Apparently discussion of the idea of putting a tunnel under East Atlanta neighborhoods – in an effort to funnel traffic away from the connector – is still going hot and heavy down at the Gold Dome.  The AJC reported on this a couple days back, but it just caught my attention again when it popped up on the front page of AJC.com.

“The tunnel is the one project that absolutely, head and shoulders above every other P3, moves the needle the most on congestion mitigation and mobility,” said David Doss, who chairs the state Transportation Board’s committee on such projects. The reason it wasn’t listed at the very top of DOT’s project list was because of the “unknowns” involved in creating a new urban road tunnel here, he said.

Where to begin this time?

Um, how about more highway pavement doesn’t actually relieve congestion?  It just encourages more folks to set up shop in the fragile exurb ecosystem?  How about the cost to build and maintain the dang thing will be astronomical?  How about the level of damage done to those east-side neighborhoods during construction and after?  (Ben’s already done a great job of summarizing these points over at Terminal Station.)

Oh, and here’s the most deliciously insensitive part of this whole cockamamie idea.

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Fa la la la la, la la la la!  (Yes, the long-rumored missing seventh verse of Deck The Halls now applies to the efforts of Decatur city government.)

After a few months hiatus, Decatur’s Open City Hall is once again a happening place.

On the heels of asking questions about the city’s pending Cultural Arts Master Plan, the city has posted a question about railroad crossing improvements.

How would you redesign the existing railroad crossings at Candler and McDonough Streets to improve the safety and health of Decatur residents and visitors?

Already this question is bringing in the comments, with 18 responses and counting.  Jump over and let your voice be heard!

As part of this week’s extended series on tax assessments around Atlanta, this morning’s AJC highlights DeKalb County.

In summary, the AJC’s analysis shows DeKalb went further than many other Atlanta counties in cutting property tax assessments, though I suspect much of the more realistic evaluations can be attributed to an AJC expose’ in April, which revealed the County was illegally not considering foreclosures during reevaluation of property values.

The article uses the CSX rail line, which runs through the heart of Decatur, as the border that separates fortunes.  To the north, home prices held their own.

A CSX rail line bisects DeKalb County from east to west, splitting Decatur, the county seat.

Appraisals south of that line sank like an anchor. Homes north of the CSX line, however, held their taxable value better than much of metro Atlanta. Brookhaven (ZIP code 30319) actually gained more than $125 million in residential value from construction, additions and renovations. Unlike other areas in DeKalb, sales prices actually improved in Brookhaven, by 1.4 percent. Appraisers tacked on $63 million to the residential worth of Decatur (30030), where sales prices jumped 10 percent. Dunwoody (30338) picked up $44 million, where home prices were unchanged.

But to the south, in areas like my old Kentucky 30032, it was a home value bloodbath.

ZIP code 30032 near Columbia Drive and Glenwood Road, for example, was reappraised downward by a total of $287 million. The median decline in tax appraisals was 21 percent, but sales data show that the median price fell by nearly half. This suggests that tax valuations could have been cut even more, and that some homeowners are paying tax on values their property no longer holds.

DeKalb raised taxes 3.73% for the unincorporated portions of the county this past year, and 1.33% for Decatur residents.  Who knows what next year may hold.