A female Afghan-exchange student attending Decatur High School (up until this passed weekend) skipped the country and is now seeking asylum in Canada from her home country.

The AJC has details, but here’s the reason why…

“According to the Rocky Mountain News, a Syracuse University study noted that the likelihood of winning asylum in the U.S. for an immigrant is 19 percent; in Canada, it’s 40 percent to 45 percent for all nationalities, and 69 percent for Afghans.”

I believe its called playing the percentages.

OK, I don’t mean to freak anybody out, but I think that Paul Krugman is stalking me. Either that or we just think alike and have the same experiences.

Acckkk! There he is!

Just look at his latest op-ed piece in the NYT. (thanks Scott!) It’s like he’s read my posts about transportation and travel to Berlin over the past week and summed it up in a better-written, little package!

Here’s the scariest part…

“To see what I’m talking about, consider where I am at the moment: in a pleasant, middle-class neighborhood consisting mainly of four- or five-story apartment buildings, with easy access to public transit and plenty of local shopping.

It’s the kind of neighborhood in which people don’t have to drive a lot, but it’s also a kind of neighborhood that barely exists in America, even in big metropolitan areas. Greater Atlanta has roughly the same population as Greater Berlin — but Berlin is a city of trains, buses and bikes, while Atlanta is a city of cars, cars and cars.

And in the face of rising oil prices, which have left many Americans stranded in suburbia — utterly dependent on their cars, yet having a hard time affording gas — it’s starting to look as if Berlin had the better idea.

Changing the geography of American metropolitan areas will be hard. For one thing, houses last a lot longer than cars. Long after today’s S.U.V.’s have become antique collectors’ items, millions of people will still be living in subdivisions built when gas was $1.50 or less a gallon.

Infrastructure is another problem. Public transit, in particular, faces a chicken-and-egg problem: it’s hard to justify transit systems unless there’s sufficient population density, yet it’s hard to persuade people to live in denser neighborhoods unless they come with the advantage of transit access.”

Weirdness.

OK but seriously…since I live in one place and just visited the other, let me belabor Krugman’s comparison for a moment. Not only does Berlin have an enviable public transportation system and bike network as I mentioned previously, but as Krugman states, cars are generally smaller. Now we’re not talking about a city of smart cars and mopeds…we’re talking about lots of VW Golfs/3 series BMWs and not many SUVs.

Also, while Berlin is more compact than Atlanta, it has hardly any skyscrapers. Most buildings are shorter than 8 stories and small, street-level retail is abundant and strongly supported. This is an important example that a high-density city doesn’t have to look like midtown Manhattan, Midtown or the often-cited Buckhead. It can be 8 story commercial/residential and easily support smaller, street-level retail. Sound familiar?

Decatur’s plans are based on Berlin’s ideals. Now we just need the rest of Atlanta to follow suit.

Speaking of trees…

The Decatur City Commission will vote on a stricter tree ordinance tonight in hopes of doing a better job in maintaining the city’s tree canopy.

The biggest impact on residential property owners is that if you plan to do any sort of development on your property that impacts a “landmark tree” ( trees with a 30″ dbh [diameter at breast height] in fair or better condition…), you’ll need a separate permit for it.

Here’s the wordage from the proposed ordinance FAQ regarding residential impact…

“There are two impacts: One, is the permit requirement for removal of landmark trees and Two, is the requirement for prescriptions for remodeling projects that impact trees. Owner occupied remodels do not have to meet the 45% requirement, but only protect existing trees and replace what is lost. All owners in Decatur will benefit from maintenance of the existing tree canopy.”

TV news icon, Barbara Walters, will discuss her career and new book “Audition” tonight at Agnes Scott at 7p in Gaines Chapel.

According to the Agnes Scott press release…

“She will have an on-stage conversation with Atlanta’s WSB-TV news anchor Jovita Moore at 7 p.m. in Presser Hall on the campus, 141 E. College Ave. in Decatur. Doors to the auditorium will open at 6 p.m. for first-come, first-seated. There are no reservations accepted. Signed copies of “Audition” will be on sale at the event.”

I read an interesting review of Walter’s book yesterday entitled, “The Uses of Enchantment“, which read more like a character study than a review of a sometimes surprising and sometimes dull book.

h/t: AccessAtlanta

After residents of Ponce de Leon Heights lost power early last week due to down power lines near the church playground, yesterday we took another hit.

A large tree fell across Nelson Ferry Road (nearer to the Scott Blvd end) getting caught up in power lines and knocking out power across the neighborhood. Residents spent the evening without power, congregating in the street to survey the damage and compare stories.

We personally took a harder hit than most. Because the tree landed on lines very close to our house, we arrived home from Germany in the dark yesterday to find our driveway full of down and hanging power/cable/telephone lines. Operating on little sleep in the last 24 hours, we surveyed the damage and determined that it was just the phone and cable that had snapped…the power was just pulled away from the house.

To their credit, both GA Power and the city responded very quickly to this event.  GA Power worked through the night (and rain) and had the power back on by morning, even though at least two transformers blew. The city was cutting up the tree early this morning.  (Just another reminder of why we pay a little more for city services.)

I’ve been worried about all of the large trees in our neighborhood since the drought last year. Tree roots aren’t as strong as a result and many of Decatur’s old neighborhoods with mature growth are taking big hits when the wind picks up. A very large tree fell through a house on the Scott Blvd. end of Clarion just a few months ago.

How can large trees get the vast amounts of necessary water that they need in times of drought/water restrictions?  Grass watering may be unnecessary and wasteful in times of water shortage, but deep tree watering could potentially prevent some of the destruction we will continue to see due to weak root systems.