Free-For-All Friday 3/19/10
Decatur Metro | March 19, 2010Use this post to discuss issues and ask questions about local topics not mentioned on Decatur Metro in the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
- rss
Use this post to discuss issues and ask questions about local topics not mentioned on Decatur Metro in the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Please…can someone provide an update on when the Fifth Earl guys are going to re-open? Or did they go their separate ways and decide not to move forward.
I need a freaking Trenchtown Turkey.
Ran into Brian at Leon’s the other night. He’s taken another gig for now, but continues to look for the right place.
Here’s another completely different question. Does anybody know how accurate the mileage signs on the PATH are? There’s a stretch along Dekalb that seems like about 100 yards but is clearly marked as a 1/4 mile. My Nike+ tells me the whole thing stretch is out of wack.
A couple weeks ago someone asked for a place that converted VHS tapes to DVDs. The Camera Doctor does this – they’re in the same strip as Rainbow at N. Decatur and Clairmont.
This is the most underrated shopping center in town: Wuxtry, Mediterranian Grill, Rainbow, that bike shop, camera shop, Jakes, etc. Can’t be beat!
I think Jake’s is gone.
You’re correct.
Oh No! Where will I get my slap yo mama?
Reading about the plea for Fifth of Earl (and I am in need of the Moat sandwich big time!) made me even more frustrated with two poor service incidents this past week with Decatur establishments…
One was at an Italian restaurant on the square.
- The waitress just plopped down the menu and walked away with no greeting
- got the wine order mixed up twice from the time I ordered it until the 10 steps to the bar
- when she came to take the order just stood at the end of the table and looked at me until I asked her if she was ready for me to order
- stood about 5 steps away from the table and just looked at the empty beverage glasses on my table which finally I went to the bar and asked for refills
- when it was time to pay she just handed me the check and stared at me…
very odd indeed
One was at a bank that claims it is a bank for the entire country and has a location in Decatur. I went in to transfer funds into a new savings account that I wanted to open. While I was filling out my name on the forms, the business associate of the bank pulls out her cell phone and starts texting her friends and when I was done (which took all of 10 seconds) I had to wait for her to finish her texting conversation.
It is a shame that many establishments that had fine service arent around and yet these places that do not are still around. Decatur is filled with many great places and great staff…I wish these two places would strive higher.
On a good note…I saw the booths are in at the soon to be diner at the Atlanta Bread Location!
Billy, that just stinks! If you haven’t already, please notify the manangment of the restaurant & bank about your experiences. If you have the time, a (very polite) letter outlining exactly what happened, how it made you feel, and its affect on your likely future patronage can work wonders– most of the time, it works even better than a call. Let them know what you liked about their place (if you can find something you liked– I’ve gotten creative with this in the past), but what you liked was diminished by your bad experience. Name names if you have to (and if you can), because it helps owners/managers pinpoint the problems. I’ve gotten great results when I’ve done this in the past (everything from rebates to discounts to personally telephoned apologies from the business’ owners)– most establishments realize that you’re doing this to give them a second chance, and they want to keep their customers. If the owners/managers don’t respond, then you’ll know that’s a place that isn’t interested in earning your business, so you needn’t waste any further time on it. Even if you don’t get any results or responses, writing such a letter just makes you feel better that you stood up for yourself (at least, I find it does for me)!
Jeez– “management”. (Can spell, can’t type worth a flip. DM, can’t you set us up with a little edit button or something??)
Use Mozilla Firefox as your browser.
Does anyone know if the rules are at all bendable at the Decatur dog parks? The rules state that you have to be a Decatur resident, but I live just a smidge outside of Decatur.
Jess-
We live in 30030 but are not technically COD residents (we’re part of the whole annexation debate) and we go to Oakhurst Dog Park all the time. We’ve never encountered a problem there nor have we the handful of times, we’ve gone to Adair.
The trails at the Mason Mill park are also great.– Although they’ve recently started to crack down on off-leash dogs.
Hope this helps!
Thanks, Rez! Were you allowed to get a permit? And if you don’t have one, were you never asked to present one?
Jess and Magpie63-
We never got a permit and I’ve never seen anyone there checking for permits. Plus I think most of the people who go to Oakhurst are non-COD residents. I would gladly pay for the permit tag (everyone jokes that it is just a red poker chip with a number on it) but didn’t even know this was an option.
My dog thinks of hers as “bling.” She wags her tail whenever she gets a new tag or doodad. Who knew she was fancy?
