downtown / sono / buckhead living (Atlanta, Ideal: apartments, rental, condo)

[scoop126]

Hello All!

I am moving to Atlanta in the next 2 weeks. Because of work, and despising traffic as much as everyone else I would like to live close to my place of employment, which is located in buckhead.

I have spent a great deal of time in Atlanta, and am familiar with various places that friends have lived (downtown & elsewhere) - however this was 1.5-3 years ago when most of them were there.

The problem I am running into is the following: The places they lived then, which I thought were fine, all have horrendous ratings on temporary living websites and rental rating websites. Being that I don't live there, and haven't spent time at these places this year I don't know if they have deteriorated to the point of being unlivable - or if these are the types of cases where no one ever says: my car does a great job and gets me from point A to B safely every day, but when something goes wrong they are very eager to bash it, bash the brand, bash the dealership and vow to never drive one again - so maybe they had one negative experience, and immediately blew up every tiny annoyance into a major ordeal to whine about.

What I am looking for in order of importance:
- A place my possessions will be safe
- A place my car will be safe (it seems to be a common occurrence on the rating sites to say "the security gate is a joke, always stuck open, broken" something to that effect
- A place near work

I should also mention price / cost is not really an issue with me, but I would prefer not to over spend as I will be purchasing a condo in the area after my current home sells. Ideally I plan on purchasing in buckhead / sono by end of year, but need a temporary location in the same area ASAP.

So if anyone has any specific recommendations by community name I would greatly appreciate your advice, and respect your opinion better than someone having a bad day and ranting about their community's management company rasing their rent.

Thanks for your help!

[Mishap]

Any particular reason why you listed Buckhead, skipped Midtown, and listed the area directly south of Midtown when you would be working in Buckhead? I'm just asking b/c Midtown seems fairly popular among professionals and would likely be safer than the SoNo area as well as somewhat closer for your work.

The issue w/ apartment reviews is they are self selecting and only the really unhappy tend to provide input. If you're already working in Buckhead, just find an apt up there. Trying to get downtown during rush hour can be rough as people try to work around an always clogged freeway. There should be tons of established apartments in Buckhead and the best solution to whether or not the gate works is to swing by after dark and see if its open. Some of those reviews do go back a few years/management companies while other places issues tend to be chronic.

[scoop126]

Originally Posted by Mishap

Any particular reason why you listed Buckhead, skipped Midtown, and listed the area directly south of Midtown when you would be working in Buckhead? I'm just asking b/c Midtown seems fairly popular among professionals and would likely be safer than the SoNo area as well as somewhat closer for your work.

Just my ignorance of the area - those I listed are the ones I've spent a little time in where friends lived. I am open to all possibilities.

Originally Posted by Mishap

The issue w/ apartment reviews is they are self selecting and only the really unhappy tend to provide input. If you're already working in Buckhead, just find an apt up there. Trying to get downtown during rush hour can be rough as people try to work around an always clogged freeway. There should be tons of established apartments in Buckhead and the best solution to whether or not the gate works is to swing by after dark and see if its open. Some of those reviews do go back a few years/management companies while other places issues tend to be chronic.

Agree - this is why I was looking for specific names of communities someone on here may have more recent experience with.

I thought of driving by at night, however I am not currently there - don't start for a few weeks, but obviously need to establish residence before hand.

Thanks for your help!

If anyone else has more suggestions / comments send them my way please!

[JoeP]

sono? really were doing that now? why does every city feel like they must have such a uncreative ripoff name?

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by JoeP

sono? really were doing that now? why does every city feel like they must have such a uncreative ripoff name?

I didn't start that reference. After I got horribly lost in SoHo in NYC, I vowed never to live in a place where the cross streets weren't numbered logically. Downtown ATL comes to mind there. North Ave is actually a pretty good physical partition to Atlanta but I don't particularly like the NY style of combining everything into a single word.

To the OP, I wish I could provide specific property names but I haven't lived in any apt complexes intown and the best I can do is recommend take a look at some of the bigger property management companies like Post or contact Promove who specializes in this kind of thing. I'm not affiliated with these companies but it was advice provided to me when I wanted to look intown.

[scoop126]

Originally Posted by Mishap

To the OP, I wish I could provide specific property names but I haven't lived in any apt complexes intown and the best I can do is recommend take a look at some of the bigger property management companies like Post or contact Promove who specializes in this kind of thing. I'm not affiliated with these companies but it was advice provided to me when I wanted to look intown.

Thanks! I read somewhere else to look into Post and most had positive things to say about them. I'll check out Promove now.

thanks again

[JoeP]

I didn't start that reference.

I was referencing the OP mentioning it.

[scoop126]

thanks to all for your help - promove was GREAT advice. That service is incredible from anyone not familiar at all with the area, to even someone that thinks they know the area.

I am all set up now with a great place, so admins can delete or lock this.