Free-For-All Friday 4/26/13
Decatur Metro | April 26, 2013Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Latest from Decaturish
Daydreamer
FM Fats
Robert Butera
gm
Peripatetian
Robert Butera
Robert Butera
J_T
Wacky Sitcom Neighbo…
Steve
Angelo
Just cranky
Rsizzle
theron wasson
Mikelark
I wish the Falcons and not the Browns had drafted Barkevious Mingo. Best football player name ever.
he’s a better fit with the browns’ dog-pound.
Now that’s a strong statement. Ga Tech had a defensive back named Immaculate Perfection Harris a few years ago (he went by I-Perfection for short). His brother’s name is Supreme Justice Harris. No kidding.
Then of course there is He Hate Me from the glory days of the XFL.
Don’t forget Georgia’s own Champ and Boss Bailey.
Would it be disrespectful to name a dog after him? I would consider it an honor….
I like Baccari Rambo better.
http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/5fndtz/key-and-peele-key—peele–east-west-bowl
I witnessed a wonderful Decatur moment last night. The Seed & Feed Marching Abominable blitzed Tommy Dean’s performance at the Big Tex Cantina to thank him for playing a benefit concert. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard a marching band playing the theme from Peter Gunn in a small room in a bar. Ears. Still. Ringing.
FM, hope you don’t mind but I’ve passed your comment along to S&F (via their Facebook page) and they are most appreciative of your appreciation!
The SFMA loves Tommy Dean AND FM Fats!
If you missed the Abominable last night, get yourself to Inman Park Fest tomorrow, 2:00, to see it lead the wacky parade. 39th year!
(And FM, don’t you carry earplugs in your pocket everywhere you go? I do!… *cues chorus of “what?” in the background*)
Went to the sham town meeting about the controversial secret master plan to overbuild Renfroe and Decatur High School last night. Though dozens of neighbors and parents skipped dinner to attend the school board was a no show. We heard from private contractor and school maintenance supervisor who presented and defended the so-called master plan conceived in secret, even as classrooms to accommodate 200 additional students are being built at Renfroe. Fox News has this piece: http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/22083597/decatur-schools-present
Citizens are concerned that there have been no impact studies, environmental, traffic, or as required by the National Register of Historic Homes for the MAK (McDonough-Adams-Kings) historic neighborhood. Population growth figures are questionable, and we know Decatur has flubbed this item repeatedly, being blind-sided by a spurt of population even as it was closing schools. This probably explains the current panic mode, but the wild figures that the population will explode by more than 70 percent by 2018 are based on the notion that the recession is over and every bit of available property will be developed and occupied by families with children and that DeKalb county is moving into Decatur to get away from its own school board headaches. Maybe, maybe not.
The rush to approve the controversial secret master plan is artificial, driven by the obsession to leap the hurdles to put a $90 million tax referendum on the ballot in November. The school board should cool its jets and go through a proper public input process. Decatur is an exceptional city and its citizens can brainstorm the concepts of expanding into the 17-acre, $15 million abandoned DeVry property, new residential impact fees to fund the growth, or the Calloway property for high school expansion. A second opinion on population figures is in order as is the aforementioned impact studies.
I know, I know, the school board is all good people. I like them, too. But their behavior on this has not been straight up. There is time to straighten it out and we need to come together to keep Decatur great.
They slowed down on the Fifth Avenue project and built an innovative, lovely new school. The school board needs to come out into the light and enter a dialogue with the public that it serves.
Well said Glenn!
Thanks, Glenn. I didn’t attend the meeting, but appreciate your update. Why this school administration continues to bungle, over and over again, its communications with the community is beyond me. They seem to go in exactly the wrong direction in communicating big (and small) decisions. I generally don’t have problems with most of the decisions coming out of the superintendent’s office – she’s more than competent. But she and her staff continue to be absolutely clueless and always behind the curve when it comes to getting a message out, particularly when it comes to “big” initiatives. Just the fact that there is a portion of the community that sees this as a “controversial secret master plan” proves the point. I know you are not the only one that feels this way.
The school will act exasperated and say they are doing what they can, but you can’t deny the fact that they haven’t communicated this well and have ruffled many feathers. The proof is in the pudding. They need to seriously re-evaluate their communication processes, because they’ve been failing for a decade in this area, without any signs of improvement.
agreed.
I think you and I attended different meetings. I thought the meeting was well run and informative. This has not been done in secret. The school district has been working to come up with cost estimates and building estimates that meet all of the guidelines of the Georgia Department of Education. They are now in the public comment phase. You cannot have “a famous round table” about this issue. The district looked into Callaway and DeVry and spoke with the DOE about developing these sites. Before you accuse our school board of being secretive I suggest you really do your homework. Our board has been transparent through this entire process. Pay attention and come to a board meeting once in awhile. Oh wait they also have eBOARD where all board meeting documents are posted. THIS IS NOT A DONE DEAL! If you would listen, you would hear this.
