Rapidly Declining Areas (Atlanta, Lawrenceville, Lilburn: credit, relocating, foreclosures)

[robbfam9]

My family is relocating to the Atlanta metro area soon. Are there any rapidly declining areas we should avoid?

[netdragon]

No. There are stagnant areas, areas that are kind of improving, and then areas that are rapidly improving. There are areas that have declined in the past, of course, but things most everywhere are pretty much on the up-and-up.

[atlantagreg30127]

Some might say to avoid the Stone Mountain area, as over the last few years parts of it at least, have been in decline (gangs/drugs, etc). Due to the recent troubles with the school system and in some areas rising crime, some might also suggest avoiding any place in the Clayton County area as well if you have school-age children.

Atlanta like other large cities is always changing. You might have a perfectly nice neighborhood that 5 years later isn't so nice anymore, and then you may have a neighborhood that people once avoided start to turn around and go upper-dollar, too. There aren't a ton of 100% rock solid areas, but if you find one, chances are most folks can't afford them.

If you have a general idea of the area you'll be working in though it helps folks to suggest places.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Clayton County- enough said!

[goozer]

Yeah. If Clayton County cannot turn around its school situation, I think it would definitely lead to a general decline. Presently, it is only the second public school district in history that has been threatened with loss of accreditation for failing to meet necessary performance goals. The school district has until September to meet the goals required to maintain accreditation and if it doesn't meet those goals (and many "experts" say it is unlikely that it will) then Clayton County with become the FIRST school district to actually lose its accreditation in the HISTORY of public school districts (the other district that was threatned with losing it apparently turned it around).

So go the schools, so goes the county...

[ABM]

Hmm....Conyers?

[netdragon]

What about South Dekalb? I know it isn't rapidly declining, but is it declining? I have heard about house break-ins and mall shootings on the news. The weird thing is that South Dekalb has never seemed that bad to me when I am through there. Is it just a crime problem in some areas, or is it all being over-blown?

With regard to Stone Mountain, there were a lot of foreclosures there -- and not cheap foreclosures either -- some even in the millions. It seems like it's still going on since I Googled "Stone Mountain foreclosures" and saw a lot of listings of foreclosure sales.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by netdragon

What about South Dekalb? I know it isn't rapidly declining, but is it declining? I have heard about house break-ins and mall shootings on the news. The weird thing is that South Dekalb has never seemed that bad to me when I am through there. Is it just a crime problem in some areas, or is it all being over-blown?

With regard to Stone Mountain, there were a lot of foreclosures there -- and not cheap foreclosures either -- some even in the millions. It seems like it's still going on since I Googled "Stone Mountain foreclosures" and saw a lot of listings of foreclosure sales.

South Dekalb has always in some areas been "soso", but yes, over the last few years crime in some of those areas has increased.

Parts of Stone Mountain have declined a lot in the last decade. Those million dollar homes you see in foreclosures are not a sign that there were once millionaires living there - they're the result of people who made FAR too little to afford those homes who got "creative financing" which went bust. At one point a while back MARTA even allowed their buses into Stone Mountain Park directly. Today they stop in the town of Stone Mountain due to the number of rough kids who would ride in on the bus for free park admission and "hang".

Someone mentioned Conyers... I knew someone who lived there 20 years ago. It was nice back then, and if anything, considered the "boonies" at that time. A few comments have popped up now and again in here about it going downhill too, but I've never seen anyone put details as to how/why.

[TakeAhike]

Lilburn/Beaver Ruin Rd/Gwinnett Village may be improving. There has been a serious effort to stop the decline. Too many reports of shootings and drug related crimes to suit me.

[robbfam9]

Thanks for the feedback. We will definitely avoid the ares that have been mentioned.
What about the Lawrenceville area? Is it a safe bet? We have researched some schools that perform rather well in Gwinnett County, but we are very curious about areas in Gwinnett County that we should avoid. We have 5 school-aged children so we need a good public school system in a safe neighborhood.