The real estate-centric blog, Curbed Atlanta is doing a fun “Neighborhood Cup” thingy to close out the year, where Atlanta neighborhoods compete in online voting to win a self-admitted “fake” trophy for being generically “best”.

Today’s match-up pits Decatur against formidable rival, Inman Park.  And as of 3:55pm, Decatur is LOSING to Inman Park with only 39% of the vote!  A travesty of the highest degree!  But there’s only been 134 votes thus far, so we can certainly turn this thing around pretty quickly.

So if you care about fake trophies and the most random of bragging rights CLICK OVER to Curbed and vote Decatur into the next round where they will face either Va-Hi or Midtown in a neighborly fight to the death!

FYI: The “Unpossible” in the post title is intentional.  Ask Ralph Wiggum.

Decatur has given us so much this year.   Growlers, sharrows, street trees, new and rebuilt restaurants, Sunday sales, the second-coming of Eddie Owen.

Now it’s time to give back.  What would you like to give Decatur this holiday season?

Personally, I’m thinking a giant box (sorta like this one) filled with bricks, mortar, a few stone masons and a jack-hammer that will be placed outside David Junger’s home.  One chilly morning he will be awoken to the muffled sounds of the stone masons, yelling to be released from their cardboard confines.

When he runs outside to open it, he’ll be thrilled to see that he can now immediately replace all the city’s crumbling faux-brick crosswalks with the real deal.

Photo courtesy of voxtheory via Flickr

From a recent DeKalb History Center press release…

DECATUR – The DeKalb History Center’s Lunch and Learn Series kicks off in 2012 with a presentation by Mayor Emerita Elizabeth Wilson, who will speak about the Beacon Hill Community.  Beacon Hill was an African-American neighborhood near downtown Decatur which was bordered by Atlanta Avenue, Herring Street and Robin Street.  Elizabeth will discuss the churches, neighborhood and the schools.  She has interviewed early residents and some of their children for additional history.  The segregated schools included Herring Street School (later Herring -Trinity High School) and Beacon Elementary School.  Beacon is now home to the city’s police and recreation departments.

This area was re-developed beginning in 1949 in an effort to “clear slums in Decatur” and provide low-cost housing in a specifically segregated area.  The city followed the practices seen across the south in the 1950s where towns tore down homes and buildings in “blighted areas.”   Sometimes these areas were then redeveloped with new housing projects.

Elizabeth Wilson moved to Beacon Hill in 1949 and has played a key role in helping to end segregation in Decatur’s public institutions.  She was elected to the City Commission in 1984 and became Decatur’s first African-American mayor in 1993.

The lecture is Tuesday, January 17 at 12:00 noon at the Old Courthouse on the Square and is free of charge.  Guests are encouraged to bring a lunch to eat during the program.

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