Fisher writes in…

Not sure if you saw this in last week’s Atlanta Business Chronicle but there was a front page article about the “Philanthropy 400″ (I guess the nonprofit version of the Fortune 500). Thought is was awesome that the highest ranking nonprofit in the state, Task Force for Global Health, is headquartered in downtown Decatur (note that it beat out the American Cancer Society). Even more impressively, it is the 4th highest ranking nonprofit in the entire country. They bought the building at 325 Swanton Way a few years ago (corner of Swanton & W. Trinity) and they are currently under construction with an expansion project – I guess we now know why. Very cool to have an organization with such a worldwide reach and meaningful mission located right here in Decatur. Here is the link to the full article.

You can learn more about the Task Force for Global Health on their website.  We covered their recent expansion plans HERE back in May.  The picture above is pre-construction.

A new, erratic poll by “Harris Interactive“, ranks Atlanta 15 out of 15 cities that folks want to move to if they were forced from their homes by very adamant Harris employees and move somewhere else.

Atlanta dropped 8 spots from #7 in 2010.  As such, I suggest that Atlanta do everything in its power to change everything back to the way it was last year.  I’ll start things off.  We need to….

1. Get the Thrashers back
2. Return all developed strips of the Beltline back to their natural, trashier state
3. Re-film the first season of The Walking Dead somewhere other than downtown Atlanta
4. Never let it snow on Christmas Day again

What else?  Hurry up!  We only have a year before Harris conducts this crazy poll again!

How did I miss this?  Wait.  How did YOU ALL miss this?!

Though far from being the two-wheelers’ playground it could be, Atlanta’s made some inroads when it comes to cycling. The most welcome addition to the metro region’s disparate bicycle network: Decatur’s new bike lanes along West Ponce de Leon Avenue and West Trinity Place. Wide and well-marked, the lanes clearly show where cyclists are supposed to pedal and motorists are supposed to yield. Designers even threw in a “bike box,” an area that allows cyclists to skip in front of cars at the red light and make a safe turn across traffic when the light changes to green. Decatur could’ve just tossed down a strip of paint on a busy road, but it went one step further and placed West Ponce on a “road diet” — actually reducing the number of automobile lanes in order to discourage drivers from roaring down the street. Sure, it’s one small $550,000 project. But it’s a great step for a city that’s building on its reputation as a paradise for progressives.

Decatur – and the surrounding area – picked up a good number of Loafies this year!  Among the one’s I saw in my casual search…

• Best Suburb – Decatur
• Local Poet and Best Spoken Word Artist – Kodac Harrison
• Best Book Event – Decatur Book Festival
• Best Acoustic Music Club – Eddie’s Attic
• Best Pool Hall – Twain’s
• Best Patio – Wahoo!
• Best Waitstaff and Cocktails – Leon’s Full Service
• Best French Food – Cafe Alsace
• Best Cookies – Cookie Studio
• Best Fried Chicken – Watershed
• Best Beer Selection – Brick Store Pub
• Best Local Boutique – Squash Blossom
• Best Consignment Store – Finder’s Keepers
• Best Antique Market – Kudzu
• Neighborhood Hardware Store – Intown Ace Hardware

Let me know what I missed!

We have a winner.

We’ve already cut Decatur’s 2010 Census data a couple of ways over the past few months, and had a lengthy discussion about the decline of black households inside the city.  But what about that OTHER most talked about Decatur demographic?

That’s right, I’m talking about families with kids.

A reader points to this great website that very clearly shows the growth in various demographics between the 2000 and 2010 Census, among them households with children.  Here’s the breakdown on households by family-type:

                                                                           2000         2010     % change

• Under 6 years old:                                     399            698          75%
• Under 6 years and 6-17 years:               192            305          59%
• 6-17 years only:                                         530             730          38%
• No children under 18 years:                1,462          1,603         10%
• Male householder only w/kids:              195              216         11%
• Female householder only w/kids:      1,076             984         -9%

Note that this is HOUSEHOLD data and doesn’t take into account the number of children in each household.  However, this might be the first concrete dataset we’ve seen which confirms what many of you have been reporting for years: an impressive/scary/reaffirming increase among the youngest children set.  Just to be clear: the number of households with children under 6 years old is nearly THE SAME as households with kids 6-17 years old.  That’s certainly something to take note of considering that’s a 6 year age span compared to an 11 year age span.

