Renovations at Sharian Rugs look to be almost complete and the buildings are looking better than ever. The showroom window is making much better use of street-front property and the iconic art-deco main office building is cleaned up and looking better than it has in years.

This morning 11Alive highlights Decatur’s oldest continually operating business and assures us that they’re still open. (Yes, we were already aware.)

Cheers to you Sharian! You win the Decatur Metro award for being really cool about investing in the look and economy of our lovingly hip Decatur. It’s kinda like a Hometown Hero award, but there’s no physical award or ceremony and its given out randomly by single dorky blogger instead of the active and intelligent city commission.

h/t: InDecatur

The AJC reports that after Lake Claire residents made their appeal to the Atlanta Tree Commission on Wednesday they were given two options. Buy the land from owner and potential developer, Adam Gaslowitz, for $1 million or appeal the ruling in Superior Court.

Wow…not the greatest set of options. How long has it taken for historic Olmstead Linear Parks along Ponce to raise close to $1 million? Like 4 years? Yesh! (as Mooch would say)

Hopefully area residents will let us know what their next course of action will be.

Random Atlanta Tree Ordinance Fact: It’s illegal not to kill known poison ivy/sumac on your property.

(Photo courtesy of AJC)

If you’re an urban planner, preservationist, or follow developments in either field, you may have heard the theory that one day soon many of the nation’s newest subdivisions that sit on the very fringes of our metropolitan areas will take the place of the inner city as the nation’s new slums.

Well, according to this recent Atlantic article (which is now free to all), this speculation is already showing clear signs of becoming reality. As populations begin to move back closer to the city center after years of fleeing to the manicured lawns and weekends of sameness, these poorly constructed McMansions will become the tenements of tomorrow.

Here’s a tease…

Strange days are upon the residents of many a suburban cul-de-sac. Once-tidy yards have become overgrown, as the houses they front have gone vacant. Signs of physical and social disorder are spreading.

At Windy Ridge, a recently built starter-home development seven miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, 81 of the community’s 132 small, vinyl-sided houses were in foreclosure as of late last year. Vandals have kicked in doors and stripped the copper wire from vacant houses; drug users and homeless people have furtively moved in. In December, after a stray bullet blasted through her son’s bedroom and into her own, Laurie Talbot, who’d moved to Windy Ridge from New York in 2005, told The Charlotte Observer, “I thought I’d bought a home in Pleasantville. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that stuff like this would happen.”

In the Franklin Reserve neighborhood of Elk Grove, California, south of Sacramento, the houses are nicer than those at Windy Ridge—many once sold for well over $500,000—but the phenomenon is the same. At the height of the boom, 10,000 new homes were built there in just four years. Now many are empty; renters of dubious character occupy others. Graffiti, broken windows, and other markers of decay have multiplied. Susan McDonald, president of the local residents’ association and an executive at a local bank, told the Associated Press, “There’s been gang activity. Things have really been changing, the last few years.”

So, if you’re into development patterns or you just want to feel better about paying an arm and a leg for a more modest-sized Decatur/Atlanta house or condo, take a few minutes and check it out. It’ll make you even happier that you’re not living on the fringes in poorly constructed luxury.

After the Decatur City Commission officially unveiled its report last month that showed it had a hankering to annex a square mile of land to its north and east in an attempt to get property taxes under control, Avondale Estates metaphorically cleared its throat. “Perhaps”, the neighboring city said, “we might also like to annex some of that land.”

Townfolk and reporters gasped. Would this be a throwdown (Bobby Flay style) the likes we haven’t seen since the Battle of Atlanta? We have waited anxiously for the next move.

Well, apparently its much friendlier than we had first bloodthirstily speculated. The AJC reports…

On Monday, Rieker and Avondale City Manager Clai Brown discussed annexation with Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd and City Manager Peggy Merrisson.

Under one plan, Avondale would annex commercial property along College Avenue west from its city line, while Decatur would add the businesses along College Avenue east from its current borders.

“It’s been a gentleman’s agreement between the two cities,” said Allan Kirwan, chairman of Avondale’s annexation committee. “It is a natural gateway for both cities.”

Officials in both cities described Monday’s meeting as preliminary and said there are no concrete agreements.

“I don’t know we’re ready to say where it would be yet,” Floyd said. “There is no question, if we’re going to do this, the point of the whole thing would be to have that area be incorporated into either the city of Avondale or the city of Decatur.”

A gentleman’s agreement eh? Quite a cordial reconciliation. Are you sure you don’t want to settle this with pistols at dawn? That would be a hell of a post!

But seriously, regardless of any agreement, residents of a proposed annexation area would have to provide a majority vote in favor come November for the annexation to become a reality.

(And AJC, for the last time…I have not heard the Decatur City Commission say it was “backing away” from annexation. Last I knew they were waiting for an evaluation from the school superintendent before moving forward.)

The other interesting tidbit in this article (if it can be trusted) is the idea originally raised by Commissioner Baskett at the commission meeting about only annexing commercial land and leaving out most residential; thus eliminating the problem of an influx of students.

If that were to occur, it would be a drastic shift from the original plan. We’ll have to keep an eye out for further developments.

CL’s Thomas Wheatley will be crushed.

From Radio/TV Talk on AJC.com…

Veteran meteorologist Flip Spiceland at WXIA-TV is leaving the station after seven years. He was at CNN for 21 years prior to that.

It’s not clear whether it was budgetary or strategic or whatnot. WXIA general manager Bob Walker said they negotiated but couldn’t come to an agreement. Flip has always been a smooth operator on screen and his name is arguably the most memorable in town among broadcasters. Chris Holcomb is going to cover for Flip when he leaves Feb. 27 or 28, Walker said. Then they are going to search for a replacement. Holcomb is in the running.

The station recently lost Blair Meeks to Jackson Spalding PR. It’s unclear how they are going to fill Meeks’ spot.

And Walker said his four “backpack journalists” are doing a great job and have helped WXIA place more people in more places on the streets of metro Atlanta.

Inside the Sprawl wonders if the Brick Store’s investment in Grant Park will ever come to fruition and rattles off a number of rumors as to why things may be held up.

“Rumored completion dates have come and gone, but there still appears to be minimal progress at the location. Now, we have heard rumors that the project may never come to pass. Several reasons are cited. One alleged reason is that dealing with city of Atlanta has proven to be more arduous than originally suspected. Further, unanticipated costs (one of which is an $80,000 grease trap) may have discouraged the current location. Another issue is the complete lack of parking. In a city dominated by cars, the parking issue can be a deal killer.”

Regardless of the reason, pictures seem to show that things are moving very slowly at the location. May I perhaps again suggest looking into the purchase of a certain vacant Decatur British pub that needs inhabiting?? I can’t take anymore “hour” waits!! Seriously, who has a three page waiting list during a tornado warning!?

Sob, sob…I’ll be up the stairs and to the left if anyone needs me.

h/t: InDecatur

Combining my two favorite things: drinking wine and crawling around on the sidewalks of Oakhurst.

From Oakhurstga.com

The 6th Annual Oakhurst Wine Tasting is set to take place on Saturday February 23rd from 4pm to 7pm in the Oakhurst Villiage.

The event is a celebration of the Oakhurst community and will feature wines from around the world as selected by two local Oakhurst residents. Attendees will visit all participating local Oakhurst businesses each featuring a different wine selection to taste.

Tickets will go on sale starting Saturday, January 26th at local Oakhurst businesses for a cost of $20 per ticket.

Businesses selling tickets include:

• Steinbeck’s
• The Universal Joint
• Kavarna Cafe
• Tajma-Hound

Read the rest of this entry »