UPDATE: The action item passed unanimously though a resident did stand and ask questions about the cost. Patti Garrett also mentioned several emails she received this afternoon about the cost.

One clarification: Decatur companies WERE solicited for the redesign according to Linda Harris.

The redesign has been in the planning stages for two years. Most of the commission members expressed frustration with the current website.

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On the agenda for tonight’s Decatur city commission meeting: a new city website.

City staff is recommending that the city pay Vision Internet $46,630 to develop a new website for Decatur.  Aside from informing us that decaturga.com gets on average 3,960 page views a day, Linda Harris’ note to the commission (page 57 of agenda materials pdf) details many of the proposed site’s new features…

The redeveloped site will be user-friendly and make it easier to complete tasks such as paying parking tickets online or finding out the sanitation schedule.  It will have a number of programs that will enhance the website including the ability to forward content on a webpage through email; print-friendly webpages; automatic news updates on the homepage using RSS feeds; a survey creator; a high functioning events calendar; an image library; interconnected pages that can be updated simultaneously, preventing fewer chances for out-dated content; and, sign-up options to allow citizens to receive e-newsletters about specific topics (late breaking news, retail and restaurant info, upcoming festivals, etc)  It will be a place where the community can gather online through integrated social media and electronic feedback.  It will also include a platform that will allow the city to add a streaming video component to provide real-time viewing of commission meetings online and technologies to produce webcasts.  And it will also include a mobile application that will allow users to download the site easily on any type of mobile device.

This recent Washington Post article concerning the disappearance of NYC grocery stores has got me in a Jane Jacobs sort of mood today, thinking about how Decatur’s lack of a foot-friendly grocery store affects our sense of community. (And I apologize upfront to any potential Krogerites out there; I just can’t think of the Kroger on Commerce as accessible to pedestrians. Isolated by a stream of high-speed traffic and a massive cemetery, I rarely think of driving there, let alone taking a stroll to pick up hummus.)

As the article points out, though its often the poorer neighborhoods of our cities that struggle to retain grocery stores, it is also a very real threat for those living in more upscale areas. While poorer areas can lose their grocery stores to declining sales, stores in more upscale neighborhoods can be deterred or torn down as sky-high real estate prices make it harder to turn a profit.

Such is the case in NYC.

But how does that relate to Decatur? Simply put: this could or is happening to Decatur.

While we have numerous options when it comes to grocery stores within driving distance, there still are zilch that are easily accessed by foot. And the clock ticks at this possibility, as property value downtown continues to rise. While we surely are not (yet) a Druid Hills or Morningside in terms of affluence, even in early 2008 a downtown grocery store would be quite an expensive investment for whomever wanted to have a go at it. Especially with other grocery stores in such close proximity. However, I personally believe if done correctly, it would prove a successful and critical addition to a city that prides itself on “community”, but has no common place to shop for the essentials.

Many of us may frequent the Kroger on Commerce or (more likely) drive up Clairemont a short ways to shop at the Emory student-infested Publix at N. Decatur and Clairemont, but its just not the same as having a grocery store we can call our own. Attracting either a Trader Joe’s, Publix or (dare I say) “independent” grocery store to the hub of downtown would go a long way to eliminate the sense that we are becoming just another upper-class satellite city in the metro area full of boutiques that isn’t self-sufficient because we have nowhere to buy stuff we need on a daily basis.

Yes, there are many logistics that would need to be worked out. Like where are we going to put it and how much parking would be provided. But ultimately I think it could be a profitable entity that is a completely necessary piece of the city’s evolution.

But until the day when a developer with the available funds and foresight agrees with me, I will just patiently wait in my pedestrian-friendly, community-oriented city without a grocery store, insanely jealous of those that can pick up fruits and vegetables without ever setting foot in their car.