Thomas Wheatley – famed trustafarian of the “wheat” family dynasty – reports on Fresh Loaf that the Atlanta Regional Commission has announced a new round of grant-recipients for the Livable Centers Initiative.  Along with a $4 million grant for the Beltline to build a ramp that connects with Ponce (near Ponce City Market aka City Hall East aka the old Sears Warehouse) is a $2.1 million grant for the City of Decatur towards our Clairemont/Commerce/Church Street pedestrian and biking improvements.  According to the Amber Waves of Wheatley, the grants require a local match.

Other area recipients include: Doraville, New Peachtree Bike and Pedestrian Improvements ($2.3 million), Midtown Atlanta, Juniper Street Bike and Pedestrian Facilities ($3.4 million) DeKalb County, Lake Hearn Drive, Perimeter Summit Parkway, Parkside Place Bike and Pedestrian Facilities ($3.1 million), DeKalb, Tucker Streetscape, ($960,000).

What’s a $2.1 million grant mean for the timeline of this Decatur project?  Guess I’ll just have to ask the city!

From the Little Shop blog…

Yes, we are putting another 25-foot tree on our roof! Come out and celebrate this new tradition as we sing carols and eat sweet treats and maybe get a visit from a jolly man in a red suit!

It’s magical!

h/t: Next Stop Decatur

The AJC reports that DeKalb County is implementing 1-hour parking in Emory Village in an effort to attract more visitors to the area.   According to the AJC…

The county will restrict parking to one hour from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays on North Decatur and Oxford roads near the commercial strip. Signs detailing the change will be up soon.

This seems like a good move, since parking is such a commodity around Emory.  (ALL neighborhood parking in the area is resident only these days and Emory’s parking decks cost students an arm – and perhaps a leg – each semester.)

Thanks to Steve for pointing this out!

What is “green?” Bamboo floors and photovoltaic roof panels? Sleek LEED buildings and EnergyStar appliances? Granola and weed?

That’s something the city’s looking to explore tomorrow by hosting Steve Mouzon, author of “The Original Green,” for a free public lecture at Agnes Scott. (Full disclosure: I helped with some of the organizing.)

Looking back through history, when people lived sustainably not because they chose to but because they had to, Steve offers a compelling alternative to the idea that high-tech solutions are the only path to sustainability.

As he puts it:

“Before the Thermostat Age, the places we built and buildings we built had no choice but to be green. Otherwise people would freeze to death in the winter, die of heat strokes by summer, starve to death, or other really bad things would happen to them. Today, as we are working to re-learn how to live sustainably, much of the focus is on the gadgetry of green: Gizmo Green. This notion that we can simply invent more efficient mechanisms, and throw in some bamboo to boot, is only a small part of real sustainability.”

Instead, Steve looks at the lessons of the past — sustainability practices that evolved, as opposed to being invented — and examines how they might be incorporated into our future.

What wisdom lies in pre-1900 design and building practices? Join us to find out, 11:30am to 2pm, at Agnes Scott’s Evans dining hall. Get lunch upstairs, then bring it downstairs for the lecture.

Green on!

• Outwrite Bookstore to close, looking to relocate [Midtown Patch]
• Resident finds man on porch who claims he’s injured and looking for help [East Lake Neighborhood]
• Emory chartered bus goes up in flames on way to Sweetwater Creek [Emory Wheel]
• Decatur Season of Giving Gift Drive [Oakhustga]
• Eater Atlanta gives No.246 “So Hot Right Now” Award, Holeman & Fitch takes best bathroom award [Eater]
• Watershed moving to Buckhead “to add private dining, a patio and more parking.” [ABC]
• POEM: The Cane-Bottom’d Chair [Poetry Foundation]

Photo courtesy of Outwrite’s Facebook page