inter-racial cple moving to ATL area (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: real estate, apartment, buying a house)

[SynMelRN2007]

We are relocating to the atlanta area summer/2007. We need truthful advice on decent, safe, racially/culturally diverse neighborhoods with a good elementary school for our twins. We are relocating from boring, conservative Cinti, OH. The racial tension is bold and blatant and we live in the suburbs just outside of Cinti. The school systems are horrible unless you move away from the city like we have. We are just looking for a diverse, accepting, respecting, safe, unbiased neighborhood to raise our family. We want to be close to the social life that ATL has to offer also, we dont mind a drive into the city but don't want to be hours away. If someone can tell me the distance in miles and driving time to downtown ATL from decent neighborhoods, I would appreciate it. Does anyone have advice on Douglasville? Lithia Springs? Cascade? Snellville? Lawrenceville? Stone MT?
Thx
Syn

[bongo_x]

well, I'll tell what I know as a relative newcomer.
I've lived here 4 years.

I live just south of Snellville. the area around here and Stone Mt. is very mixed racially, mostly all black and white. Many, if not most of my neighbors are black. It would be a black middle class area if there weren't so many white people here. That's kind of a joke, but it gives you a pretty good picture of the area. I am white so I can't tell you with any authority how bad the attitude toward a mixed race couple is, but I would be surprised if it was a big issue around here. It's not what I would call "bold and blatant" racism. That was L.A.! I was shocked at the racism when I lived there. I'd say it's more quiet and restrained racism.

Atlanta is a city people move to from all over the world, very diverse. Even here in Snellville you'll hear arabic, spanish, hindi?, african languages and lots of island patios every day. So you'll have a large number of people who won't notice a mixed race couple at all mixed with some old south types who'll quietly dissapprove. You'll certainly not be the only mixed race couple in ATL though.

There is some subtle racism though. For example; the housing prices out here are lower than some other areas because there are more black people living here. I was very surprised to have several people (including real estate agents "off the record") mention that to me. We thought it was kind of funny in way though because no one ever said it with malice, just fact. I guess that's the legacy of the south.

When I moved here I thought the Stone Mt. - Snellville area was the undiscovered secret for many reasons, but is seems the secret is out since it is much more crowded than it was 4 years ago.

I still think it is great though for these reasons;
1. cheap. the difference between living in town ("inside the perimeter") is ridiculous. Half the price here, easily, partly for the reasons I mentioned.
2. easy drive into town. 30 minutes from my house to the middle of Atlanta. 15-20 if you're in Stone Mt.
3. the best Starbucks in the world. I'm not kidding, it's in an old house on stilts that sits IN the lake.

bad points;
1. traffic-sometimes. the main shopping part of Snellville can be very crowded. The traffic in Atlanta in general is pretty horrible, BUT... it's mostly during rush hour. That 30 minute drive from my house to almost anywhere in ATL at 11:00 am could be 60-90 minutes at 8:00 am, or it could be 30, impossible to know. I don't have to work at "normal" hours so it's great for me, but you may have a different experience. But the traffic in the northern suburbs is MUCH worse. the north surburbs are whiter, way more crowded, more expensive.
2. boring. there is not much interesting in this area. You'll be driving into ATL for that. All the major chain stores are here in full force, but not much else. It's an easy drive into town though. We have found a few really great restaraunts out here after all this time. We don't go out much so take that with a grain of salt.

If you have to commute at rush hour you need to think about your area carefully. Smoke Rise is really nice and close to town for instance. When I moved here I made the rush hour drive to every house I was interested in and it made me drop some areas completely. I'm looking at you, Roswell.

My advice is get a map, follow the 78 east out of town and look around.

I don't know anything about the schools because we don't have kids.

That's about as truthful as I can make it.

bb

[candycane]

Tucker is close to the perimeter (Northlake Mall area) as well as the Clarkston, Stone Mountain and Chamblee areas. These later areas are all diverse (more diverse than Tucker) but you are in close proximity to them. I grew up near Chamblee and have made many friends of multiple ethnicities, but I've found Tucker to be more affordable than Chamblee for the type of home I was looking for. The unique thing about Tucker is it is almost intown in some areas, but it still has a suburban small town feel. It is also still affordable. I'm purchasing a wonderful townhome there soon that is in a safe, clean diverse neighborhood.

Check out this link http://www.city-data.com/city/Tucker-Georgia.html and if you're interested, look for real estate in the 30084 area code. Good luck!

[SynMelRN2007]

Thank you for your responses and the information that was provided.
so how far from downtown ATL is Tucker? Do you have any information about Douglasville?
Syn

[backfist]

We need truthful advice on decent, safe, racially/culturally diverse neighborhoods with a good elementary school for our twins. We are relocating from boring, conservative Cinti, OH. The racial tension is bold and blatant and we live in the suburbs just outside of Cinti.

To a great degree, this is becoming the case in most states other than California and Hawaii. The suburbs that you--and we--have been looking for are the most expensive and most crowded. We considered Stone Mountain, Lithonia, etc. until we drove around. It's either Black or White, and very little real diversity or voluntary integration. Black/White families don't tend to find great acceptance or approval on the south side of metro Atlanta. So your best bet would be Roswell, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody. Towns like Cumming, Johns Creek and Milton are nice suburbs but give those areas a few years to get up to speed in terms of interracial families. For what it's worth, these areas will likely have the most "educated" folks.

Hate to be so blunt, but most folks either can't tell you because they don't have actual knowledge of being an interracial family, or won't tell you because they have issues with them.

[LLD]

So your best bet would be Roswell, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody.

Interesting, I've been told that most of these areas are considerably expensive, very conservative and distinctly white. I met a woman from Dunwoody on a business trip -- she was a fencing instructor -- very nice, very conservative. The plane was full of kids from this area going to the fencing tournament and they were all white with a few Asians. Just an anecdotal story, not a statistical declaration of any kind. And another anecdote, I know someone from Roswell, and you couldn't find a bigger jerk on the planet! LOL His views on women, homosexuals and race issues are from the 1950's.

I have found in my travels and living in various places that usually there are a few neighborhoods in town that are very eclectic and mixed and that normally the farther out you go the more homogeneous things tend to get. I've tended to live in diverse neighborhoods on purpose -- I prefer the mix of people and cultures and I raised my son that way too. To him, diversity is the norm.

[backfist]

I definitely see where you're coming from. And yes, all those areas I mentioned are largely white, homogenized and not very diverse. Unfortunately, metro Atlanta hasn't quite learned what real diversity is. Most Blacks live on the south side because they don't believe they're welcome elsewhere, and most Whites live on the north side because they don't want to live amongst Blacks. Nobody will ever admit to this, but it's not necessary: the living arrangement speaks for itself.

What's left is the small but growing number of people who believe in true diversity and aren't afraid to live by or amongst any particular group, color or culture. We fall into that category. Unfortunately, we don't have enough choices for diverse communities--not just integrated--but diverse.

[LLD]

My cousin lived in Decatur and taught at Agnes Scott. She's white and wanted something very affordable and wound up buying in a mostly black neighborhood. She didn't give one ****. LOL

And the real estate agent kept trying to "warn" her under the table etc. Her neighbors had some nickname for her... can't remember what it was -- something like the white dot since she was the only white person on the street or something like that.

I think all her black neighbors were at first really surprised but after that there were no issues. I visited her there and never thought anything of the neighborhood either -- it looked nice to me with decent houses.

When I lived in Houston, we had a variety of races and nationalities in my subidvision and I chose that on purpose. The same when I lived in DC. And I'm hoping to get some diversity in Atlanta too. The more I look at Kirkwood, the more I like it. Lots of middle class (and some upper middle) from various groups. It's on the MARTA line, reasonable city golf course near, brand new YMCA, walk to restaurants and shops, access to the PATH, several parks, lots of green space, belly dancing place at Little Five Points and the homeowner's association has a mission statement that includes: To promote the spirit of an intown neighborhood and a high quality of life for all residents of Kirkwood, regardless of race, age, religion, sexual orientation, or economic status by empowering its residents etc.

That to me is the kind of attitude I appreciate and where I think an inter racial couple would be very welcome. I could also see this at meeting the other poster's needs (can't remember her name) that is coming from NYC and doesn't drive.

[dlh891]

My husband and I are an interracial couple with a 3 year old daughter and we bought a house in the south part of Snellvile (south of rt 124) last summer. We just moved up here November 1st and have been very impressed with the quality of people in the area of all backgrounds. We love it and have not encountered any trouble or second glances. We have lived previously in Miami and Tampa and had trouble (believe it or not) right off in both places.

[keely600rr]

My wife and I are both bi-racial and we have 1 child. we moved here (Douglas county) 1 year ago and have been looking at different areas to settle into. This week we signed a contract for a new construction home in Lithia Springs. We have family in Douglasville, so thats a big reason for us buying a house in this area. As for diversity, the subdivision we selected seems to be about 75/25 Black/white. This area is one of the fastest growing communities in the country and there are people from just about every US region moving here. So it seems to be a pretty diverse.

In my opinion it was critical for us to move here and stay in an apartment for a year while we looked around got acclimated, and talked to as many people as we posible about what each area of Atlanta was like.

It seems to me that Douglasville (City) is a liitle congested and the infastructure has not kept up with all of the new developement, although they are trying too. I do see roads being widened but i think houses are going up faster than they can build schools to accomidate.

In this respect I think Lithia Springs, Powder Springs, Villa Rica, Temple are good areas as they are building new homes but not at the same pace as Douglasville.

We are about 25 min from the city, 3 shopping malls, and minuites from every chain store you could think of. But still a little remote with plenty of treelined roads.

Hope this helps

I would be glad to answer any questions about our New Jersey to Atlanta relocation experience.