Comments on: Decatur's Vehicle Traffic Declining

By: Steve R

Steve R — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:55:17 +0000

The biggest problem with the traffic in Decatur is not the traffic itself but rather the parking. I am a business owner in Decatur on Church St. and I think the decline in traffic in Decatur is directly linked to the lack of parking and more importantly the lack of signage for parking. Many people from outlying areas view our little town as a painful parking experience foremost. Now that the parking meter rates in downtown have tripled this year, there should be some better signage as to where to park for a longer duration at a reasonable rate. I’ve had a business here for over five years and I’m still not quite sure what to tell visitors who ask me where to park. Imagine how confused they are.

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:24:39 +0000

I’m probably not on the right thread for this topic but oh well…
I guess professors, doctors, lawyers, could at some levels be considered creative class but alas I’ll stay away from the semantics. I was more thinking of incubating knowlege businesses here in the City. Sure you have the universities on the fringe of the cities (Agnes Scott and Emory) but the downtown core, unless I am missing something, does not seem to have very many dynamic and growing knowlege based businesses. I love Decatur, but for the type of work I do, as many of my colleagues, I usually get drawn up to Buckhead, Alpharetta, or the Perimeter. Fortunately I can spend some time telecommuting. I’m not saying that the city of Decatur can compete against these knowlege hubs, but I would think there would be alot of opportunity to attract and even incubate some small businesses in the area. Are there any incentives in place to do this? BTW- here is a great article on the creative class. A must read:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200610/american-brains

By: TOK

TOK — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:34:52 +0000

One data point: I work at Georgia State and either bike (if weather permits) or MARTA in (otherwise). I’m the only regular biker I know, but I know of several other GSU folks who mostly use the MARTA.

And yeah, I moved in from elsewhere after getting the GSU job, and finding a place within biking distance and close to a MARTA station was one of the hoiuse search criteria.

By: E

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:46:22 +0000

Rick, I think you’re coming at this backwards. People can A) find a job and then B) find a nearby place to live. And with our College Town situation and county seat, there are plenty of creative class occupations – attorneys, doctors, chefs, professors, and other professionals – taken by people who could do the live/work thing.

There is also a vibrant local economy of shops, restaurants, and other businesses run by entreprenuers, many of who could potentially live and work in town.

Lastly, whatever the change in downtown jobs has been the last ten years, it is still a massive job center relative to Decatur’s population size, with a 150,000 daytime population, many of which are also professional.

I’m not arguing that every single Decatur resident lives and works here – only that Decatur, due to circumstances of geography, educational institutions, and government, has an unusually high proportion of people who can and do live and work here or close by.

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:09:27 +0000

Are alot of those jobs in downtown affiliated with Dekalb County and the City of Decatur and do those jobs allow people to be able to afford to live in the City of Decatur? I’m just curious. I hear the phrase ”work/live community” tossed around very freely but I still don’t see alot of people working near where they live. (unless of course they are telecommuting which is still a minority) So alot of emphasis towards housing and retail but not alot of emphasis towards job creation or stimulation packages to create higher paying creative class jobs in the center of Decatur. I understand people have the ability to ride MARTA into some of the other creative class areas such as Midtown, Buckhead or Perimeter. I don’t think many people work in downtown Atlanta…I’ve actually heard that there are less workers in the ‘Downtown’ core than there were 10 years ago. I just don’t see alot of people riding MARTA downtown to get to work. There are some, but not that many.

By: E

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:10:13 +0000

Rick, I believe I read somewhere that Decatur’s daytime population is around 24,000. When compared to the 18,000 actual residents, you see a huge deficit in residents, not jobs. So I’m sure there are lots of opportunities for people to move to Decatur and work here too.

Also, the proximity to downtown and the presence of MARTA reduce car trips around our town, as people have other options for these short commutes. I personally bike or jog to work downtown a couple times a week, for no reason other than the workout. That’s an option available to many of us that doesn’t exist in Conyers.

By: Rick

Rick — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:58:06 +0000

Is there any type of data that backs up the comment that people that move to Decatur are actually able to ‘work’ in Decatur? There is obviously a movement to get people clustered in work/live environments but I am curious as to how successful that is in Decatur? There seems to be alot more housing, but I have not heard about any decent sized companies moving in or setting up shop in the center of town other than restaurants and retail which are generally low paying.

By: decaturite

decaturite — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:54:44 +0000

Please see my UPDATE at the top of this post.