BCC–this is definitely a done deal. Don’t expect that any community input between now and May 14 will have any bearing on the school board’s vote.
I won’t be surprised when the MAK neighborhood mounts a defense and the whole thing gets voted down in November.
Once the Board votes on it’s own proposal (that they created with no input from voters, neighbors or parents) any input we have will be ceremonial at best. The Board was NOT EVEN PRESENT last night to receive input in a meeting they set up specifically for that intent. I think that is shameful.
The board is elected by us as is the City Commission. That means they work FOR us. They all seem to have forgotten this very important part of their job. This is OUR city and OUR school district and OUR neighborhood. We will live with the consequences of the eventually outcome in a way they never will.
You talk as if the school board members are outlanders who live and send their children to school in some distant land. They are us. They live here. Their children attend/have attended/will attend these very schools.
STG, I am saying that I would like for them to act like members of the community and parents of kids in the system. That would mean participating in discussions with us. Is that really so much to ask?
Having lived here for 14 years and been active in the community during that time, I’ve never observed members of the school board doing anything but participating in the community as parents, citizens and in their capacities as elected officials. I’ve found them to be individually accessible as well. If they were not at the meeting last night, then I’m betting either there was a darned good reason or the expectation of their attending was wrong.
The truth of the matter is that the meeting was for public input and they are the ones that will be voting on the issue. Their decision not to attend was shameful and unexplained.
Obviously you and I disagree and that is fine but at least we are engaging with each other. The board is refusing to personally engage with the people they work for. They are good people but they are acting poorly. They need to be accountable.
+1!
Thank you STG for your kind words and for not automatically assuming the worst. Yes, I wanted to attend the public information/input session on Thursday, but I had already committed months ago to serve as a community judge for Decatur High School’s senior projects that night. So I was at Decatur High School Thursday night from 5:15pm to 8:45pm, along with fellow board member Marc Wisniewski, who was also a judge. (If your’e not familiar with the Senior Project, DHS seniors are required to complete a project that meaningfully addresses a real-world need in order to graduate. If you’ve never served as a judge before, I highly recommend it!) I know other board members (and staff) were either out of town or paying their respects that night at a visitation for one of our CSD staff members who unexpectedly and tragically passed away last week. I know Garrett Goebel was able to attend the joint SLT meeting on April 18.
Please know that just because we weren’t at that meeting doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear from the community. While we board members are going to try to attend as many of these meetings as we can, these forums are not technically official meetings of the board. The intention for these meetings was to educate the community and give them as much information as the board has received regarding the Master Plan (via the powerpoint presentation), to record everyone’s comments and questions, and to get answers to these questions. All of which will be located on the Master Plan website at http://www.csdecatur.net/master-plan/
We have staff members recording everyone’s detailed comments, questions and names at all of these forums, so we board members will get every comment made – including comments made directly on the Master Plan website. This is a VERY important issue we’re facing, so we want to get as much input as possible from the community before a decision is made!! I can assure you that I will read everyone’s comment, and knowing the work ethic of my fellow board members, I know they will also do their due diligence on this important matter as well. I am planning to attend the meetings on May 1 and 2, but I have a work conflict for May 3. You can also email your comments directly to us. My address is , and you can find all of the board’s addresses at this link: https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/Index.aspx?S=4052
The Master Plan is scheduled to be on the agenda at our next monthly board meeting on May 14 at 6:30 pm. As always, there will be a public comment section on the agenda towards the beginning of the meeting. So if you would like to make a comment before the entire board, I would encourage you to do so at that meeting.
And is anyone else concerned about the number of middle schoolers they are expecting? I cannot even imagine 1,700 middle schoolers in ONE building. To me that goes against the ideas of Decatur. I thought we wanted smaller schools?!? I think we’re getting to a point where we need two middle schools.
How about retro-fitting Westchester as a Middle School? Gut the interior…add another story…whatever. I think we really need to keep schools smaller. Maybe elementary goes k-4, add a ‘5th/6th’ and middle school is 7/8?!?
I agree. I wish we could see some out-of-the-box thinking here. Our board is married to the current configuration and I just don’t see any willingness to entertain any other ideas.
Smaller schools cost more to operate — it’s not just the land/space, but heating/cooling, maintenance, personnel, staff — no surprise they’d rather expand than open another building.
I love this idea!!!
Hmmm my reply got tagged to something different than I thought. I like the idea of K-4, 5/6 and 7/8. That might prevent the need for 2 middle schools which I fear would undermine a cohesiveness that I like in CSD. Of course I also like smaller schools, but if they do need to be bigger getting them to 5th grade before the size jump feels better to me than a massive 4/5.
