The Ever-Shifting Sands of Tucker2014...2015...

The tortuous path that has led the Tucker "cityhood" groups on its quixotic quest to occupy Northlake has been remarkable.

Initially, the Tucker groups put forth the argument that Tucker was defined by something called a Census Designated Place (CDP), which is defined as "a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes." Yep, that's what a CDP is: a statistic. Not a city, not a town, just a statistic.

Then came the problems. First, one of chief spokespeople for the Tucker group as well well as all the people in the Smokerise Community (including a DeKalb County commissioner) were outside of the CDP and, according to the groups' territorial claim, outside of the Tucker community.

Second problem: the CDP does not include any territory inside I-285, dispelling the already specious claim of the group that Northlake is somehow part of Tucker.

So then came the zip code argument, my personal favorite. Tucker is entitled to Northlake, the rationale goes, because there are "Tucker" zip codes in the area.

By this logic, Northlake Mall, with its "Atlanta" zip code, should belong to Mayor Reed & Co., and the city of Decatur might be surprised to learn that the Oak Grove United Methodist Church, located 5 miles from its northernmost city border is nonetheless part of that city. And the aforementioned commissioner and Tucker spokesperson? They reside in a Stone Mountain zip code and, thus, the city of Stone Mountain.

Take a look below at how much the proposed city of Tucker falls in zip codes with names of other cities. [Note: the map on the right is an older version of the Tucker map, but almost all of the areas depicted remain part of its proposed boundaries]:



Oops!

Using the Tucker zip code as a boundary-defining line, Tucker's latest map includes the road that runs right along the Briarlake Baptist Church, the site of tomorrow's Northlake Community Alliance meeting. I wonder if area residents will be surprised at the meeting tomorrow to learn that if they look out a window, at the adjacent side street, they will--in Tucker's eyes anyway--be looking at Tucker property.