It does. From what I've heard, the south border is Clairmont, the east border is Lawrenceville Hwy, the west border is I-85....the north border is.......

Lakeside refers to the "Lake" or glorified pond just down from the school. I think the name is fine.

Mr. Crash, Lakeside (the school) was named due to its proximity to the now drained lake between the school and Starfire Drive. The mud hole you refer to is Simmons Lake, once a very nice fishing pond until the dam for the lake behind Lakeside broke and filled it in destroying the pond and creating a mud hole.

By the way, if you see a shadowy figure with a gig and a flashlight moving around that mud hole at night, it’s just me. There are some nice sized bullfrogs with some really wonderful looking legs living around that Simmons mud hole. And I just cannot help myself. Sorry to see that Doreen Lake is coming to an end of its life as well.

Regarding names for your new city, maybe you could name it after Echo Lake? Or better yet, how about Woodworthville? Similar to how many of your northward neighbors refer to their new city as Jacobsville!

Special hamburger and a Cheerwine anyone?

I don't like the name either. It shouldn't be named after a pond that is pretty much non-existent these day. It should be something that identifies with popular neighborhoods in the area ...Oak Grove, Northlake, even something like LaVista. "Lakeside" is pretty much a misnomer.

Hamburger,

Interesting that you know about the Lakeside story and actually know the name of the lake behind the castle house. I grew up losing many shoes in the swamp on the back side of Doreen. I Have these ultra vivid memories of sinking knee deep in the muck, pulling my feet out, the sound that it made while doing so, and the irretrievable shoe down in the hole.

Do I know you?

“Do I know you?”

Mr. Bill, I have wondered that myself . . .

Special hamburger and a Cheerwine?

Delete
Brookhaven
2:01 pm on Saturday, February 9, 2013
Same silly argument we heard in Brookhaven and the Dunwoody folks before us. Since 2008 when Dunwoody formed there have been 2 county elections and here we still are. Changing DeKalb from within is not possible as the electorate here will continue to protect the county as a jobs program . It is just a fact and there is nothing anyone in north or central Dekalb can do about it. For every one "work to change the county" voter there are 10 who will vote to keep the status quo. Municipalization is the only way at present to keep some of your tax dollars locally while transferring the power to utilize those dollars away from the corrupt and incompetent County power structure. Why do you think they don't want any more cities? By incorporating you are simply taking power away from our CEO and bureaucrats and giving it to yourselves.
Advice: clean up your map so that it doesn't cross 1-85 as DECA is a den of mostly radical vipers who will only sap energy and momentum from you.
Get the Tucker and Druid Hills corridor people together to strategize to see if 1 city or 2 cities should be formed. Boundaries are very important to your strategy and one shouldn't just half- ass the proposed map before all issues are worked out.
Prepare for a political campaign by hiring a consultant.
Ask for advice from those who have just completed this process- it can give you a huge leg up.

It's a very simplistic poll. I'm not sure I'd say it's a false choice though.

Mr. Tom, prior to its rechristening to North Lake, this lake in the Northlake area was known as Lodge Lake. The old home site sat at overlooking the lake approximately where the Dynasty Garden restaurant is located. By the way, the bull frogs in Simmons Lake are much tastier.

Please pass the yellow mustard!

He knows cause there aren't many 90 year olds left in the hood so they all talk.

Agree on taking Century Center being odd. If the DECA people can't get their act together and get in Chamblee then Century Center should go to Brookhaven.

And by the way, doesn't the Lakeside map leave isolated islands (not peninsulas, fingers or slivers) of unincorporated areas? I thought that wasn't allowed.

Ms. Sparrow, LOL, would you autograph my walker?

Mr. Tom, I knew of one dam rebuild, and I think it was the last. The tip-off was the drained lake. There was a lot of education and learning around that lake in later years as well. I hear the hot spot of learning was near the rope swing. For a lake that age it is in remarkable condition; there is very little sediment intrusion.

Please pass the yellow mustard!

Mr. Tom, I am going to have to pass on your Midway Baptist question. Does that church still have an active congregation?

My Daddy is buried in the Pea Ridge community. Know where that is? Careful now, Ms. Sparrow says I am 90 so it could be a little plot up in the woods somewhere.

By the way, I want to say I saw an old map that did list North Lake listed as Lodge Lake prior to its rechristening.

Please pass the yellow mustard!

