Moving To Clayton, County Ga/ HELP (Atlanta, Macon: crime rates, houses, safest area)

[Jimbook]

I have lived in Clayton County for almost 7 years. Quite honestly the worse thing about it is the reputation. Although God deserves all of the credit, I have not had any significant problems. I do believe there many parts of the county that are less than desirable, but the whole county is not awful. Clayton has some nice qualities. It is not as crowded as some counties. It is very intergrated. There are some negative elements, don't get me wrong. Some would probably say--a lot of them. My children attend/ed one of the top elementary schools, and I was very pleased with the teachers and staff. It appears that people tend to lump all of Clayton into one pool, as if the whole county is a demise. Although DeKalb has crime in certain areas, the whole county doesn't seem to be stigmatized. The same holds true for Fulton. I know that both are much larger than Clayton. Both have north and south designations, with the southsides of both being "less desirable", but still in both counties, the south sides are experiencing "rebirths", and hopefully Clayton will also one day. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably think twice about moving here (because stigmatization affects morale, property values, etc), but I feel blessed that we moved into a nicer area of Clayton. And if we would train our children (and adults) properly to be law-abiding, God-fearing, and upright citizens things might be even better.

[galightman]

EVERYWHERE..........there is no place (unless you create it yourself) where you can move to rid yourself of these items. I for one am a proud homeowner in Clayton County, I grew up in DeKalb, watched Gwinnett, Cobb, and Douglas grow and Henry explode in the late 90s, I've worked for the City of Atlanta. Each one of them have their strengths and shortfalls but to say that anyone of them is worse than the other for this or that is not right if we chronicled each of the unsavory items and listed them side by side the list would be pretty much the same.

CRIME: Each one of them has their black eyes as CRIME IS EVERWHERE the only person that can stop a crime is the criminal before he/she commits it!

SCHOOLS: The State as a whole ranks in lower range for the country I for one believe that schooling begins at home and parents should take a vested intrest in their kids education.

QUALITY/VALUE OF HOMES: Clayton County have some of the best built homes in the State but as of late had lagging sales. This does not mean that the value of those homes have completly dropped and bottomed out just means that it takes longer today to sell a home in Clayton County than it took 1-2 years ago. Those conditions actually favor you as a Buyer because you may find what you want at a discounted price.


What do you look for in an area that makes it a "Good place" to live?

What do you personally want the area to provide?

Is it close to all the things that are important to you? (Your job, church, school)

Those things should be paramount in your decision!

Clayton County has went through and continues to thrive in the midst of a tremendous amount of growth and change in the last 10 years but still attracts new companies, new homes, builds new schools, etc.... on a constant basis.

[ATLienGirl]

Originally Posted by galightman

EVERYWHERE..........there is no place (unless you create it yourself) where you can move to rid yourself of these items. I for one am a proud homeowner in Clayton County, I grew up in DeKalb, watched Gwinnett, Cobb, and Douglas grow and Henry explode in the late 90s, I've worked for the City of Atlanta. Each one of them have their strengths and shortfalls but to say that anyone of them is worse than the other for this or that is not right if we chronicled each of the unsavory items and listed them side by side the list would be pretty much the same.

CRIME: Each one of them has their black eyes as CRIME IS EVERWHERE the only person that can stop a crime is the criminal before he/she commits it!

SCHOOLS: The State as a whole ranks in lower range for the country I for one believe that schooling begins at home and parents should take a vested intrest in their kids education.

QUALITY/VALUE OF HOMES: Clayton County have some of the best built homes in the State but as of late had lagging sales. This does not mean that the value of those homes have completly dropped and bottomed out just means that it takes longer today to sell a home in Clayton County than it took 1-2 years ago. Those conditions actually favor you as a Buyer because you may find what you want at a discounted price.


What do you look for in an area that makes it a "Good place" to live?

What do you personally want the area to provide?

Is it close to all the things that are important to you? (Your job, church, school)

Those things should be paramount in your decision!

Clayton County has went through and continues to thrive in the midst of a tremendous amount of growth and change in the last 10 years but still attracts new companies, new homes, builds new schools, etc.... on a constant basis.

I could not agree with you more. I too, am a Clayton County homeowner and have not had any problems. Enough said in this post!

[Clayton resident]

Originally Posted by Jimbook

I have lived in Clayton County for almost 7 years. Quite honestly the worse thing about it is the reputation. Although God deserves all of the credit, I have not had any significant problems. I do believe there many parts of the county that are less than desirable, but the whole county is not awful. Clayton has some nice qualities. It is not as crowded as some counties. It is very intergrated. There are some negative elements, don't get me wrong. Some would probably say--a lot of them. My children attend/ed one of the top elementary schools, and I was very pleased with the teachers and staff. It appears that people tend to lump all of Clayton into one pool, as if the whole county is a demise. Although DeKalb has crime in certain areas, the whole county doesn't seem to be stigmatized. The same holds true for Fulton. I know that both are much larger than Clayton. Both have north and south designations, with the southsides of both being "less desirable", but still in both counties, the south sides are experiencing "rebirths", and hopefully Clayton will also one day. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably think twice about moving here (because stigmatization affects morale, property values, etc), but I feel blessed that we moved into a nicer area of Clayton. And if we would train our children (and adults) properly to be law-abiding, God-fearing, and upright citizens things might be even better.

