Is Riverdale, in Clayton county a good neighborhood? (Atlanta, Marietta: city hall, high crime)

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by nice#1

I'm a family of 4 and we will be moving to atlanta in june.I just need
somebody to reply that's going to give me information on a good
place to rise kids.I'v been reading some of this stuff on here and it seems to
me that everybody don't want to be honest about where the good places are.
Everybody's going to have there own opinion's about the counties,but think
about it there's "no" perfect places for real we just take what's there.I stay in
a (sub) hts,in clelvland,oh and the only thing that's good about this place is
the peaceful neighborhood,but the school system is a terrible.Cleveland just
went extra bad over the years,no jobs,no opportunity's,I'm not look for the
perfect place I'm just looking for a city that have jobs, opportuntiy's, a
good school system,and a peaceful place to live.

~~~~~~~~


I think people are being truthful--Atlanta is comprised of ??about 10/12 counties and the populations vary. Economic growth is the priority here--traffic is terrible---5,000,000 people.

ETA:

New Home Sales 2006 and 'Hot Zipcodes'--*source- AJC.com

Here>>>
http://tinyurl.com/2mcwln (broken link)

SLS

[jjordan]

Sorry to bump this but the ignorance on this thread is astounding! If Riverdale and Clayton county are so ghetto and crime-ridden then why are large chains tearing down old buildings just so they can get in ? Why would Lowes and Home Depot cram themselves into lots sideways(!) just so they could have a Riverdale location ? Why would Riverdale be home to only the second Super H Mart in the entire metro area ? With two more to open in John's Creek and Suwanee (not exactly declining areas). The point I'm making is that these chain stores are going where they can make money. If they weren't going to make money they wouldn't be coming. In any case Clayton County gets a bad rap mostly because of Northern Clayton but Central and especially Southern Clayton range from middle-class to upscale around Lake Spivey. Jonesboro High is a decent school (if you only want to follow stats ) and really, no school in Clayton county is a warzone as some of these posters seem to be implying.

And for the poster who said Atlanta is the Detroit of the South, I honestly have no words.

[sprtsluvr8]

Originally Posted by jjordan

Sorry to bump this but the ignorance on this thread is astounding! If Riverdale and Clayton county are so ghetto and crime-ridden then why are large chains tearing down old buildings just so they can get in ? Why would Lowes and Home Depot cram themselves into lots sideways(!) just so they could have a Riverdale location ? Why would Riverdale be home to only the second Super H Mart in the entire metro area ? With two more to open in John's Creek and Suwanee (not exactly declining areas). The point I'm making is that these chain stores are going where they can make money. If they weren't going to make money they wouldn't be coming. In any case Clayton County gets a bad rap mostly because of Northern Clayton but Central and especially Southern Clayton range from middle-class to upscale around Lake Spivey. Jonesboro High is a decent school (if you only want to follow stats ) and really, no school in Clayton county is a warzone as some of these posters seem to be implying.

And for the poster who said Atlanta is the Detroit of the South, I honestly have no words.

I've noticed that people love to comment on areas of Atlanta of which they have no real knowledge or experience, but they've heard the stereotypical "bad" description...so they advise future residents of Atlanta incorrectly. Either someone heard about a crime in Riverdale so it's "dangerous" there, or drove through a little slice of a section of it that wasn't so nice so the whole city is "ghetto", or maybe even had a negative experience there so it's "crime rate is high". Clayton and Riverdale both have nice areas and not-so-nice areas, and I bet there are even some affluent areas??? People should refrain from commenting when the place in question isn't their home or former home, or unless they have some significant experience in the area. Let a resident of the neighborhood, suburb, city or county share some true first-hand experiences.

[LLD]

People have different opinions and different perceptions. You can disagree with an assessment and give your reasons why without calling others ignorant, insane and uninformed etc.

[sprtsluvr8]

Originally Posted by LLD

People have different opinions and different perceptions. You can disagree with an assessment and give your reasons why without calling others ignorant, insane and uninformed etc.

