Wilkinson County, a county of 10,000 people 30 miles east of Macon, is receiving more stimulus money for transportation projects than Fulton County, home to more than 1,000,000 people.
Wilkinson’s getting $56,366,518 in federal stimulus money for transportation projects.
Fulton is receiving $50,068,562.
This is a Soapbox submission by a guest blogger.
By Hannah Palmer
When you drive south on I-75 from Atlanta, heading out of the city and into the sprawl, you’ll pass Southlake Mall on your right. This is “The Mall” of my childhood – destination for Christmas shopping, gift certificate spending, giant-cookie-cake pickup and Glamour Shot sessions. There is no lake at Southlake, but there is a patch of woods between the mall and the interstate.
Over the past few years, and many trips down 75, I’ve watched the progress of a strange development on this site. One by one, these huge historic-looking houses were wheeled in on flatbed trucks and reassembled in the swampy no-man’s land between the Sears parking lot and the expressway.
They seemed so forlorn and out of place. Who was doing this? I wondered. And what for? I stopped to take a photo in September of 2006.
So I just got back in town after 6 weeks in the mountains, and had to make the rounds of Stumptown: Anne & Bill’s Restaurant, the Library, and of course, I pulled over to check out the progress at “Olde Morrow.” It’s fancy!
I called the City of Morrow’s Economic Development office to get the lowdown. Lawanda told me it’s going to be a 17-acre development that will include taverns, retail, restaurants and a bed and breakfast. The central fountain and gardens will host receptions and outdoor events. Here’s the craziest part: they’re building the lake. As in “Southlake.” It’s about goddam time! (more…)