Jimbrook really summed it up well.

I am another proud homeowner in Clayton county and totally agree that Clayton's negative reputation is not fully deserved. Some of it is media driven.

Every county has issues or problem areas - Clayton's get more press than any other metro Atlanta county, with Gwinnett & DeKalb running really close seconds. I have friends who live in much more expensive areas who have experienced more crime in their so-called "safe neighborhoods" than I have in Clayton.

Thanking God I've never been the victim of any type of crime in Clayton County, anywhere in Clayton County. Love my home which I got at an excellent price (now I know in part thanks to the negative press), larger than a postage stamp lot in an area that's well maintained.

I also love the diversity in Clayton & that it doesn't seem as segregated as many other counties seem to be.

Clayton has work to do as far as reputation & government (getting rid of the Sheriff here should be everyone's top priority!) but it is a great place to live, depending on the area you choose. Fayetteville, Lovejoy, Hampton, some parts of Jonesboro & Lake Spivey immediately come to mind. There may be others that I don't know about or frequent.

Good luck with your decision & if you move to Clayton just carefully research the area you want to live in because they definitely are not all bad.

[noland123]

What is the new development that is on Riverdale rd. just north of I-285? I used to live in that area many years ago. It looks like they razed a substantial amount of that area I saw it on Google Earth and was amazed how much of that area had been cleared.

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by noland123

What is the new development that is on Riverdale rd. just north of I-285? I used to live in that area many years ago. It looks like they razed a substantial amount of that area I saw it on Google Earth and was amazed how much of that area had been cleared.

I'm guessing you are talking about the area where the 5th runway for the airport was built.

[GF72]

These proud people trying to defend Clayton County make me laugh. Every time I am unfortunate enough to have to drive through Clayton County I feel unsafe and would never dare stop at a gas station there. Last time I was in Riverdale I almost ran over a crackhead who was hobbling across the road.

I do believe there are one or two spots somewhere in Clayton County that are not totally bad yet, but anyone recommending a move into Clayton County is just doing that person a major disservice. Crime is everywhere? Good schooling begins at home? Sorry, no. Yes crime is everywhere but in some places (ie not clayton) it is exceedingly rare. Yes, good values and basic communication is learned at home, but parents could never hope to teach their children anywhere near as much as their teachers will. Not to mention the school environment is completely horrible in Clayton County on top of the teaching.

[galightman]

Originally Posted by GF72

These proud people trying to defend Clayton County make me laugh. Every time I am unfortunate enough to have to drive through Clayton County I feel unsafe and would never dare stop at a gas station there. Last time I was in Riverdale I almost ran over a crackhead who was hobbling across the road.

I do believe there are one or two spots somewhere in Clayton County that are not totally bad yet, but anyone recommending a move into Clayton County is just doing that person a major disservice. Crime is everywhere? Good schooling begins at home? Sorry, no. Yes crime is everywhere but in some places (ie not clayton) it is exceedingly rare. Yes, good values and basic communication is learned at home, but parents could never hope to teach their children anywhere near as much as their teachers will. Not to mention the school environment is completely horrible in Clayton County on top of the teaching.

Wow GF I guess those few times that you drove thru Riverdale and my daily commute through Riverdale where I frequent gas stations throughout Riverdale without incident and have never "almost ran over a crackhead" are similar......NOT! "Crime exceedingly rare elsewhere".... Like where? I mean look at Fayette murder/suicide, Dope grow houses, Henry the same thing, Fulton murders galore, modern day kidnapping , Dekalb murders galore shootings, Douglas the same, Gwinnett Murders, Bank Robberies. Once again CRIME IS EVERYWHERE!!! Case in point most of these crimes happened this week!

You speak of the school system like all of Georgia's schools are performing above the national average.....NOT! You speak of the Clayton County Schools like you have first hand knowledge. I speak from first hand knowledge my kids attend and do well with a good blend of parenting and caring teachers. Don't get me wrong there have been challenges but no more than any other area in the Metro Atlanta Area.

Now what is funny I mean SAD is that you who I assume have no first hand knowledge feel ok to give negative reviews and advise without the facts to back you up!

BTW...Good values and basic communication are learned at home not is, and good parents in conjunction with teachers teach their children as much if not more than their teachers will.

[lastminutemom]

I feel I need to comment on the school thing -- no doubt there are some good schools in Clayton just as there are in the City of Atlanta and DeKalb. However, Clayton and DeKalb are in a real rut -- suffereing at the district level from very poor leadership and lack of significant academic achievement. Contrast that to the City of ATlanta, where under Beverly Hall, at least at the elementary level -- they are seeing significant, measurable and meaningful improvements. Go to a Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce meeting and listen to the area's business leaders talk about public education -- they aren't talking about DeKalb and Clayton -- but they are talking about Atlanta.

There are good and bad teachers absolutely everywhere and good and bad administrators as well. But, in an area, where teachers have so many choices, the good ones can go work for the strongest school or system they choose to. DeKalb has such difficulty filling positions that each year they have to bring in 100 teachers from overseas -- some do teach foreign language, but most are in regular classrooms.

What cleaned up Atlanta was a concerted effort by the business community (google edu pac Atlanta) to make education a priority. Have you followed the Clayton County School Board? The other thing that is helping in Atlanta is that all the poor people are being pushed out -- primarily to Clayton and DeKalb. Between 2003 and 2006, Clayton's Free and Reduced lunch rate jumped from 65 percent to 73. DeKalbs from 59 to 64. (Governor's Office of Student Achievement is a great place to find school staastics).

There are lots of schools in Georgia that do perform well above the national average, especially in Metro ATlanta. So, please, don't think that simply because education as a whole is Georgia is a mess, that people should settle for a mess -- when there are other choices. Many of the schools in Clayton, Atlanta and DeKalb do exceed national standards. But as a long time education observer, advocate and participant, I feel more and more that the health of the school system does impact each school -- for better or for worse.

[ATLienGirl]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I feel I need to comment on the school thing -- no doubt there are some good schools in Clayton just as there are in the City of Atlanta and DeKalb. However, Clayton and DeKalb are in a real rut -- suffereing at the district level from very poor leadership and lack of significant academic achievement. Contrast that to the City of ATlanta, where under Beverly Hall, at least at the elementary level -- they are seeing significant, measurable and meaningful improvements. Go to a Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce meeting and listen to the area's business leaders talk about public education -- they aren't talking about DeKalb and Clayton -- but they are talking about Atlanta.

There are good and bad teachers absolutely everywhere and good and bad administrators as well. But, in an area, where teachers have so many choices, the good ones can go work for the strongest school or system they choose to. DeKalb has such difficulty filling positions that each year they have to bring in 100 teachers from overseas -- some do teach foreign language, but most are in regular classrooms.

What cleaned up Atlanta was a concerted effort by the business community (google edu pac Atlanta) to make education a priority. Have you followed the Clayton County School Board? The other thing that is helping in Atlanta is that all the poor people are being pushed out -- primarily to Clayton and DeKalb. Between 2003 and 2006, Clayton's Free and Reduced lunch rate jumped from 65 percent to 73. DeKalbs from 59 to 64. (Governor's Office of Student Achievement is a great place to find school staastics).

There are lots of schools in Georgia that do perform well above the national average, especially in Metro ATlanta. So, please, don't think that simply because education as a whole is Georgia is a mess, that people should settle for a mess -- when there are other choices. Many of the schools in Clayton, Atlanta and DeKalb do exceed national standards. But as a long time education observer, advocate and participant, I feel more and more that the health of the school system does impact each school -- for better or for worse.

I was in agreement of most things in your post but the "poor people" thing; and the free and reduced lunch rate thing. That in no way is a correct measurement of achievement; basically, if I am poor, I am not achieving? In my system, if my free and reduced school lunch rate increases, it effects my performance? I know what the statistics say, but, as an educator in predominantly free and reduced lunch schools, or, title I schools, that is not true. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few schools in Clayton that are non-title I, meaning there is not a high amount of free or reduced lunch children in schools. I am tired of people assuming that because children are "poor" means they are bringing the achievement of the school down. We make AYP every year with a 75% free and reduced lunch rate.

If I stepped on some toes, I apologize, but, I have to comment when people start commenting on system/school achievement and "poor" children. So what if the "poor" children are being pushed out, that doesn't mean anything. If I misinterpreted what was said, then maybe it should have been worded another way, but, as an educator of these, I guess "poor" children, it upsets me. I wouldn't trade teaching these "poor" children for anything in the world.

And let's also remember that you can lie on a free and reduced lunch form just to get free lunch; it is a horrible way to determine the amount of free and reduced lunch children in a school; a lot of those parents make more money than I do. Do the school systems check or audit? Of course not, because the more free and reduced children they have, the more money they get from the state because it is a title I school; therefore, they get title I money.

If we are going to talk about achievement, I think we should correlate it with something other than "being poor." I don't care what those statistics say, I have looked at them myself and they can be biased. Again, I am speaking as a veteran educator, not looking at some statistics which can be very misleading if you've never even been in different educational environments.