Decatur Next

Our Commitment

A Decades-Long Work in Progress

Marta Opens Decatur Station

Completed 1979

Marta Opens Decatur Station
As proposals emerge for massive redevelopment, citizen concerns generate creation of the Downtown Redevelopment Task Force.
Redevelopment Task Force

1980-1982

Redevelopment Task Force
Public input sessions propel new visioning effort and result in creation of the Town Center Plan.
Town Center Plan

Adopted 1982

Town Center Plan
With formal adoption, the Town Center Plan charts a new course for downtown, becoming the basis for Decatur's renaissance.
One Town Center Comes Online

Completed 1985

One Town Center Comes Online
The Town Center Plan's first tangible outcome emerges with construction of a new downtown office building.
Restaurant Renaissance

Beginning 1987

Restaurant Renaissance
Entrepreneurial investment in downtown establishes the local business community as key implementation partners.
Downtown Hotel and Convention Center

Completed 1988

Downtown Hotel and Convention Center
Unique public-private partnership makes good on key Town Center Plan directive.
Ponce Plaza Offices Open

Completed 1991

Ponce Plaza Offices Open
Deft negotiating by the DDA finds a common ground solution with developer.
Streetscape Enhancements

Funded 1993

Streetscape Enhancements
New sources of funding launches years of downtown streetscape improvements.
Bus Relocation and Bandstand

Completed 1996

Bus Relocation and Bandstand
Livability takes a big step forward with key enhancements to the downtown Marta station and surrounding area.
CVS Development Challenges Assumptions

Completed 1998

CVS Development Challenges Assumptions
Development proposal reveals weaknesses in the city's downtown vision and spurs revisions for more predictable results.
Ice House Lofts Open

Completed 1999

Ice House Lofts Open
Creative design overcomes an ideological impasse with the U.S. Department of the Interior and brings the city's first new apartments in ten years online.
2000’s Ten Year Strategic Plan

1999-2000

2000’s Ten Year Strategic Plan
Residents and businesses unite to address conflict and chart a new course forward.
Towne Square Condos Open

Completed 2000

Towne Square Condos Open
Downtown's first residential development sets the standard for a whole new neighborhood.
Title Acquired to Depot

Acquired 2001

Title Acquired to Depot
Creative partnering saves a community landmark, then slowly brings it back to life.
Avondale Station Area Plan

Completed 2002

Avondale Station Area Plan
Transit-oriented neighborhood master plan builds upon the success of the city’s on-going revitalization efforts
SunTrust Building Replaces Parking Lot

Completed 2004

SunTrust Building Replaces Parking Lot
A willingness to compromise on both sides fosters redevelopment of key downtown parcel.
Renaissance Condos Open

Completed 2005

Renaissance Condos Open
Innovative structural design transforms existing parking deck into new, mixed-use building.
Comprehensive Plan

Updated 2005

Comprehensive Plan
State mandated policy document provides for a midterm check-up of our larger strategic goals and accomplishments.
335 W. Ponce Condos Open

Completed 2005

335 W. Ponce Condos Open
West Ponce's Deco/Modern past is augmented with a new, mixed-use, postmodern project.
Artisan Condos Open

Completed 2006

Artisan Condos Open
Signature project furthers downtown housing through redevelopment of surface parking lot at key intersection.
2007 Transportation Plan

Completed 2007

2007 Transportation Plan
Ambitious 2007 plan gets Decatur on the move, with equal focus on mobility, access, choice, and health.
Cultural Arts Master Plan

Completed 2010

Cultural Arts Master Plan
Arts-minded residents work with city to examine and leverage assets citywide.
2010’s Ten Year Strategic Plan

2010-2011

2010’s Ten Year Strategic Plan
City residents and businesses repeat and build upon the success of 2000's Strategic Plan, completing a new blueprint for the coming decade.
Zoning Task Force

Convened 2011

Zoning Task Force
Resident-led committee addresses areas where city ordinances fail to support the Strategic Plan.
Environmental Sustainability Plan

