Should I stay away from the Southside?

[sprtsluvr8]

I'm not really up on rental properties in E.P. The ones I've seen have not been very pretty and look a little low income. I'm sure there are nice places to rent but I'm just not aware of them. True, commuting south from downtown or midtown is still against traffic and it's busier and more exciting to live there. East Point is about 4 miles from downtown, and it takes me 5 minutes to get downtown, 10 minutes to midtown...so the proximity is perfect for spending time in the city. Thats yet another misconception about the area...people think it's way out or outside the perimeter, when E.P. is probably the closest-in community that isn't part of Atlanta.

[ms ssam]

I love seeing all these posts! If you went on http://southsideatlantamemories.typepad.com/, then you saw that i and my 2 daughters use the MARTA train at East Point often. If I moved back, I would probably buy a cheap place next to the new Egan Park dev. You would be right by the car line, and by a good neighborhood. That being said, all the other neighborhoods, like Conley Hills, etc, are gorgeous. The ss is a big unkept, and unkempt, sometimes, secret. It's beautiful and the properties have beautiful trees, and I love the 60's housing stock. Very well built and usually maintained. If you have to have a condo, you could get one of those new ones in Midtown, and take the Marta train to wk, although you can't get to Morrow on the Marta train. Keep your doors locked, and consider getting a big dog.Get to know your neighbors. Consider doing a picture book of your neighborhood and go around and ask all your elderly neighbors to BORROW pictures. Have lots of parties. Atlanta is definatly up and coming back! Both my daughters want to go to school up there. (SCAD) Have FUN!

[jlgrimes11]

Originally Posted by BonitApplebum

Hello everyone. I would really appreciate some candid advice. I am from the suburbs of Connecticut and will be relocating to Atlanta. I am going to be working in East Point and going to school in Morrow. These are both on the Southside of town. Atlanta traffic is notoriously horrific and I don't want to spend the little free time that I have stuck in it. Where would you recommend that I live?

From what I've briefly seen of Atlanta, it doesn't necessarily seem like the safest place for me to go jogging and walk my small dog. I have to take things like this into consideration being that I'm a single 24 y/o female.

Is there a safe neighborhood in the vecinity of East Point and Morrow? I don't want to live in a rural area and I'd like to be conveniently located to the highways. But, I don't want to live in an unsafe neighborhood.

Suggestions please!!!

I live in Jonesboro (minutes away from Morrow) and I find the area relatively safe. Sure there is crime here but any relatively large metro area in the United States will have some crime.

That said I am a 210 pound black male but I actually feel safer in Jonesboro than somewhere like downtown or even many areas of Eastpoint (where I tend to run in with more questionable people).

Sure there is some crime here but you will find that in any large Metro Area or even in some rural areas.

Jogging at night though and a woman, I wouldn't feel that safe though not necessarily because of stalkers or robbers but because mainly because Jonesboro and Morrow is somewhat more or less undeveloped than its more Northern cousins. The neighborhoods are more quiet and not that well lit at night and most roads are only two lane roads and people still drive like maniacs in a residential neighborhood. I feel more in danger of being ran over by a drunk driver or coming in contact with a wild animal.

That said there are some questionable pockets in South Atlanta that have crime. I usually hear of about a couple of shootings or violent crimes on the news in about a year within a few miles of where I live (nothing that has happened in my immediate neighborhood). Not exactly a war zone but not 100% safe neither.

That said most females who move to Atlanta typically either move in the city (probably more dangerous but in the heat of the Atlanta nightlife), the northern suburbs (which are better developed areas and have plenty of gated apartment complexes and still in good reach of the Atlanta nightlife), or the deep Southern suburbs (lot of home for your money, small town almost rural feel, somewhat lower crime, but somewhat secluded feel eg Henry county).

That said I don't think you can ever escape stalkers or robbers anywhere you do (although there are a couple of young women in my neighborhood who do walk their dogs at night in the almost total darkness). It is funny but on the news I tend to hear of more violent crime closer to the city of Atlanta and Clayton County still gets the rep of being the ghetto.

Just like what some people already said, do your research and visit the areas in the day to get a feel. There are some bad pockets in Clayton County but there are some fairly nice areas as well.

My only gripe about Clayton County is that it is probably the most undeveloped part of the whole Metro area. Horrible excuse for public transportation, a lot of two lane roads which cause one slow driver to be the bottleneck in traffic, minimal nightlife, and somewhat slower growth. That said the benefits are a somewhat lower cost of living, relatively milder traffic, and a decent commute to downtown Atlanta (Henry County is much worse here). You will need a car. Without a car, life in Clayton County would be pretty miserable since we no longer have a public bussing system. I hear Schools are bad here but I don't have any kids and I here horror stories on most of Georgia schools as a whole.