I just discovered that the city’s 2008 Annual Report is now online.

If you haven’t seen the city citizen survey results, they’re all included in this document.

Additionally, here are a couple of nuggets I thought folks might find interesting.

1. Annexation (page 6) - The city says that “during summer 2008, the city will offer education and information sessions as well as public input opportunities to provide the City Commission with options for consideration this fall.” In addition to that, on the very same page, the city highlights “annexing commercial property” only. Could this be an indication that the city is now thinking more seriously about a pure commercial annexation with little to no residential?
2. CodeRed Weather Warning System (page 10)- “Decatur will implement a CodeRed Weather Warning System designed to deliver severe weather warnings to residents’ telephones within seconds after being issued by the National Weather Service. The CodeRed Weather Warning ystem is different from the CodeRed Emergency Noticfication System in that it will not call everyone in the city. It willonly notify the immediately affected areas bacsed on instant satellite feeds. Calls will not be initiated by the city – they will be done automatically by the weather warning system. The weather warning system requires that residents “opt in” to the service…” (Date of introduction?)
3. Population Decline? (page 7) - the city projects that its population will continue to decline thru 2012, even with the continued construction of downtown condos. The reason? Household size is shrinking. According to the report, the city’s household size is only 2.12 this year, compared to 2.70 for metro Atlanta and 2.58 for the country. So much for the myth that we’re a city jam-packed with an abnormally large percentage of big families!

The July/August issue of the Decatur Focus is now online.

In it, we receive news that “retailers are reporting sales consistent with last year and many are showing modest gains over last year’s sales.  Landlords continue to report strong interest in retail and restaurant space and we’ve had several new businesses join the Decatur business community”.

All good news, though we occasionally still hear rumblings of restaurants or shops in danger of going under on this site.  Additionally, the old Century 21 at 335 W. Ponce, and the old Houseworks/T-Mobile locations remain without tenents.  (Which others am I missing?  And what happened to that “outdoor outfitters” that was teased a month or so back?)  But ultimately, our vacancy rates still seem ridiculously low.  Especially in such a crummy economy.

Are you that annoying friend that knows every single minute fact about all seven Harry Potter books? (Not to mention Quiddich Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them!)

Well you may meet your match at next month’s Decatur Book Festival!

That’s because the festival has just announced that Harry Potter’s continuity editor, Cheryl Klein, will be on hand to judge the Harry Potter Quiz Show on Saturday at 4:30pm. What the heck is a continuity editor? Just what it sounds like. She’s the one that made sure that all the facts and events in Harry’s world lined up from book-to-book and movie-to-movie. Talk about a dream job for thousands of kids (and adults)!

Klein will also hold a workshop on writing children’s books over at Agnes Scott on Friday, August 29th from 4-6pm.

See the full release below for more details, plus a listing of all the various Potter-related activities that will be taking place during the Festival.

[photo courtesy of the Guardian] Read the rest of this entry »

As if to provide substance to a previous, slightly humorous comment I made re: MARTA in Gwinnett (above), the AJC did an expose yesterday entitled “Drug Wars, Kidnappings Move Into Gwinnett“.

And since a recent study (submitted by Scott) showed that it was downtown Atlanta that experiences the rise in crime when transit is extended to the suburbs (not the other way around), maybe it is time to turn the tables on those ingrates in Gwinnett that oppose MARTA and start an Fulton/DeKalb coordinated effort to keep MARTA out of Gwinnett called “Keep the Thugs in Gwinnett!”

Because I don’t know about you, but I always want the things I can’t have.

(Obviously a bit tongue-in-check…but if you’re willing to dig below the preconceived notions and stereotypes that date back to at least the 1950s, there IS some truth to this assertion.)

HA! Wouldn’t that be an awesome City of Decatur bumper sticker?! Hmm…Decatur Metro reserves all rights…there! Let the pennies start rolling in…

Anyway…back to the issue at hand.

In response to a July 15th commentary in the AJC by DriftGrift favorite Jim Wooten, which argues that Atlanta needs to increase road capacities before allowing any other new development projects, David Allman (chair of the Buckhead Community Improvement District and the Livable Communities Coalition) has written a response, which uses Decatur as a central part of his argument.

“Build neighborhoods that combine housing and retail stores. It’s almost possible to imagine living without a car in downtown Decatur. There are apartments, condos, single-family homes and townhouses within walking distance of coffee shops, restaurants, a drugstore, a park and bandstand, a MARTA rail stop and much more. You don’t have to give up your car or like downtown Decatur to appreciate the fact that many of those good people who do aren’t driving as much as the rest of us and leave the streets at least a little less crowded.”

Love us or hate us…we’re freeing up the streets for the rest of you. Wow…we’re so great, even ultra-sassy Buckhead wants to be more like us! (Lord…I’m such a sarcastic cheerleader this morning…)

OK, in all seriousness, I do think Wooten has a valid point to convey about developers disguising projects as “mixed use” and then bringing in big box stores and building massive parking decks below ground so it still draws an endless parade of cars. (type “Sembler” into the search field to see all my old posts regarding that once ridiculous “smart growth” project) This garbage gives real smart growth a bad name. However, I obviously take issue with Wooten’s conclusion that we need a greater number of roads/lanes. Even if we choose to forgo the whole sustainability argument, did he even stop to see the price of gas this morning? People can’t afford a transportation system dominated by the car anymore. Sorry. Welcome to 2008.

We need more REAL smart growth, which actually allows people to get around without using 20% of their income on transport. And the only way that developers will even begin to consider such projects is with the proper infrastructure (a more expansive, better-funded light rail/bus system, bike lanes, etc…)