First Night in Ormewood Park - Woke up to guy looking through trash? (Atlanta: houses, neighborhoods)

[mjedwards409]

First off, we just moved into our house in Ormewood Park. Its just off Glenwood Ave west of Moreland. The former owners left a lot of trash from their move out but they brought it out in the dumpsters on the curb. Trash pickup was this morning. I woke up to a guy out there digging through our trash cans when they were by the street.

Is this a normal thing in this part of the city? Is it legal? Do I have a right to tell him to stop since its on the street? My instict was to go tell him to F off but am I out of line with that? Thanks for any feedback.

Just as fyi, he drove up in a car and was clearly doing this at multiple houses. He was not homeless.

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by mjedwards409

First off, we just moved into our house in Ormewood Park. Its just off Glenwood Ave west of Moreland. The former owners left a lot of trash from their move out but they brought it out in the dumpsters on the curb. Trash pickup was this morning. I woke up to a guy out there digging through our trash cans when they were by the street.

Is this a normal thing in this part of the city? Is it legal? Do I have a right to tell him to stop since its on the street? My instict was to go tell him to F off but am I out of line with that? Thanks for any feedback.

Just as fyi, he drove up in a car and was clearly doing this at multiple houses. He was not homeless.

I can't say that's normal for that area as far as folks digging in the trash. Could've been someone just dumpster diving, as some people do that when homes have been renovated and the dumpsters are left on the street. And not to scare you but one of my friends has a house on Glenwood off Moreland Ave. and she's had a few break-ins/buglaries over the years, as did her brother (around 3 or 4 while he was alive and then folks went back in a burglarized the house again right after he died) who also owned a home in East Atlanta.

Make sure you have a security system with possibly cameras on your house since you are new to the area.

[red92s]

I also lived in Ormewood (North Ormewood, technically) for a bit over a year, in a house fronting on Glenwood. Never had a safety or security problem.

[cqholt]

Probably looking for scrap metal, etc. I wouldn't worry.

[jsvh]

Doesn't seem that odd to me. When I bought my house in North Ormewood the previous owners left a bunch of stuff, mostly old tools and things in the crawlspace. I kept what I wanted, then put it by the curb and invited neighbors over to pick through it, then put a "free" sign on it. I'd say most of it got carried off before the trash men came a few days later. Better than recycling IMO.

Welcome to the neighborhood. You will probably see some "weird" stuff, this is not a cookie-cutter suburban subdivision. But that is why it is great.

Been here about a year now and never had a safety / security issue either.

[OhioNative]

We have garbage pickers even out in the suburbs. In my Suwanee subdivision there is a guy who comes around in a pick up truck every Sunday night and takes things from people's trash.

[Staysean23]

Its a normal thing. I say let them have it as long as they don't make a mess trying retrieve it...

[residinghere2007]

Honestly, I wouldn't even see this as an issue and thought it odd that it would be linked to safety issues. There are garbage pickers/scrap metal searchers everywhere. You probably never got up early enough to see them before in other neighborhoods.

Funny but we have a "recycler" on our street, I live in English Avenue, and once when I was coming home and about to roll the cans back to my yard, the guy offered to do it for me and wanted to thank me for all the cans we usually have during football season. My husband hosts football parties every week and I swear all of them can drink 100 plus beers in a given weekend. Recycle man says we are his best find lol. He watches out for our house and always tells me when some strange person gets on my porch when we aren't home. He even harrased a relative of ours once because he looked "suspicious" lol. He is a good neighborhood watch recycle man. So something good actually comes out of all those guys taking over my living room on weekends and drinking boatloads of beer. He said he never got over $20 from the scrap metal center before we moved to the block.

[CCATL]

Like everyone else said, I wouldn't worry about it. They are usually looking for cans and other scrap metals that they can make some money off of. I see them all the time in Grant Park in the early mornings on trash day - I would never think it a safety issue. They look through you garbage, and move on to the next one.

If you put trash out on the curb for it to be taken away, why would you want to tell someone to F off? Isn't that why it is trash - you don't want it, so somebody takes it away? Who cares if it is a homeless person, a dumpster diver, or the city?

[mjedwards409]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. We moved from Underwood Hills and before that we were in suburban Greenville, SC so this is the first time I've seen this.

I truly didn't know how normal or socially acceptable this was. I'm glad I came here for feedback before I overreacted.

Other than that, Ormewood Park has been great so far!