How to find apartment in Atlanta (in city) (Vinings, Woodland: apartments, lease)

[NotWonderWoman]

My kids have all graduated college and are moving all around the country. One son my be offered a job in Atlanta. I'm sure he would want to live in the city, since he is sick of the suburbs.

Do young people live in the city? If so, what locations? He will be in the engineering industry, so I'm sure he will be well paid.

What are the average rents in the city, if there is such a thing as living in the city?

Thanks so much!

[cqholt]

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[Tarzanman]

Rents in the city vary. It would be better at this point for your son to choose his living arrangement based on where he is working.

Hotpads and padmapper are two quick map-based references that will give him some idea of where many places to live are located.

[NotWonderWoman]

Thanks for the info!

[ATLTJL]

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk or anything here.....

But if your son is smart enough to be an engineer, I'm sure he's smart enought to procure his own apartment in the city without his mother's help.

His best bet is going to be talking to other's his own age and finding out where they live since he will probably want to be around them anyway.

Anyway, sorry to sound like an a-hole about that I know it's natural to want to help your children, but I bet he would feel better about doing this on his own.

To answer your question, though, rents in the city vary widely depending on whether he wants a high rise condo with floor to ceiling windows with a view of the skyline or if he wants a historic house that has been converted into apartments by Piedmont park. There are different "types" of city living that all come with benefits and problems of their own, so he will have to decide what type of lifestyle he is looking for. The rents also vary widely. If he wants to live in an older basic place without a dishwasher, he could probably scrape by for around $700 per month. If he wants a newer place with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and washer/dryer connections, it could go up to $1500 and beyond.

Personally, I would advise him to find a decent "coporate" style apartment, one run by a reputable company like Gables or Post or whatever and take a 6 month lease. Even if he lives in Vinings or something like that, it's cheap and it's safe. Then, once he meets people and starts making friends, he can look into an intown roommate situation, where he should be able to easily afford a really nice place. Or he can take the opposite approach and get an expensive place for now, hoping to get a roommate in the future and reduce his rent....or maybe he doesn't want a roommate at all ever.

As you can see, there are lots of options depending on how and where you want to live.

[NotWonderWoman]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Personally, I would advise him to find a decent "coporate" style apartment, one run by a reputable company like Gables or Post or whatever and take a 6 month lease. Even if he lives in Vinings or something like that, it's cheap and it's safe.

Yes, I know he can find one on his own, but why not educate myself on what's out there?

See, just by reading what you wrote above, I can pass that info along to him.

If he were moving to Fargo, ND or whatever, I'd say, OK, pal go and find a realtor, etc. and good luck. Moving to a large metropolitan area, well, every little bit of information is woven together for a knowledge base.

[ATLTJL]

I "get" it.

My first impression was that you were being a bit of helicopter parent, but thinking back to when I first got a job out of college and moved here, it was a bit intimidating and I had a pretty difficult time with the transition from college to the working world, so my head wasn't exactly able to wrap itself around seemingly normal tasks like it should have been.

Maybe if I had my mother's help, I wouldn't have spent that first year in Post Village on miserable Cobb Parkway!

[NotWonderWoman]

ha, no, I'm not a helicopter parent, I'm just a curious parent, lol! Actually, my mother practically abandonded me when I was born, so I think I am over sensitive to my kids. But, they haven't lived at home for a while, and they always knew when to let me know when I over stepped by bounds.

But, I'll always be a good mom. In fact, there was a young woman asking if it was safe to live in Newark, NJ, and some people were saying, oh, yes, there are some safe places, and I just jumped in on the boards and told her NO NO NO NO NO. People get murdered there every day left and right...and I felt it was my duty to tel this young woman moving to NJ from far away to NOT look in that area, and I recommended some other towns for her.

[ATLTJL]

You'll find the same thing here.

A lot of pioneers that will claim their neighborhoods are "just fine" when a lot of people know that's not true.

Here's the good news: Atlanta is a city that for the most part, it's easy to tell just by looking if an area is safe. Most of the not good areas will look run down (some okay areas look run down as well), but the most important thing to do is to drive around at night. If you see a bunch of people with really nothing to do and they are just hanging around on street corners, probably it's a good bet to stay away.

If you listen to your gut in Atlanta, you'll be just fine.

For your son's first apartment, while he is getting used to the area and figuring out what is what, I would recommend either he lives with a roommate or two, or he goes to one of the apartment that is gate controlled and has security. I mean, lots of people will say it doesn't make you any safer, and they may be right. However, if a building is secured, it at least shows the management is trying and it probably attracts residents that are also a bit more serious about security. It may be a tad overboard, but it's not a bad idea when you are really just starting to figure out an area.

If he really wants to live in midtown, almost all of the buildings have some sort of access control and midtown is overall a decently safe place. I'd just stay close to Peachtree or Juniper, but as I said, you're going to get a good feel right away for whether a place is safe or not.

The only exception I can think of off the top of my head is the Cheshire Bridge Road corridor which at first glance looks pretty disgusting, but it's actually a relatively safe area. They just put all the porn and head shops on that road, but lots of people live there and it borders midtown, Morningside, Woodland Hills, and Buckhead, and they are all perfectly fine areas.

West midtown, I know a lot less about, but I think most of it is probably okay now. It'll be easy to tell with a quick ride through after dark.