CSD Mom linked us over to an article which references a City of Decatur webpage that details a new and ambitious initiative called “Virtual Decatur“.

The proposal speaks for itself…

The City of Decatur is currently evaluating the use of virtual environment technology to encourage community networking, improve civic engagement, and promote economic development in the city. Immersive virtual environments, initially popularized by games such as World of Warcraft© and social networking sites such as Second Life©, are gaining popularity for use as educational and training tools. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently evaluating this technology to promote learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Visit NASA’s website.

Similar to other social networking tools, Virtual Decatur will provide an environment in which residents, businesses, institutions and visitors can interact and connect around a common interest. However, it is it is imperative that the project go beyond the features of traditional virtual environments. The overarching purpose of this project is to allow users to interact with the City in new and innovative ways that are not possible in the real world. It is envisioned that the real world experience may be enhanced through participation in Virtual Decatur.

….Virtual Decatur was first conceived as a way to allow residents to experience the look and feel of potential developments in the city. For example, avatars (electronic characters) could walk through and around a model of a proposed parking deck to determine its impact on the community. However, the concept of Virtual Decatur has been expanded considerably to include ideas like allowing businesses to scout locations, allowing avatars to view live City Commission meetings, and promotion of city events.

Read more about it here.

Umm…could I just get the ability to watch commission meetings online?  I don’t need to kill orcs along East Ponce  or fly through a virtual parking deck in the process. 

But seriously, I like the idea of being able to view a potential development “virtually” to get a better sense of it…but all those other aspects?  They seem a bit superfluous.

It kind of reminds me of a story I heard on NPR the other day about “walking around” and shopping online in a virtual mall.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle is announcing that Ruby Tuesday will be closing 70 of its 714 restaurants in the next year or so.

But details of specific closings won’t be announced until January 7th, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether Decatur’s often vacant location will be effected.

You might want to bookmark this new City of Decatur site.

If you’ve been over to the city’s website in the past few days you may have noticed that they soft-launched a new “Online Communications Site“.   The site is designed to make it easier for residents to contact the proper city official on a wide-variety of issues and concerns.

After creating a Login for yourself, you can head over to the “Make a Request” tab, and find several different requests divided up by category (ex. Animal Control, City Gov’t, Code Enforcement).  Examples of requests range from requesting maintanance on any number of things to reporting graffiti and making construction project inquiries (I know I’ll be using that last one a lot!)

Another especially timely option for the holiday season is found under “Public Safety“.   Instead of calling the non-emergency number to let the police know you will be out of town over the holiday season, you can now just fill out the “Out of Town House Check” form.

How handy!

If successful, this should be another real step forward by the city to improve communication with residents.

Andisheh documents another auto accident at Adair/West Howard/Atlanta Ave from last night.