Glenn, Well said. What good is there to have a public forum when the people that are responsible are not in attendance. To address someone else’s comment, the only reason there are public input meetings is because of our outcry for public input. It was never on the table prior to the school board meeting where the vote was postponed. It was comments that day on this forum that led to a ‘fierce scramble’ by the board to postpone and then act as if they were going to have public input meetings all along. I would love to see evidence to the contrary.
Putting all of that aside I would like to make a few points:
1. The school board has spent $69,000 on their study, concepts and plans to get to this point. What likelihood is there that they would be willing to start over the whole process with public input? Perhaps the public input earlier in their process would have reduced the overall costs.
2. In the popular Option 3 the front of the school will now face Kings Highway! Are you kidding me? That is a huge impact and an insult to the oldest and most historic neighborhood in the city. Not one of the presentations I have witnessed made any reference to considerations for such a detrimental impact to our neighborhood. If we as a city, a wonderful community, are not protecting our most cherished amenities then what kind of precedence are we setting for our residents? and what does that teach our children?
3. Traffic Study? What, no traffic study? Are you kidding me? How can you substantiate relocating the front of the school to a narrow residential street without a traffic study to back it up? I suppose they can deal with all of that after the construction is done and realize they screwed up and then just take down the beautifully landscaped traffic island and the trees on both sides of the road to expand the street so that it can handle the bottle neck they will be creating.
4. Parkling. Parking is already a problem. During events at the school, people park all along Kings Hwy., Ansley and Adams. We understand you don’t want to build a huge parking lot only to be fully utilized during major events but something needs to be done. Numerous homes on Kings Hwy. have no driveways. The residents have to park on the road. Imagine leaving for the grocery store with your 3 kids and coming home to find out all of the spaces are filled and you have to park 1.5 blocks away from your home and carry your kids and groceries because the school is having a huge event. The response at last night’s meeting? “We have increased the parking by 30% or 40% in the new plans. It meets the city’s code so therefore we are okay” Code does not mean reality.
5. The main reason that Option 3 was chosen is because it is the least expensive. Ms. Edwards looked at Option 1 @ $30 Million, Option 2 @ $40 Million and said you guys have got to get the price down. That’s a wonderful thing. So they cut back. They reduced the total square footage down to 124,000 SF from the 190,000 for Option 1 and 180,000 SF for Option 2. So I break out my calculator to compare apples to apples since the reduction means nothing unless you can compare the square footage costs. Option 1 translates to $152/SF, Option 3 translates to $161/SF, pretty close to each other so I think that is a pretty accurate number. If they are willing to live with 124,000 SF as in option 3 then let’s do the math. 124,000 x $152/SF = $18,848,000. Wow, so that means we can cut back option 1 to 124,000 SF, leave the school basically where it is now, leave the entrance where it is now, protect the intrusion into our most sensitive type of development in our city and save the taxpayers $1.5 Million and everyone is happy. Can someone please tell me why this is not an option? In addition, if the school needs to expand more in the future then they could start encroaching more to the rear whereas in options 2&3 that would be very challenging.
We are all in agreement that the schools need to expand. Let’s do it right, let’s protect what defines Decatur and let’s get the school board to start listening to the people that elected them.
Your argument about parking is ridiculous. If you bought a house without a driveway (especially one next to a school which periodically holds event throughout the schoolyear), as far as I am concerned, you forfeited your rights to bitch about parking. If you want a designated spot, move to Alpharetta and buy a house with a 3 car garage.
I think part of the parking issue is that the school does not have in place any way to let neighbors know that an event will be happening. If I am going to have a party and take up all the parking one night, I will tell my neighbors. We bought a house near a school on purpose. We would just like them to be a better neighbor.
Does the neighborhood have a Facebook page or other listserve to which the school can send notices of high-parking events? If that is provided by the neighborhood to the schools, then it is up to the schools to notify that email/FB address. Lenox Place has a great neighborhood FB page that has all kinds of useful neighborhood tips.
The neighborhood does have a listserv and they promised they would let us know. This promise was made when they built the new gym. They sent out one notice just after the gym was built and not a single one since then. We are angry because out of all of the promises made back then, and there were a few, not one of them has been adhered to. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Also, please note the houses in this area are over 100 years old, meaning we were here before the school was. So who is the inconsiderate neighbor?
is there someone at the district office who is supposed to be in charge of communications? has anyone from the neighborhood reminded the school or the district office about how to keep in touch with the neighborhood (and its promises to do so)? I’m not doubting this has happened, just trying to be helpful and see where we can all improve communication.
Thanks for your thoughtfulness. Those are really great questions!
Your inference that he wants a designated spot is ridiculous. If you want to make ridiculous comments on a community blog you should move to Alpharetta.
