but still no chinese food!

We're excited to see that we are getting a new Thai restaurant in East Point! We went to the one in Hapeville this weekend and it was very pretty and cozy, the service was excellent, and the food was pretty good, too. Not the best we've had, but definitely not the worst. Not sure when White Elephant will be opening up in EP, but we're looking forward to having somewhere new to choose from.

We took B's mom to our local Mexican place last weekend...I'm not sure if she's recovered yet ;) We have a Tex-Mex place that's pretty good, but there's lots of stuff on the menu like ribs and wings there, so for more authentic Mexican, we head to El Rocio, located across the street from the EP MARTA station. El Rocio has stuff on the menu like tripe tacos and whole fried fish with the head still on. Awesome! They also usually have all the TVs on telenovelas or news or sports, with the volume turned up full-blast...then usually someone will go over and start the jukebox...also at full-blast. Last Sunday was made even more interesting by the group of very drunk guys at one table, who figured out how to turn the jukebox on even though the very patient waitress told them it was broken. Too funny. Usually we are the only people there when we go for some reason, but the food is great and the waitress (we always have the same one) is extremely nice. On weekends, they even bring a small, free dessert with the check--usually either a flan of some type or sopapillas. Mmmm.

our neighborhood: apathetic or just sleeping in?

So I woke up around 6:15am this morning, determined to get to the polls early and avoid a long wait. Sleep won over determination, however, and I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30am. I arrived at the library where I'm supposed to vote to find an almost empty parking lot. Inside, there were only three voting machines and only three people ahead of me, one of whom was an older gentleman who was yelling about getting a Democratic ballot when he had clearly checked Republican on his form. I remember waiting for more than an hour to vote in Decatur in 2004. Today I was in and out in less than 15 minutes. The precinct is only 2 minutes from our house, too, so it was nice that I had time to get breakfast and still end up at work early.

nice email from a previous resident

We got a really nice email recently from Marsha, who used to live in the neighborhood (and who teaches AND used to work in a library!). I haven't had a chance to email her back, but below is an excerpt from her email. Marsha, I will reply soon! Thanks for writing!

...I have been keeping up with your blog because my husband, children and I lived on Dauphine St. from 75-80. I can't remember the address, but it was 3rd from the corner and was the original farmhouse before the neighborhood was built. It was a casualty of Marta. It had a lot of quirks! Our next door neighborwas Mrs. G-- and she had lived there all her life. She died right before we moved at 90 something with no children (she had outlived 3 husbands--the first one made furniture and we still have a kitchen table and chairs we bought from her). She worked at the Methodist Church on Main St. as a secretary for years and years. I thought that might be a good source for tracking down pictures and info on people who lived there. I know all the churches had directories. ... Good luck with the renovating. I really enjoy reading your blog--I found it from the Westview Bungalow site--I grew up there.

visit to the historical society

After reading a post on ThirteenEleven's blog about checking the old city directories for the names of previous owners and residents, I slapped myself on the forehead for not thinking of it myself. All those times I had to go to Special Collections and look up names and streets for library reference by email, and it didn't even occur to me to check for our own house!

So yesterday, B and I finally headed over to the East Point Historical Society. They had lots of great photos and mementos of old East Point, showing it to have once been a much more happening place. We discovered that when MARTA was added, Main St. was widened and took out several houses. In other parts of East Point, there were lots of photos of gorgeous old Victorians demolished in the name of progress.

The very helpful gentleman at the Historical Society helped us find our our street address before the numbering system changed in 1961. Our house was number 126 at one point, and the whole street was known as -- Ave...now it seems to be half St. and half Ave. He showed us the Sanborn fire maps from 1925 to the 1940s (one map book, with additions pasted in over the years) and it looks like our house was originally on one piece of property that also included the houses on either side of us. Not sure if that just means they were owned by one person and later divided with new property lines as they were sold off, or if members of one family lived in all three to begin with, but that seems unlikely. We also saw the plat drawings and advertisements for lots in Colonial Hills, which were in the $500-800 range.

I've posted the rest of the info we found in a box in the right column named "Bungalow Timeline." They didn't have a complete collection of Atlanta Suburban City Directories, so I hope to find more information next time I go to the Decatur Library (assuming they have Suburban and not just City directories...).

well, then--pour me a harp!

We're getting a little frustrated with the community groups in our neighborhood. There are neighborhood associations and then there is a group supporting environmental concerns in the area. A lot of people are involved in a lawsuit with the environmental stuff, and nobody can talk about anything. Which makes it frustrating enough, but then when you throw in the fact that the groups don't seem to be talking to each other, or at least don't seem to care what the other is saying, then it gets even more frustrating.

There is a public hearing set by the Georgia EPD for December 11th concerning the permit renewal of a large industrial plant in our city. Supposedly this plant is also a Superfund site, although I can't seem to find anything online that supports that fact. Our neighborhood holiday party is set for the same date, but an hour later. The neighborhood association suggests that perhaps we could attend both events, due to the time difference, but the party is always on this date each year.

This indicates to me that getting a regifted gift and having some beer should be more important to me than the future possibility of having children with the incorrect number of appendages.

I thought we moved OUT of the suburbs?

creative loafing column about east point

Well, this article is kind of old, and even though seven years have passed, I'm still not sure that East Point is a "hot" destination, but the neighborhood has certainly begun an upswing. It's funny, because we keep saying, "In another year or so, East Point prices will go up." And they have...certainly from when this article was written, as the payoff amount on our mortgage will attest to. But it's not another East Atlanta...at least, not yet. The article mentions Lance Rhodes, but doesn't mention (or pre-dates the fact) that Mr. Rhodes is now one of the city councilman for our neighborhood.

And while I didn't realize we had an official "chant," East Point is definitely the friendliest place I've ever lived.

-------------------------

East Point: Diversity draws new residents to this southside destination
By EMILY KLEINE
Published 11.04.00

"Black or white, gay or straight, come to East Point and renovate." This is a common chant among residents of the rapidly renovating East Point. The stand-alone city, just five miles south of downtown Atlanta, has been encouraging all walks of life to buy and renovate property. When Lance Rhodes was ready to move out of his Midtown apartment two years ago, he wanted to find a place accepting of gay and alternative lifestyles. He looked at property all around Atlanta, but he finally settled on a 1930s cottage in East Point. "Many of my friends with alternative lifestyles lived in East Point, and they encouraged me to come down and take a look," he says. When Rhodes moved in, the friendliness of the neighborhood amazed him. He said neighbors came by to introduce themselves and helped him unload his boxes, something he never expected.

The diversity and small-town feel also lured Kevin Hudson to his un-renovated bungalow in East Point. "East Point really is a small town," says Hudson. To prove his point, Hudson recounted the story of going to East Point City Hall to have his utilities turned on. The ease of it all surprised him. "It took all of three minutes," he says. Plus, while he was there, the clerk called over a passing city council member and introduced Hudson as a new resident in his district. "Imagine that happening at Atlanta's City Hall," he laughs.

Not only does East Point have a diversity of residents, it also has a diversity of architectural styles. East Point is about the same age as Atlanta, and many of the houses date to the turn of the century. There are also many bungalows from the 1920s, cottages from the '30s, ranch houses from the '50s and recently built subdivisions of new homes.

East Point's historic downtown commercial area is also an asset. The city recently joined the National Main Street Program, an initiative that encourages commercial investment in historic downtown areas. According to East Point City Council Member Melvin Pittman, the Main Street Program has caught the eye of potential developers that are "extremely enthusiastic" about East Point. Pittman guesses that in "one year at the most" East Point will be a hot destination.