What's the Big Deal about Decatur (Atlanta, Alpharetta: appliances, townhomes, school)

[postprime]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

cmtiger,
We live in Alpharetta. It is beautiful and well-kept, with lots of flowers, grass, and flowering trees and many lovely homes--some large and some smaller. We have the Big Creek Greenway, a meandering paved 6 mile+ walkway/biking path through the woods by a creek. Alpharetta has a brand new ampitheatre. We have the North Point Mall area, with many stores and restaurants, as well as two movie theatres. Near the Mall is a wonderful, large Barnes & Noble with very knowledgeable salespeople, a reading area, and including a Starbucks. We have some very nice higher end restaurants in the area, such as The Village Tavern, Sage Woodfire Tavern, the Rainwater, and Atlantic Seafood. We also have two J. Christopher's (a chain) and a Varsity. There are two libraries. We have a couple of smaller colleges. Every year the "Taste of Alpharetta" festival comes to town. The historic downtown area is in the beginning process of being totally redone and brought up-to-date. We have several parks, one of which sports a huge fort for the kids built by volunteers. There is also the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve on 46 acres (however, this may have been annexed recently by John's Creek). Sure, we don't have all the Decatur history, but it's an extremely convenient, beautiful place to live, but that's it's purported to be... There IS life outside the Perimeter!

The main advantage Decatur has is that you don't have to drive all the time.

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive

Staywarm, when I said you were a tourist I meant that it was a tourist attitude with tourist expectations that you seemed to have when you went to Decatur. You went looking for something to see.

And that's not what makes Decatur great.

You live in Alpharetta. What is your commute like to work? What time do you get home from work everyday? Do you have to get in your car to go to any and every store? Must you drive to any/every restaurant? Do the streets of your neighborhood vibrate with life and activity? Do you know most of your neighbors? Do they have impromptu parties in the park behind your house?

That's what Decatur is. That's what Candler Park, where I live, is. That's what Inman Park and Virginia Highland are.

It's more about a lifestyle than anything else. A great, wonderful lifestyle.

I am not saying that the lifestyle in Alpharetta is inferior because it's all a matter of preference. But the people who live in our communities REALLY love the lifestyle I described.

I lived in the Gwinnett suburbs for 3.5 years, near the Mall of Georgia. I've lived in Candler Park for 2. And this might just be me and my lifestyle preference but I wasn't really living for that 3.5 years. I mean, I wasn't in misery, either. More like I just didn't realize what I was missing until I moved to the city to shorten my commute.

If you love Alpharetta then that is truly wonderful for you and no one can tell you you're wrong for it.

Now, let's hold hands and sing "We Are The World".

plessthanpointohfive,

Well, you're right. Decatur DOES sound like a pleasant place to live. Guess I have misunderstood what all the hype about the city is.

But we moved here from Ft. Lauderdale, where there were many places to go eat and walk around and just have a really fun evening for the price of a dinner. There don't seem to be any places in Atlanta like that and we miss it. Atlanta just seems like a sprawling city with not much personality to us. Enjoy your community!

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

plessthanpointohfive,

Well, you're right. Decatur DOES sound like a pleasant place to live. Guess I have misunderstood what all the hype about the city is.

But we moved here from Ft. Lauderdale, where there were many places to go eat and walk around and just have a really fun evening for the price of a dinner. There don't seem to be any places in Atlanta like that and we miss it. Atlanta just seems like a sprawling city with not much personality to us. Enjoy your community!

I visited my friend in Jupiter, FL once--she lived on a boat/ship/whatever in Clearwater for a while and even though FL has 'many places to go and eat and walk around and just have a really fun evening for the price of dinner...' it is too hot and 'The Gold Coast' lacks appeal for me.

According to Boortz, 'High Priest of the Painful Truth', talk radio personality with a second empire in Naples, FL --it is just 'Swell' there. I have learned to take Boortz with a shaker of salt. I absolutely know that the Panhandle/Gulf Coast is the best part of FL--Fort Walton, Port St. Joe and Panama City--Destin is OK--what is the 'Big Deal' about Destin--Golf and Country Club living?? Not the way I 'Roll' I can assure you.

St. Augustine is a model city for FL--not that FL seems to care much about the things that most people believe important in 'Living Well'.

You 'might' like St. Simon's Island--but I am afraid to suggest that you visit because it is where the Methodist church began and although there is much to enjoy, IMO, it is a more laid back relaxed pace. They developing Jekyll Island and that might eventually be the sort of place you enjoy.

