MM: Decatur Deemed Bike Friendly, Chai Pani’s Latest Venture, and Buzzzz
Decatur Metro | May 20, 2015 | 10:00 am
- Decatur again named a Bike Friendly Community [LOAB]
- Chai Pani founder to open Boti in Ponce City Market in October [Atlanta Mag]
- Lots of photos from Pippin the Musical [3ten]
- Decatur is a top suburb, and doesn’t host most of its events in parking lots [Movoto]
- Ponce City Market Food Court opening delayed until Fall [Eater]
- Atlanta is the worst city for mosquitoes [USA Today]
Rendering courtesy of Atlanta Magazine
Speaking of mosquitoes in Atlanta, is it just me or have they been especially terrible for this early in the season? Not even officially summer yet and already it’s difficult to be outside in the evening.
Yes. The subtropical nature of Atlanta is already apparent.
Must suck to be stung by mosquitos. I think I’ve had roughly three bites in my entire life. Glad those suckers don’t like me!
Replace your gutters! it’s the best thing you can do – we used to have horrible mosquitos, replaced the gutters with a microscreen gutter that doesn’t require cleaning and now they are an occasional nuisance.
Or you could just keep your gutters clean.
One of the best things you can do is pull your ivy. If you neighbors’ yards are nature preserves, encourage them to do the same. Obviously, you need to address any areas of standing water on your property too.
from the” Decatur is a top suburb” link:
“Median home price: $340,300”
There are currently four single family homes on the MLS for less than $350K inside the DHS attendance zone. There are roughly eighty single family homes on the MLS between $350k-1.125M in the same area. Even if you throw townhomes and condos in the mix, that median home price is woefully low.
All you need to do to dismiss that “Decatur is top suburb” article is look at the section for Tucker, which includes the statement “Moonshadow Tavern is the perfect spot for a night out”. Also mentions that foodies will love the French restaurant, Technique. That’s was the training restaurant for Le Cordon Bleu, but it has been closed to the public for some time. This list was obviously compiled with Google Maps and some outdated data.
That is hilarious. I knew there was something that felt canned and boilerplate about that list. Good sleuthing.
And is suburb an appropriate term for Decatur? We have higher density than Atlanta, and I really don’t like the idea of being subordinate to Atlanta. Perhaps we should coin a new term – I’ll suggest “Alt-urb,”
I used to hear Decatur called an “intown suburb” but I suppose, technically, it is a suburb of Atlanta.
In-burb
All of Atlanta is outside of Decatur, so I would say Atlanta is the suburb.
Decatur is older than Atlanta, so wouldn’t that make Atlanta a suburb of Decatur?
We have a long way to go to really be considered a bike friendly city. It would be nice if the city invested in protected bike lanes and a network of bike lanes that connected all residential areas with business districts and MARTA train stations. Once we have that, we can call our town bike friendly.
Totally agree. I don’t know the methodology, but on my bike commute to and from midtown, all of my close calls have been in Decatur, and two occurred on east lake (you know — the one with the “sharrows”). Both of those were the result of drivers who were upset by bad traffic at intersections and made sudden — and bad — decisions. In one instance, a car passed me on the left (crossing the double yellow lines) while I was signaling a left hand turn and almost t-boned me. It’s frustrating, and I love Decatur, but I would hardly call it “bike friendly.”
I bike commute daily from Oakhurst to Emory and I often remark that the bit on East Lake with the sharrows is the most dangerous part of my trip. More so than being on Ponce.
Exactly the stretch I am talking about. It’s more like “Bike Friendly As Long As It’s Not Rush Hour and I Don’t Have Somewhere to Be”
Agreed. I find I have to take somewhat aggressive moves in order to stay alive on my bike commute through Decatur each day, such as riding all the way to the left of a lane (almost on the double lines) when I am planning to turn left, just so the cars behind me get the point.
Anytime someone tells me Decatur is a suburb, I explain to them that we are inside the Perimeter. I don’t think any area inside the Perimeter is a suburb.
I think of the suburbs as low-density residential areas where the housing is almost all single-family. By that definition, Decatur doesn’t qualify (especially with all of the multi-family coming on board).
I would consider most of the Lakeside area to be a suburb, and it’s ITP. Same for most of Brookhaven. Chamblee, too. Shamrock/N. Druid Hills area, also. There are lots of ITP suburbs.