Burget:
I was told about Pea Ridge by one of the Hendersons--passed away at 75 in about 2000. Even his memory failed him (pretty sure he had drunk too much shine). Then I saw something from the Peavine Creek Watershed Alliance (yes there is one) and I'm sure the Pea in Pea Ridge and Pea in Peavine are one and the same--because the Peavine Creek starts at a spring that was very nastily paved over at Crescent Center and then flows along the railroad tracks past Pea Ridge community into Emory U and merges with South Fork P'tree.

Pea Ridge is essentially US 29 near I-285. That would be the ridge. The Pea Ridge community is on the Northlake side of US 29 between Montreal Rd and Frazier. Then again, I could be confusing this with Rehobeth, which was also a community up there.

The reason Midway Baptist is called that is that it is mid-way between Rehobeth Baptist and the baptists on Cham-Tucker and was founded by the folks at Rehobeth Baptist (they named "Lizards Lope").

I have an amazing areal map (4 quads matched up) from 1955 that is quite telling, because that's right before all hell broke loose along the Briarcliff/Lavista Corridor and never looked back.

All these folks used to use a train to get downtown. There was a rail station on Montreal....and one day there will be another. Have a city if you will. I'll take a train.

Messed that one up--it's the Burnt Fork Creek Alliance and Burnt Fort Creek that runs below Pea Ridge. I have no idea where Peavine came from. Too much 'shine.

lets start a movement--i love starting movements--two people make a movement

A few more tidbits- Hamburger is not a Republican- Patch comment string posters commenting about cityhood are in no way a reliable gauge for true sentiment in your community- Nobody but Hamburger and 3 other people in Brookhaven refer to our city as Jacobshaven or 'ville- raise money now- charter school clusters are an option for cities-hold lots of public meetings-

Mr. Tom, the way I see it folks apparently insist on continuing to ignore the flawed DeKalb government and the catastrophe called DCSS and instead devote their time to creation of new cities. This will make DeKalb County less attractive and in certain situations may impact real estate prices and rentals. However, Section Eight rentals see no barriers and the rent is regular. With values down it is too early to cash out so this is a possible alternative for now.

Do you know there are some neighborhoods in Brookhaven where there are children and you never see a yellow school bus? Private schools have become the choice. Do you know there are some neighborhoods in Brookhaven when children become school age and private school is not an option family’s move from DeKalb County?

Of all of these concerned citizens that have complained about DeKalb government and DCSS and created organizations like C$ND (funded Brookhaven CVI study) and Brookhaven Yes, (yes, all of their creators and board members) I wonder if they ever participated in Leadership DeKalb? Or, is the easy way out for change to further fragment our community by creating new cities?

http://tinyurl.com/auqvo4e

Please pass the yellow mustard!

Ham:
What you're saying is affluent communities will have low income in the future whether forming cities or not--nothing they can do about it except via a real estate mafia, essentially finding legal ways to redline.

'Cause thats the way it has worked here up until now--we essentially have no Section 8 in many of our neighborhoods--it just happens by "magic". We also weren't hit by the property fraud wave in the early 2000's.

Tucker? Another story everywhere but the Henderson/Midvale corridor and SmokeTail (I include Winding Woods as part of the Midvale area). I suppose there may be Section 8 on the other side of US 29 inside I-285 and Shamrock area. No organized realtor mafia there.

My biggest problem isn't with forming new cities--it is the "Must have cities immdiately" movement. New city movement is happening all over the nation--in fact Florida is wayy ahead of this. The common denominator is race and class in every instance where the state legislature didn't take the lead on dividing city vs county responsibilities and do the entire counties at the same time.

"Municipalization is the only way at present to keep some of your tax dollars locally while transferring the power to utilize those dollars away from the corrupt and incompetent County power structure" from the post by Brookhaven. I have a different take. My perspective from the city of B'haven arguement. More govt is not the answer. Apartheid by municipalization is not the answer. The system of govt is not the problem. It's the quality of the candidates. And another observation; the enormous attention focusing on the BOE is refreshing as I have not seen this much in my lifetime. We should also reasses our perception of the investigation into the CEO as its origins were with an internal county investigation into watershed and it is currently being pursued by an elected official in the same political party as the CEO. And I'll just bet the grand jury has a remarkably similar makeup to the county as a whole. The sky ain't falling.

