Decatur Strategic Plan: Now For The Hard Part
Decatur Metro | August 25, 2010The city hosted a Strategic Plan Round Table “Wrap Up” in the Decatur High School auditorium last night.
Mayor Bill Floyd told some good stories, made a couple head-shaking jokes, the Atlanta-based design firm of Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Associates (TSW) was introduced as the lucky group that will guide us into turning our 7,000+ bulleted vision into reality, and Jon Abercrombie pointed out many of the potential conflicts that exist in many of our goals, which will have to be worked through.
For example:
- Promoting diversity with more rentals, garage apartments vs. density
- Demand for more basic necessities sold within walking distance vs. commercial infringing on residential areas
- The desire for more alternative transportation options vs. its cost and impact on neighborhoods
As for next concrete steps in the process, I’ll let Amanda do the talking…
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Gee I just can’t wait until Decatur looks just like these places. Oh boy.
http://www.tunspan.com/projects_urban_design_town_planning.htm
I see you’re feisty today David, so I’ll bite.
So what SHOULD Decatur look like, other than not like all the very different projects at the other end of that link?
Should we truck in some old buildings and do a Sturbridge Village sorta thing?
Sort of!
We should just make a copy of the Pioneer Brewing Company in Sturbridge which is Brewery + Farm + Music Venue + Obscure Animal Petting Zoo. All of Decatur’s problems would be solved immediately.
Holy crap, that sounds like the greatest place in the world.
Dear Decatur, please promptly forget diversity and alternative transportation, we need a musical brewery farm stat!
DM, don’t even pretend the weird animal brewery farm would quench your thirst for a sexy, sexy high speed rail with actual logical stops.
DM –
Your New England roots are showing. Probably aren’t many of us in Decatur who took those school field trips to Sturbridge to watch candle dipping. Would have been a much more popular trip if we’d visited the musical brewery farm,too !
I know, I know. I used to apologize for being a relative newcomer to Decatur in a lot of posts – though I’ve lived around Decatur for almost 10 years now – but people started sending me emails and giving me pep talks, telling me not to be ashamed. It was kind of cute, especially since half the time I was being sarcastic.
But honestly, there aren’t a lot of places like Sturbridge in the South, are there? Parts of Barnsley Gardens? I guess I could have used that as an example…but there’s some new construction there, so my snarkiness might not have been so obvious.
Best example is probably Colonial Williamsburg, VA . I once visited a colonial village at Old Salem in NC that reminded me of Sturbridge.
Westville, an 1850 community with more than 30 restored pre-Civil War buildings, and guides and interpreters in period dress. It’s just outside of Lumpkin, GA about two hours south of here.
http://www.westville.org/
Jarrell Plantation near Juliette?
Early 20th century would be fine with me. Plenty of examples around Decatur. Courthouse, buildings like the one the Brickstore is in, Masonic temple. etc. We don’t have go all Sturbridge. Sorry but all those projects look like bad American Modern to me. Cheap, cheap, cheap. No more faux stucco in Decatur that’s my motto.
Out with parking and retail, in with greeen space and retirement communities! Convert from a consumption oriented model to a walking and health care oriented model.
How is that an either/or? I get turning parking lots into parks, but beyond that?
In part I am being punchy, but their is a glimmer of truth in what I say. We have always had retail centric development with parking requirements, the approach I reference is resident centric with a focus on the retirement community which has been demonstrated to pay a premium for housing if it provides a full range of services; walkability (density), active living, health care, and green space. I am talking about baby boomers with cash. The aesthetic component is huge. Decatur already provides much of walkability, transit, density, active living, health care access (dentists, doctors) so why not focus on the aesthetic? I am glad you get turning parking lots into parks since that is the most non-intuitive approach since parks do not “directly” impact city revenue while they do impact City costs. However over the long haul it could attract the retirement community I reference above, especially with nice walking paths and equipment for adults, and lots of humming bird moths. Of course some parking is a need but it should not drive the type of development like it currently does.
What about the baby boomers without a lot of cash? Don’t forget, a high priority for many is to keep Decatur affordable, and that includes making it possible for us to “age in place.” We are already headed in the opposite direction, as many senior citizens have been forced to relocate because they can’t afford to live here any longer, and many more are hanging on by their fingernails. Right behind them are those of us who can see our senior years from where we stand now, and who genuinely worry about having to leave Decatur when we retire.
I guess my question is, do we really want to be like Edgewood? Wall o’ Mixed Use in the name of Diversity? Developer and tax base wet dream that has to be torn down in 15 years? Really?
Look at the things that have made Decatur a destination. It isn’t any of the newer projects. Do people really want to be here if it’s just like Alpharetta? I think not DM. You’re from New England then think Camden Maine and you’ll be close to what I’d prefer.
How do you get Edgewood Shopping Center out of the citizens’ Strategic Plan goals? It’s not dense, it’s not alternative transportation friendly, it’s not about community, it’s not green.
From the projects page of the chosen consultant. Looks like all they really work on is that kind of thing.
Check out the “Planning and Policy Studies” section (sub-section of “Community Planning & Design”). Looking at their studies for the Moreland Ave. Corridor, the Old Fourth Ward, and the Ponce de Leon Corridor (three areas I’m most familiar with), it seems to me their experience and expertise are not restricted to designing new spaces where old stuff has been demolished. It looks like a track record of creating strategies that intentionally direct ongoing evolution of existing urban spaces, making the most of what is there and could be there for existing citizens and those to come.
David, I totally agree on Camden Maine. In fact, my ideal template is blending Freeport and Camden. Freeport has used the concept of outlet shops to create a robust main street retail district, and Camden is already similar to Decatur in terms of its reliance on restaurants for commerce. Put the two together and that’s the Decatur that would be unstoppable.
And I’m not too concerned about the consultants. It’s not like they are charged with architecting and redeveloping several continuous blocks of teardowns. It’s more likely to me that they are helping define street patterns and zoning that individual property owners can work within.