]? If so, you live somewhere walkable. Heck, in Decatur, you could actually walk yourself to the hospital and carry your wounded dog to the vet.
While the neighbors may know your dog’s name but not yours…
Car-free for nine months now.
Guess it depends on where in Decatur you live. Weather permitting, our family of four can walk to our neighborhood restaurants and Decatur Square, not to mention all related festivals/schools/dog parks, within 15 minutes. Now THAT’S walkable!
I love it, but I hope our walkability translates into a tangible benefit to those of us who are helping finance it. The value on my townhouse less than three blocks from Decatur Square is down 30 percent from peak and still falling. I’m almost underwater after a decade of mortgage payments. I remain committed to the Decatur ethos, but it frustrates me to no end to see home prices increasing in East Cobb while ours are getting sandbagged. What’s up with that? Is it taxes. Schools? Or are we just too much of an anomaly in an income-segregated, car-dependent metro area to have broad appeal?
What are you basing your townhome’s value on? I only ask because the Zillow estimate on my house is total BS.
All units are the same, minus improvements. Peak sale price for a unit in 2007, which was in about average condition: $270,000. Most recent privately appraised values (late 2010, Feb 2011) on two units, also in about average condition: $199,000 and $185,000 respectively. Nothing about the complex has changed in any subtantial way, and dues are the same as they were then. Also, a highly improved unit that was marketed at $330,000 was appraised last month at $230,000.
Correction: We have since 2006 replaced the front driveway, a sidewalk and street-facing trees and installed a much-improved exterior lighting system. And somewhere along the way, we got moved into the Winona district, which ought to be a positive. But those are not appraisal factors. I got a refinancing appraisal in 2003 of $260,000, but couldn’t get the $210,000 appraisal I needed to qualify for another in 2009. Zillow was way off on our values for a long time, but it seems to be more in line with these realities now. As for East Cobb, I’m going off the experience of people I know in my office who have gotten increased-value appraisals for refinancings there. One saw a 10 percent improvement over his 2007 appraisal. Our prices, meanwhile, have fallen to roughly 1997 level. Crazy, ain’t it?
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