Enuff,
25% of the Dekalb electorate getting up in arms and excited about changing the county means nothing when 75% of the electorate will put the same rascals and policies back in place come election time. Sure a lot of people are talking about trying to change Dekalb but simple numbers are the cold reality -it has been for the last 15 years. Washington D.C. Elected a Mayor who surprised the electorate and made a bold move to change the school system by hiring and then standing by Michele Rhee. Everything is back to normal now. The Mayor was turned out after the first term and Rhee was fired. In Dekalb it all comes down to R's and D's . Your D's are never going to change course and I guess subliminally you like it that way .

Mr. Brookhaven, my belief is that govt, especially more govt, is NOT the answer. I'm curious how you pigeon hole that into a particular political affiliation? The foundation that these cities sit upon is not secure thus the cities are not secure. Fix the foundation then decide whether additional govt is needed. Right now all I see is an arguement for more govt because of the demographics. People claim the county is corrupt but fail to note the county is also who discovered it, ivestigated it and started prosecuting those responsible. The BOE/DCSS has never in my memory seen this much attention and I sincerely hope the glare intensifies. Cutting and running is not the answer.

Aww Biggie--didn't you want to put a ";)" behind that one? But I get it. Back to reality.

Mr. Tom, for the economic slowdown just research the S&P Case-Shiller Index for the past three years or so. In Atlanta real estate prices took a hit but location made a really big difference in just how much. Plus, folks taking advantage of the down market by protesting their property taxes reaped a windfall as opposed to those citizen that sit on their arses and just complain about property taxes. Additionally, look at Clayton County and how real estate took a substantial hit during good times because of the school problems there.

When Atlanta eliminated Section Eight housing projects like Perry Homes, Techwood Homes, etc. back in the 90’s a large majority of these folks moved to Section Eight single family rentals in Clayton. When Clayton’s school problems started, concerned Section Eight parents fled creating problems for landlords. Those landlords not strong enough to weather the value reduction gave way to deep pocket landlords that stand to make handsome profits.

Demanding a responsible county government and school system that is known for producing talented and high achieving students should be the main concern of every citizen in DeKalb. Creating another city? You are running away from the problem and you will eventually get what you deserve.

Yes ma’am, extra thin sliced onions and pickles coming right up!

Woops--Ham--I see where I wasn't specific enough. When I said to Crash to show me where the data supports home sales being affected, i wasn't talking about the general case--OF COURSE they can be affected by schools. What I was saying is that there isn't any data to support the troubles in DCSS has affected us in THIS area--because of the littany I provided. Will they be affected over the long term if DCSS isn't improved? Not in my estimation because this is the #1 target area for opening new "choice" alternatives. I blogged on that incessantly about CharterGeddon and have an article coming out about two schools that have been announced just this year.

In my estimation, we are in the throws of media induced paranoia, served up by a confluence of orchestrated power structure coups. A switch has been flipped--an old government trick to allow a problem to fester to "emergency" levels and then ride in as a white knight and bring down the bad guys (and cost you money and your freedom). The manufactured white knight is state takeover of the schools and irresponsible legislation that enables "quick draw" new cities.

Mr. Tom, recently there was an AJC article about folks considering moving to Dunwoody from another state. After a review of the school system they elected to move to Alpharetta. Clearly, there is not a strong movement to avoid more attractive areas of DeKalb, but as time passes and DCSS remains dysfunctional, it will take its toll. That is why it is imperative that citizens focus and become vocal about their expectations regarding DCSS.

Please pass the yellow mustard!

Thank you Tom for this enlightening information particularly,
'Can Tucker operate its own separate school district?
Currently, the state constitution forbids the creation of any school districts separate from those that currently operate. City school systems such as Buford and Decatur existed before the moratorium and received a grand fathering by the legislature. The creation of a new school district in Georgia would require the amending the state constitution, which requires. Children living in the city of Tucker would continue to attend DeKalb County public schools."

I had hoped that incorporating would allow direct control over public schools. ;-(

On Tucker info--its good to keep in contact with those very comfortable folks. Maybe getting restless behind the closed doors of power. The switch may get flipped.

It'd be good to have Tucker foks at the "Lakeside"/ BriarPatch/ Atlanta Northeast/Northlake/ Hendersonville meeting. Particularly given we share some territory (apparently).

The cityhood issue in Brookhaven has been very divisive in certain neighborhoods. Literally, neighboring folks that once got along very well, and had differing opinions on cityhood, now have strained social relationships or just do not interact at all. Jacobsville is not the happy little burg that some folks would have you think.

