From Superintendent Phyllis Edwards’ letter to the School Board prior to next week’s meeting…

Since the enrollment continues to grow, even without annexation, the Board may wish to consider next steps so that the Westchester building may be turned back into a school site. It is my belief that a committee should be organized next year to look at the possibilities, cost, and timeline. I have said, at previous meetings, that one way to re-open would be to consider making Westchester a “choice” school. You might consider a controlled choice option – residents in the immediate zone would have preference to attend Westchester but anyone else that wished to go to the school would be included if space allowed. Usually a lottery is used in these cases. A choice school can be developed based on the type of educational program or delivery system employed or perhaps in the case of our school system on other criteria. I certainly am willing to begin such a process with a group of community members/parents that might be interested in such a discussion. Certainly we would want to identify a timeline toward relocating the central office personnel. It might also serve as a site to house overflow pre-K classes or classes serving students with disabilities. I would recommend establishing a plan so you might be ready to implement in 2013-2014.

From the AJC this morning…

Some of the highest-profile projects proposed for a transportation sales tax may not be capable of completion by the time the tax ends, weakening their chances for inclusion in the referendum. While the projects are not disqualified, if they cannot be finished before the tax ends they will be less attractive to voters.

Local advocates for major transit lines, which they hope could be rail, into Cobb County, across the top end of I-285 and into Gwinnett County said state analysts in preliminary discussions had told them those lines likely could not be complete and running by the end of the tax’s 10-year period. The project advocates emphasized that the state had not finalized its report and did not draw absolute conclusions. The report is scheduled to be out Thursday.

If Cobb and Gwinnett can’t get rail on the transportation list, that’s a big negative for everyone in this sprawly region.  Light rail projects are obviously quite expensive and if Fulton or DeKalb get any and Gwinnett and Cobb get zilch, we’re going to be widening a lot of roads up north to make the tax benefits appear even-steven.   Anyone need a bigger cul-de-sac!?

Hmm…now who could I POSSIBLY ask about all of this…

Kennesaw-based real estate information firm Smart Numbers has a catchy name for a struggling swath of Atlanta’s suburbs:

The Ring of Death is a J-shaped ring of land surrounding the west, south and east sides of Atlanta’s urban core. According to Smart Numbers, the real estate market in the Ring of Death will never recover.

Never.

It’s overbuilt and overloaded with foreclosures and distressed properties. The Ring includes Hall, Jackson, Barrow, Walton, Newton, Henry, Clayton, Fayette, Coweta, Carroll, Douglas, Paulding counties, and the parts of East Gwinnett and South Fulton.

Looking at the Ring prompts three Decaturcentric thoughts and questions:

1. Decatur isn’t in the ring. We’re smack dab in the middle of the non-dead area. Let’s call it the Donut Hole of Life.
2. Why isn’t Decatur in it? Is it density? Maybe. But Cherokee County is neither dense nor walkable and it’s not in the Ring. Is it mass transit? Perhaps, but Cobb voters hate transit almost as much as they hate science books that leave out the Old Testament. Cobb ain’t in the Ring. Is it schools? City of Atlanta’s school system is in shambles, but Atlanta’s not in the Ring.

It’s probably a combination of all those factors, plus proximity to Atlanta’s main office districts (Midtown, Buckhead, Central Perimeter, and Cumberland).
3. The last thing it reminds me of: Remember the May 31st Decatur Metro post highlighting anti-TSPLOST comments made by Fayette County Tea Partier Debbie Dooley? Yeah, well, maybe we should think twice before we take the advice of people with Ring of Death addresses.

Five Points Station, Atlanta GA (pic submitted by Brian)

Some of you had expressed an interest in seeing this.

City Manager Peggy Merriss was good enough to send along the map that divides Decatur into five voting districts, and creates a “majority-minority” district down thru the south-center of the city (District 2).

Please note that none of the city commissioners have openly supported or voted for this map.  They just felt it was important to look at prior to submitting the revised 2-district map to the U.S. Justice Department for approval under the Voting Rights Act.