Questions on Lawrenceville and Snellville (Atlanta, Tucker: apartment complexes, rentals, safe neighborhood)

[Fields of Green]

My daughter is a recent MBA being offered a position in Lawrenceville and the company also has an office in Snellville. She is early 20s, liberal, world traveler. She would like to rent a room in a house, budget $500/mo. She is of course looking for a very safe neighborhood with some conveniences nearby.

Any good gyms in the area?
Where are some trustworthy places to buy a good used car?
Are either Lawrenceville or Snellville less painful to get into Atlanta? Would it make any sense to live in the city of Atlanta (so she can be close to fun stuff) and commute out, or does heavy traffic run both directions?

Thanks so much for any advice.

[cwkimbro]

Hi, I grew up in Lilburn just a bit in-town from Lawrenceville and Snelleville. I am now 30 and 100% world travel for work and fairly liberal.

The area is fairly family oriented and conservative. Central Lawrenceville a small bit less so, but it is mainly seeing changes from lower income families renting older apartments. Snelleville was definitely that place where people liked their jacked up trucks, but it is a nice quiet area with great shopping amenities. Just not much of a singles atmosphere. $500 isn't low, so long as she can find good roommates. If she goes more intown it is a tad bit low.

She would definitely like Decatur better. It is more liberal, has more younger people, and a reverse commute down US78 to Snelleville wouldn't be that bad. Decatur also has easy access to the other intown areas without being in the middle of it. However, I think her budget is a bit low to be in parts of Decatur that attract the younger crowd. It is also worth keeping options open to changing work places more rapidly as you develop a career.

If she stays near Lawrenceville or Snelleville, I would also just accept the fact it is largely suburban and gravitate towards Suwannee/Mall of Georgia and be in a nicer area for apartment rentals. I don't think its great for a singles scene, but I also think there are singles mixed into the haystack and harder to find.

Gyms won't be hard to find, but I honestly can't give a good recommendation first hand.

I gave up on used cars awhile ago outside overpaying a small bit at a place like Carmax. I've had a couple bad experiences. I bought new this time around, but I know that is hard to do sometimes. I looked at newer used cars (just off lease) at the dealerships. I thought they kept the prices pretty high. Once I pro-rated the value of the car to mileage on them (life expectancy) the new cars seemed to have a cheaper per mile/life cost.

The only other wrench I have to throw into the mix.... There is a newly established college in Lawrencville that grew from nothing very quickly. (Georgia Gwinnett College). I don't think it has changed the vibe of the area too much, but maybe it would make it easier to find roommates in Lawrenveville. I'm just not sure there are many potential MBA students going there yet.

[berkeleylake]

I think Tucker or Decatur might be better choices to live for your daughter due to commuting reasons alone. Decatur is even better if she likes to use MARTA as driving to the stations is not that far. Avondale Estates is another area she might consider. The Decatur/Avondale Estates areas have more of "liberal" mix of residents than Lawrenceville.

I agree with the other poster, Lawrenceville is mostly full of families with kids and probably not as desirable for someone young and single. As a younger person, I would prefer to live closer to 285 and not as far out as a place like Lawrenceville. Nothing is wrong with most areas of Lawrenceville, but the commuting during rush hour into Atlanta is a bear either way during the usual times on 85.

[ATLTJL]

The job is in Lawrenceville. Living in Decatur makes no sense.

It's not exactly the swinging singles scene in Lawrenceville, but fresh grads with $500 per month budgets can't be choosers. I know, I've been there. I was 29 before I could afford to move into town, so a year or two in Gwinettia ain't gonna kill the child.

To answer your question, it would make little sense to live in Atlanta and commute to Lawrenceville. Traffic would be lighter than the reverse direction, but she'd still get killed, especially in the afternoon going home. Also, there's no way on this earth she'd be getting anything any normal person would even consider calling safe for $500 a month in Atlanta. To be honest, that's going to be pushing it even in Lawrenceville.

My advice would be to take out a 6 month lease and just live hand to mouth while finding some other poor recent grad to get into a roommate situation with ASAP. $500 for a 1 bedroom is going to be very difficult, but $1000 for a 2 bedroom is simple and they could get something more than decent probably in the 800s.

[berkeleylake]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

The job is in Lawrenceville. Living in Decatur makes no sense.

Yep, a better answer than mine, ATLTJL. I obviously didn't read the initial post very well.

Being close to the job is key, especially if she is on a tight budget and $500 a month for rent is very tight. Even if your daughter can find a room to rent in a house, $500 can be very limiting. She should be able to find that out in the Lawrenceville area from Craigslist ads, but she should use caution if she is doing this all alone and does not know anyone at all in the area. There are a lot of people who need to rent out rooms for financial and other reasons, but you just have to be good at screening them as they would you.

