New York Times Gives Decatur Some Love

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The Old Grey Lady has given a nod to ol’ Decatur and some of its local businesses in the “Surfacing” column of its Travel section.   Here’s the summary…

Equal parts molasses-drawled Southern and au courant, Decatur, Ga., has in the last 20 years recast itself from the sleepy DeKalb County seat catering to commuting government nine-to-fivers to one of the South’s trendsetters. Residents say the township, six miles from Atlanta proper, is where “Mayberry meets Berkeley.” Bordered by Emory University and Agnes Scott College, Decatur is anchored by a late 19th-century courthouse (now the DeKalb History Center) and a leafy square dense with some of the state’s best restaurants, pubs and shops. The walkable downtown hosts more than three dozen festivals a year.

Do we really have more than three dozen festivals a year?

Lucky local spots, Decatur CD, Eddie’s Attic, Kimball House, Brick Store and Sq/Ft all get shout outs. Check it out!

Photo courtesy of Kate

24 thoughts on “New York Times Gives Decatur Some Love”


  2. “Bordered by Emory University and Agnes Scott College”. Last time I looked Agnes Scott was well inside the city limits. Has it been de-annexed? And Emory is what, a mile outside the border? The paper of record. Bah.
    Three cheers for Decatur, though. I don’t know how they kept the piece so short.

  4. “Leafy square” is a bit of a stretch, though I guess compared to some places it’s kind of leafy. And three dozen festivals? Where?

    BTW, catching up on the recent Mad Men episodes, and I noted with amusement the quip from one of Peggy’s beaus. He mentions that he’s an Emory grad and calls the school the “only game in town.”

    1. Maybe they didn’t catch the distinction between our historic square, which actually is pretty leafy, and the area commonly known as “the Square,” which includes the big ole plaza and additional lawn.

  6. Three dozen festivals does sound like a lot… this must be counting every event in Decatur including school sponsored events, and Breakfast with Santa as festivals.

  8. I think they counted events in the mix because between Jazz Nights in Oakhurst and Concerts on the Square we easily exceed three dozen events in the city.

    Just look at the events calendar: http://www.decaturga.com/index.aspx?page=461

    1. **Psssssssssssssst** THEY’RE ALREADY HERE!

      **files paperwork to open artisanal scrapple and egg cream shop**

    2. Why do I suddenly hear Aunt Pitty-Pat’s voice in my head: “Yankees! In Georgia! However did they get in?!?”

      😀

  12. +1000 to J_T – I once heard my mother — a Georgian by birth and an Atlantan since the 1950s — say, “The Yankees are going to ruin Atlanta.” 🙂

    1. Early in our marriage, my in-laws told me the difference between a plain old Yankee and a Damn Yankee. The first is somebody who was unfortunate to be born in the North, but a Damn Yankee is somebody who moved down South and stayed.

      2. “When God made me born a Yankee he was teasin’…” Indigo Girls, Southland in the Springtime

  14. Indigo Girls released their first major label record on Epic in 1988. Eddie’s Attic opened in 1992. The Times perpetuates the myth that the IGs got their start at Eddie’s.

    1. It was Trackside, where Eddie and Johnny were bartenders. And I was underage.

        1. I remember being underage better than I remember what I had for lunch. We are old, Fattie.

          1. I was lucky (?) to attend high school in NY when the legal drinking age was 18. I never had a fake ID, even though I was fairly baby faced. In junior year we actually put together a touch football team that would play the regulars at Joey Archer’s Pub on a Sunday afternoon in Central Park and then repair back to the bar for libations. The bartenders didn’t care, because nobody was falling out of the place and getting behind a wheel, and the cops had better things to do (or were probably collecting some money or at least drinking free off-duty). At fifteen cents a short beer and every fourth one bought back, saving your lunch money a couple of days bought you a pretty nice evening in a blue collar tavern.

      2. Indigo Girls performed for free on Sunday nights at the Dugout in Emory Village in the mid-eighties. No comment as to whether I was drinking legally at the time.

    2. It’s okay, Fats. This one perpetuates the myth that Decatur “said no to the railroad,” thereby assuming credit for Atlanta’s fortunes:

      http://www.accessatlanta.com/news/entertainment/insiders-guide-decatur/nj8Ch/#__federated=1

  16. “au courant”? wow.

    Is there a comment section to that article? Because we need to spread the word about the traffic, the chupa cabre that roams the hills, the trailers for classrooms, the smog thick as pea soup, the land sharks, and the lack of good food and beer in the area.

    Traffic is bad enough as it is.

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