Category Archives: Built Environment Descriptions

“It’s greater in Decatur.”

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When my and my roommate decided to made our journey from the campus dorms to Decatur, I was highly anticipating what I would see. I had heard stories from my friends how the city was an economic and tourist hub and how everyone loved being there. From a city with its inception in the 1800’s, I wanted to see how modernized the city has truly become. When first walking around, I entered the park behind the city’s courthouse. I saw passing families on a Saturday stroll as well as independently owned restaurants across the street. This mixture of nature and commerce showed the importance that this bond had on the very culture of the city.  Continuing our walk through the city on the paved sidewalks mixed in with rocky pathways, I was captivated by the smells of different bakeries as well as the scent of flowers and trees. For a moment had almost completely forgotten I was in a place no more than 20 minutes away from the Downtown Atlanta Area.  We then ate at a local restaurant whose owner my roommate was friends with and I was very impressed by the friendliness of its residents. These people weren’t the typical “city”type, and they seemed to show an affection to new people and visitors. Continuing our walk through downtown, I was able to see the styles and wear of many of it’s younger residents. Many of their clothes looked straight out of a Goodwill, but that was their true intention. In a town where wealth seems to be apparent, many of these people choose the abandon the typical image of upper class. They choose instead to shop and eat at simple mom and pop restaurants instead of the luxurious restaurant chains. Even the newer restaurants and shopping vendors were vibrant with colors as well as murals created by probably local artists in tow.  Walking around I was taken aback by the town’s devotion to its culture and heritage with many of it’s early structures still in tact. Almost every structure had a plaques commemorating its importance to the identity of the city and how it is still being used today.  After spending a majority of a day int the city, I didn’t want to leave. The sheer accepting culture of the structures and the people showed why this town was truly a tourist town.  I cant wait to return to this town in the future.

 

Digital Record of Downtown Decatur #5

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My final destination was the shopping center of the Downtown Decatur area. This picture shows the mixture of shopping and urban living that is starting to spread in many recently urbanized areas. On the bottom floor, there are different vendors such as Taziki;’s, a Medditeranean restaurant and Fro-yo, a yogurt vending company. On top of these already existing stores are leasing offices as well as lofts for new residents of the town. This reflects the  new trend of city ‘s starting to expand up instead of expanding out where there is barely any room to use. Across the street, there can be found many different ethnic restaurants such as a Jamaican Restaurant that mirrors that growing demographic changes of area’s around and in Atlanta. Overall, this is a shining image of the increased economic expansion that Atlanta is currently going through and how it has an effect on its neighboring counties.

Digital Record Downtown Decatur #4

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Continuing the walk through Downtown, I was immediately drawn to this mural on the side Decatur CD record store. The record store itself is a reflection of the young “indie” culture of the residents of the town because of the many vinyls sold there. The mural on the wall shows a person, either male or female, laying on their side. The colors of the mural are very colorful, almost rainbow-like. The actual face of the mural is very haunting and can be open to interpretation. One of the eyes is closed while the other eye is purely white. The mouth of the person is wide open as though they are about to talk or are screaming in pain. This picture could either be a person who is just awaking from a very long rest, or a person who is under some sort of  pain from  sickness or some sort of drug. This subtle image that is on the side of a building shows as an image into the mind and expressiveness of the young residents of the  town.

Digital Record of Downtown Decatur #3

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The Decatur Presbyterian Church serves as one of the religious centers of the Downtown Decatur community. The actual structure of the Church is a mixture of the old gothic style of Medieval European Church mixed with modern neoclassical architecture. On the outside there can be large glass windows with a cross as well as characters from stories in the bible. The entrance contains two large brown wooden doors.  Upon reading the ceremonial plate on its wall, the date reads 1839. This means that this may have been one of the very first structures constructed in the town. This can also be assumed by seeing the surrounding grocery and convenience stores that surround the church indicating how the city may have expanded from a central point in the town.  The Church also serves to be a meeting place for many different groups around the Decatur region, in fact while I was taking pictures a wedding was starting.

Record of Downtown Decatur #2

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Walking past the town’s courthouse, one is exposed to this piece of 3-D graffiti.  Once entering the immediate downtown of Decatur, the city’s culture truly comes out. There are many small businesses that seem t cater to the youth of the town and this structure is a reflection of its mood. From a frontal view, their is an illusion that this is just a very large wall where someone has vandalized it however from the side its true intention is seen. The structure serves as a bench for many of the passing residents of the town as the walk to the nearby park. The very fact that this is a city mandated structure shows the importance the city has for “urban and hip” culture. Even though though the actual word that is spelled out cant be seen, the sheer colors and unorthodox structures on the graffiti bench are very inviting and I was happy to take a break from taking pictures to take a seat.

Digital Record of Downtown Decatur #1

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The Dekalb County Courthouse serves as the legal center of the town of Decatur as well as representing its fascinating history. When walking in front of the steps of the courthouse, one is taken back by the sheer size of the structure. Looking in closer, one there are many engravings of historical figures on the sides of the walls as well as shining white Greek columns holding the front of the structure. The very name is written in a Latin-esque font with the u’s written as v’s/  On the sides of the Courthouse, there is  a beautiful garden and park to give a more inviting feel of  the courthouse. The importance that is placed on the Courthouse shows the importance of law and order that held by many of the residents of the Decatur as well as the continued importance of maintain and preserving historical objects and places. I was really amazed by the structure and truly hope to see it again.