Dan points out something that he believe is right up my alley.  And he’s right!

Mint.com now shows how much on average a random sampling of 4 million Mint.com users are spending at their favorite local haunts and which spots are the most popular.  As Dan points out, not surprisingly, The Brick Store Pub is the most popular restaurant in Decatur, followed by Fillini’s.  (The average amount spent at BSP is $29.34.)

The Decatur restaurant where Mint users spend the most per visit is Watershed, which clocks in at $75.52.

Now when it comes to shopping, the most popular spots in Decatur are Wal-Mart, Rainbow and Little Shop of Stories.  (Average amount spent at Little Shop is $26.71. by Mint users)

This ranker is by no means perfect.  In the five minutes I’ve been playing with it, I’ve noticed that not all Decatur establishments are represented,some businesses are in the wrong category, and the sample is probably pretty small on such a micro level.  But it’s still sorta interesting.  Especially the average prices.

Take a look around and let us know what you find!

And you thought the historic district dispute was brutal!

In recognition of Oakhurst’s 100th Birthday Bash on Saturday, I’ve been greedily holding onto this little nugget of drama that occurred just a few months after Oakhurst’s incorporate in 1910.  This whole story is courtesy of ATLHistory.com that posted pieces of the original article in the Atlanta Georgian, from which I will now quote…

In a great many places in Oakhurst the road is torn up, so [grocer Pearson] Zuber was forced to employ a boy with a push cart to deliver groceries. The boy, according to those who witnessed the affair, had left the cart standing on the sidewalk in front of Mayor Johnston’s home in Viola ave [now Madison]. Johnston, it is said, seeing this, walked up and deliberately kicked the cart, with its cargo of groceries, into the gutter. The delivery boy ran to the nearest telephone and notified Mr. Zuber of the mayor’s action.

Zuber hurried to the scene and demanded that Johnston pay for the ruined groceries. This the mayor, it is said, refused to do. A blow was struck. By whom it is not clear, but the consensus of opinion of witnesses indicates it was by Johnston. For a moment or so they battered each other, and then Johsnon was seen to pull away from the grocer and draw from his pocket a revolver. Five shots rang out as Johnston emptied his revolver at Zuber. Blood spurted from the two wounds Zuber had received, but, picking up a heavy scantling [basically, a two by four] that lay near by, he started for Johnston, who was retreating. With a blow he felled the mayor and then, standing over his prostrate form, beat out his brains.

ATLhistory has done a great job of piecing together the fallout from this brutal event, which you can read for yourself on their website.

Happy Birthday Oakhurst!

Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not discuss here over the past week.

Comments close Monday.

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This week’s Free-For-All Friday is brought to you by: Kick in the Fit, offering a free month of boot camp (morning or evening) to one Decatur Metro reader.  www.kickinthefit.com

To enter, just send an email with the subject line “Decatur Metro Giveaway” to [email protected]   Make sure to include your name and address in the email.  Kick in the Fit will pick the winner at random on Monday morning.

Deanne mentioned in a comment a couple days ago that Decatur has a 1,500 square foot MINIMUM floor area requirements for single-family dwellings on the books.

I was shocked and awed.

Decatur, home of pedicabs and solar-powered air-conditioning Prius units, requires that you build a house that’s at least 1,500 square feet??  (I bet I’m not the only one with a house – older than the law presumably – that doesn’t currently meet this requirement.)

Diane subsequently sent me a summary of the requirement and it reads like this…

III. Floor Area Limits Related to Lot Size

The current definition of “floor area” for a residential building for the City of Decatur is as follows:

The gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a dwelling, exclusive of garages, cellars, and open porches, measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls of a dwelling.

Presently, there are minimum floor area requirements for single-family dwellings:

R-60: 1,500 square feet

R-85: 1,800 square feet

Scott subsequently hypothesized in the same thread that the requirement is a remnant of the 1950s-1960s when the city was trying to guarantee “suburban family development of the day”.

So OK, I understand that Decatur is one of the densest cities in the state and that infill development these days is quite rare.  I also understand that many people don’t give a flip about limits on minimum square footage as they do about limits on MAX square footage.  Regardless, if we’re actually into “walkability” and being “green” and “sustainable”, shouldn’t we remove this antiquated law from the books so people who may want to downsize – in a very REAL sense of the word – can do so?

What would Sarah Susanka say?

East Commerce Ave Decatur, GA (pic submitted by Greg)

Angie sends in the info for this Saturday’s College Heights Fall Festival from 11a-2p…

Spirit Wear – School T-shirts will be available for purchase during the Fall Festival so stop by the PTA table and get shirts for everyone in the family!

College Heights Grill – LUNCH SERVED! Plan to enjoy lunch at the College Heights Grill. We will be selling: Hotdogs, Pizza, Nachos, Chips and Drinks, Cotton Candy & Popcorn

Fall Festival Fun – The entrance cost* is $5.00 per child (2 yrs. & under and adults are free) *Cash and checks accepted.

Included in the Ticket Price: Face Painting, Bounce House & Inflatable Slide, Cupcake Walk, Fun Zone for 18 mos. & younger, Bean Bag Toss,  Sack Race, Pin-the-Hat on the Scarecrow, Fall Crafts for All Ages, Fall Family Photos *($1 additional).  Plus More!!!

Decatur’s Assistant Superintendent of Schools Thomas Van Soelen informs us that, as promised, the administration has added free and reduced lunch student breakdowns to all seven of the K-3 redistricting map scenarios.  All the relevant data is now available for your perusal in the far-right columns of the scenarios that you already know and love.

Also for comparison, Thomas sends along the current free and reduced lunch rates across all of CSD’s schools.

• Clairemont                        22.617%
• Glennwood Academy      33.593%
• Oakhurst                            14.558%
• Winnona Park                   19.055%
• Renfroe Middle School   28.377%
• Decatur High School       24.78%