The three city dog parks (Adair, Glenlake and Oakhurst) are an important amenity intended for usage by City of Decatur residents. DeKalb County has two dog parks for county residents, including one at Mason Mill Park, a short distance from the city. Hopefully the City of Atlanta will someday add some dog parks to its eastside neighborhoods like Inman Park, Candler Park, Kirkwood, etc. Updates to the city’s dog park policies are in the works. Decatur has three dog parks for its approx. 19,000 residents, which is the best ratio in the state (national standards are one dog park for every 20,000 residents).
Thanks again to Decatur Metro for being so supportive of Active Living programs and events. Many cities don’t have such popular online forums like DM, InDecatur, DNO and Open City Hall where residents can discuss at length parks and rec/active living/bike & pedestrian issues, etc. While we receive much feedback from city residents in person, e-mail, over the phone and from the Active Living Advsiory Board, online debate always brings out interesting opinions and points, and cogent arguments that are very helpful to staff. DM is fantastic!
We live two houses down and across the street from City of Decatur. I really don’t think I should be forced to drive all the way to DeKalb County Dog parks because of the smidge that I live outside of Decatur.
Pay City of Decatur taxes, use City if Decatur dog parks. There’s a lot of city resident dog owners who deserve a first come, first served before allowing outside to use. The parks are so small.
Isn’t a public park, a public park? Are we really telling folks who don’t live within the city limits that they’re not welcome to use the parks? I enjoy Piedmont and other Atlanta parks. I guess Decatur residents pay to support DeKalb County Parks.
Is anybody REALLY going to kick this woman out?
You can be given a citation if you’re in the park without a permit.
Honestly, I spend so much time and money in Decatur, it’s kind of a bummer that I can’t take my dog to the park there.
I don’t use the dog parks, so I don’t know how crowded they get. I suspect, though, that there are extra costs to maintain them that don’t pertain to “regular parks.” Those costs are supported by our City taxes. Of course we want to be hospitable to our neighbors, but how is differentiating between residents and non-residents when it comes to the dog parks any different than the different fees charged for City Rec activities and programs, or admission to the City of Decatur swimming pools? It would make sense to me that if the dog parks can handle the traffic, then make them available to anyone but charge a small fee for non-resident tags.
And the greatest irony of this entire debate is that WE want to pay City of Decatur taxes!!! Most of us want to be annexed!
If you’re willing to put in writing that you want to be annexed, then you should get a free dog park tag!
Thank you for your response, Dan. Will the promise to make permits available to non-residents ever be made good on?
According to the website: “Dog parks will be evaluated in September to determine if permits have regulated overuse enough to allow the city to issue permits to nonresidents at a fee.” This was from 2006 – was there a decision made?
First off, thanks to Jess for asking about the rules. I had also become a bit confused.
Here’s what I remember about the whole dog parks registration thing. Back in 2006, the city’s dog parks were being over used, so they updated the ordinance, restricting them to residents only, and added registration and a fee (I feel like dog parks were a bigger fad back then, if such a thing is possible)
Since then, it seems like the parks aren’t nearly as crowded as they used to be. As a result, they aren”t really being patrolled all that often anymore. That’s my unofficial observation on the matter.
On sunny days, I can barely enter my driveway and drive down the street due to the amount of cars parked on both sides of the street because of the number of people at the dog park.
See you later Dan. I read that you’ve taken a job in Athens. As far as the dog parks go, I don’t understand why they are limited to those of us who live in Decatur. Are the rest of the parks limited to Decatur residents? I think Dan focused on families with kids. Some of us old folks like a relaxed life as opposed to an active life. I’m not sure Dan did or can understand this. Anyway, good luck in Athens!!
Hey, isn’t that the guy who lives across from Adair Park and places his bikes out front so noone can park there? Oh, our quirky little Mayberry.
Well, are the the rest of the Parks limited to those of us who live here? Do you discriminate against dog people?
For only a 15-minute trip, Park Grounds in Cabbagetown is a great place to bring dogs while you sip on a cup of Joe. Really unique idea that I hope makes it out to Decatur someday. I think Decatur could really use a high-end dog park that serves the entire community (and not just city residents)
I looked into the dog park permit thing recently (we’re just outside the city limits, too) — and got an e-mail from Dan Magee saying (a) yes, you’re supposed to have a permit (though I don’t know how often it’s enforced), and (b) they were going to be opening up a few permits to non-residents soon, and this would be posted on http://decaturactiveliving.blogspot.com/. However, I haven’t seen any news about it yet.
DM- Whatever happened with the website t-shirts? Was a slogan ever decided on?
Hey, yeah! I want to wear my Community Smatter on my sleeve!
Good question Rebeccab. It’s on my to-do list, but these days updating the site, selling ads, and keeping up with the rest of my life have put it on a back burner. They’re coming though!
Also I’m wondering whether using “there’s a festival for that” qualifies as copyright infringement.