Adopted 2012

Environmental Sustainability Plan
Decatur gets green with a hard look at sustainability goals.
Unified Development Ordinance

2013-2015

Unified Development Ordinance
Extensive community process picks up where Zoning Task Force left off.
Place on Ponce Opens

Completed 2015

Place on Ponce Opens
Long pursued project leads the pack in new, downtown rental housing.
Better Together

Accepted 2015

Better Together
Expansive community conversation generates ideas for making Decatur a more fair, welcoming, and inclusive city.
Alexan 1133 Opens

Completed 2016

Alexan 1133 Opens
Residential building fills key hole in Commerce Drive streetscape.
The ARLO Opens

Completed 2016

The ARLO Opens
For-rent trend continues, adding to the diversity of the city’s residential offerings.
Comprehensive Plan

Updated 2016

Comprehensive Plan
State mandated policy document provides for a midterm check-up of our larger strategic goals and accomplishments.
PATH Connectivity Plan

Adopted 2016

PATH Connectivity Plan
Collaborative plan sets out to improve walking and biking as viable modes of transportation citywide.
E. Decatur Mixed-Use Zoning

Passed 2018

E. Decatur Mixed-Use Zoning
As market pressure intensifies in East Decatur, new zoning rules ensure compatible development.
2018 Transportation Plan

Adopted 2018

2018 Transportation Plan
Keeping Decatur mobile in an era of growth and change.
East Lake MARTA Master Plan

ADOPTED 2018

East Lake MARTA Master Plan
Transformative, transit-oriented plan for long underutilized station area emerges from lengthy community process.
Decatur Housing Summit

CONVENED 2018

Decatur Housing Summit
Day-long event, months in the planning, puts focus on housing affordability.
Legacy Park Master Plan

Adopted 2018

Legacy Park Master Plan
Community participation lays out long-term goals for the city's new, 77-acre green jewel.
Cortland Decatur East Opens

Completed 2019

Cortland Decatur East Opens
Decatur welcomes its first transit-oriented development outside of downtown.
Hampton Inn + Suites Opens

Completed 2019

Hampton Inn + Suites Opens
New hotel expands lodging options and conference possibilities in downtown Decatur.
AMLI Infill Block Opens

Completed 2019

AMLI Infill Block Opens
Mixed uses put key downtown site back on the city's tax rolls.
Legacy Park Housing Plan

Adopted 2019

Legacy Park Housing Plan
Additional efforts put finer point on Legacy Park affordability ambitions.
Affordable Housing Task Force

Accepted 2020

Affordable Housing Task Force
Citizen task force report gets tactical with affordable housing recommendations
Arcadia Decatur Opens

Completed 2020

Arcadia Decatur Opens
Three story apartment complex continues trend in transit-oriented development.
Inclusionary Zoning Enacted

Passed 2020

Inclusionary Zoning Enacted
City Commission takes swift action following release of Affordable Housing Task Force Report.
Stormwater Master Plan

Adopted 2020

Stormwater Master Plan
Decatur gets serious about the challenges of urban stormwater with this extensive community process.
2020 Strategic Plan

Adopted 2021

2020 Strategic Plan
A community-driven opportunity to map out priorities, policies, and projects for the next ten years.
Publix + Notion Project Opens

Completed 2021

Publix + Notion Project Opens
Mix of uses brings walkable retail, including grocery, to eastside residents.
Clean Energy Plan

Adopted 2022

Clean Energy Plan
Decatur offers regional leadership on local climate action via clean energy.
Missing Middle Housing

Passed 2023

Missing Middle Housing
Decatur creates a pathway for more middle income earners to find housing within city neighborhoods.
Recreatur Plan

Adopted 2023

Recreatur Plan
Decatur works out its parks and recreation master plan.
Modera Decatur Opens

Completed 2023

Modera Decatur Opens
Mixed use project replaces suburban-style, automobile-focused bank branch.

