Ever since we heard Tucker 2015 leader Frank Auman say that Tucker was willing to give up its rights to Northlake if the Lakeside City folks would concede everything outside the perimeter, we were curious about what he might know that the rest of us didn't.
We know that Tucker's claim to the Evansdale area, which really started with its inclusion in the 2010 Census designation for Tucker, is what fueled their outcry to join Lakeside City (now being called "Lavista Hills). But, we also heard some rumblings that their true reasons for wanting the association with Lakeside was purely related to their school cluster pattern than anything else.
Now, looking at the map that Lavista Hills ended up with, the school system could be more likely than ever to redistrict some of the Druid Hills cluster schools to Lakeside. That would mean pushing Evansdale into the Tucker cluster, regardless of what city they eventually end up in. When you consider the fact that many of the Lakeside in crowd were the ones pushing to move Evansdale out anyway, it's not that difficult to imagine that the plans are already in the works for that redistricting to take place anyway.
Yes, we all heard the city sales people tell us how "it has nothing to do with the schools." But, no one bought into that line of reasoning. You can't tell a room full of parents listening to school leaders speak about starting a city named after a high school that it won't affect their children. We have all witnessed the treatment of Dunwoody schools, both before and after they incorporated, so we don't accept the fact that cities don't wield influence with school boards, with or without the bill to start city schools also looming over our heads. And, we have all seen how Lakeside High School was built up to high regard, many times without the actual stats to match the accolades. So, it is easy to believe that a city led in the same manner as the school system would also use its power behind the scenes to get whatever it wanted, regardless of who might get hurt in the process.
Did it hurt to hear the zingers time and time again coming from Evansdale residents who insisted that they wanted nothing to do with Tucker and desperately did not want to be rezoned to Tucker High? Of course it did. Tucker is a real community and many of us have friends and acquaintances who live in the Evansdale area. We know people who live near the portion of Livsey that Sen. Millar claims wanted to be a part of the Lakeside/Lavista city, too. But, is that what they really wanted? Did they really say that they wished to join a city that has not even clearly identified its own borders or decided on its own name? What exactly is there to join, besides just a promise of a community?
And, is Tucker such a bad place that these folks would be harmed in some way if they were a part of it? Or, are all these fears and desires really based around the schools and the unknown future that still looms after the near-loss of accreditation we have all gone through? If you look at the people leading the city groups inside the perimeter, they are all from the generation that just graduated is children from the DeKalb schools. Look at the Tucker leaders and they all have school age children with the exception of Frank Auman. The Tucker parents perhaps just wanted to get on the good side of the folks running the schools - we all know that is Lakeside. But, what was Auman talking about?
What would be so great about OTP that he would give up Northlake? Well, right at spaghetti junction, here's what will be coming soon... to Doraville... the community that most of Evansdale can now write down on their mail and other correspondence.
Evansdale... it's okay if you don't want to be Tucker. We understand. At Save Tucker! we have been advocating for Tucker to stick to its own zip code as a good starting point for an incorporation that might actually be feasible in reality. We heard many of you say something similar, just not in such a nice way. "We're not Tucker. We don't live in the Tucker zip code. We don't want to be rezoned. Etc." But, what you were not saying is that you don't really want to be Doraville either, right?
Don't forget - your vote on Nov. 3 is no one's business but your own. You may have heard that the Lavista Hills group does not have the support ITP to win their referendum. They really need you to vote for their city. But, has anyone pointed out that your biggest opportunity to improve property values (if that's something you care about) might be to vote no, and keep your city name "Doraville."
Do you know what is coming to Doraville??? Read below. And just remember... no one can fault you for making the right choice for your own family or situation. But, what we don't like about the decisions made by Lakeside leaders in the school system is that often times they advance their own image at the cost of others around them. And, when they get Tucker and Druid Hills out of their way, who do you think will becoming the new door mat? Joining their city will not suddenly move your home ITP. You will become the "bad part" of their city. They did it to the Tucker side of our shared school district. They will do it to you.
But, stick with unincorporated DeKalb and keep your Doraville name and look at what could be your new reputation....
Doraville to get new film/TV complex
http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/view/full_story/26577315/article-Doraville-to-get-new-film-TV-complex?instance=all
April 21, 2015
It’s not so farfetched when you realize that the state is already ranked as one of the top three locations for movie and television productions, according to Lee Thomas, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office. Last year alone, Governor Nathan Deal reported, 158 feature film and television productions were shot in the state, generating $1.4 billion.
“Before, we couldn't accommodate these giant shows like a Marvel [film],” Thomas states, “because we didn't have the facilities for it. Now we have not only the ability to accommodate them but we have options for them.”
Pinewood Studios, EUE/Screen Gems, Eagle Rock and Triple Horse are just a few of the other large-scale studio facilities in the area that are attracting major film and television productions.
We know that Tucker's claim to the Evansdale area, which really started with its inclusion in the 2010 Census designation for Tucker, is what fueled their outcry to join Lakeside City (now being called "Lavista Hills). But, we also heard some rumblings that their true reasons for wanting the association with Lakeside was purely related to their school cluster pattern than anything else.
