Empty Nesters moving to Atlanta (Dunwoody, Lenox: apartment, to rent, condo)

[FitzsFancy]

My husband and I are both 50 years old and looking to rent a place convenient to my husband's new job. He will be working in Dunwoody, near the MARTA station. We were thinking about living either very close to his work, or a high rise in Buckhead so he could take the commuter train in. We currently live in a townhouse in very walkable city, and love that lifestyle of restaurants, groceries and retail stores right down the street. I'm not sure about apartment/hotel style living of Buckhead, but I also don't know if Dunwoody would give us the active lifestyle we want. I'm not worried about price. Thoughts?

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by FitzsFancy

My husband and I are both 50 years old and looking to rent a place convenient to my husband's new job. He will be working in Dunwoody, near the MARTA station. We were thinking about living either very close to his work, or a high rise in Buckhead so he could take the commuter train in. We currently live in a townhouse in very walkable city, and love that lifestyle of restaurants, groceries and retail stores right down the street. I'm not sure about apartment/hotel style living of Buckhead, but I also don't know if Dunwoody would give us the active lifestyle we want. I'm not worried about price. Thoughts?

Buckhead would be convenient because it has a lot of amenities and would obviously be close to your husbands job via MARTA rail. Many parts of Buckhead, including the highrises along the Peachtree corridor and the Lenox area are dense enough to be walkable, but the reality is many people still don't walk. I think it has to do with a cars-first design when Buckhead was more suburban, and it is definitely having some growth pains. Traffic is horrific in the area, and while it can be walkable, the corridor isn't a very pleasant walk due to high speeds, large intersections, and general lack of human scale development. I'm actually always very surprised when driving in Buckhead how few people are walking. But again, it CAN be walkable if you choose to do so, so I would go over there and take a look to see how you feel.

Since price isn't an issue, I would suggest looking in Midtown rather than Buckhead. There are many more feet on the streets there, and the neighborhood is purposefully growing as pedestrian/bicycle/transit friendly, rather than the cars-first approach Buckhead has been developed in. There are new and old condo buildings there, and if you have time, a couple more that look really nice are in the pipeline for development in the near future. The condo buildings give you both mid- and high-rise options, and there are also townhome options. Your husband can still easily ride MARTA rail to Dunwoody from midtown - it would add maybe 5-10 minutes to his commute, depending on where you choose to be in midtown and which station you are closest to. Midtown will also give you access to Piedmont Park, the Beltline, festivals, and other similar active outdoor areas, the likes of which aren't really available in Buckhead. In addition, it is easy to walk to existing grocery stores, and soon Whole Foods will also be opening a very large store in the heart of Midtown. There are plenty of restaurant options as well, and those increase by the day. I think regular shopping might be lacking, but you can easily take MARTA rail/bus or walk over to Atlantic Station for stores like Target, and other larger brand clothing stores. Based on what you've described, I would seriously consider midtown.

[Ant131531]

I would choose Midtown over Buckhead as well. Way more walkable, active, huge park nearby, lots of restaurants and a publix(They're also building a Whole Foods in midtown, but won't be completed until late 2017 or so). You still have the choice of MARTA and Midtown to Dunwoody via MARTA rail would probably take 20-25 minutes or so.

[FitzsFancy]

Thank you for your help! I'm checking out Midtown right now!

[msz7763]

Look in the Atlantic Station area- specifically The Atlantic....walkable, short walk (.5 mile) or free shuttle to Arts Center MARTA station, restaurants, stores, movie theatre. Sounds like it might be what you are looking for.

[Clayton white guy]

Atlantic Station is a great idea! Nice grocery store (Publix), department store (Dillard's), specialty stores, restaurants, Target. There are also nice townhomes in Atlantic Station and older homes in Home Park (adjacent) if you are not in a highrise mood.