Thank you.
Decatur: Liberal Until the schools Expand!
Actually many, it not most, homes in Decatur’s older neighborhoods (I will define as pre 1930)do not have driveways. Basing this on personal experience. My 2 homes in Decatur were built 1915 and 1925, neither had a driveway, both were within 1/4 mile of RMS.
Well said Rick.
If this is the public input phase, then the city council and school board should take note that the community is solidly against moving the front of a school that serves the whole city onto a narrow resdidential street. We are also against increasing the TOTAL cost of enlarging the school in order to get a short sited land grab on the ballot this fall. This campus is already slim in the green/open space category. Doesn’t a larger student body imply more PE classess and outdoor activities too? I’ve heard more than one person say we are early in the process here. I simply don’t believe it. I’ll be voting to keep Decatur walkable, even if that means my own kids have to go to school in trailers for a year or two while we work to improve and expand the existing buildng.
I believe you said it, “Maybe, maybe not.”
While I disagree about the motives, I agree that the process (for Renfroe) is a mess. And it has left us all at a place where we have lousy, expensive options on the table, extreme neighborhood opposition, botched communications, and a sense of urgency that may not even be justified.
What we should all know about our school board and administration by now is that this enrollment/facilities/planning subject area is not their wheelhouse. Multiple times now they have had to stop, seek input, and consider new options at the 11th hour. This time will be no different.
Re Master Plan meeting: The range of sentiments expressed here feel like deja vu. I agree with those who say that CSD and Board members are well-intentioned. And I want to fund what students need, even if mine age out before they can benefit. But I also am feeling uneasy about whether the best options are being considered, given their enormous potential impact financially and on our neighborhoods and traffic. Regardless, more improvements are needed in communication and community and parent engagement. I think there’s an instinctive, defensive reflex among public school administrators. Given that I have observed it since the late 1990s, I’m not sure how much is historical and how much is just the nature of public education governance. And I’ve always said that there’s some group-think going on that makes it hard for feedback to be heard, although now I know that’s called “narrative fallacy”.
I am heartened by the involvement of the DHS and RMS School Leadership Teams. And the need to get the community to vote on a bond to finance the master plan (correct?) should put pressure on CSD to come up with the most defensible plan and communicate it, right? Clearly, with a School Board election season about to start soon, we should all be thinking about which hard questions to ask the candidates.
It’s foraging season! Bust out your edible plant manuals and keep your eyes open. I won’t give up my favorite plants and spots, but if you look around you will find all manner of tasty plants on public land…
OK, you don’t have to give up your spots, but at least tell us what to look for!
Black locust is in flower right now. Watch out for the thorns when picking, and don’t eat the twigs, but the flowers are nice raw or fried up in fritters.
You mean like this spot? (Credit to GBK Gwyneth for the photo)
http://gobbledygoon.com/2012/08/instagram-urban-gardening/
I’m still wondering if this was intentionally planted or pure happenstance.
These are probably “volunteers” from not-all-the-way-cooked compost used on the city beds. My parents had several surprising melon vines (including cantaloupe and pumpkins) spring up at random places in their yard last year following just this scenario.
Alternatively, there could have been an event on the square featuring watermelon and someone just spit their seeds in there.
Two questions.
1. Have kids lost the art of the pick-up game, or is it just my neighborhood? When I was a kid, we would play football, basketball, whatever every chance we got. Multiage neighborhood games. This never happens in my hood although I know we have a lot of athletes. If it’s not organized, and not all of the same age, it doesn’t happen.
2. Is there an intersection in town that is a better candidate for a round-about, or rotary as Bostonians call them, than W Ponce/Coventry/Northern? I have plenty of time to think about that as I sit at that light. Maybe Clariremont/Commerce?
Regarding #2: We’ve been saying that on and off on DM for a while now. I even followed up with Amanda Thompson about it. Here’s the post from 2011(!).
http://www.decaturmetro.com/2011/07/07/ponce-nelson-ferry-roundabout-possible-but-needs-support-and-land/
So the thing that needs execution is this piece: “This project is not identified in the Community Transportation Plan or the 2010 Strategic Plan. So it would need significant community support to become part of our transportation program and for the City to pursue funding. Occasionally, the Georgia Department of Transportation will help fund roundabouts if the City prepares a concept study showing whether or not the roundabout will work.”
We could do an online petition and see how many signatures it received.
1) Yes, they have.
2) Yes, more roundabouts please. They are great. I will take one at East Lake and 2nd Ave. as well. I don’t think the stop sign they added there was necessary, but I’m sure I’m in the minority on that.
+1 !!! East Lake and Second is a great spot for a roundabout.
