SO many questions! (Atlanta, East Point, College Park: low crime, houses, neighborhoods)

[mrsptobe]

hi all,

i've been checking out this site and i've been very impressed with the knowledge given and even the snarkiness has been appreciated

although my mother lives in Fayetteville and my sister in Jonesboro (I've read a lot of negative comments about Clayton Co. and I don't think it's all totally deserved) I don't know much about atlanta itself - they only go to the city to "play".

my fiance and i are moving around mid-july and we'd prefer to be in city limits- though through research i know that's a wide and varying area. what we want is:

*a home no more than 160k
*easy access to i-75 to visit my family/airport

we were looking at homes near the West End/Pittsburgh area. my fiance seems to think that near far west Campbellton/Fairburn Rd. offers some good housing options.

i understand crime is an issue in all big cities. we're moving from portland, oregon which has neglible violent crime. however, i moved here from new york city and worked in east new york, brooklyn every day. he's from phoenix so crime is nothing new to us.

please help!!

thanks!

[JPD]

West End has a lot of problems, and it isn't just crime: Crack, thugs, lots of derelict properties (both residential and commercial), poorly managed and stocked grocery stores, virtually no restaurants/nightlife/entertainment, mountains of trash in front of houses that the city ignores for months and months at a time, etc.

I used to live there until a few years ago.

[cobbreadvisor]

I have to agree with the previous post as it regards West End. Camp Creek/ Cambellton definitely is an affordably safe option. Due to recent growth in the area and close proximity to the airport, congestion may be an issue. Then again, where in Atlanta is there not a congestion issue

[mrsptobe]

hmm...ok. we'll look at the camp creek area then. i'm kind of burned out on direlict everything :-)

any thoughts on east point? college park?

[duff30329]

Anything south of the mid-town Atlanta there's problems.
Clayton county is a hotbed of crime. Idaho is nice...low crime, friendly folks and jobs galore. Shorter drive too.

[mrsptobe]

idaho...yeah, maybe. i think that whole 'it's not atlanta, georgia' thing might get in the way. thanks for your suggestion though.

seriously, thank you for the suggestion about south of midtown. we'll just do what everyone has to in the end - visit and see what feels right for us.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by mrsptobe

any thoughts on east point? college park?

Those are definitely better than West End. Both of those areas were in the middle of a major upswing when I lived in West End.

[lastminutemom]

I think College Park and East Point are both becoming kind of trendy. I think you will be on the up side of gentrification, but it hasn't finished yet (and may never be completely gentifried.)

[south-to-west]

Contrary to what some have said, there are plenty of good neighborhoods south of Midtown Atlanta. The West End has problems, but is actively undergoing redevelopment, although the pace of redevelopment isn't as fast as that of other neighborhoods.

Also, anything on Cascade from the West End to out past the Perimeter is very nice. In fact, there are neighborhoods off of Cascade that strongly resemble nice northside neighborhoods. The Camp Creek/I 285 area is booming right now also. Pulte Homes has the Princeton Lakes development out there and you should be able to find homes in the price range that you want.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

Also, anything on Cascade from the West End to out past the Perimeter is very nice. In fact, there are neighborhoods off of Cascade that strongly resemble nice northside neighborhoods. The Camp Creek/I 285 area is booming right now also. Pulte Homes has the Princeton Lakes development out there and you should be able to find homes in the price range that you want.

I stated that I lived in West End. Technically I lived off of Cascade, about a mile from what is considered West End. I lived on the street across from John A. White Park. I agree that that area is nicer and quieter than West End, but it is still serviced by poorly run grocery stores (rancid produce, fish smell throughout the store), lack of dining/entertainment options, BAD city services (trash mountains never seem to get picked up), and we found crack bags and broken bottles in front of our house all the time. Maybe it's gotten better in the three years since I left, but things seem to happen really slowly over there. Cascade near, and outside of, the perimeter was nicer and much more expensive. Lots of new million dollar houses in between older neighborhoods. It's definitely an area worth checking out, but even if you live in the mansion between Creflo Dollar and Chuck D. you're going to have to get on the highway to find a restaurant other than T.J. Applebee's.

I know I'm critical of that part of town, but on the plus side, we had some amazing neighbors who were very kind and helpful to us and cared very much about the neighborhood and surrounding area.