If you have 'the change'--pop over to Sea Island>>>
Sea Island Resort Official Site- Luxury Golf and Spa Resort (888) 732-4752

~~~
Savannah, GA certainly has plenty of what you indicate you prefer--but there again it is in GA--Methodist church heavily influenced the culture and you are just not going to find FL style living here. Which is why half of FL seems to want to 'Leave'.
~~~



'Don't let the door hit you where God split you'--that is what they would say to you up in North GA--around Zell Miller's area--Young Harris. What else Zell might say one never knows--'Give 'Em H..., Zell' that is how he got elected.

I'll just say--'Y'all Come Back Now, We'll Leave the Light on for You'.

'Tomorrow is another day'---S. O'Hara/GWTW

[JPD]

An interesting Decatur blog I recently discovered:

Decatur Metro

Excerpt from top story:
"In the 2008 citizen survey, 97% of residents rated Decatur as either an “excellent” or “good” place to live."

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by TakeAhike

I visited my friend in Jupiter, FL once--she lived on a boat/ship/whatever in Clearwater for a while and even though FL has 'many places to go and eat and walk around and just have a really fun evening for the price of dinner...' it is too hot and 'The Gold Coast' lacks appeal for me.

According to Boortz, 'High Priest of the Painful Truth', talk radio personality with a second empire in Naples, FL --it is just 'Swell' there. I have learned to take Boortz with a shaker of salt. I absolutely know that the Panhandle/Gulf Coast is the best part of FL--Fort Walton, Port St. Joe and Panama City--Destin is OK--what is the 'Big Deal' about Destin--Golf and Country Club living?? Not the way I 'Roll' I can assure you.

St. Augustine is a model city for FL--not that FL seems to care much about the things that most people believe important in 'Living Well'.

You 'might' like St. Simon's Island--but I am afraid to suggest that you visit because it is where the Methodist church began and although there is much to enjoy, IMO, it is a more laid back relaxed pace. They developing Jekyll Island and that might eventually be the sort of place you enjoy.

If you have 'the change'--pop over to Sea Island>>>
Sea Island Resort Official Site- Luxury Golf and Spa Resort (888) 732-4752

~~~
Savannah, GA certainly has plenty of what you indicate you prefer--but there again it is in GA--Methodist church heavily influenced the culture and you are just not going to find FL style living here. Which is why half of FL seems to want to 'Leave'.
~~~



'Don't let the door hit you where God split you'--that is what they would say to you up in North GA--around Zell Miller's area--Young Harris. What else Zell might say one never knows--'Give 'Em H..., Zell' that is how he got elected.

I'll just say--'Y'all Come Back Now, We'll Leave the Light on for You'.

'Tomorrow is another day'---S. O'Hara/GWTW

I don't understand your post at all. I was simply attempting to explain what I have been unable to find in Georgia that meant a lot to me in other states where I have lived. Just because I like a more sophisticated evening out than you do doesn't make me a bad person. Decatur folks like a laid back atmosphere and that's perfectly fine with me. Enjoy!

Florida is very diverse geographically and none of the areas are the same. I have visited most the of places you mentioned. South Florida has changed a lot now in many ways, but when we lived there, we enjoyed the wonderful weather--the winter was 75-80 degrees and low humidity. The summer was hot, but generally there was always a breeze.

I've visited Savannah and been several times to the North Georgia mountains, most recently Tallulah Gorge (beautiful). So far we've visited Callaway Gardens, Helen, Dahlonega, Lake Lanier, Lake Oconee, Peachtree City, and Athens. When I moved here I drove the entire way from the Florida line to Atlanta and even experienced the "love bugs" on my windshield. So I've seen a bit of GA and plan to see more. By the way, I'm Methodist!

So I was starting to feel badly about dissing Decatur, given that the people who live there seem to have genuine feeling for the city and truly enjoy the commuity atmosphere. But after your nasty post, I wonder what kind of folks really live there? Or in Georgia, for that matter! I certainly hope they are kinder than either you or Zell Miller.

[atlantamoi]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

But we moved here from Ft. Lauderdale, where there were many places to go eat and walk around and just have a really fun evening for the price of a dinner. There don't seem to be any places in Atlanta like that and we miss it. Atlanta just seems like a sprawling city with not much personality to us. Enjoy your community!

There seems to be many dining/shopping/walking areas that are scattered about. Decatur, Va. Highlands (love that area), Vinings, Buckhead. None of these places are huge areas like you are talking about (maybe Buckhead used to be like that). Atlantic Station has a lot of that, but it's definitely more sterile than something like Va. Highlands.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by TakeAhike

If you have 'the change'--pop over to Sea Island>>>
Sea Island Resort Official Site- Luxury Golf and Spa Resort (888) 732-4752

Easier said than done...Sea Island's roads are now privately owned, and the island is gated...you must ba a guest or resident to gain entry.

[Highriser987]

I do enjoy the Virginia Highlands atmosphere, but it is totally different there than up in Decatur IMO. I have friends that live up in Alpharetta, and although it is nice, has lots of good restaurants and family oriented, you have to drive to everything. If you want to go walk around a village type atmosphere up there, you have to drive to it, lol. Seems though lots of areas of the city are building the live/play/work communities, like Dunwoody has, the new Brookhaven center off of Peachtree Ind. Blvd that has just started being built, so there will be lots of little village like areas, a few old areas, but some new ones too where people can have that type of atmosphere. I personally prefer living intown to out in the burbs for that very reason. Why waste gas driving to every little place you have to go. On the Decatur subject, anyone remember back when it wasnt the nice little town for a good while? I remember Decatur was a place you wouldnt wanna walk around at!

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

cmtiger,
We live in Alpharetta. It is beautiful and well-kept, with lots of flowers, grass, and flowering trees and many lovely homes--some large and some smaller. We have the Big Creek Greenway, a meandering paved 6 mile+ walkway/biking path through the woods by a creek. Alpharetta has a brand new ampitheatre. We have the North Point Mall area, with many stores and restaurants, as well as two movie theatres. Near the Mall is a wonderful, large Barnes & Noble with very knowledgeable salespeople, a reading area, and including a Starbucks. We have some very nice higher end restaurants in the area, such as The Village Tavern, Sage Woodfire Tavern, the Rainwater, and Atlantic Seafood. We also have two J. Christopher's (a chain) and a Varsity. There are two libraries. We have a couple of smaller colleges. Every year the "Taste of Alpharetta" festival comes to town. The historic downtown area is in the beginning process of being totally redone and brought up-to-date. We have several parks, one of which sports a huge fort for the kids built by volunteers. There is also the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve on 46 acres (however, this may have been annexed recently by John's Creek). Sure, we don't have all the Decatur history, but it's an extremely convenient, beautiful place to live, but that's all it's purported to be... There IS life outside the Perimeter!

The size of the lots relates to the price of land since Alpharetta when developed was waaaayyyy out in the boonies (and, let's face it, pretty much still is). Decatur is older than Atlanta. The size of the lots is excellent in comparison to most of the intown neighborhoods in the City of Atlanta. The major neighborhoods with huge lots in the city are Druid Hills and parts of NW Atlanta where home prices are into the millions.

Decatur has THE PATH (an urban trail system http://pathfoundation.org ) and even though the city is tiny, it has 9 parks plus at least 2 community gardens I know of ( http://decaturga.com/cgs_citysvcs_rec_parks.aspx ). It doesn't have a big box Barnes & Noble but it has a number of independent bookstores and the main branch of the library in Decatur is huge and excellent. Decatur has something like 80+ restaurants, cafes, coffee shops: http://decaturga.com/cgs_citysvcs_ce...staurants.aspx as well as (I think) over 100 shops http://decaturga.com/cgs_citysvcs_ced_sdsguide.aspx#1 . It is home to Agnes Scott College and has new campuses for the Art Institute and DeVry as well as being only about a mile from Emory University. Decatur also maintains an exciting annual calendar of events ( http://decaturga.com/events.aspx ) ranging from a very popular book festival; blue sky concerts; an annual arts festival; a summer "beach" party (where they truck in tons of sand to the courthouse square); 4th of July fireworks on the square; a fall beer festival; and MUCH more. It's also got a very progressive school system (hopefully soon to be one of the first charter school systems in the country). And there's a MARTA rail station in the middle of town which makes commuting downtown or to the airport extraordinarily easy (it's also an easy drive in).

Seriously, if someone had "heard that Alpharetta was such a great place" and decided to drive all the way out there to spend the day, what kind of reaction do you think they'd have? "I drove all the way out here just to go to Barnes & Noble and eat at The Varsity?"

[postprime]

Seriously, if someone had "heard that Alpharetta was such a great place" and decided to drive all the way out there to spend the day, what kind of reaction do you think they'd have? "I drove all the way out here just to go to Barnes & Noble and eat at The Varsity?" (quote)


Very well put.
Also, not to pile on, but I used to work in Alpharetta, and it has some of the worst traffic around in terms of getting in and out of the area. Not at all convenient to Atlanta, the airport, etc.
Alpharetta has its charms for some, that is obvious. But for me it would be like living in a gilded, country club hell.