Are you one of the regular “runners” of the stop sign at East Lake and 2nd? Life in hands when walking if not yielding to all cars and cyclists at that intersection. Stop sign is a must. Granted 2nd Ave. is a state road and a major cut through from Memorial and even I-20 but those of us who live on 2nd need a safe way to exit our street or cross over on foot.
About a roundabout there – much pedestrian traffic in the area due to the dog park and church. The traffic flow at the newest roundabout in Emory Village is impeded by the pedestrian traffic so is it possible the same would occur at East Lake and 2nd?
2nd Avenue is not a state designated road. It does not have a state route number.
What would Officer Lindsey do to stay occupied if those traffic lights were repaired or replaced?
I don’t think a roundabout is workable there due to the dramatic drop off on Northern. For the same reason I am opposed to the traffic island proposed near the yoga studio.
Good point.
N Decatur and Lullwater roundabout – works great.
N Decatur and everything roundabout in Emory Village – works poorly. Too many pedestrian crossings in too many directions. If a roundabout regularly requires people to stop in the roundabout (like waiting for pedestrians), it doesn’t work well.
I think a well-designed and marked cross-walk might still make one at East Lake and Second work, though I admit I never thought of the pedestrian aspects. When I’m there, it is after dropping the kid off at FAVE at 655am Monday and Friday for the morning strings class – I rarely see pedestrians at that hour!
East Lake and Oakview might be another possible spot.
According to David Junger with CoD, 2nd Avenue IS a state road; therefore the DOT has to approve all speed limit changes. This news stalled our traffic calming efforts. Check any online map like Google or Mapquest and you will see certain streets colored yellow including 2nd and East Lake. A second search for an explanation lets you know they are state roads. Signs with road numbers are not always present.
Huh ! I stand corrected.
+! Steve.
Very gracious of you to reply.
The Emory Village roundabout works poorly? That’s news to me. I think it’s great and if you saw the daily game of Frogger pedestrians played prior I think you’d change your tune. I’m a Druid Hills resident and cursed the traffic lights for 20 years. Now I love it.
+1. You can’t judge its performance in the abstract. It has to be evaluated based on how the intersection performed before and what is physically possible whenever that number of thoroughfares converge. I, and I’d guess many people who used to either wait at the light there or try to cross on foot, find the improvements nothing short of amazing.
And that’s just in terms of performance. Less discussed is how what used to just be a managed car sewer is now a form of attractive civic space, which is the first big step towards increasing the value of adjoining properties, which is the first big step to increasing tax base without sprawling.
I do agree, though, that roundabouts are not a one-size-fits-all solution. They offer specific benefits that address some contexts but are not appropriate in others.
Because I don’t think it is needed, you think I run it? I come to a full stop. Just didn’t think it was needed.
#1 is very sad but appears to be true. I can’t remember the last time I even heard of kids getting together to play a game of pick-up baseball or football. Like you, I spent a huge amount of my time as a kid playing pick up games. I especially miss the many hours of wiffle ball on summer days.
Regarding #1, the kids in our neighborhood sometimes do get together and pull off pickup games of soccer, football, and basketball. Usually, at the neighborhood picnics though. I think it is a little tougher than when I was a kid as all the sports have become big club sports, 2-3 practices a week for soccer, softball, baseball, football, gymnastics, you name it. multiple games each weekend, traveling to games across the state and even out of state for ages as young as 8! I think many kids are burnt out on sports and just want to hang out at home or do quiet things with friends. Also, many kids get together online and play each other in electronic games. It is different, not physical, and not at all how many of us grew up, but it is here to stay. There are even people that make a living at playing electronic games.
I’ll stand up for the kids. While pick-up games are not as prevalent as in the olden days, I know a group of boys that organize pick up games at least once a month – even in rain and cold. Often they end up combining with other pick up groups on the same field. So it does happen. And I’ve seen packed basketball courts at more than one of Decatur’s parks on multiple occasions in the recent past. So, it’s a different world, for sure. But to say that pick-up games aren’t happening misrepresents it.
My boys play in pick up games every Friday afternoon at Winnona Park. Everything from soccer and kickball to 4-square and jackpot (whatever this game is-I still can’t figure it out). The art is certainly not lost; I just make sure that they have enough unstructured outdoor free time with friends. Then I sit back and watch that childhood magic happen.
Crosscountry lacrosse is played in our neighborhood.
What’s crosscountry lacrosse?
Off court, played from yard to yard as space permits.
Econuke
I think you nailed it. For the kids who play them, sports aren’t a casual affair anymore. Though I played organized baseball and basketball as a child, I played far more pickup games (though more wiffleball than actual baseball) than I did organized ones. I also played pickup football (touch, mostly) and tennis with friends who lived in apartments with courts. Lots of kids only played sports on a casual basis. I bet that isn’t true anymore.
