Moira Bucciarelli reminds us about the city’s new audio walking tour (mp3), which was mentioned in January’s Decatur Focus (pdf).  Here’s the Focus blurb, transcribed by Moira…

Are you interested in taking a 20-minute self-guided walking tour of downtown Decatur? Download Decatur’s audio tour from www.decaturga.com to your MP3 player, put on your favorite walking shoes and go. The tour begins at City Hall and ends at the old train depot.

The tour features some of Decatur’s history along with Lyn Menne’s observations about the city’s current growth and development. It also includes local musicians (the Dappled Grays and the Stonehouse Posse) and residents, and is narrated by David Hirt. Many thanks to Daren Wang for facilitating the process and to Moira Bucciarelli for putting it together. If you have ideas for other tours, please submit them to linda.harris@decaturga.com.

Honestly, it’s a very enjoyable and interesting tour, for old and new alike.

According to Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne’s note in the March issue of the Decatur Focus, the film production company Pogo Pictures, is moving into the office space above Parker’s along Ponce de Leon Ave.

A check of their website shows they are moving from their current location on North Avenue in Atlanta and sport an impressive roster of current and former clients.  Clients include: Ford, Travelocity, Back of America, Chik-Fil-A, Abercrombie & Fitch, Heineken, U.S Virgin Islands, Goody’s, and many more.

The old gallery space above Parker’s is definitely one of the nicest, non-retail spaces in Decatur I’ve ever ventured into, so no big surprise it’s filled again!

UPDATE II: Menu details, again from Farm 255 owner Olivia Sargeant…

a simple menu, including other proteins such as chicken and pork and lamb (also pasture or forest raised, and from our regional farmer-partners). there will be salads and vegetarian options, chef-driven sides and condiments like “marrownaise” and housemade ketchup, kid-friendly fried things like onion rings and okra, and seasonal veggies too. organic milk milkshakes and root beer floats and the like…things that make us all happy.

farm burger will be beer & wine only and like all new places we will cross our fingers that the powers that be award us our coveted license in time for our opening, as we’ve done our due diligence. beer will be like-minded to our food and highlight local folks, artisanal methods, and unique offerings. the can will be ubiquitous, as it’s less wasteful and more fun.

UPDATE: Here’s a response I just received from Farm 255’s owner…

Read the rest of this entry »

In the January/February Decatur Focus, Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne reports in her “Focus on Downtown Development” section that city businesses had a reassuring holiday season.

Decatur retail businesses have reported better-than-expected sales for the holiday season. Of course sales aren’t where they were two years ago but most retailers report better sales than last year. We talked about the importance of shopping local and Decatur residents did their part. Retail sales exceeded last year’s figures and local business owners said many customers made a point of telling them they were shopping close to home. Many of the retailers we checked with said they bought less inventory and tried to stock some lower-priced items to respond to the economic downturn and were grateful for the support from Decatur shoppers.

If you haven’t flipped open your hard-copy yet, click over to the Focus PDF to read a few testimonials from area businesses.

Decatur PD’s Juanchella Francis forwards a note from Dan Reuter at ARC about a Wednesday, December 2nd Atlanta Regional Housing Forum at Decatur’s Maloof Auditorium.  According to Dan’s note, it’s only the second time the forum has ventured outside Atlanta in many eons.

Both Decatur’s Lyn Menne and DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis are scheduled to sit on panels that will try to predict the county’s housing future – “Housing Challenges – What to expect in 2010″ – and discuss “Housing’s Role in a Sustainable Future”.

To read more about this Wednesday morning forum and to register, click here.  The forum is free, though a canned food item for the Atlanta Community Food Bank is requested.

The passing of Square Table owner, Speros Millas, inspired Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne to go back and find the “before and after” pics of the “Square Table”, which is now “Eurasia“.  Here they are…

Wow.  What a difference a steep-shingled roof makes, huh?

Lyn promises more “Before and Afters” coming soon to The Decatur Minute blog.

So I just noticed that the spam blocker has been a bit over-zealous in the past months and some people’s comments have been blocked. I sincerely apologize for the oversight. I’ve “unblocked” them all, but instead of coming up under the “Most Recent Comments” sidebar (like I thought they might) they are being sorted by date posted, so unless you want to sort through months of postings, you won’t know where they are.

And neither do I. Now that I’ve “unspammed” these (and not noted them first) I don’t have anyway of finding them. However, as I was sorting through the list I noticed that many of the blocked comments were from Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne. She’s mentioned to me in the past that her comments weren’t going through but I never put two and two together, being the brilliant individual I am.

So…as a consolation to everyone that’s been blocked, I’ve collected Lyn’s comments here that have been blocked over the past months, but still have relevance today.

In response to DeVry To Shack Up With AIA-Decatur at One West Courthouse Sq. she wrote

“CDC occupied most of the space in the building while their new facility was being constructed. Their move left several floors open. We look forward to having the Devry’s Decatur campus students join us on the square.”

In response to Details About The Angel’s Future, she wrote

“The property wasn’t owned by Derek Lawford but he holds the lease for the space. Our understanding is that he was attempting to sublease the space because he’s still legally responsible for making the lease payments.”

In response to The Value and Importance of the Downtown Grocery Store, she wrote

“It’s always interesting to me how stores like Trader Joes start out in places that should be a perfect fit for Decatur but once they go corporate and start expanding they only want to look at places like Alpharetta. It isn’t impossible and certainly is one we continue to work. I think a grassroots movement would be great! I wonder if folks have tried Sawicki’s Market down from Taco Mac. She’s really trying to develop the type of urban market that folks are describing. Lynn Sawicki lives in Decatur and I’m sure that she would welcome suggestions on expanding her selections. It’s an amazing place for meat and fish and she’ll give you advice on how to prepare it. Many of the vegetables in the spring and summer come from her personal garden. The selection isn’t large but if people are looking for the neighborhood market option like Europe or NYC this is it. As with all of our small retailers, they are feeling the economic pinch so I urge people to shop locally. If they haven’t tried Sawicki’s at 250 W. Ponce de Leon – between Heliptrope and Kaleidescope — you should.”

In response to Little Shop of Stories Moving into Starbucks Building, she wrote…

“Also let me add that a lease has been signed for the Mick’s restaurant space. It will be locally owned — not a chain — and plans call for a major investment in interior upgrades. We are told the opening should be around the first of July. No lease has been signed on Zocalo but the property owner tells us that he is entertaining a number of promising concepts.”

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Again, I’m very sorry that I didn’t notice this sooner. To me, comments and feedback are the best part of this blog, so please keep commenting! If you’ve had trouble with your comments being posted in the past, they were probably a victim of the spam blocker…so please try again!