I certainly don’t think living here 15 years makes me anything but lucky— house prices were much lower back then, at least they were on the south side! When I moved here downtown Decatur had only a couple gift shops, relatively few restaurants and no pizza joints. I remember reading in a local newspaper that the graduating class at DHS was about 80 students. What impressed me most when I first moved here was my neighbors. I had neighbors who were new residents like me and others who had lived in Decatur their whole lives and had raised their own children here. Growing up in the suburbs, I did not know people who had lived in one town that long! And we loved our little 1920’s bungalow, and that the houses in the neighborhood were all different from one another.

Average median age we were all younger 37.2

Median Family Income $65,064(2000) $94,455
Per Capita Income $7,087 $37,130
Population 18,404 18,147
City Budget $12.9 Million (2001) $18.5Million
School Budget $27.7 Million(2003) $36.2Million
# w/ Bach. or Grad. Degree 3,234 7,266 (2000)

So, as I see it the difference between old Decatur and new Decatur is, we are older, more educated, make more money and spend it more, paying more for services, & we eat out a lot more while jaywalking with a $5 cup of coffee in our hand.