It seems increasingly common that talk of Decatur comes to include the phrase, “Victim of its own success.” And it’s true. Our years of vision and hard work are absolutely paying off, with all the challenges such transformation entails.

For better or for worse, we’re on the map.

So that got me thinking: What if the city ran a series of ads that played up some of our most desirable qualities, but in a way that made them seem a little less desirable?

Could we, with a healthy dose of painful honesty, maybe turn the heat down a bit?

Don’t get me wrong. I love Decatur and see the Town Center Plan and subsequent Strategic Plans as visionary models for collaborative community building. But, dang! I don’t want us to flame out. Be a flash in the pan. For everyone’s sake, our renaissance needs to be long-term proposition.

So, submitted for your approval are three parody ads (two fall after the jump) addressing a handful of our most discussed and presumably admired qualities: our restaurant scene; our schools; and our sense of community.

Maybe they can help slow things down a bit to a more manageable pace of change. What do you think? Take a gander (click each ad for a larger view), then put on your Don Draper hat and submit some parodies of your own. We’ll even mock up the funniest, most affectionate ones if they’re fleshed out with headline and text.

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