That’s wrong, brianc. Kids, as it turns out, have a lot of energy, and not all of them want to play video games all day. They go out and play all sorts of things, football, basketball, lacrosse, etc. Because that’s what kids do. Yes, the kids are all right. Really.
We have a lot of multi-age capture the flag/battle/run yelling through the yards games in our neighborhood.
Forget multi-age. We need a middle-age capture the flag game!
Yes.
I suggest Dearborn or hidden cove
Re #1, on our little stretch of road there are frequent pick up games of 7-10 year olds, but I don’t see many teens around doing the same.
It’s Nelson Ferry there, not Coventry.
1. Lots of pickup basketball games at the courts at Oakhurst Park, all the time. We also see lots of pickup games at curbside hoops on Adams and vicinity. And Winonna Park is a hotbed of games of all kinds – soccer, ultimate, football, you name it.
2. Technically not in town, but the intersection of Scott/N.Decatur/Medlock is an even better candidate for a roundabout.
I refuse to even engage on #1 because it is a classic, “Kids don’t ___________ like we did when *I* was a kid, hence their lives must be hollow and devoid of true joy” whine. Times change and so does what constitutes quality childhood entertainment. Enjoy what you enjoy NOW and stop trying to vicariously impose your childhood on today’s whippersnappers.
You’re right on #2, though.
Your “not engaging” sounds a lot like sermon, lump. A pollyanna sermon at that.
I can only speak of the kids I know in Decatur, but from my experience, they spend a lot of time outside. Mine play in the school playground after school. They play in yards all over the neighborhood. Maybe they don’t play pick-up games, but most of the parents I know, while physically active, aren’t the organized sport types. They prefer hiking in the woods, riding their bikes, and so on to baseball and football. Maybe the preferences you see in the kids is just children taking after their parents.
I grew up in suburban Gwinnett in the 70’s and 80’s…we played pick up baseball, but…we had 1 acre lots to play on. All the kids would come and play on about 2 property’s to play. My folks did not worry if we lived in a walk able community. It was the 70’s.
It was almost rural…so hard to compare to Decatur. Hard to find the open space to play informal games that is not on a formal field. That being said I wouldnt want to raise a faimly in suburban Gwinnett…but….something to be said to be raised in a rural place.
How could you play pick up baseball…football…etc on .2 acres? You are forced to go to a formal field…
What a minute newbie – to make an assertion that kids can’t play in an urban environment misrepresents kids and urban places. There’s nothing inherently better about playing in sprawl-land. Think about all the great baseball players that grew up playing stickball in the streets of our pre-WWII cities. Streets and other public places can be just as good places to play than secluded yards.
Don’t forget the “Gardens of Eating” Decatur Garden Tour is this weekend, Saturday, April 27 (10 AM – 5 PM), and Sunday, April 28 (Noon – 5 PM). RoseHill garden will also be open Saturday evening 7-9 with refreshments, music and candlelight.
Today (Friday) is the last day to buy tickets on line at http://www.decaturgardentour.com for $20. Tickets will be available at Intown Ace, 17 Steps and the Oakhurst Garden for $25 during the tour. Your ticket purchase benefits The Wylde Center.
Come out and see how 15 area gardeners celebrate the locavore movement by combining fruit bearing plants, ornamentals and vegetables in their landscape. This year’s 25th anniversary tour is packed with something for everyone. It features 15 private gardens, including our presenting sponsors’ Rose Hill with many interesting additions, and Ryan Gainey’s world-famous rose garden, expected to be in beautiful and fragrant bloom.
The weekend coincides with the Wylde Center Plant Sale Festival at Oakhurst Garden. Herbs, vegetable plants, fruit trees, and shrubs will be for sale. Our theme, Gardens of Eating, reflects the concept of sustainable and edible gardens, and reaches across the spectrum, from potted herbs and outdoor dining areas to total food production.
Presentations at Oakhurst and Sugar Creek gardens will make the weekend a learning experience for visitors. Plan to spend a day or two and be inspired to add a little “Garden of Eating” to your patio, window box, or landscape.
did anyone else just hear a big boom?
i did about the same time in lenox place, don’t know what it was, I assumed it was a transformer blowing or something
420 Fest?
ha!
Rest in peace, the Possum, George Jones.
He Stopped Loving Her Today
In the spirit of totally unrelated questions:
1. What’s the proper pronunciation of Chai Pani?
2. What’s your favorite rendition of “Goodnight Irene”?
Answer to #2: The original by Lead Belly, and as for covers, I dig Ry Cooder’s on Chicken Skin Music.
+10
Re 1: Rhymes with Guy Bonnie, right?
Shy Panny
Oh, it’s a soft “ch” not a hard “ch”? I thought it was hard because that’s how everyone orders “chai lattes”. I’m still unclear on what “chai” means. Even moreso now.
