Can anyone tell me more about O4W? (Atlanta, Kennesaw: apartment, rent)

[Rocco Barbosa]

In terms of rent prices and quality of life?

I don't mind a little "rough around the edges".......in a neighborhood. As long it's not too bad.


Provide any info.





Countdown: 5 months to go-----

[ATLTJL]

My office is in O4W.

You're right, it is a little rough around the edges in parts. And I'm not really there after dark, so I don't see what happens at night.

All I can say is there is a lot of excitement and a lot of activity. Between Ponce City Market and whatever you call that Krog Street market thing, lots of new things are coming. I also recently went to a show at the Masquerade, and what used to be a desolate wasteland is now midrise apartment development.

I'm not sure if the drug dealers and prostitutes come out at night, but during the day, what you see in O4W is mostly trendy white people walking dogs and pushing baby strollers. At least by my office....I still wouldn't exactly live ON Boulevard.

I think the biggest strength of O4W is its proximity to Inman Park, Little 5 Points, Candler Park, midtown, VaHi, etc. All of these things are a hop, skip, and a jump away. If you asked me 5 years ago what I thought of O4W, I would have laughed and said you'd be crazy to even consider it. Now, the excitement and development have reached a critical mass to where it's hard to imagine the place is going to fizzle out.

I still don't imagine Boulevard is going to improve any time soon, so I would tend to look toward O4W park, or further east along Ponce.

Finally, I think O4W is a bit like Wall Street. If investors like a company, the stock can get overvalued due to anticipation of what it might do. Values in O4W seem to me to reflect what the area is going to be in 5 years, not what it is today. One of my co-workers rents an apartment in O4W and I think the rent she pays is absolutely insane. If you can find a good deal there, I think its a decent area. But midtown or VaHi, it ain't....so I wouldn't pay those prices.

[Rocco Barbosa]

Thanks.

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

My office is in O4W.

You're right, it is a little rough around the edges in parts. And I'm not really there after dark, so I don't see what happens at night.

All I can say is there is a lot of excitement and a lot of activity. Between Ponce City Market and whatever you call that Krog Street market thing, lots of new things are coming. I also recently went to a show at the Masquerade, and what used to be a desolate wasteland is now midrise apartment development.

I'm not sure if the drug dealers and prostitutes come out at night, but during the day, what you see in O4W is mostly trendy white people walking dogs and pushing baby strollers. At least by my office....I still wouldn't exactly live ON Boulevard.

I think the biggest strength of O4W is its proximity to Inman Park, Little 5 Points, Candler Park, midtown, VaHi, etc. All of these things are a hop, skip, and a jump away. If you asked me 5 years ago what I thought of O4W, I would have laughed and said you'd be crazy to even consider it. Now, the excitement and development have reached a critical mass to where it's hard to imagine the place is going to fizzle out.

I still don't imagine Boulevard is going to improve any time soon, so I would tend to look toward O4W park, or further east along Ponce.

Finally, I think O4W is a bit like Wall Street. If investors like a company, the stock can get overvalued due to anticipation of what it might do. Values in O4W seem to me to reflect what the area is going to be in 5 years, not what it is today. One of my co-workers rents an apartment in O4W and I think the rent she pays is absolutely insane. If you can find a good deal there, I think its a decent area. But midtown or VaHi, it ain't....so I wouldn't pay those prices.

[LovelySummer]

Can anyone define the boundaries of O4W? I've always thought of Boulevard but now I, reading this thread, I understand Ponce City Market will be part of O4W. What about the Whole Foods/Starbucks area across the street? Is that all O4W? Where are the residential areas with single family homes located in this area of the city?

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Can anyone define the boundaries of O4W? I've always thought of Boulevard but now I, reading this thread, I understand Ponce City Market will be part of O4W. What about the Whole Foods/Starbucks area across the street? Is that all O4W? Where are the residential areas with single family homes located in this area of the city?

Go to google maps centered on Atlanta and type in 'Old Fourth Ward.' It is a chunk of the city. Boulevard goes right up the middle.

If you look at old maps of the city under the old Ward System the 4th ward was most of the whole northeast quadrants of the city. It went closer into Downtown too. It changed a few times over the years. Of course, back then Atlanta was fairly small and the city limits were actually a small circular radius from Downtown. A 1.5 mile radius.

So the 4th ward technically had different boundaries earlier on and changed over time.

It includes everything east of Boulevard up to the old rail tracks (that beltline), so Ponce City Market is just inside the borders and just south is the new Old fourth ward park.

Cross the Beltline east and you are not longer in O4W. Go north to Whole foods and you are no longer in O4W.

[Nast]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Can anyone define the boundaries of O4W? I've always thought of Boulevard but now I, reading this thread, I understand Ponce City Market will be part of O4W. What about the Whole Foods/Starbucks area across the street? Is that all O4W? Where are the residential areas with single family homes located in this area of the city?

Everything in Green on this map is technically O4W (although I've heard a number of people erroneously refer to what is listed here as Sweet Auburn as part of O4W as well):

http://gis.atlantaga.gov/doc_archive...00/p003950.pdf

The Beltline now serves as the eastern border between the Old 4th Ward and Inman Park, so Krog Street Market is actually on the Inman Park side of the border. To the north the border is primarily Ponce. To the west the border is Piedmont from North Avenue to Freedom Parkway (more or less), and then Boulevard from Freedom Parkway to DeKalb Avenue. The southern border is DeKalb Ave.

There are actually a moderate number of SFHs on the east-west streets off of Boulevard (Winton Terrace, Rankin St, Angier Ave, Wabash Ave) and the couple of north-south streets off of Ponce (Kennesaw, Glen Iris), not to mention in the streets south of Ralph McGill that are somewhat cut off by Freedom Parkway.

That being said, the Old 4th Ward covers a wide geographical area, and specific areas should be checked out before deciding where to live. It's changing block by block at this point, although the general perception is that the further you get from Boulevard, the safer it is.

[Nast]

Looking closer at this map, I think it's fair to say that when people talk about the Old Fourth Ward blowing up, they're talking about the part that is either east of Glen Iris/Randolph north of Freedom Parkway, or along Edgewood Avenue in the south. The further you get from the Beltline, the less development is currently under way. At least, that's my impression.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Nast

Everything in Green on this map is technically O4W (although I've heard a number of people erroneously refer to what is listed here as Sweet Auburn as part of O4W as well):

http://gis.atlantaga.gov/doc_archive...00/p003950.pdf

...

^^^^^
This.


And the orange part is Sweet Auburn.

And the pink part is Downtown.

And the dark pink part is Castleberry Hill.

[testa50]

I always considered Sweet Auburn to sort of be a subset of O4W. To me, Boulevard is a pretty horrible dividing line. It would imply that the MLK district straddles two neighborhoods--his birth home is clearly in O4W instead of Sweet Auburn according to the map. And the Edgewood nightlife district clearly straddles the two.

If I were moving to O4W, I would strongly prefer to buy rather than rent. Right now it's fairly transitional, and you'll have to contend with some level of hassle for the next few years. At least when you buy, there's a payoff at the end of this; if you rent, your rent will just go up.

But it assuredly will get better and better. It entails one of the city's most vibrant nightlife districts, a bunch of good restaurants, great historic areas, is in a perfect location, and is home to some massive redevelopment projects. It's the surest bet in the city, imo.

[ATLTJL]

But it assuredly will get better and better

Most likely. But nothing is for sure!

Lots of people found that out the hard way a few years ago.