Looks like the city is a little dissatisfied with its unofficial description “Where Mayberry meets Berkeley” and may be looking for a new slogan.
Lyn Menne’s challenge in the latest issue of the Focus (not yet online), is to follow in the footsteps of Hemingway’s famous six word story and provide an accurate description of our fair city in 6 words – no more, no less.
Definitely not an easy task, seeing that I’ve been pondering it for two days straight and have yet to come up with anything worth jotting down.
Whatcha got smart-pantses?
“Decatur – there’s an app for that”
Brilliant, Russ! This one gets my vote.
If I may tweak Russ:
“Decatur – there’s a festival for that”
Well played, Dave!
Have a beer and a smile!
This is my favorite from the linked article:
Will this do (lazy writer asked)?
– Ken MacLeod
City of the passionate yard signs
Place Where I Used To Live
I guess that only applies to me. Otherwise, I like Russ’
How about: ” Have a beer and an opinion”
Yard sign wars, craft beer pours….
Decatur – looks great next to Atlanta
DECATUR — A squirrel in every attic.
I can’t imagine improving on Dave’s suggestion above:
“Decatur – there’s a festival for that”
Please care about things here.
Land of high end jogging strollers
Since I don’t live in Decatur, the most appropriate one for me would be:
Let’s go eat in Decatur tonight.
Anything is better than the painfully generic slogan on the sign in the Ponce/Scott triangle.
Where home town meets city life
It’s always been good to me.
It’s “A Wonderful Life”, All Year ‘Round.
(But honestly, I really like Dave’s “festival for that” suggestion– and I laughed aloud at Understand the Economics’…)
I think Left Wing would agree that the word “sustainable” is mandatory in this description. With that in mind…
“Sustainable, Community Living Amongst the Sprawl”
or even better…
“Sustainable, Sustainable, Sustainable, Sustainable, Sustainable, Sustainable”
Great schools despite frequent bizarre lockdowns.
A Community of Friendly People Anonymously Malevolent
Decatur: We’re Mother Goose’s Left Wing
Big City Problems, Small Town Budget
Decatur: We Can Walk to That
“Decatur: we can walk to that”. I’m cracking up!!!
How about:
Decatur: Where the pedestrian’s always right
If you don’t like it, move.
Best in metro – moving to Watkinsville
Decatur – More than Just the Brickstore
Can we get DM to use Alexandria’s first suggestion as a new tagline:
“Community of Friendly People Anonymously Malevolent”
As for our fair town, I’m going to leverage the fine work done by everyone above:
“Sustainable festivals, kids amok, parents drunk”
Okay, those last three posters have me rolling on the floor. They are getting better and better! Keep ’em coming!
Decatur: Trendy brews, Comfortable Shoes, Subarus
Didn’t Creative Loafing already nail this one?
“You marvelous son of a bitch”
Considering that CL’s might be misleading as a straight quotation — we want to make clear who the “you” refers to — how about a modification: “Decatur: Marvelous Son of a Bitch.”
“There’s more parking than you think.’
My real vote goes to “There’s a festival for that.”
“Where Kids Run Amok While Their Parents Get Drunk”
Excellent JT, but too wordy. “Kids running amok, parents getting drunk.”
“Decatur: Our Dogs are Smarter than Atlanta’s Honor Students”
….but we have trouble counting to six. 🙂
It’s not a counting a problem, it’s a reading problem! Yeah, I missed the whole 6-word idea. Oops.
More friendly neighbors, less wife swapping.
Fifty miles per hour between speedhumps.
Good schools, nice people–questionable attitudes.
Sure beats living in the Highlands!
I suggested this a couple years ago as a City marketing campaign:
“Inside the perimeter, outside the box”
This is my fave!
Thanks Trudy!
An advantage of this slogan is that it’s easy to come up with
accompanying artwork, imagine a colorful scribble over a
simple line drawing. Any artist out there want to make a mock up?
But I wonder, does this mean the previous six word description
“We do things a little differently”
(used in the Mallternative campaign) no longer applies?
Yes! That’s awesome!
Excellent!
Looks like we’re keepin’ it real.
Five Cops For Every 911 Call
The Collision of Single-Family and Condo-Dweller
Decatur: bocce, beachy, beery and bitchy.
Portland and Atlanta’s illegitimate Southern love-child.
Where hobos are completely at home.
Naturally snooty, but not too openly.
Decatur: Got Subaru?
Decatur: Got Subaru or Honda Odyssey?
