City of Greenhaven proposed for South DeKalb (Atlanta, Redan: transfer, zoning)

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by lem1985

does anybody know where a map is of this proposed city ?

[lem1985]

thanks i just watched a video on youtube from Sept when they proposed the city. I love the lithonia area when i lived there a years back but this Greenhaven city....i just dont know about it i cant call it i am trying to imagine it. I wonder if the people in the proposed area is for it

[arjay57]

Thanks, Gulch. That certainly looks sensible.

As far as where people want to draw their boundaries or what they choose to name themselves, that is totally their affair. South Dekalb is urbanizing and Greenhaven sounds like a perfectly fine name to me.

One of the great things about smaller cities is that they tend to be closer -- and hence more transparent and responsive -- to their citizens. The further away government gets from the people the more likely they are to ignore them and/or become subject to outside lobbying

Rock on, new cities. Let the will of the people be heard.

[jero23]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Thanks, Gulch. That certainly looks sensible.

As far as where people want to draw their boundaries or what they choose to name themselves, that is totally their affair. South Dekalb is urbanizing and Greenhaven sounds like a perfectly fine name to me.

Rock on, new cities. Let the will of the people be heard.

Yep, and those people especially in South Fulton like last time and South DeKalb will be "no thank, we like our current setup"...

[lem1985]

the proposed are will get a little smaller if stone mountain and lithonia are successful in annexing. Lithonia is at 1100(city limit) but plan to be at 90,000 after annexing.

[joey86]

Originally Posted by jero23

These places aren't communities, these places are basically single-family dwelling subdivisions amongst disorganized urban sprawl. Where are these places "central business district" where is the center of their communities are located?

Oh yeah, having "city hall" in a random office building or office complex doesn't count.

Again, Sandy Springs is in the process of redeveloping their core into a more densely populated mixed-use corridor. This corridor has been the center of the community for a long time, being the commercial center and the location of the springs for which the city was named. They are creating several new parks and building a new municipal complex, one that will be separate from offices, so it should "count" in your eyes.

Also, a place does not have to be built to the standards of outsiders to be considered a community. You'd be surprised at how close-knit some of the suburban neighborhoods are. There are plenty where no one is a stranger. I've even seen a very close-knit community in the middle of nowhere in south Georgia. After driving maybe fifteen miles on unpaved roads I came to a collection of about a dozen houses where several families had made an idyllic place to live for themselves. I prefer urbanity, but it isn't for everyone. To each their own.

"Community: a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage"

[jero23]

Originally Posted by joey86

Again, Sandy Springs is in the process of redeveloping their core into a more densely populated mixed-use corridor. This corridor has been the center of the community for a long time, being the commercial center and the location of the springs for which the city was named. They are creating several new parks and building a new municipal complex, one that will be separate from offices, so it should "count" in your eyes.

Also, a place does not have to be built to the standards of outsiders to be considered a community. You'd be surprised at how close-knit some of the suburban neighborhoods are. There are plenty where no one is a stranger. I've even seen a very close-knit community in the middle of nowhere in south Georgia. After driving maybe fifteen miles on unpaved roads I came to a collection of about a dozen houses where several families had made an idyllic place to live for themselves. I prefer urbanity, but it isn't for everyone. To each their own.

"Community: a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage"

I'm well aware of Sandy Springs master plan for Roswell Road corridor. Actually, this was something initiated prior to the creation of that municipality by Fulton County. However, that will be decades not years in the making. It still won't truly create a sense of place in the community. Ironically, it's the only one that has been planned this far... Dunwoody, Milton, Peachtree Corners, Johns Creek, nor Chattahoochee Hills are basically disorganized places without a central core. All we have to do is look at Tucker to measure a sense of place and Dekalb County government are the ones that executed this. If you think I had forgotten Brookhaven, I haven't their "core", Town Brookhaven, is another development of the Dekalb County government long before their municipality's existence.

[demonta4]

If Greenhaven gets their charter, will Dekalb still build their new government center on Memorial Dr?

[bu2]

Originally Posted by jero23

These places aren't communities, these places are basically single-family dwelling subdivisions amongst disorganized urban sprawl. Where are these places "central business district" where is the center of their communities are located?

Oh yeah, having "city hall" in a random office building or office complex doesn't count. To any outsider, these places are monotonous random places with significant amounts of strip commercial development but not central business district unique to identify them as a true community. That is the fundamental principle of place-making.

The places Aries4118 listed saying "yes" does have a centralized business district/downtown, thus it possess the key characteristics of a sense of place. The others listed are random in organization as all get out.

LaVista Hills has a lot in common. Its basically the east of Atlanta, south of I-85 middle class suburbs.

Stonecrest is really just all the areas around Lithonia. Lithonia's plan calls for annexing probably 2/3 of the same area (they should probably work together).

[lem1985]

Originally Posted by demonta4

If Greenhaven gets their charter, will Dekalb still build their new government center on Memorial Dr?

good question since the jail is already off memorial with the waste services and other county stuff