Clayton county is bad, but...? (Atlanta, Macon: lofts, school, university)

[Listennow32]

Originally Posted by atler8

I was able to move down to Clayton County & just east of Jonesboro near Lake Spivey's upper end 3 years ago but only after I discovered GRTA & the the park & ride locations offered by GRTA near me, more specifically the one on Tara Blvd. in Jonesborto about 2.5 miles from my house.
Without GRTA, I doubt that I would have moved as I will not tolerate a daily one way drive of around 25 miles up into my job in Midtown followed by a reverse commute of the same distance back home.
My car is just now 3 model years old & I only have 18,800 miles on the odometer. Thank God for GRTA!

You say your near Lake Spivey right? Are you aware of the GRTA park & ride off of 138. This may be closer

Xpress...commuting made easy. Operated by the GA Regional Transportation Authority

[atler8]

Thanks for that tip, Listen.
I'm up a little ways off west from the upper tip of Lake Spivey & found that the park & ride lot on Tara Blvd. is about a mile closer for me. The only downside of going over to Tara are the obstacles to good trafic flow posed by the tracks that bisect downtown Jonesboro, especially during the morning rush.
But, it's nice to have an alternative in mind for if I ever need it.
Thanks again!

[demonta4]

I live in Forest Park, and there i've never seen any crime,people should actually come here before they make bad statements. But, i do think restoring some cities(like forest park) with better downtowns would help.

[berkeleylake]

Spalding county is really far out for commuting to Atlanta. Generally speaking, people who live there either work on the southside of Atlanta metro or they may commute elsewhere. I personally like Griffin and have friends there, however, I would only live there if I didn't have school-aged kids and my job was somewhat close by.

Nearby Henry or Fayette counties are better options for families (better public schools). If you don't have such family obligations, then I would check out Spalding county if you like to be out in the "country" and have some conveniences of metro Atlanta. Griffin is typical of small towns that once had mills as a major employer. It is a small-town on the fringes of metro Atlanta. The people there are generally friendly, but it is not an area with apparent business "progress."

Clayton county has its share of problems, and it is mostly related to the elected officials and public schools. I'm most familiar with Clayton and Henry on the southside. As someone else mentioned, you have some pockets of nice older housing stock, such as Lake Spivey or Lovejoy. In my own experience over the years, I found Clayton county government rank-and-file workers to be professional for the most part when I was dealing with them in the recent past. The crime in the area is mostly related to theft and it's quite common and persistent. That is a huge common complaint people have is about theft (house break-ins) and car theft.

I do have hopes that some areas will turn around and become more attractive for families to move back in to, even so, I think it will be quite sometime (decade plus). The one great thing going for the Southern Crescent is some better paying jobs at Porsche which is relocating to the area where the old Ford Plant used to be (Hapeville). I hope that will draw some more employers to the general area south of I-20.

The Clayco problems are more with some people in elected office, such as Victor Hill and some others involved in some well known corruption issues. I would not raise kids there, however, if you do not have family obligations, parts of Clayton are good to start renting if you want to get to know the entire area before buying a home anywhere. I would recommend that to most anyone new to the metro. The parts of Clayton I would choose to rent are Rex, Stockbridge and Ellenwood (eastern portion). Voter apathy is prevalent in the area, but that is not anything really unique to Clayton.

Quite frankly, the best way to find out about all this is to go to these areas and talk to the people there to find out what they think. I would not hesitate striking up conversations with people who live around these areas to get better information first-hand. As most people realize, a message board is very uneven in its responses and very biased. As you see here, most people who are active on this message board either live in-town or on the Northside but since more people live North of Downtown that is somewhat a given. The Southern Crescent (southside) presence here is under-represented in my observation over time.

In closing, how many people here realize the Southside uses the name Southern Crescent? I like the name, it sounds somewhat graceful, but I believe, if you don't at least know that, then chances are you probably know very little about the Southside of metro Atlanta.

[LynnHarris]

Originally Posted by berkeleylake

Spalding county is really far out for commuting to Atlanta. Generally speaking, people who live there either work on the southside of Atlanta metro or they may commute elsewhere. I personally like Griffin and have friends there, however, I would only live there if I didn't have school-aged kids and my job was somewhat close by.

Nearby Henry or Fayette counties are better options for families (better public schools). If you don't have such family obligations, then I would check out Spalding county if you like to be out in the "country" and have some conveniences of metro Atlanta. Griffin is typical of small towns that once had mills as a major employer. It is a small-town on the fringes of metro Atlanta. The people there are generally friendly, but it is not an area with apparent business "progress."