(6 words, but that’s still a good one)
Here’s the Subuaru reference, but in compliance with the six-word requirement:
Decatur: craft brews, comfortable shoes, Subarus
D’Oh! I read it as “no more than 6 words”. Sign me up for that reading comprehension class along with J_T…
Spot of blue in red state.
Hey, that is a good one.
Azure oasis in sea of red.
Bikes, trikes, and dykes.
Uh oh, that’s only four words.
OK, I’ve got the six-word thing down now and this one really would be better as “Dykes on Bikes, Tykes on Trikes”
I accept the friendly amendment.
This has been the most fun thread in a long, long time.
Agreed 100%. Thanks everyone for making me laugh out loud many times.
Ditto. After a couple hundred more, we need a vote in various categories:
– Most Usable by City of Decatur
– Funniest
– Snarkiest
– Best Political
– Best reference to city elections
– Best reference to School Board elections
– Best CSD-related
– Best All Around
etc.
etc.
“No dog, no child, no service”
“Just like home, without the relatives”
“We were waiting for the train”
“The City of, not the zip code”
here’s two “nice ones”
Comfortably diverse
creatively committed
neighborly citizens
decatur: we draw outside the lines
or:
decatur, we love everyone
except republicans
Hah, Cranky OM – That does seem to be the general attitude.
There are sooo many more Republicans here than people realize.
And we’re nice people too…
Small, vibrant, revitalized downtown. Restaurant district.
How about…
Decatur: Stop for Pedestrians in Crosswalk
City of endless school construction and trailers
Decatur student enrollment: Impossible to predict
Where the bicycles flow like wine
Very nice!
Which leads me to:
Sidewalks, pedicabs, Zipcars, all in reach
Earnest folks; maaaaaaaaany kids; WOW taxes
You get what you pay for.
“one small town – one big heart”
“four square miles, lots of opinions”
“it’s a groovy kind of love”
Heh! Love the last one– it’s just hippie enough to suit Decatur perfectly!
You get what I pay for
“Southern charm, Northern taxes, Comfortably conflicted”
That made me smile 🙂
Ha! I didn’t see this one earlier. Made me smile too.
I’ve been out of town for a few days and just found that Decatur Metro has expanded the six word challenge. These are great folks. I’ve been laughing out loud. Keep them coming.
Decatur citizens talk and officials listen!
This needs to go on the Ponce triangle sign…the current slogan states nothing about our community! The slogon on the sign would apply to any community anywhere….
the slogon on the sign has been mentioned several times so let me clarify that this city motto, ” a City of Homes, Schools and Places of Worship” was adopted in the 1930s and the City’s logo depicting 3 buildings was designed in the 1970s to reflect the motto.
Winnona Park Stud loves the current motto, especially coupled with the logo. The motto would not apply to any community anywhere – it reflects the residential nature of our urban environment and highlights the institutions Decatur most values. Compare to “Every Day is Opening Day” or “the City that Never Sleeps”, or “Open for Business”, or any of the myriad city slogans that are pure Chamber of Commerce boosterism.
The tweak is worth noting, if for no other reason to give the history of the slogan a bit more depth…
It was originally “a City of Homes, Schools, and Churches.”
An important clarification. I have to assume the change was, in large parts, driven by the city’s now dwindled reputation for not being especially Jewish-friendly (and that’s being really charitable in the description). A great case for how certain deliberate actions in the city’s earlier days fostered this reputation is Tom Keating’s “Saturday School: How One Town Kept Out ‘The Jewish’ 1902-1932.”
I hadn’t heard of Keating’s book. I’ve now got it on hold at the library. Thanks. Apart from McKinney’s history of Decatur through 1899 and until we get Walt Drake’s history, are there other books on Decatur history out there?
Hey, Judd, back atcha: What’s Walt Drake’s history? Is someone finally following up McKinney’s book with an appropriate “Decatur 2: Electric Boogaloo”?
Yes, Tom’s study was an eye-opener to many of us relatively new comers (I have been a city citizen since the 1980s.It was about the time the slogan was changed.
“I wished for a website that would give me the latest news and OPINION about the city in an entertaining and engaging fashion.”
So I’ll try Again, maybe it won’t be censored’
Decatur: We have Eddie’s Attic!
Decatur: Don’t Eat & Run!
Enjoy Decatur, We’re kicking out Dekalb!
I love the logo/graphic of the outline of Decatur buildings even if the motto may not be right anymore. We need to keep the homey, neighborhood feel to our “branding” (gosh I hate that term when overused by bureaucracies but maybe it’s occasionally useful), as we make our motto more applicable to our wonderfully diverse citizens (despite gentrification).