The proponents of Brookhaven cityhood that were the founding members/board members of C$ND and Brookhaven Yes claim that they were involved in DeKalb County government and the school system. However, there are many folks that will tell you that they never saw them at any of the county government or school board meetings. I don’t think any of them were graduates of Leadership Dekalb. And, if you are a graduate of Leadership DeKalb, does that not put you in a better position to form alliances and create a better governmental environment in DeKalb County?

Many have speculated that the Vinson study, the tool utilized to sell the city of Brookhaven to area residents, was flawed. It took some time to release the city budget due to fine tuning of vendor contracts, etc. as expected for a city being slowly rolled out. Chris Pike from city of Dunwoody was enlisted to guide budget development. However, once the budget was released, there was no release of budget details and no where does the budget show payback of the monies borrowed to date. Clearly, not all of the promises made by Brookhaven Yes and J. Max Davis can possibly be kept such as park improvements. And, some services, like police for example, may be less than what the area had with DeKalb once it is rolled out later this year.

It is interesting to note that the footprint of the city of North Atlanta, created in 1924 and dissolved in 1963 (due to abuse of the reasons it was initially formed), located for the most part north of Peachtree Road is comprised mostly of Brookhaven district #1, the folks that were rejected from Dunwoody and did not want to sully themselves and be annexed into Chamblee. The four city districts are equal in population; however, district #1 contains the most voters. They are the elite overlords of Brookhaven. Districts #2, #3 and #4 are clearly drawn to divide and prevent a power base being developed other than district #1.

So, we are a city now. We still live in DeKalb County, a county that needs severe government reform. And, DCSS is extremely dysfunctional and from what we see in the last week may remain so for some time to come. But, that is OK, we citizens have put our blinders on and our little burg has “escaped” from DeKalb. Our city leaders will scramble to hold our tax cap while trying to figure out how to live up to the promises made for cityhood creation. Meanwhile, the regional fragmentation has the potential to result in increased taxes on the city portion and county portion of our tax bills in coming years.

But, don’t fear, the plan is to resurrect Milton County and expand it with Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, and Brookhaven. Then we can have our own school system. Just watch for the political shenanigans in future legislative meetings under the capitol dome. Thank you DeKalb for building our infrastructure!

Special hamburger and a Cheerwine anyone?

Hamburger: "Republicans voting for more government? How odd." Not odd at all; in complete alignment with the conservative organizing principle of subsidiarity - a matter ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest, or least centralized authority capable of addressing that matter effectively.

Mr. West, I wonder if you will say that when you have a fourth layer of government (your new city), still have a third layer of government (your county) that needs to be reformed and a dysfunctional school system with no signs of improvement. Just what have you escaped from for the sake of another layer of government?

That is like having a house that becomes so cluttered and instead of cleaning it up you add a couple of rooms to live in. As a conservative, your thoughts along these lines are clearly different from mine.

Please pass the yellow mustard!

Hamburger I would say that rather than "adding on a couple of rooms to live in," it is more like being responsible for your own bedroom and collectively keeping the common rooms clean.

Mr. West, respectfully, and DeKalb is still a mess, your school system is still dysfunctional, but, you will have your new city, still in DeKalb. I wonder if Foursquare gives a special acknowledgement for that.

Please do yourself a favor. Don’t ask your Dunwoody and Brookhaven friends how they like their cities, monitor their city council meetings and research their cities well. You just may learn something!

Please pass the yellow mustard!

Hamburger, I have worked in Sandy Springs for 16 years and the before and after incorporation is dramatic. If we get anything close to the improvement in police patrol and common area maintenance I will be thrilled.

Yes, the DCSS is still a mess, but the fact that the DeKalb county electorate elected the BOE is a powerful argument for incorporating into a smaller city. Regardless, the DCSS is a separate entity and their influence will be neutralized by the new charter school amendment and increased scrutiny by a more active & capable state BOE.

Mr. West, attend Sandy Springs city council meetings regularly and maybe you will learn a few things. Working there is not the same as being a resident, property owner, or business owner.

Best of luck with your new city and your new layer of government, hopefully, you will become involved more than the citizens of Brookhaven have with their new government.

Please pass the yellow mustard!

Not quite centuries yet Tom, as DeKalb was founded in 1822, and there wasn't much to govern in this area until the 1950's when the county was under the extremely capable leadership of "Mr. DeKalb," Scott Candler, Sr. Leadership is what this is all about for me and I have zero confidence that an electorate that overwhelmingly elects candidates of the caliber of Hank Johnson, Cynthia McKinney, Vernon Jones, and the DCSS BOE will ever have the wisdom to elect candidates capable of governing efficiently.