Clayton county has its share of problems, and it is mostly related to the elected officials and public schools. I'm most familiar with Clayton and Henry on the southside. As someone else mentioned, you have some pockets of nice older housing stock, such as Lake Spivey or Lovejoy. In my own experience over the years, I found Clayton county government rank-and-file workers to be professional for the most part when I was dealing with them in the recent past. The crime in the area is mostly related to theft and it's quite common and persistent. That is a huge common complaint people have is about theft (house break-ins) and car theft.

I do have hopes that some areas will turn around and become more attractive for families to move back in to, even so, I think it will be quite sometime (decade plus). The one great thing going for the Southern Crescent is some better paying jobs at Porsche which is relocating to the area where the old Ford Plant used to be (Hapeville). I hope that will draw some more employers to the general area south of I-20.

The Clayco problems are more with some people in elected office, such as Victor Hill and some others involved in some well known corruption issues. I would not raise kids there, however, if you do not have family obligations, parts of Clayton are good to start renting if you want to get to know the entire area before buying a home anywhere. I would recommend that to most anyone new to the metro. The parts of Clayton I would choose to rent are Rex, Stockbridge and Ellenwood (eastern portion). Voter apathy is prevalent in the area, but that is not anything really unique to Clayton.

Quite frankly, the best way to find out about all this is to go to these areas and talk to the people there to find out what they think. I would not hesitate striking up conversations with people who live around these areas to get better information first-hand. As most people realize, a message board is very uneven in its responses and very biased. As you see here, most people who are active on this message board either live in-town or on the Northside but since more people live North of Downtown that is somewhat a given. The Southern Crescent (southside) presence here is under-represented in my observation over time.

In closing, how many people here realize the Southside uses the name Southern Crescent? I like the name, it sounds somewhat graceful, but I believe, if you don't at least know that, then chances are you probably know very little about the Southside of metro Atlanta.

Enjoyed your post.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by LynnHarris

Enjoyed your post.

Me, too!

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Me, too!

Me three!


Good job, Berkeley.

[KingJohn]

So, none of Spalding county's schools are good in your opinion?

[KingJohn]

Also, I'l leave this here:


Griffin, GA - YouTube

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by berkeleylake

Spalding county is really far out for commuting to Atlanta. Generally speaking, people who live there either work on the southside of Atlanta metro or they may commute elsewhere. I personally like Griffin and have friends there, however, I would only live there if I didn't have school-aged kids and my job was somewhat close by.

Nearby Henry or Fayette counties are better options for families (better public schools). If you don't have such family obligations, then I would check out Spalding county if you like to be out in the "country" and have some conveniences of metro Atlanta. Griffin is typical of small towns that once had mills as a major employer. It is a small-town on the fringes of metro Atlanta. The people there are generally friendly, but it is not an area with apparent business "progress."

Clayton county has its share of problems, and it is mostly related to the elected officials and public schools. I'm most familiar with Clayton and Henry on the southside. As someone else mentioned, you have some pockets of nice older housing stock, such as Lake Spivey or Lovejoy. In my own experience over the years, I found Clayton county government rank-and-file workers to be professional for the most part when I was dealing with them in the recent past. The crime in the area is mostly related to theft and it's quite common and persistent. That is a huge common complaint people have is about theft (house break-ins) and car theft.

I do have hopes that some areas will turn around and become more attractive for families to move back in to, even so, I think it will be quite sometime (decade plus). The one great thing going for the Southern Crescent is some better paying jobs at Porsche which is relocating to the area where the old Ford Plant used to be (Hapeville). I hope that will draw some more employers to the general area south of I-20.

The Clayco problems are more with some people in elected office, such as Victor Hill and some others involved in some well known corruption issues. I would not raise kids there, however, if you do not have family obligations, parts of Clayton are good to start renting if you want to get to know the entire area before buying a home anywhere. I would recommend that to most anyone new to the metro. The parts of Clayton I would choose to rent are Rex, Stockbridge and Ellenwood (eastern portion). Voter apathy is prevalent in the area, but that is not anything really unique to Clayton.

Quite frankly, the best way to find out about all this is to go to these areas and talk to the people there to find out what they think. I would not hesitate striking up conversations with people who live around these areas to get better information first-hand. As most people realize, a message board is very uneven in its responses and very biased. As you see here, most people who are active on this message board either live in-town or on the Northside but since more people live North of Downtown that is somewhat a given. The Southern Crescent (southside) presence here is under-represented in my observation over time.

In closing, how many people here realize the Southside uses the name Southern Crescent? I like the name, it sounds somewhat graceful, but I believe, if you don't at least know that, then chances are you probably know very little about the Southside of metro Atlanta.

I agree with LynnHarris, arjay57, and aries 4118...EXCELLENT post by berkeleylake!