Beware of Dunwoody Homes

When we moved to Dunwoody in 1983, it was clear to me that any home abutting a main road or main intersection could eventually lose part of its front, side or back yard.  Excessive easements signaled this risk.

But at the time, everything was well sized and the Atlanta Metro area had about 3 million residents.  It was growing in the 1980s because of the electronics industry expansion that resulted from advances in technology and the need for productivity increases.  Atlanta metro was a major location for electronics companies, but these companies started moving out of Atlanta metro in 2000 and were gone by 2010. 

The entire Atlanta Metro area was built for residential neighborhoods that occupied most of the land.  Each area had its own grocery stores, schools and strip malls.  Streets and many major roads were all 2 lane with no sidewalks.

The major Atlanta metro “sights” like the zoo, the aquarium, Stone Mountain, the art museum, Piedmont Park and similar attractions are spread all over town, requiring more driving.

This town was built for cars.  However, highway development was nonexistent.  I-285 was a circular bypass that was built too close to the city center and the need for additional lanes was ignored.  I-75 and I-85 were routed through the center of town.  GA-400 was under construction, but there was no sign of a highway grid.  I-20 was the only highway that crossed the metro east to west and it became a boulevard through the town center.  It was built to NOT GROW. 

UN Agenda 21 implementation has removed voter control from zoning. The Dunwoody MARTA train depot at Perimeter Mall has resulted in targeting this area as a “transit village”, another UN Agenda 21 imposed high density requirement.   

Public schools in Dunwoody are also creating traffic problems and road expansion abuse.  In the 1980s, Dunwoody had two high schools and no middle school.  Peachtree HS closed and was replaced to Peachtree Middle school.  This created more traffic for Dunwoody HS.  When the middle school took grades it increased traffic to the middle school.

The “neighborhood schools” that had been grades 1 through 8 lost grades 7 and 8 to the middle school on Peachtree NE.  Later a separate “sub-middle school” lost grades 5 and 6 to another central facility and increased traffic to that facility on Womack near the college.

What had been Perimeter Community College became Perimeter College offering 4 year degrees.  Enrollment doubled and then contracted.  This facility impacts Womack at Tilly Mill.

The movement of the Braves’ stadium to I-285 and I-75 has put additional pressure on North I-285 and Dunwoody doesn’t want any more “cut-through” traffic caused by inadequate lanes in North I-285.

DeKalb’s broken sewer line problem may delay development in PCID for a while, but the Braves’ stadium traffic will commence when they open.  The DeKalb school system and Perimeter College will do whatever they want to do.

I attended a Catholic Parish school in Maplewood Mo, a city in St. Louis County Mo.  The School building was over 100 years old, but was well maintained and regularly updated. There were 120 students in grades 1 through 8 with about 40 to a class.  The teachers were Loreto Nuns who lived in a large convent on the grounds.  Students would walk or bike and lived within a 10 block radius of the school. Tuition was free. The school was supported by the Church collections, fish fries and large donations from parishioners. The older grade kids served as Patrol Boys and playground monitors for the younger kids.  The grade school choir sang all funerals. The education was excellent.  I rode my bike to school on the streets and sidewalks and walked my bike across boulevards with the traffic light.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader