Want to move to Atlanta summer 2015? (Decatur: apartment, for rent, low crime)

[southern_girl]

I just recently graduated from college (nearly 2 weeks ago) and I want to move to Atlanta. Right now, I live in Birmingham, Alabama, approximately a 2 and a half hour drive to ATL, so not very far. I choose Atlanta because I've gone to the city a few times and I think it's beautiful city. Also, I'm a southerner from a rather small town and Atlanta has all the amenities I'm looking for. Although it's a bit bigger than Birmingham, it still has that southern feel I'm looking for. Right now I'm living in the suburb of Homewood with my parents, which is about 5 miles from downtown Birmingham.

A few things I'm looking for when it comes to relocating to Atlanta:

• A nice, safe environment that has a proportional amount of younger adults (I'm 22 years of age). I do realize that no place is crime-free, but a place with a relatively low crime rate would be nice.

• Also a place that is affordable. I would say maybe up to $1,200 a month for rent? (I'm not really up for the whole roommate thing, which I know may be helpful when it comes to paying for rent, so if my budget is a bit unrealistic, feel free to offer any suggestions).

• A place where public transportation is reachable and reliable. I don't have a car as of now, hoping to have one soon, but in case I don't. (The public transportation in my city is pretty crappy, so I was always lucky to borrow my parents car or get a ride from friends).

[jsvh]

Sounds reasonable. Midtown or Decatur is probably the best place to start. Once you get comfortable, start to explore the many in-town neighborhoods on the east side. They each have their own pros and cons and you may find a better one for your next move.

[MattCW]

Agreed with jsvh. Also a word of caution on the public transit. Investigate the bus schedules fully if you're not within walking distance of a train station. For instance the area of Decatur I'm in would be considered "convenient to transit" but the bus line runs once every 20 minutes at best and we're 2 miles from the nearest transit station with parking so it's not exactly walkable. Also a word of caution about Decatur and really local mailing addresses in general, as a coworker of mine found out, a Decatur address doesn't mean convenient to anything. The Decatur mailing address apparently has a huge range with some "Decatur" addresses being easily a 20 minute drive from Decatur, and without even any bus service. I hope I haven't scared you, you can plug any address you find into Google easily enough and turn on transit, and play with directions if you want to see mileage to a train station.

[thebigATL]

Midtown or Atlantic station or some parts of downtown.

[afdinatl]

Where will you be working? Where meaning what city

How.much $$$ will you bring in per month?

[No2Monsanto]

Originally Posted by southern_girl

I just recently graduated from college (nearly 2 weeks ago) and I want to move to Atlanta. Right now, I live in Birmingham, Alabama, approximately a 2 and a half hour drive to ATL, so not very far. I choose Atlanta because I've gone to the city a few times and I think it's beautiful city. Also, I'm a southerner from a rather small town and Atlanta has all the amenities I'm looking for. Although it's a bit bigger than Birmingham, it still has that southern feel I'm looking for. Right now I'm living in the suburb of Homewood with my parents, which is about 5 miles from downtown Birmingham.

A few things I'm looking for when it comes to relocating to Atlanta:

• A nice, safe environment that has a proportional amount of younger adults (I'm 22 years of age). I do realize that no place is crime-free, but a place with a relatively low crime rate would be nice.

• Also a place that is affordable. I would say maybe up to $1,200 a month for rent? (I'm not really up for the whole roommate thing, which I know may be helpful when it comes to paying for rent, so if my budget is a bit unrealistic, feel free to offer any suggestions).

• A place where public transportation is reachable and reliable. I don't have a car as of now, hoping to have one soon, but in case I don't. (The public transportation in my city is pretty crappy, so I was always lucky to borrow my parents car or get a ride from friends).

Yeah, okay. Now what field will you working in and have you secured a job? Have you visited Atlanta at all? Because you need to prior to moving here; preferably multiple times.

[ATLTJL]

How can you afford $1200 per month in rent but not have a car?

I get it if you are making a statement by voluntarily not having a car, but I can't figure out how someone would want a car and not have one, but live in a $1200 per month apartment.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

How can you afford $1200 per month in rent but not have a car?

I get it if you are making a statement by voluntarily not having a car, but I can't figure out how someone would want a car and not have one, but live in a $1200 per month apartment.

It's often a choice now. I'd rather have a $1200 apartment where I can walk / transit / taxi to everything I need rather than $300/m on a car and $900/m on an apartment farther away.

[ATLTJL]

I get that, but the OP said this:

I don't have a car as of now, hoping to have one soon

[sedimenjerry]

A lot of college students don't have cars. I knew several that relied on busses, bikes, friends or lived on campus. Recent graduate so not too surprising