Moving to Stone Mountain Georgia (Redan, Decatur: apartment complexes, schools, income)

[GaLineman]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Well the city is tiny and most of the cheap apartments are in unincorporated Dekalb County.

However the link you provided is not very flattering. Scroll down and look at everything. Stone Mountain had the highest crime value on the map and a violent crime rate 5x the US average.

Now the town center is a quiet charming place, but the area just has some of the cheapest rents around and all that it brings with it.

That link just doesn't make Stone Mountain look well.

I think Stone Mountain is one of the worst areas in the metro. I know East Point gets the rap for being the worst crime wise but Stone Mountain is downright scary. The sounds of gunfire going off night and day there and rolling gun fights on Hairston are enough to tell me I would not want to live there.

[tarnishaluvsdontae]

Originally Posted by GaLineman

I think Stone Mountain is one of the worst areas in the metro. I know East Point gets the rap for being the worst crime wise but Stone Mountain is downright scary. The sounds of gunfire going off night and day there and rolling gun fights on Hairston are enough to tell me I would not want to live there.

West end is worst. I live here.

[CashmereEsquire]

Stone mountain isnt bad what so ever lol

[GRS86]

If you are considering Stone Mountain, you want to seek the portion of it that's closest to the Gwinnett County line, if not actually in Gwinnett. Outside of the Water's Edge, and Deer Creek Subdivisions, I wouldn't really give it a second thought. Even though Southland in itself is a beautiful golf subdivision with 4 sided brick homes, it's IMHO, surrounded by too much riffraff, plus it at least a 4-5 mile drive to get to a decent grocery store or retail outlet like Publix, Kroger, or Super Walmart.

If you have school aged kids, forget about it!!The schools are under performing. Even the best of the St. Mountain in DeKalb school clusters, Stephenson, is struggling, and isn't what it used to be. FWIW, the Shiloh school cluster, which is on the Gwinnett side of St. Mountain isn't anything to write home about either.

If you don't have school aged kids, and are looking for a nice subdivision that's close to a Publix and other big box retail, you may want to consider Water's Edge.

[jeoff]

What do you know about the Shiloh cluster? From what I can find on the web its test scores and graduation rates seem pretty competitive. Better than Lakeside HS or Grady HS, and on par with Dunwoody. It has always lagged neighboring Parkview HS a little bit, and some folks don't like the racial make-up, but it seems to be doing well overall...

Originally Posted by GRS86

If you are considering Stone Mountain, you want to seek the portion of it that's closest to the Gwinnett County line, if not actually in Gwinnett. Outside of the Water's Edge, and Deer Creek Subdivisions, I wouldn't really give it a second thought. Even though Southland in itself is a beautiful golf subdivision with 4 sided brick homes, it's IMHO, surrounded by too much riffraff, plus it at least a 4-5 mile drive to get to a decent grocery store or retail outlet like Publix, Kroger, or Super Walmart.

If you have school aged kids, forget about it!!The schools are under performing. Even the best of the St. Mountain in DeKalb school clusters, Stephenson, is struggling, and isn't what it used to be. FWIW, the Shiloh school cluster, which is on the Gwinnett side of St. Mountain isn't anything to write home about either.

If you don't have school aged kids, and are looking for a nice subdivision that's close to a Publix and other big box retail, you may want to consider Water's Edge.

[GaLineman]

Originally Posted by tarnishaluvsdontae

West end is worst. I live here.

West End is not bad in the day. At night a little dicey off the main roads. Q Time is one of my faves to eat at. I have never felt any fear in the west end.

[GaLineman]

Originally Posted by CashmereEsquire

Stone mountain isnt bad what so ever lol

That is like saying Baghdad is not so bad! It is all relative. You won't find me over there after nightfall!

[SAAN]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Clarkston has had some image problems. However, last fall we visited a friend there and I was impressed. The houses all looked neat and well maintained. We toured a very nice park. They also have a swim and tennis facility that is first rate. Downtown is amazingly diverse. It's an old area with a feeling of history. You get the sense of a community that's working hard to move things forward.

It's not for everybody but if you're of a progressive, global bent I wouldn't write it off.

That is the problem with much of Stone Mountain. It LOOKS NICE, but the mentality of some of the people there just drags down the area. The sad part is, even the worst of neighbors like the one I lived in on Redan Rd, it is always maybe 10-20% who cause the problem and the other 80% take care of their homes but when one in every 10 homes is involved in gangs or drugs, it makes the neighborhood look bad.

And I agree downtown Stn Mtn is very nice.

[SAAN]

Originally Posted by JoeTarheel

If you read the article, the incident wasn't "just for fun" (i.e. random), but a retaliation for an earlier murder. These crimes are hardly ever random, so if you aren't involved in some shady dealings then it's very unlikely to happen to you.

For shootings and killings to be "quite common" in Stone Mountain, there is an alarming lack of actual crime...1 murder in 2012 and a general crime rate lower than the national average according to the stats shown here: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime...n-Georgia.html Maybe you're confusing unincorporated DeKalb County with Stone Mountain - people do it all the time with Decatur and DeKalb County.

What you are quoting stats for is the City of Stone Mountain, which is small and doesnt really have much problems outside of a few awful apartment complexes. The Stone Mountain area 30083, 30087, and 30088 is where alot of the issues are, but 30087 is pretty nice as it has alot of very nice houses off STn Mtn Lithonia Rd.
Redan, Panola, Hairston, Memorial Dr, Rockbridge, Mtn Industrial, Central all have their problem areas.

[SAAN]

Originally Posted by GaLineman

I think Stone Mountain is one of the worst areas in the metro. I know East Point gets the rap for being the worst crime wise but Stone Mountain is downright scary. The sounds of gunfire going off night and day there and rolling gun fights on Hairston are enough to tell me I would not want to live there.

Sadly this is true. Its mostly young punks shooting guns in the air trying to be hard, but no one wants to live around that.