Some of the statements on threads like this one are blatantly ignorant...ignorant meaning lack of knowledge on the subject. It's not an attack on the person, but it's about the person's obvious lack of information on the topic. It's a different story if you call someone ignorant, but that still indicates lacking knowledge on some subject. The same goes for uninformed. If someone is uninformed then...

Now declaring someone insane needs a little further analysis and some serious therapy...and a license.

[Marka]

I guess we're all different. Perhaps you wouldn't take it personally if I called you ignorant but others might. It's a forum for exchanging opinions, not a fist fighting ring. It's what we all want, right? To confront our knowledge, opinions and experience with others. It can be done politely, believe it or not. The English language offers a huge variety of expressions. You can easily disagree with others without necessarily hurting their feelings or insulting them.

[ltwhite1]

I grew up in East atlanta and I have experienced different neighborhoods from having family members that also live in and around atlanta. East Atlanta is tranforming into Virginia Highland where the commute is favorable to the Downtown area. Property values are rising and so are taxes. It is forcing the low income residents to move away to areas such as Riverdale and Jonesboro that are ecomonical. With the recent availability of public transporation, it makes it more accessible.

I lived in Riverdale for three years about four ago and now i live in Jonesboro. I can definitely see the difference between then and now. I still have family in riverdale and neighborhoods that use to quiet at night has had an increase of noise due to wandering through the neghborhoods, break-ins, loud music, which resulted in a lot of owners moving out of the area and when they could not sell fast enough, renting out their properties . A neighborhood in particular was 80% rented and the property value dropped because most of the renters did not have proud in the neighborhood like the owners did. The gang appearances increased where groups of kids would be seen at gas stations or walking down a dark street at night. Police activity in my opinion has decreased. I remember when it was a known fact that if you was not legit or not driving properly you would not chance going into Clayton County. There was no speeding, no illegal dark tint on cars driving through because you knew that Clayton County police would pull you over and you would get a ticket or go to jail. If you choose to go to court you would loose in most cases. With all of that said,

There are still some great great areas in the south such as Stockbridge (Lake Spivey) and Fayetteville. I cannot commit on the school system because I have no children. There are a lot of young people in the area. From my point of view, there are a lot of single parent families in the Riverdale area in which some builders are catering to that by building condos and townhomes with smaller master bedrooms and one car garages in order to cater to that demographic area.

Jonesboro area has had an increase in crime in my neighborhood. I cannot tell if it because of the weather being warm or if it is something that happens yearly around this time since I have only be there a year and a half. An increase of home invasions has started and it is making me livid. I am a homeowner and it is obvious that it is kids of what is being taken out of the homes. I cannot stand to be watched and they are figuring out the homeowners work schedules. Sorry I wrote so much but I hope it helps.

[KFruge]

No one has mentioned West Atlanta, cities like Mableton, Austell, Smyrna, Vinings. I grew up in Atlanta and have lived all over. I must say that West is the best! Mableton, especially, is great -- small town feel, but it is located about 15 minutes from downtown Atlanta and also the airport. The homes are reasonable -- you can get a 4 bedroom/2bath home at around 200k. It has a very laid back feel instead of the noisy congestion that is so common in Atlanta. It's right next to Austell - shopping, restaurants. If you can afford to spend more, check out Smyrna and Vinings (homes are about 400k and up).

Further west, there is Douglasville, which is growing by the day (and getting quite congested I might add). However, homes are very reasonable and everything you could want is all in one place. The schools (Chapel Hills) have a good reputation as well.

[Vampgrrl]

I guess I'll chime in here

I grew up in Clayton Co., Lovejoy High class of 93...whole county is ghetto.
It's mostly poor, it was majority white (and still high crime, bad schools), now it's majority black (still high crime, bad schools).
It's just bad.

I'd say if you wanted diversity and something better Decatur is a good place to look.

I live in Cherokee Co. good school, no crime...and it's the most conservative whitey whiterson area I've ever seen. I'm bored to tears here.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by butterbeans4

By the way, Tucker is almost as bad as Stone Mountain.

This is not even close to accurate.