Neighborhood Suggestions? Intown, $200K and under, safe area (Atlanta, Woodland: renter, crimes)

[mjedwards409]

Good afternoon everyone. I wanted to follow up and see if anyone could give me some feedback on Boulevard Heights. We are specifically looking at the southern portion of Edie Ave. There are a couple options in our price range there. We are a little confused by some of the Zillow home values we are seeing. We have driven on that road before and we seem to remember that it was nice and quiet. It didn't seem sketchy at all. However, I am seeing a good number of homes under $100K. Google street view looks nice. Am I missing something here. Is this a bad area?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by mjedwards409

Good afternoon everyone. I wanted to follow up and see if anyone could give me some feedback on Boulevard Heights. We are specifically looking at the southern portion of Edie Ave. There are a couple options in our price range there. We are a little confused by some of the Zillow home values we are seeing. We have driven on that road before and we seem to remember that it was nice and quiet. It didn't seem sketchy at all. However, I am seeing a good number of homes under $100K. Google street view looks nice. Am I missing something here. Is this a bad area?

Visit the area at night as well to get a good feeling. Stop and talk with neighbors about the area.

[Seatlien]

Originally Posted by mjedwards409

Good afternoon everyone. I wanted to follow up and see if anyone could give me some feedback on Boulevard Heights. We are specifically looking at the southern portion of Edie Ave. There are a couple options in our price range there. We are a little confused by some of the Zillow home values we are seeing. We have driven on that road before and we seem to remember that it was nice and quiet. It didn't seem sketchy at all. However, I am seeing a good number of homes under $100K. Google street view looks nice. Am I missing something here. Is this a bad area?

It's definitely not a bad area. It's a small community that originally had small, modest homes - most have been renovated/updated but not all. The RE market there has been trending up for a long time now. Homes priced appropriately are going in a matter of days right now.

It does have very engaged and active n'hood association https://sites.google.com/site/boulev...ghtscommunity/ . Reach out to them if you care to - they're good people and will try to help you out as much as possible.

One big thing that helped BOHO recently was the APS redistricting moving them to Parkside ES.

Crime there is comparable to neighboring Grant and Ormewood Parks.

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by mjedwards409

Good afternoon everyone. I wanted to follow up and see if anyone could give me some feedback on Boulevard Heights. We are specifically looking at the southern portion of Edie Ave. There are a couple options in our price range there. We are a little confused by some of the Zillow home values we are seeing. We have driven on that road before and we seem to remember that it was nice and quiet. It didn't seem sketchy at all. However, I am seeing a good number of homes under $100K. Google street view looks nice. Am I missing something here. Is this a bad area?

I don't think the area is bad, but it has a bad rep. It's south of the railroad tracks, closer to the prison, and closer to the areas that have more trouble. While it isn't far geographically from Grant Park, I feel like the railroad tracks act as a barrier (which the beltline will help to solve), so some people tend to consider anything south of the railroad tracks as dangerous. Personally, I think once you start heading south of Englewood is where crime picks up and things get a little more dicey, and the surroundings are less appealing - it's a little too close to that for my taste, but everybody has their own tolerance - I really think that the neighborhood itself is fine.

Take others advice and go there at night, see how comfortable you feel, and talk to the neighbors. Outsiders may perceive it as more dangerous, but the neighbors may say otherwise. It's nice that it's still close to Grant Park, although not in the neighborhood, and much more affordable. Odds are if you lived there, you would rarely ever head south on Boulevard, you would always go north back through Grant Park. The other problem is resale if you are thinking that far ahead - I believe it is zoned to South Atlanta HS, which doesn't have a great reputation either (crime, gangs, etc. etc.).

[cqholt]

- I believe it is zoned to South Atlanta HS, which doesn't have a great reputation either (crime, gangs, etc. etc.).

Nope, its Jackson.
http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/cms/lib...%20Jackson.pdf

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Nope, its Jackson.
http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/cms/lib...%20Jackson.pdf

Good catch, could have sworn it was zoned to South ATL HS. Maybe it changed with the redistricting. Thanks for the correction.

In that case - the schools are getting better, so resale that shouldn't be a worry.

[mjedwards409]

You guys were right about the quick sale. 2 hours after my realtor sent it to me he emailed back to say someone already put in an offer sight unseen.

[NotSoCityGirl]

I'm currently renting in the "Cheshire Bridge Area" you mentioned above. The neighborhood is called Woodland Hills. We love the neighborhood and it sounds like it would have what you are looking for. We're looking to move because the houses are too small for us and our two huge dogs, two year old son and potential next child on the way soon. It's convenient to everything I've ever wanted to go to and the XXX stuff seems like it doesn't even exist. Our neighbors are friendly and there are people out walking their dogs or just exercising all of the time.

The one thing I would mention though is that a majority of the neighborhood is in Dekalb Co. (you mentioned you didn't want to be in unincorporated DeKalb). You'll have to check the individual houses you are looking at to see if they are on the Fulton Co. side of the line.

[mjedwards409]

Originally Posted by NotSoCityGirl

I'm currently renting in the "Cheshire Bridge Area" you mentioned above. The neighborhood is called Woodland Hills. We love the neighborhood and it sounds like it would have what you are looking for. We're looking to move because the houses are too small for us and our two huge dogs, two year old son and potential next child on the way soon. It's convenient to everything I've ever wanted to go to and the XXX stuff seems like it doesn't even exist. Our neighbors are friendly and there are people out walking their dogs or just exercising all of the time.

The one thing I would mention though is that a majority of the neighborhood is in Dekalb Co. (you mentioned you didn't want to be in unincorporated DeKalb). You'll have to check the individual houses you are looking at to see if they are on the Fulton Co. side of the line.

Thanks for the feedback. I don't really have an objection to something being listed as unincorporated DeKalb. I was more referring to places that have a Decatur address but are actually unincorporated Dekalb.

Do you live anywhere near the railroad tracks? If so, is that noise a problem?

Thanks again!

[NotSoCityGirl]

I do - the railroad tracks run right up against our backyard. At first the noise was jarring, but I rarely notice it any more and I never wake up from it once I'm asleep. My son absolutely loves the fact that there's a train so close and he used to run to the back window to watch it go by.

The one thing that is kind of annoying is that the trains are CSX trains and are not really on a schedule - so you never know when one will come by. Some days there's one or two and then some days for some reason it seems like there are three times as many.