Doraville, GA

Yea, I know these are suppose to be "wordless" but sometimes they need a bit of description.

I've a bit of a bug, so I'm working from home this week. Walked out to get the mail this afternoon to find a hawk in my front yard!

I snuck back inside to grab the camera and zoomed in on the photo from by the house...hence it's a bit fuzzy.

As I tried to walk down the driveway, he/she lifted of in glorious flight.....it's catch of a squirrel in its claws. (the little bit of white you see in front of the bird is the white of the squirrel tail)

Amazing nature can be!

Author's Note: As of Monday, May 16, this guy has been placed with Atlanta Lab Rescue where he will get adopted out very quickly. They have determined he has a chip, and are trying to contact the owners who live about TWENTY miles from where I do....can we say "let's just drop our dog off....." I'm know he will go to a home that will offer more love than they seemed capable of.....Thom

You know, we humans are a pretty amazing creatures.

Let's face it, we have no rival on the planet, do we? We have the ability to create and to destroy.

We have the ability to love. We have the ability to love with conditions.

We also have the ability to be the cruelest living thing on the planet. Whether it be as radical as killing each other, or bullying one another, we can be pretty cruel when we want to.

One of those forms of cruelty comes in the form of animal cruelty. It's hard to believe, but, yes, we, man, can be cruel and inhumane to the most defenseless of creatures. One one that come to mind, is also called man's best friend.

The Dog.

Really. When have you ever been around a dog that they were not full of life, wanting to play, fetch or just roll over for a good tummy scratch. Sure, there are vicious dogs too. They must have been around some bad humans.

But how can one be cruel to something that just wants some rules and a bowl of food.

As I have witnessed natural disasters in the past, it has made me think of the family pets. Dogs, cats, whatever. When I hear of people leaving them behind as they move to shelters, I think....WHAT? The shelter I would move to is the one that TOOK me and my dog. And if not, my car would be my shelter as I stayed with the other member of my family.

I think of those people who have lost pets in recent storms. My heart cries for you. I can't imagine what you must be feeling.

But, for someone to deliberately desert a dog....boggles my mind. Ok, maybe your life circumstances have changed and you can't keep him/her anymore. But to just abandon them? Leave them in your home as you leave, helpless and defenseless? Or to drop them on a street corner to be left to fend for themselves.

Really. How COULD you be so cruel and mean?

This guy appeared day before yesterday on the front porch of the house next to me. It's currently vacant, but I know he did not belong to the people that just moved.

So I've fed him and given him water. The look of "thank you, thank you, thank you" in his eyes is priceless.

I can't keep him, so I'm on the search for a no kill shelter that might take him in. Until then, he now lays outside MY front door, patiently waiting for MY attention whenever I step outside. I'll watch out for him until I find him a home.

You know, we humans are a pretty amazing creatures.

Footnote: I just read the following article in the New York Times, Recovering From Twisters in Rural North Carolina. Please read this article....the last sentence makes it all worth it. Really, really worth it.

Doraville GM Plant Does Not Get Clean Up Funds

As you know, I've written several posts about this incredible piece of land, located just 8 miles from Downtown Atlanta, AND has the Doraville MARTA train station almost adjacent to it.

Unfortunately, due to the current economic climate, there are no Buyers for this 160+ acre site! So, it just sits there for now, the parking lot filling with weeds. Sad.

It was reported sometime back that the Doraville GM Plant Would Not Get Clean Up Funds. A $773 million trust fund had been set up when GM went bankrupt and left plants behind. They kept Tarrytown, NY ( I use to work by this plant at the Tarrytown Hilton - now a Doubletree) and the Doraville (Atlanta) GA site because of the great potential they represent for redevelopment.

Here is a link to the story as it appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

I hope I'm around to see this piece of real estate turned into an exciting Town Center for Doraville. It really could be an awesome place, if it is done right. We shall see.

Doraville GM Plant Talks Continue

Talking is a good thing. It can lead to results. Representatives from Dekalb County and General Motors had more meetings as the Doraville GM Plant waits for a buyer and an economy worthy of a development of this size! The AJC reported that these talks happened this week, but there are no proposals on the table.

I've written about this huge development potential numerous times....as you can see from the picture...it's a pretty big piece of land located smack dab in the middle of the Atlanta area!

The black outline (forgive my unsteady hand!) indicates the location of the land...some 165 acres! You can see it's located right along I-285 where thousands and thousands of cars pass daily....perfect from some low-rise office type buildings along the freeway to buffer the noise from a retail and residential component that could be set further back on the site.

It is all about location, location, location, right? The red arrow indicates the location of the not so famous Spaghetti Junction, the intersections of I-285 and I-85, making highway access incredible for this site. The blue arrow indicates the location of Dekalb-Peachtree Airport, the second busiest airport in Georgia after Hartsfield Jackson International! That's how many private jets and planes take off from that airport each day!

Add to that the fact that the North Line of the MARTA rail system ends next to the site, and you have the making for an incredible live, work, play community, or certainly a green one where its residents would have direct access to mass transportation.

I can remember driving by the old Atlantic Steel Mill sit just to the Northwest of Midtown Atlanta, and thinking, wow what a piece of land...and look what it became...

(Mind you, all those cranes are gone and those buildings are finished....I need a new picture!)

I'm hopeful I'll see something cool and hip built on the GM site. Many people are NOT happy with what Atlantic Station is and how it turned out, so let's hope some developer takes note.

Doraville GM Plan Closed in 2008 to Remain......Closed!

Should this surprise us? Given the current state of the economy, who would start a development on 165 acres in the middle of a metro area where the housing market is....down.

The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted 5-2 to kill New Broad Street Companies’ deal to acquire and redevelop the former General Motors plant on 165 acres in Doraville, a small community located 11 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta.

The plan called for the use of $36 Million in Federal stimulus dollars and $18 Million in interest, that would of been footed by a property tax increase to the residents of DeKalb County. EXCUSE ME??? Foreclosues, short sales, unemployment and now RAISE property taxes???

For once, I have to say, the elected Dekalb County Commissioners listen to their jobs walking out the door at the ballot box.

I've written a couple posts about the GM Doraville Plant, including the LCI Grant and another article back in 2008 when they were discussing the "Finalists for the GM Plant." and there is an incredible GM Redevelopment website as well.

While this is an incredible piece of property, it does NOT need to be developed at tax payer's expense, or at least NOT in this economy.

The GM Plant sits in a great location, depending on which direction you decide to look at it from.

POSITIVE: 165 acres, at the crossroads of two major Interstate highways, I-85 and I-285 (also referred to at the Perimeter); a MARTA rapid rail (ok, that's a stretch) train station adjacent to the property. Close by bedroom communities offer affordable housing to those that might work in the new development but not be able to afford the new home prices.

NEGATIVE: Doraville is a lack-luster small town in the middle of a big city that time forgot. (Thank the previous Mayor (may he rest in peace) or keeping the town "bottled up" instead of promoting new business and development. It's also 11 miles northeast of Downtown...making it a destination in itself...and a challenge to do just that.

Many people in the Atlanta area refer to an Atlantic Station-type development, but many people in Atlanta also think Atlantic Station missed the boat.

I hate to see this property sit vacant. But let's face it, the timing (at least at taxpayers' expense) is just not right.