That discrepancy, combined with general increases in all three husband/wife/kid groups gives a very real idea of the enrollment issues City Schools of Decatur having been dealing with and will have to accommodate in the coming years.

Why make decisions yourself when you can just have the Internet do it for you?

I mean, all you have to do is throw a bunch of different options up on a website.  What could be easier?  No need to even account for standardization across selections. The democratic process will sort it all out!  Right?

Uh oh, what’s this?

Georgians will get a second shot at voting for the design of a new license plate after state officials on Friday acknowledged miscommunication over whether “In God We Trust” would appear on the new tag.

…The Department of Revenue on Thursday released the three plate designs that received the most online votes, all of them featuring IGWT. This led [Revenue Commissioner Doug] MacGinnitie to determine that the confusion might have skewed the results.

…The commissioner also said his office will try and prevent voters from casting more than one ballot. Commenters on websites on both sides of the issue — urging votes for or against plates with IGWT — bragged about casting multiple votes.

Voting will begin again next week.

College Prowler recently released the weirdest ranking of institutions of higher education I have stumbled on in quite some time. According to what I’m sure was a highly scientific survey, it has determined that mine own beloved alma mater, Agnes Scott College, is numero uno in Georgia for “Friendliest Girls,” with a 6.57 ranking out of 7. (Kind of makes you wonder about the other .43, doesn’t it?)

According to the site, “Nothing makes a girl seem nicer than when she’s friendly and approachable. According to students across the U.S., you’ll find those types of girls” at Agnes Scott and the other institutions that topped the list.

ASC just squeaked by Wesleyan’s 6.46 ranking but totally blew all the friendly girls Emory University, at 5.58, out of the water. Huah!

Friendliest? More like baddassiest. (I know that’s not a word.)

Don’t you love it when a random ranker in a travel magazine spits all over your hometown?  From Travel + Leisure, who recently ranked Atlanta the 9th dirtiest city in the U.S…

Many cities that made the dirtiest Top 10 scored well for having a vivid nightlife, cool neighborhoods, or great live music. Alas, Atlanta couldn’t claim any of those in the survey. At least the city has its quality—and sloppy—barbecue going for it.

Huh?  This kick-you-while-your-down statement comes from T+L’s recent “America’s Favorite Cities” survey, which sort of suggests that visitors to Atlanta aren’t aware of our great neighborhoods or music scene.  Also, in case you’re interested, Atlanta also ranked among the bottom 10 cities among visitors for Farmer’s Markets, “neighborhood joints or cafes”, “boutique hotels”, microbrew beer, live music and intelligence.

Ignoring the fact that both residents and visitors alike agree that the city is “dirty” and not environmentally friendly, pedestrian friendly or safe, it seems like we’ve got some PR work to do in the great neighborhoods realm.

Right now the only folks that come to Atlanta, check-in to their plushy business hotels (#8) and sit down in their Aeron desk chair to map out their barbeque (#10) tour around the city.

h/t: Atlanta Business Chronicle

Decatur’s Linda Harris alerts us to the city’s latest walkable honor; receiving a Silver Level designation in the inaugural round of Walk Friendly Communities’ uh…Walk Friendly Communities.

The national organization gave out 11 awards this year, with Seattle the only city to achieve Platnuim status.  (No one walks as hard as they do in Seattle!)  Ann Arbour, Arlington, Hoboken, and Santa Barbara all achieved Gold status, while Decatur shared the Silver level with Charlottesville, Va (Home of the great Parking Lot Movie!)

What aspects of Decatur helped it score a Silver?  Luckily, WFC has a quite detailed website.

Decatur is designated as a Silver-level community due to outstanding management of development and parking, top-notch educational and outreach efforts, and progressive evaluation methods. Highlights of Decatur’s application include:

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