On October 12th, District 1 incumbent and city commission candidate Fred Boykin reflected on the original Town Center Plan (and its 1989 update) and wondered out-loud to city residents, “Are we there yet?”.

Addressing “downtowners”, long-time residents and new, Boykin states…

I think it’s time for a community conversation on where Decatur started from and where we’re headed. It’s an opportunity to look at our city development “road map” and see if we’re still heading in the “right” direction. Though it took a long time to happen, the early part of this journey was somewhat easy and straightforward – find someone to build mixed-use residential on vacant lots and bring residents to downtown. The next leg of our trip isn’t so obvious; we’ve done the easier stuff, what do we do next?

Decatur’s Strategic Plan is due for an update. I think that creates a perfect opportunity for a community conversation on these questions; it is a chance to evaluate past efforts and think about the future as we decide where we’re going next. I look forward to getting that conversation started.