It's an interesting story, but I have to admit, I liked it much more when I read the exact same story in Creative Loafing two weeks ago.
Believe me, I'm not exaggerating the point just because I work for CL. The AJC story is a point-for-point rewrite for CL's. Remarkably, the AJC even managed to get a quotation from the exact same Decatur Square "woman-on-the-street" that CL did.
Jan 12 in the CL:
"It's been ridiculous, and someone should be ashamed of what the businesses near the project have gone through," Molly Badgett says. Badgett, who loves to shop in Decatur, has complained to city officials that the construction has hurt the area's independent businesses. "Two main condo buildings downtown have been completed in the time it's taken to barely scratch at the dirt on this plaza job," she says."Jan 27 in the AJC:
Downtown patrons, such as Molly Badgett, will believe the work is done when she sees no fence.As my colleague John Sugg pointed out recently, this isn't the first time that the AJC has used CL reporting as a uncredited template.
"They're like the Bush administration," she said of the city. "They'll keep telling you they're on schedule."
Disclosure: 1. First of all, duh, I work for CL as a freelance writer and photographer. 2. I know Molly Badgett. When I worked for The Gove Network, she was a client.
1 comments:
Hi, Andy! How the heck are you? Molly here. Yes, THAT Molly who you know personally from a former professional affiliation and who's whining about the city of Decatur's failure to look after the businesses during their prolonged MARTA-plaza fix.
I've been telling anyone and everyone who will "hear" me what a mess that's been. I say a lot, but little of the real point has gotten across either in CL or the AJC, both opting for my more "intense" quotes.
The REAL (and possibly boring) issue is that the city failed to keep intact the most important business- and pedestrian-friendly part of the job for as long as possible, deciding instead to rip EVERYTHING up some 16 months ago and concentrating only on the MARTA facade for most of that time. For the past 16 months, very little has been touched on the property that lies closest to the businesses. It has remained an abandoned, cordoned-off mess, unwalkable and even downright scary. What a shame. But, hey, it'll soon be completely done, so they say (?) so all is well that ends well, right?
Meanwhile, the businesses REALLY need some patronage! Tell everyone you know to visit wonderful downtown Decatur and give those construction-area businesses some time and dime (no, I don't own ANY of them).
Thanks, Andy!
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