Now, looking at the map that Lavista Hills ended up with, the school system could be more likely than ever to redistrict some of the Druid Hills cluster schools to Lakeside. That would mean pushing Evansdale into the Tucker cluster, regardless of what city they eventually end up in. When you consider the fact that many of the Lakeside in crowd were the ones pushing to move Evansdale out anyway, it's not that difficult to imagine that the plans are already in the works for that redistricting to take place anyway.
 |
| Artist rendering of FUTURE Doraville! |
Did it hurt to hear the zingers time and time again coming from Evansdale residents who insisted that they wanted nothing to do with Tucker and desperately did not want to be rezoned to Tucker High? Of course it did. Tucker is a real community and many of us have friends and acquaintances who live in the Evansdale area. We know people who live near the portion of Livsey that Sen. Millar claims wanted to be a part of the Lakeside/Lavista city, too. But, is that what they really wanted? Did they really say that they wished to join a city that has not even clearly identified its own borders or decided on its own name? What exactly is there to join, besides just a promise of a community?
 |
| Hollywood of the South is becoming a reality in Doraville! |
And, is Tucker such a bad place that these folks would be harmed in some way if they were a part of it? Or, are all these fears and desires really based around the schools and the unknown future that still looms after the near-loss of accreditation we have all gone through? If you look at the people leading the city groups inside the perimeter, they are all from the generation that just graduated is children from the DeKalb schools. Look at the Tucker leaders and they all have school age children with the exception of Frank Auman. The Tucker parents perhaps just wanted to get on the good side of the folks running the schools - we all know that is Lakeside. But, what was Auman talking about?
What would be so great about OTP that he would give up Northlake? Well, right at spaghetti junction, here's what will be coming soon... to Doraville... the community that most of Evansdale can now write down on their mail and other correspondence.
Evansdale... it's okay if you don't want to be Tucker. We understand. At Save Tucker! we have been advocating for Tucker to stick to its own zip code as a good starting point for an incorporation that might actually be feasible in reality. We heard many of you say something similar, just not in such a nice way. "We're not Tucker. We don't live in the Tucker zip code. We don't want to be rezoned. Etc." But, what you were not saying is that you don't really want to be Doraville either, right?
Don't forget - your vote on Nov. 3 is no one's business but your own. You may have heard that the Lavista Hills group does not have the support ITP to win their referendum. They really need you to vote for their city. But, has anyone pointed out that your biggest opportunity to improve property values (if that's something you care about) might be to vote no, and keep your city name "Doraville."
Do you know what is coming to Doraville??? Read below. And just remember... no one can fault you for making the right choice for your own family or situation. But, what we don't like about the decisions made by Lakeside leaders in the school system is that often times they advance their own image at the cost of others around them. And, when they get Tucker and Druid Hills out of their way, who do you think will becoming the new door mat? Joining their city will not suddenly move your home ITP. You will become the "bad part" of their city. They did it to the Tucker side of our shared school district. They will do it to you.
But, stick with unincorporated DeKalb and keep your Doraville name and look at what could be your new reputation....
Film and TV studio to anchor former Doraville GM plant site
http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2015/04/07/film-and-tv-studio-to-anchor-former-doraville-gm-plant-site
Doraville to get new film/TV complex
http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/view/full_story/26577315/article-Doraville-to-get-new-film-TV-complex?instance=all
What if Georgia replaced California as a filmmaking destination?
http://www.artsatl.com/2015/04/third-rail-studios/April 21, 2015
 |
| It's a rendering. But, it's still super cool! |
The growth of the state’s film industry, especially in Atlanta, has been so rapid that local businesses are scrambling to keep up with the demand for state-of-the-art production services and sound stages to accommodate major Hollywood studios and corporations who are bringing their production work to the region.
 |
| Recognize Doraville? Do you think THIS might help home values more than affiliation with a high school in DeKalb County? |
Third Rail Studios, a 270,000-square-foot space on the former site of the General Motors Assembly Plant in Doraville, is the newest hat in the ring. Unlike the others, however, the studio will be the nucleus of a major media complex called ASSEMBLY, Doraville, USA.
A co-venture of the Integral Group and Capstone South Properties, ASSEMBLY is intended to facilitate what Capstone chief Michael Hahn calls “creative convergence.”
Rendering of the future ASSEMBLY in Doraville. Architect: Perkins Eastman, New York.
The project will include space for production support, administrative offices and the Yards district, a destination for dining, entertainment and synergistic businesses, such as studios for music recording, animation, video games and graphic designers. Hahn expects Third Rail Studios, named for the three rail lines that served the plant, and part of the Yards district to open by the end of this year. The rest will be completed in stages.
For people who don’t work in the film industry, the term movie studio is likely to conjure up Hollywood visions of Universal or Paramount, which are totally invested in producing motion pictures and media entertainment on their lots.
But most Georgia movie studios are sound stages for rent. Their clients are production companies, which hire their own crews. This model is becoming more commonplace, even in Hollywood where independent companies are building studio spaces that are leased by Sony or Fox or other major film companies. There are, of course, exceptions such as Warner Bros. in Burbank, CA, and Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, which still shoot their own productions on site and don’t lease them out to competitors.
The recent film industry boom has increased demand not only for spaces but also skilled crew and technicians. Filling that need might have been a problem in past years, but it has lessened as locals have developed expertise working on local shoots and, as Thomas says, “retool from other skill sets and become film people.”
The state is preparing to help provide training through Governor Deal’s High Demand Career Initiative, a collective effort of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia and leaders in the entertainment industries.
In addition, the boom has attracted skilled professionals from out of state. “Since 2008, more than 90 companies have located in Georgia to support the [film] industry,” reported Chris Carr, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
Says Thomas, “North Carolina recently lost their tax incentive, and we’ve seen a lot of their crew people move in. We have definitely seen a lot of people move here from Los Angeles.”
Ask Hahn, a native Georgian who returned four years ago after spending 15 years in California. “It’s much less competitive and a lot more affordable to live here and raise a family,” he says. “I call it [the cost of living] the invisible tax credit.”
If ASSEMBLY becomes the all-inclusive one-stop shop its developers envision, it may become yet another reason for the film industry to migrate south.
Comments
Post a Comment