Many of my readers may wonder how I became such a “Darth Vader of Lame.”
Darth Vader of Lame
And thank you for the compliment 
but my story is convoluted and ironic much like young Anakin Skywalker’s tale.
I moved into the area and bought my first house in 2002 after living exclusively in Inman Park. My thoughts on moving into the area were: what a cool little city; it certainly has so much potential to become a thriving commercial area! Just imagine all of the great restaurants, shops, music venues, art galleries, and even a cinema or theater that are likely to pop up in this unexpected Tudor village! Yay!
Avondale’s midi-chlorians were off the charts! You could say the force was strong in Avondale Estates! Do you know what else was strong? My enthusiasm for my newfound stomping grounds!
Progress was slow to arrive in Avondale Estates and I was patiently waiting for the little city to blossom. I figured that Rome was not built in a day, so it may take a few years for progress to develop in my new neighborhood.
You can also make the argument that many people were preoccupied with national matters such as wars to “spread democracy”, the price of gasoline, supporting our troops who were bravely fighting for our right to cheap gas, chasing boogeymen hiding in distant caves, getting to the airport early so you could prove you were not a terrorist by willfully submitting to unconstitutional searches, making sure that gay people are never allowed to get married, allowing our leaders to ruin the economy with unsustainable tax cuts and endless wars. The list of distractions goes on and on…
You could say that many of us were hiding under a rock occasionally popping our head out every once in awhile to see if it was safe to come out yet!
So I understand how progress could be so slow.
Just as I was losing hope in the city’s urban renewal, there were plans being enacted to bring in a Publix grocery store and a shopping center to Avondale Estates! Many existing shops and restaurants were even relocated. Avondale Pizza Cafe was one such establishment that moved from it’s historic location to the not so historic Twin Oaks strip mall. The Waffle House alternative known as Thumbs Up diner disappeared from the area all together; not sure what happened there because I heard they were just relocating as well.
Then there is the curious case of the famous Erector Set building on College Avenue. How did it get there? Who built it and why? Are they ever coming back to finish it? Why is this blog post so long……..??
Avondale Estates: Famous for it’s unfinished building
After disrupting many of the Avondale businesses, the Publix store and shopping center never materialized. Of course it was the year of economic doom, 2008, when the banks collapsed and had to rob the taxpayers once again to save their unaccountable behinds.
Despite all planning, disrupting, moving and building the commercial area was left fractured and dispersed. This is about when I started to turn to the dark side.
If you could just come to the dark side, that would be great!
Join me, won’t you? Together we can keep Avondale Estates Lame forever!! Muahahahaha!
(Warning, the video embedded below contains profanity!)