Would be fun to be in the park over summer and count the people who “smattered.”
Here is how it works (mostly):
If you are from Kirkwood, Avondale, Lake Claire/Candler Park, East Lake or even as far as East Atlanta or Cabbagetown, you are probably OK. Inman Park and Grant Park are also acceptable.
If someone finds out you are from Midtown or Buckhead, you will most likely be asked to leave.
Certainly no one from one of those (heaven forbid!) red/northern OTP ‘burbs would be allowed in.
ING Marathon is this Sunday from seven in the morning until roughly lunchtime. Clairmont will have substantial traffic changes (only one lane going each way), College will only be operating an eastbound lane — and will be closed in front of Agnes.
Runners have the right of way.
Come cheer and win the Decatur Rec department some dollars.
Does anyone have a rough estimate of when the runners will reach Decatur?
At 26 miles, I guess it might take a while…
Leaders are expected at East Lake Marta station on College at 7:45 or so.
I’ve got to get to church on Sunday, and I called the DPD. They told me they expect traffic to be tied up until noon. I’m hoping I can somehow get to church (off of Briarcliff) by using the underpass under the East Lake MARTA station.
Where are you coming from?
From Adair Street. I think the underpass by that MARTA station is going to get me where I’m going.
Yeah, come around the back way to East Lake and then the underpass. You”ll be fine.
I would proudly wear a “There’s a festival for that” t-shirt…..but only it is were in a girlie cut
Yes DM please have some girlie cut T’s. I look like I’m wearing a potato sack in a regular cut Tshirt.
Don’t worry…there will be girlie tees. And NO Hefty-Ts if I can help it.
No T’s made out of trash bags? Why ever not?
What has been everyone’s experience with these kids hawking magazine subscriptions?
Legit or are they hucksters?
I called the police (non-emergency number) on one of them who came up Coventry. I thought they were supposed to have permits/ IDs… the cops came and I think just warned her in lieu of a ticket, etc.
I felt odd doing that, but her speech and manner were just too obnoxious. It also seemed similar to the DPD’s description of burglaries where the burglar first knocks to see if someone is home.
My husband bought from a kid selling subscriptions. When I found out, I asked him which school they were from. Silence. So we looked up the company on the internet and found TONS of nasty stuff written about it being fraudulent. Needless to say, we canceled his check.
I’m guessing we are a town full of them….Know any former Peace Corps Volunteers in the City of Decatur? Trying to put together a panel for Agnes Scott students (or others interested) to learn more about local experiences next week.
This website might help:
http://www.aarpcv.org/
My wife is an RPCV and an Agnes Scott alumna. Lots of other RPCVs in Decatur as well…
I’m wondering if anyone out there owns any of the 2006 Decatur bonds. I’m imagining an “Invest in Decatur,” bye-bye and buy bonds, type of thing. But I don’t remember anything like that and am wondering who bought them. I just don’t know how these things work.
The initial bonds are sold through underwriters and then in the open market through stockbrokers. If you you want one, check with your stockbroker.
…keeping with the dog theme – what businesses are dog friendly? I need to multitask when I am walking my dog. I know Squash Blossom, Ace Hardware, but what about the post office or CVS? Anyone know ?
The U Joint!
Yes, Love the U Joint! Going there with the dogs tonight!
Matador in Oakhurst just built a doggie bar along its side patio.
Marley (which we now call the MarleyBarley Bar) has doggie water dishes for the patio.
The runners in the ING Marathon will hit Decatur city limits at approximately 7:30am on Sunday. Come join us at the official cheering station on Ponce in front of the Old Courthouse. We will line the streets and have lots of cheering “supplies” to show our support. The Seed & Feed Band will join us this year. We want to win the Neighborhood Challenge. For info on the course and times go to http://www.inggeorgiamarathon.com/Marathon/Course.htm.
Don’t forget about the other water/cheering station in Decatur at the East Lake MARTA station. I’ll be there early with my kids to give out water/ade and cheer on the Marathoners! If you live in Oakhurst this one is an easy walk and you should definitely stop by. The same Decaturite and Clairemont/Glennwood Mom has been the station captain for 3 years now and I’m sure she would appreciate the help.
Hey now!
Decatur Heights neighbors: Rise up & show up for the City of Decatur stop! WE know how to make some noise!!!
( DH & Sycamore Ridge folks- please check out ING posters in the neighborhood for info on going together. Nice surprise on who put them up!)
Thank you Cheryl & City for this fun event! Great cheering supplies! Our group had a blast– and we’ll be back next year!
Just an observation, but when I recently returned from vacation I was sorry to see that the rope lighting had been removed from the trees around the MARTA plaza… Shame, I rather liked the effect!