Other areas near Lawrenceville worth checking out are: Lilburn, Snellville, Buford and Grayson.

[aries4118]

I don't think commuting from the Northlake/Tucker to Lawrenceville/Snellville would be bad at all. It could be a good/decent commute.

The Northlake/Tucker Area is a pretty good area for singles. Look into it.

[cwkimbro]

I want to clarify something about Decatur -> Snelleville (and for that matter what would also be a Tucker/Northlake -> Snelleville, but a few miles shorter) commute.

It is 18 miles long and isn't bad at all during rush hour, especially with a reverse commute.

Decades ago they made a freeway segment that we call the Stone Mountain Freeway that goes between just short of Decatur and the Gwinnett Co. line. Originally, it was planned to go all the way into downtown, but public resistence stopped it.

End effect: The stretch is underutilized, quick, and easy....so long as you're ok with the mileage.

The main traffic you will see is the stretch from the Dekalb Co. line to Snelleville has traffic lights, but was recently re-done. It will back up a touch near Killian Hill Rd.

The difference between Tucker/Northlake and Avondale or Decatur is no more than 5 minutes.

If you stay within Gwinnett, I would go with Lawrenceville and gravitate towards newer apartment complexes along Sugarloaf pkwy south of Lawrenceville or north along I-85 near Suwannee/Buford.

Older rentals in Lawrenceville, Lilburn and in the older parts of Gwinnett won't have as many young professionals.

To put it simply: I'd gravitate towards new and shiny or go to the closest intown-ish area.

--Of course, the ability to find a good trustworthy roommate might drive your location decision more than anything--

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

I want to clarify something about Decatur -> Snelleville (and for that matter what would also be a Tucker/Northlake -> Snelleville, but a few miles shorter) commute.

It is 18 miles long and isn't bad at all during rush hour, especially with a reverse commute.

Decades ago they made a freeway segment that we call the Stone Mountain Freeway that goes between just short of Decatur and the Gwinnett Co. line. Originally, it was planned to go all the way into downtown, but public resistence stopped it.

End effect: The stretch is underutilized, quick, and easy....so long as you're ok with the mileage.

The main traffic you will see is the stretch from the Dekalb Co. line to Snelleville has traffic lights, but was recently re-done. It will back up a touch near Killian Hill Rd.

The difference between Tucker/Northlake and Avondale or Decatur is no more than 5 minutes.
...

To put it simply: I'd gravitate towards new and shiny or go to the closest intown-ish area.

--Of course, the ability to find a good trustworthy roommate might drive your location decision more than anything--

Good post. When I lived in the North Decatur/East Emory Area I could shoot out to the Mountain Park Wal-Mart and Target in no time (are they still there???).

And Yes--Living in the communities of Tucker/Northlake, North Decatur/East Emory, Valley Brook/Shamrock/McLendon, Avondale Estates, or the City of Decatur will give one intownish benefits/amenities and a not-bad/good/decent commute to Snellville/Lawrenceville.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Good post. When I lived in the North Decatur/East Emory Area I could shoot out to the Mountain Park Wal-Mart and Target in no time (are they still there???).

And Yes--Living in the communities of Tucker/Northlake, North Decatur/East Emory, Valley Brook/Shamrock/McLendon, Avondale Estates, or the City of Decatur will give one intownish benefits/amenities and a not-bad/good/decent commute to Snellville/Lawrenceville.

The Wal-Mart is! I don't think anything will ever get that wal-mart move, even wal-mart itself.

The tried to close it down and sell the land to an apartment developer and reopen a new larger supercenter along Ross Rd further towards Snelleville along US78.

It became one of the first in the country that had the local residents petition to keep their wal-mart. They kept it and gave it a small expansion to add the grocery store to it. It is busier than ever.

The Target, however, as large and nice as it was was struggling. For years I would go there and it was pretty quiet inside. It finally closed down a few years back. It was really only around 10-15 years.

The nearest Target now is in Snelleville, older, smaller, and the busiest in the area.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

The Wal-Mart is! I don't think anything will ever get that wal-mart move, even wal-mart itself.

The tried to close it down and sell the land to an apartment developer and reopen a new larger supercenter along Ross Rd further towards Snelleville along US78.

It became one of the first in the country that had the local residents petition to keep their wal-mart. They kept it and gave it a small expansion to add the grocery store to it. It is busier than ever.

...

I remember reading something about that--but I didn't know the conclusion.

Something about the affluent residents of Smoke Rise and Mountain Park rallying to not have a blight on their area. Smart move on their part, in my opinion.


And I loved that Target by the way--and true, it was never too crowded.