Mid-Week History: Parking, Taxes, Little League and Hippies
Decatur Metro | July 20, 2011Some interesting little snippets from an article from the city’s Summer 1971 “Around Decatur” publication entitled “City Manager [Robert] Mauney Gives Views On Direction of Decatur’s Future”…
If [Decatur's] going to be pedestrian-oriented then that basis has all kinds of ramifications: First, naturally, automobiles have to stay out of downtown. Given the fact that people still prefer autos (and usually one person to one car) you’re forced to accommodate them, by such means as a circumferential route around downtown. As pressure grows, you move eventually to central parking areas under a city parking authority.
…”You’ve got to have a balance in order for the city to be viable. Why? Well, if you look at the city’s tax digest you see that of the approximate $75 million making up the digest, about $35 million is office/commercial and about $45 million is residential…and over 30% of the property in Decatur is tax exempt.
…The third challege is the continuing need felt by the city to orient itself more to behavior problems; people want us to control other people’s behavior.” (“For instance?” “Well I have groups coming in here asking me to bar people from using recreation facilities – Little League kids are misbehaving, or something like that. Or hippies have moved in next door, and they want us to evict them.”)
I guess some things never change, while others alter dramatically.
Latest from Decaturish
1971 – a Gallon of gas went for 40 cents. Avg home cost about $25K. Median Annual Income was $10,600. Richard Nixon was losing his mind and Naaman Gibbets was wearing diapers – – ahhhhhh, the good old days.
Why on earth would you dirty my brain with images of Giblets in diapers????
NB – Gibbets troubles us all – the diapers, for me at least, are a balm.
Meh.
comium
I may be one of those hippies who moved into Decatur in the summer of 1971. If i can find my old next door neighbor then.. well .never mind.
“Given the fact that people still prefer autos (and usually one person to one car) ”
That’s pretty prescient
Can’t really look at those prices in real numbers. Using the CPI inflation calculator, here are the translations of your prices to today’s prices:
Gallon of gas – $2.23
Average home price – $139,334
Median household income – $59,077
Taking a look at the actual current pricing, we see:
Gallon of gas – $3.70
Average home price – $270,000
Median household income (2009) – $49,777
This paints a scary picture. If your 1971 figures are correct, real income is below the CPI, but housing and gas prices are significantly above.
I meant for this to be positioned under Hey Zeus’s post.
I got my info from the same website (I’m relatively sure) that smalltowngal landed on while I was procrastinating to a dreadful extent as well… I can’t make any claims for their accuracy.
As for Vida Blue – he was a phenom… first guy that I know of ever to throw a baseball over 100 mph. And, Joanie sure could sing…
If you mean JM, she still does.
Does real income just count wages and not benefits? If so it is likely to be a pretty misleading measure over that time.
Good question. I should have said median household income (which is what I found data for), not real income.
The nonprofit for which I work paid its starting caseworkers approx,. $9,000 in 1969. That translates to over $50,000 in 2006 dollars (last time I ran the comparison). Today, that same advocate makes $42,000 to start
And I do know neither figure includes anything but actual wages.
For perspective, in 1970, the year I graduated the first time, I paid $95 a month for an apartment on Oxford Road, 1 block from Emory Univ. I think that is about what I paid for my 1971 apartment on Melrose when I was a hippie.
Just to sprinkle a little cultural context….Carole King topped the charts for five weeks (“I Feel the Earth Move” / “It’s Too Late”). Extra points if you know (without Googling) who released these albums that summer OR if you ever owned any of them: Shaft; At Fillmore East; War War,War; Every Good Boy Deserves Favor; Master of Reality; Who’s Next; Blue; Every Picture Tells a Story; What’s Going On; Surf’s Up; How Hard It Is; Touch; One World.
The Apollo 15 crew went to the moon and walked around and came back. The Plymouth Duster was selling like hotcakes (probably for about $2k). Vida Blue and Dock Ellis–anybody remember what they did that summer? (I didn’t.) I spent considerable time plotting to circumvent parental control and see “The Summer of ’42.” (The ticket would only have cost $1 or $1.50.)
The US lowered the voting age to 18. NPR, Amtrak and Nasdaq came into being. The NYT started publishing the Pentagon Papers. Harris reported 60% of Americans opposed the war.
Yes, I’m procrastinating to a dreadful extent.
I sure like having Carole King running around in the back of my head compared to the Lonely Goatherd yodelling!
Summer of ’42: Wouldn’t that be considered statutory rape now?
All that good music just listed and the one I can’t get out of my head is freaking Rod Stewart. Damnit!
You know it would be–if, if, she was a teacher.
The only ones I recognize without Googling are:
Master of Reality – Black Sabbath
Who’s Next – The Who (that was a tough one)
Every Picture Tells a Story – Rod Stewart
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
I own the first three.
Thanks guys, for making me feel so young! I was born in the summer of ’72, so I guess I know at least one thing my parents were doing late in ’71…
I still knew most of the albums, but I never would have gotten Rare Earth without googling. And I thought you had just typo-ed War (1971 album by, um, War); I would not have gotten Country Joe. Which is to say that I knew many more of those 1971 albums than I would know of the current Billboard Top 10!
I wasn’t born until the fall of 1997 but I’m right there with you J_T on recognizing far more of these albums than anything on the current pop charts.
Looking forward to having you as a northside neighbor!
Looking forward to being a northsider!
And the drinking age was 18!
Yes, ma’am! And we turned out OK anyway! (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)
And I don’t think you could drink in Decatur in 1971. Of course, we still cannot buy booze in a liquor store in Decatur in 2011.
You mean the age to purchase.
Good point. Binge drinking among teenagers is supposed to be rampant these days. Where does it occur, according to surveys conducted in middle schools and high schools–not in package store parking lots, not in deserted parks, not in bars, but in private residences where the parents are either not home (e.g. still at work) or not paying attention.
Shaft – Isaac Hayes
At Fillmore East – Allman Bros.
War, War, War – I’ll guess War, but I’m not certain
Every Good Boy… – Moody Blues, I think
Master of Reality – Black Sabbath
Who’s Next – The Who
Blue – Joni Mitchell
Every Picture… – Rod Stewart
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
Surf’s Up – Beach Boys
How Hard it Is – ?
Touch – ?
One World – ?
Meant to add, all the ones I know, I own, and still listen to regularly. Except the Beach Boys one. It’s gotten hard to find and/or too expensive on vinyl.
Uh, 1977.
1997 was college and I actually remember most of it