What is Atlantas BEST/WORST Suburb? (Smyrna, Alpharetta: apartment, elementary school, living in)

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by FromCLTtoATL

It's probably too close in to count as a suburb, but Decatur is nice.

It was definitely a suburb in my day.
I vote a tie: Brookwood Hills/Ansley Park for best, Forest Park for worst.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

It was definitely a suburb in my day.
I vote a tie: Brookwood Hills/Ansley Park for best, Forest Park for worst.

I love the neighborhoods you mention, but wouldn't you say in this day that to be considered a suburb, it would at the least have to be OTP?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

I love the neighborhoods you mention, but wouldn't you say in this day that to be considered a suburb, it would at the least have to be OTP?

Let's just make it simple and go with the "official" definition...anyplace outside of the Atlanta city limits.

Even though in this day and age, with urban suburbs, metro interdependence, metro regions, etc., I think a term other than suburb would be better.

For the main city of the region...city proper. For the other incorporated entities (and yes, every part of the metro region (urban/suburban) should be incorporated)...metrotowns.

Ex. when talking about the Atlanta city limits in the Atlanta Metro Region, refer to it as "Atlanta City Proper." And then the "metrotowns" of Decatur, Kennesaw, Chamblee, Canton, Forest Park, Fairburn, Villa Rica, Lilburn, etc.

Yes, I'm crazy...but, I am being serious...!

[Saintmarks]

But then you've got well defined areas like Mableton, Vinings and Tucker that are not incorporated but clearly stand on their own, unless they do a Dunwoody, lol.

[MorelandWalker]

Best is hard to narrow down but I can surely tell you worst: Riverdale.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

But then you've got well defined areas like Mableton, Vinings and Tucker that are not incorporated but clearly stand on their own, unless they do a Dunwoody, lol.

Hey St. Marks...

I'm assuming the whole metro area (urban/suburban) is incorporated (I mention this in the previous post).

And...Mableton and Tucker should incorporate; Vinings would become a part of "Atlanta City Proper."

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Hey St. Marks...

I'm assuming the whole metro area (urban/suburban) is incorporated (I mention this in the previous post).

In reality, I would guess that 70% of suburban Atlanta is actually unincorporated. The cities in the metro are a surprisingly small part of the actual picture. And population.

And...Mableton and Tucker should incorporate; Vinings would become a part of "Atlanta City Proper."

Mableton did incorporate just after the turn of the century, which is one of the reasons the area is so well-defined, but floods caused financial issues the City of Mableton couldn't deal with so it fell apart after only a few years.

Source: Images of America -- Cobb County, Arcadia Press (via Google Books)

It's hard to incorporate in this state, however. Since there are no transitional steps like "township" recognized in the state of Georgia, it's a fairly large step to go from unorganized entity to City.

[terrence81]

Originally Posted by FutureArchitect

In your opinion..
What is the city of Atlantas Best suburb.
And then its worse.
??

Really and truly that's a hard question. Because so much would depend on the person. What works for some won't work for others. I don't have kids and like to go out to clubs and bars so living closer to the city would be more of a priority. However that's not to say I wouldn't live in the suburbs because if I got a job in Alpharetta I would be less inclined to get an apartment in Midtown. So being close to work is important to me but might not be a priority for others.

So with that in mind I would say the suburb that has a higher quality of life would be Alpharetta or eastern Cobb county. Also Peachtree City is nice. There are some nice subdivisions in College Park of course there are some not so nice parts of College Park too. Dunwoody is nice.

Not as nice? Well that's a little easier just like College Park is nice it has some skanky parts too. Decatur has some rough spots but it's not all rough. I don't hear the best things about Forest Park but I'm no expert. Also not all of Clayton county is bad. Been to some nice houses in Clayton county in Rex. Also been to a nice apartment complex near Southlake Mall also been to some skanky looking places in Riverdale, just felt the need to say it's not all bad.

For me Cumming and Woodstock would be the worst because that's too far from the city.

Newnan is nice it's way too far out but it's close to my hometown, Columbus so that gives it bonus. So again it's relative. What works for me won't work for everyone so I think one would need to be more specific about their priorities before saying what is and isn't the best.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

In reality, I would guess that 70% of suburban Atlanta is actually unincorporated. The cities in the metro are a surprisingly small part of the actual picture. And population.


Mableton did incorporate just after the turn of the century, which is one of the reasons the area is so well-defined, but floods caused financial issues the City of Mableton couldn't deal with so it fell apart after only a few years.

Source: Images of America -- Cobb County, Arcadia Press (via Google Books)

It's hard to incorporate in this state, however. Since there are no transitional steps like "township" recognized in the state of Georgia, it's a fairly large step to go from unorganized entity to City.

Hey again, Mr. Steiner...I know that most of the metro area is unincorporated...! I am talking about a fantasy scenario...! (See previous post(s)...and another thread where myself and others {like Saintmarks & GF72} played a fun "what if" incorporation game for Metro Atlanta)

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by aries4118

Hey St. Marks...

I'm assuming the whole metro area (urban/suburban) is incorporated (I mention this in the previous post).

And...Mableton and Tucker should incorporate; Vinings would become a part of "Atlanta City Proper."

Sorry that I didn't catch on, and yes I remember our "draw our own Atlanta map" thread.

I agree with the above EXCEPT you will NEVER see Vinings go to the City of Atlanta. It will incorporate itself or get annexed by Smyrna before it ever goes city of Atlanta.