HA! Wouldn’t that be an awesome City of Decatur bumper sticker?! Hmm…Decatur Metro reserves all rights…there! Let the pennies start rolling in…

Anyway…back to the issue at hand.

In response to a July 15th commentary in the AJC by DriftGrift favorite Jim Wooten, which argues that Atlanta needs to increase road capacities before allowing any other new development projects, David Allman (chair of the Buckhead Community Improvement District and the Livable Communities Coalition) has written a response, which uses Decatur as a central part of his argument.

“Build neighborhoods that combine housing and retail stores. It’s almost possible to imagine living without a car in downtown Decatur. There are apartments, condos, single-family homes and townhouses within walking distance of coffee shops, restaurants, a drugstore, a park and bandstand, a MARTA rail stop and much more. You don’t have to give up your car or like downtown Decatur to appreciate the fact that many of those good people who do aren’t driving as much as the rest of us and leave the streets at least a little less crowded.”

Love us or hate us…we’re freeing up the streets for the rest of you. Wow…we’re so great, even ultra-sassy Buckhead wants to be more like us! (Lord…I’m such a sarcastic cheerleader this morning…)

OK, in all seriousness, I do think Wooten has a valid point to convey about developers disguising projects as “mixed use” and then bringing in big box stores and building massive parking decks below ground so it still draws an endless parade of cars. (type “Sembler” into the search field to see all my old posts regarding that once ridiculous “smart growth” project) This garbage gives real smart growth a bad name. However, I obviously take issue with Wooten’s conclusion that we need a greater number of roads/lanes. Even if we choose to forgo the whole sustainability argument, did he even stop to see the price of gas this morning? People can’t afford a transportation system dominated by the car anymore. Sorry. Welcome to 2008.

We need more REAL smart growth, which actually allows people to get around without using 20% of their income on transport. And the only way that developers will even begin to consider such projects is with the proper infrastructure (a more expansive, better-funded light rail/bus system, bike lanes, etc…)