Decatur Diary | March 22, 2011

Completed and Approved!
10-year Strategic Plan Finalized

Decatur has its to-do list for the next decade.

On March 21, 2011, Decatur’s City Commission unanimously adopted the 2010 Strategic Plan, capping a year-long community discussion that engaged a record 1,500 Decaturites. The result is an ambitious update of the City’s Strategic Plan that will guide decision-making for the next 10 years and beyond.

Decatur Diary | February 1, 2011

“Right On!”: Decaturites Give Thumbs Up to Draft Plan

At the Drop-By Open House on Monday, January 31, residents got a good look at the latest steps towards an update of the City’s 10-year Strategic Plan. The process is fast approaching finalization, thanks to a record-level of community participation over the last year. Next up: A final report that will represent a refinement of the draft content presented on the Open House display boards, integrating comments and addressing questions from citizens Monday night...

Decatur Diary | January 27, 2011

Circulator Shuttle Makes the List, but What Else?

After almost a full year of collaboration -- collecting ideas, weighing trade-offs, measuring applicability to city goals, and evaluating feasibility -- a decade's worth of proposed Strategic Plan projects is now ready for community review. And, as came up frequently during Decatur Next meetings and has been discussed informally around town, a circulating shuttle is among those proposed...

Decatur Diary | December 7, 2010

Principles and Goals: Now’s Your Chance to Review and Edit

Decatur's march towards a new, ten year strategic plan took an admittedly slow and methodical step forward Saturday, December 4th, during our Open House at Agnes Scott. Over the course of three hours, city residents dropped by to review a rough draft of the plan's Principles and Goals...

Decatur Diary | December 2, 2010

Open House: Review and Correct Our Work in Progress this Saturday

With our final Community Academy session behind us, the Decatur Next process now moves on to its third and final phase: Taking all that input, all those ideas, and boiling them down to a coherent framework, with specific recommendations. Why is that important? Because, by organizing all that data as a series of broad principles, detailed goals and, ultimately, a to-do list of projects to be tackled over the next ten years, we end up with something measurable...

Decatur Diary | November 24, 2010

Design and Development:
We Like What We Like

Over the course of both the round tables and the Community Academy sessions, a consistent theme has emerged: Higher density development can be a potentially valuable tool towards many of our emerging goals (greater housing affordability, greater choice in housing types, reallocation of tax base, and a thriving commercial core among them), but only if it is reserved for our core growth areas, and designed and built in specific ways...

Decatur Diary | November 16, 2010

Getting the Love We Want,
By Design

Let's start with the givens: Decatur is a fairly dense, compact and mixed-use kind of town. And while the definitions of those terms may have evolved somewhat over time, that's what we were historically and that's the basis for who we are today...

Decatur Diary | November 9, 2010

Our Commercial-Residential Mix:
Are We Ready to Rebalance?

The key questions before Decaturites attending the November 4 Community Academy seminar at the Holiday Inn Convention Center were these: Is our current dependency on residential development for 85 percent of our tax revenue the mix we want? Or do we want to encourage more commercial office and retail?

Decatur Diary | November 3, 2010

“The New Main Street”:
Getting Down to Business

Did you know Decatur’s tax base has a higher residential percentage than most anywhere else around? That means it’s our property owners who foot the bulk of the bill. It's most likely not talking out of turn to assume there'll be increasing pressure over time to maintain or, even better, reduce our individual tax burdens. But how, exactly, does that work? If our revenues don't come from homeowners, where will they come from?...

Decatur Diary | October 27, 2010

“Decatur for Life”: Y’all Come,
Stay as Long as You Like

Matching the commitment of our first Community Academy session, around 60 residents gathered Monday night, October 25, to take on some key "Lifelong Community" goals -- affordability, diversity and choice -- from the round table sessions earlier this year... In short, they gathered to determine how Decatur could offer options for anyone who wants to join our community, and that anyone already here be able to stay as long as they'd like...
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