I like Goodnight Irene on Michelle Shocked’s Texas Campfire Tapes, though that’s partly just because I love that album.
Calle Latina. Please help keep this place in business. Very nice folks, and I can promise you won’t ever feel the need to wait in a crazy long line for tacos again.
+1. Calle Latina is absolutely awesome. I wish they had more seating. I may have dinner there tonight — easy for one person to grab a spot (as the family is busy having fun elsewhere)
Seating was an issue for us when we tried to eat there last week. With 1 y.o. twins, no way we could sit at the high shallow bar table around the side, and the other three or four regular tables were occupied, so we had to make our apologies and head over to Raging. Shame, too, as I really want to try it.
With one year-old twins, you should be getting it to go anyway
You are fearless, and a personal hero of mine.
Fearless? Nope. Just careless!
If you really are careless, you might have some twins of your own soon.
Ha! ‘Tis true.
At first I thought this was a reply to “1. What’s the proper pronunciation of Chai Pani?”
+ another 1
Lots of food for the money, too.
Tree Walk in Historic Avondale Estates
Gardeners and anyone interested in knowing more about the trees that add so much to Atlanta’s quality of life are invited to come out for the Avondale Estates First Annual Tree Walk on April 27. The walk is being co-sponsored by the Avondale Estates and Avon Garden Clubs. Local arborists including Dale Higdon, (ret.) Georgia Forestry Commission, Mark Livingston, Arborguard, DeKalb County Extension Agent Gary Peiffer, and Steve Sanchez will lead the walk and point out the defining and unusual characteristics of the city’s trees.
Avondale Estates is noted for its scores of magnificent old oak trees, including the Atlanta Champion Willow Oak that rises more than 110 feet tall and more than 120 feet wide. Numerous red, sugar and silver maples line residential streets. Avondale also is home to a number of noteworthy specimen trees like deodar cedars, ginkgos and unusually large hollies.
The Walk will highlight these and other trees that are outstanding specimens by virtue of their size, aesthetic appeal, or unusual appearance in the Georgia landscape. To take part, meet in the Avondale Community Club parking lot, at 59 Lakeshore Drive, at 10:00 am. The Tree Walk is scheduled from 10:00 am – Noon. Tree experts will lead the tours and answer your tree questions. This will be a fun event and a great way to learn more about trees.
Avondale Estates was the second city in Georgia to be named a “Tree City” and has been actively working to preserve and expand its tree population. For more information about the Walk, email: .
Will the miraculous walking tree be there? I saw it strolling about at a festival in Avondale last fall and was completely enchanted. If I’d seen that as a child, I probably would have lost my mind from pure delight.
Hi Smalltown girl,
I passed your comment about the miraculous walking tree to the Avondale Tree Walk organizers.
They said they would find out about it and definitely include it in next year’s walk. They were thrilled with the turnout and success of their first tree walk.
Any recommendations for some theater tonight? I haven’t been to a play in ages and I don’t really know the scene.
We love Onstage Atlanta, they are doing 39 Steps now I think.
Great suggestion. Just up the road, love Hitchcock, but it looks like 39 Steps starts May 3. So NEXT weekend.
My spouse has an underwater condo in DeKalb county. It was bought before we got married. He used to live there and has the homestead exception for county taxes.
My spouse finally rented out that condo and now lives with me in the house that I own.
Do we need to ‘forsake’ the homestead exception thing? The rent barely covers the mortgage and required expenses. Giving it up means that we’re screwed even more on this underwater property.
If we must do this, how is this done mid-year?
We had two residences in the county (and city) and came clean with each when we realized that we still had the homestead exemption on the one that wasn’t owner-occupied. You can negotiate to pay back taxes only (principal & interest) without running the risk of being prosecuted for a misdemeanor and/or fined the double back taxes owed under OCGA §48-5-51. Because the homestead exemption remains on a parcel until you request in writing that it be removed, that is why it’s still on your parcel. Here are some steps you can take to come clean, if that is what you choose (and I was told that the county was doing an audit on whether the homestead exemption was being properly claimed): Call DeKalb Tax Commissioner, (404-298-4000) – Fax request to remove homestead exemption, include parcel id; County will research the property, make an adjustment – only back three years – and this will generate a new bill; no interest due if paid within 30 days of new bill.
It is worth pointing out that state law states that a married couple can only claim homestead on one property.
The other thing to note is that the homestead is claimed based on where you live on Jan 1 of the current year. You have from Jan 2 to April 1 (?) or so to claim the homestead for the current year. So you could not change it for this year anyway.