The lighting will return to the trees later this year. We remove the lighting during the growing season for the health of the trees.
Everyone, please visit the DeKalb History Center silent auction tonight:
Enjoy an evening of wine, beer, hors d’oeuvres and music while bidding on fantastic items donated by generous local businesses. This annual fundraiser features food and décor from our preferred caterers: Affairs to Remember, Avante, Avenue, Badda Bing, Bold American, Carole Parks, Endive, Low Country Barbecue, Soiree and Sun in My Belly. Music by Complete Music Disc Jockey Service and additional decor by Active Production and Design and Floral Couture. Silent auction packages include event tickets, golf, dinners, art, jewelry, hotel stays, special tours, books, children’s activities, fitness opportunities and more.
This fundraiser is free and open to the public and will be held at the Old Courthouse on the Square, 101 E. Court Square, Decatur GA 30030
Friday, March 19
6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
*The Annual Meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and the Silent Auction will commence immediately afterwards
http://www.dekalbhistory.org/dekalb_history_center_events-programs.htm
But you won’t be there !
Flaka: we had to take the lighting out of the trees as it was time for the trees to be pruned. Keeping lighting in them for too long also hurts the trees. We were sad to have to take it down as well. It will be back in time for the next winter holiday season. Glad you liked it!
Yesterday, I noticed the John Mayer fan club taking pictures in front of Eddie’s Attic. It was so funny, they had on red t-shirts and each taking pictures. The shirts stated they were the traveling club.
Do something about GUNS on Marta! Make Marta safe!! Aah- such an unnecessary act of violence! Murder over a phone—so so sad Atlanta!
Last night, we stumbled upon the Furman v. GA State mens Lacrosse game at the DHS stadium. Didn’t know we were hosting college athletics, which is cool. Here’s what I learned: Unless we were watching club teams, the talent pool is mens Lacrosse is spread very thin. I watched a few minutes of the DHS jv team on Tuesday, and I’m sure the JV could have been either Furman or Ga State handily. My wife learned that in mens Lacrosse, they hit each other very hard with sticks.
Downtown Decatur was hopping on a beautiful Friday night.
Just got back from Touch-a-Truck Day, and I’d like to extend a huge thank you to all the CIty of Decatur and DeKalb County folks who made it possible. It was a terrific event, and one of those things that really make Decatur a great place to live.
I second that! It was a great event for the kids and all the folks who came with their trucks made it even better. A special thumbs up to the SWAT team members with their truck for being so great with the kids, but really, everyone was extremely accomodating and helpful.
Ditto. What a great family-friendly tradition. Although I could do without the headache brought on by the myriad horns and sirens.
Ditto ditto! Great fun for young uns & grown folks alike– definitely will be one of those cherished childhood memories!
Thank you City & all the friendly folks who worked the event!
Ditto! This is one of my favorite events here in Decatur. We really loved the SWAT truck! I wanted to go in too! My kids truly love this event and we enjoy hanging out with the city staff and police officers and firefighters and thanking them for their service.
Back to the Dogs. We need a lot more space. Unti 2005 we could play anywhere as long as we were under voice command. Then we were confined to 3 relatively small areas which we called Dog parks. If we are going to fence us in we need enough area such that we can leave half of it alone for a while to allow the grass to grow back.
The idea that we need to not allow my friends from At;anta or Tucker or where ever to play with me is a red herring. THE PROBLEM IS, ONCE WE DECIDEED TO FENCE ME IN WE DID NOT PROVIDE ENOUGH SPACE.
Sam, I understand your frustration. Find feasible space and I’m sure the City will be willing to listen. (Word of warning: if you’re going to float the idea of re-deploying space currently used for playgrounds or ball fields, be prepared to be shouted down.) It took years to figure out how and where to establish the dog parks we have now. We are urban dwellers and vacant outdoor space is at a premium. Meanwhile, as with any other limited resource, it’s only fair that those who pay the freight should get priority.
BTW, if I remember correctly, “playing anywhere…under voice command” doesn’t really work so well, since too many irresponsible and/or ignorant dog owners do not understand what voice command means.
smalltowngal, that was perfectly stated!
Given the news that construction will soon begin on the Emory “roundabout”, what do folks think about a similar project at West Ponce and Northern. I can identify 3 benefits: traffic calming, opportunity for a public sculptor, and demarcation of the entrance way to downtown!
Can anyone recommend a Decatur Bed & Breakfast type of place for visiting relatives?
The Garden House http://gardenhousebedandbreakfastdecatur.com/
The Alumnae House at Agnes Scott http://www.agnesscott.edu/alumnae/alumnaehouse
Thanks, CSD Mom! I had no idea the Alumnae House was open to all comers.
Nor did I! Great advice as always.