Decatur Post Office Decatur, GA (photo submitted by Paul)

Here’s yet another lovely hypothetical question for all you Greater Decatur folks out there…

Imagine you had to move out of your current home for whatever reason (fire, another 500 year flood, a lost war with a horde of carnivorous rats, etc) and you were forced to leave your current neighborhood  – what OTHER Decatur neighborhood would you most likely move into?

If that generic plan name in the post title has you thinking that the Decatur City Commission is planning to regress back to its ideas of the early 1970s and redevelop all of Decatur ala Le Corbusier (Dammit!  I said more towers! More giant, lifeless parks!), you can rest assured that this public hearing has nothing to do with anything like that.  (Does anyone have first hand accounts about some of the towers the city wanted to build around Church Street in the 1970s that freaked the population out and sent the then-City Manager packing?  I’d love to hear some of those.)

Instead, this public hearing concerns the city’s plan to designate two city properties as “urban redevelopment areas” so they are eligible for financing through the Federal Government “Build America Bonds”, which include a 35% subsidy from the Fed on interest paid.  The two properties under consideration for redevelopment using the program are the Fire Station #1/Rec Center property between Sycamore and Trinity, and the Public Works property on Talley Street. You can read through the proposed plan HERE.

So, if you have issues, joys or concerns to express to your commissioners about either of these projects, clear your calendar for Monday, December 6th and be heard as a member of the public.  (I assume it will take place BEFORE the city commission meeting, but I’ll have to check with the city – as the press release does not specify.)

There had originally been talk of including the undeveloped “Trinity Triangle” site in the redevelopment area, but City Manager Peggy Merriss tells me that they decided not to include it at this time, and can always go back and add it later “if it makes sense”.

Nubbs wrote in a couple days back…

We need to buy our Christmas tree and want to support one of the local organizations do you happen to know what organizations are selling trees this year and where?

And while we’ve already mentioned First Christian’s annual sale that started Monday, there are certainly other local orgs out there selling trees this year.  Like the ever-popular Winnona Park Elementary Annual Tree Sale this Saturday starting at 8am, which Juan reminded me of in an email this morning!

Where do you get your tree?  Anyone have other local org options for our good friend Nubbs?

Photo from last year’s Winnona Park sale courtesy of Chris Billingsley

So I know people have been worrying/asking about Jimmy John’s and the announced plan to open in the old Tastings space at 330 West Ponce.  I’m still waiting on further details, but sources say that the plan is still “a go” and the sandwich shop will most likely open early next year.  More details once we have them!

Also, as we announced earlier this week, Pita Pit opens today.  This morning I received some additional background info on Decatur’s newest pita place…

The development is led by local entrepreneurs Hose Divani and Derek Kellermann, who noticed the healthy aspects of the Decatur markets were largely missing a healthy late night food options and ultimately led to the decision to open the Pita Pit in Downtown Decatur.

Read the rest of this entry »