Anyway, don’t listen to me – you can just visit the county website here:
http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/TaxCommissioner/homesteadGen.html
When I moved to Decatur 2 years ago and still owned another property in Dekalb (that I had moved from – it became a rental), they automatically dropped the homestead from my previous property. I presume they did this since I asked for a mailing address change for the property tax bill.
Don’t assume they will drop the homestead — the burden is on the taxpayer to drop it, as noted above.
On a mostly unrelated note, why do county property records take so long to update? Yes I’m sure they do them in batches, but it can take 3-4 months.
And on a similar unrelated note, can someone explain the historical “why” of Decatur’s tax schedule? Why June and December, with the added awkwardness that the initial bill is based on the previous year’s assessment? Why not just contract out billing to Dekalb like other Dekalb cities?
I suspect the answer is among the following: A) it helps with cash flow to have payments in June and December B) we don’t trust Dekalb to collect taxes for us and/or we used to have Dekalb to it and there were issues C) it is cheaper to do it ourselves than have Dekalb do it. But I really don’t know. I hate explaining this to my mortgage escrow.
Homestead exemption is meant for your primary residence only. Look at this for all the technicalities:
http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/TaxCommissioner/pdf/homesteadinfo.pdf
The alterations and watch repair shop next to Suburban Bowl just closed. Anyone have a nearby alterations place they would recommend? Looking for something along the lines of replacing zippers or waistbands, not fine tailoring like a bridal gown.
Stitch ‘n Sew in Avondale.
I like M&K Alterations at Clairmont and N Decatur – in the same center as Fed Ex/Kinkos.
The Kims were in business at Suburban Plaza for 31 years. Mrs. Kim asked me to share how much they’ve loved all their customers. Unfortunately, Mr. Kim’s not doing well, and Mrs. Kim needs to stay home with him. She intends to keep doing some alterations work, but because they live in Gwinnett, it’s not feasible to keep the shop. For longtime customers who usually bring in items already pinned for sewing, she’ll make arrangements for pick-up/drop-off somewhere locally once a week. (I can provide her phone # if you need it.)
The Kims sure are going to be missed.
Does anyone have any wisdom on what would be a good Toyota dealership to deal with? I want to look at some models but also want a place that is good to deal with for maintenance and repair if I were to buy one. Car dealerships give me the willies. We’ve done ok with Carey Paul Honda but might want to buy a Toyota in the next 5 days to 5 years. I ‘d rather wait than make a wrong move. I’ve dropped by a few dealerships of various makes and found them so offputting than I think I need to be more selective in where I go.
The last time I owned a Toyota there a dealership right near Church’s Fried Chicken. In the words of my grandmother, why does everything have to change?
I do not recommend World Toyota on Peachtree Industrial.
We had a great experience purchasing our Prius at Cherokee Toyota in Canton. Not exactly close to Decatur, but definitely worth it. In general, I hate dealing with car salesmen so most of the interaction with the various dealers in the area was by email. We knew what car we wanted to buy and it was just a matter of submitting the our requirements to the various dealers via email and then eliminating them one by one based on who had the best match for options, colors, price, etc.. Dave Wheaton was the salesman at Cherokee Toyota and was super easy to deal with. Assuming he’s still there, I definitely recommend giving him a call. We’re not willing to drive all the way up to Canton for service so we have it done at Stone Mountain Toyota in Snellville. We’ve been fairly happy with them so far (but it’s just been routine, scheduled maintenance so it hasn’t exactly been challenging).
Since we don’t have Toyotas, I can’t help you with a specific dealer. But on a more general note, here is an article that might help with your decision-making:
http://www.fromcartofinish.com/The_best_way_to_buy_a_new_vehicle
Do your research before choosing a dealer. The Better Business Bureau has dealer ratings and reviews. Use a search engine and type in the dealership name and “reviews.” I also like http://www.edmunds.com.
I can’t help with a dealer, but once you buy you should look into getting your service done at LexTechs which is right across from DHS. They only service Lexus and Toyota vehicles and their website says they are able to perform warranty work just like a dealer. I’ve only been their twice for regular maintenance, but so far they are very reasonable and a pleasure to deal with.
Comcast
You suck. I just called to cancel my business internet service, which I have the pleasure of paying $70/month for almost 3 years (well, it started at $60 but is most recently $70 — apparently the contract lets you raise the price, and doesn’t give me any ability to do anything about it). Making me give you 2 mos notice to cancel and charging me $140 for the pleasure of doing so — not customer friendly.
Based on this experience, I promise to not do business with you for business or personal service. And, I promise to tell all my customers, suppliers, co-workers and friends about this experience. I know I can cost you more than the $140 you are picking from my pocket.
A 3 yr contract for $70/mo internet service? Really, you won’t waive the 2 mos notice?
Comcast is the evil. Worst customer service ever.
Fired them 3 years ago after 20 years of service for that reason.