What is Mableton all about? Is this a good place to live with kids? (Smyrna: house, tenants)

[Dance4dayzz]

I love Smryna and Vinnings and I know that Mableton is close-by. I know there was a lot of building going on there, but I wanted to find out more about that area. How are the schools? What about any future developement plans. Is this a good area or comparable area to Smyrna?

[techugagrad]

The popular wisdom was that Mableton was the next best thing, since Smyrna was already red hot. Now that the housing bubble has collapsed, I'd recommend Smyrna since it has become more affordable.

Both Mableton and Smyrna schools are not good. Campbell High is OK, and parts of Mableton feed into that. In Mableton, stay north of Veterans Memorial and not too close to 285.

[JasonPaul]

I live there and I like it. Here is a link to a thread a from few months ago.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...formation.html

[spacelord75]

techugagrad is pretty much accurate with his assessment. Schools are pretty horrible in all of Mableton, unless, like he said, you are in the small section (basically Vinings Estates) that feeds into the Smyrna schools, which are coming up pretty well (used to not be very good at all). I will be curious to see how Mableton develops over time, as it was super hot 3-5 years ago before the bubble popped, now it is kind of stagnant.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Dance4dayzz

I love Smryna and Vinnings and I know that Mableton is close-by. I know there was a lot of building going on there, but I wanted to find out more about that area. How are the schools? What about any future developement plans. Is this a good area or comparable area to Smyrna?

For the Mableton-Smyrna-Vinings area, the great school districts are:

Mableton Elementary
King Springs Elementary
Nickajack Elementary
Teasley Elementary
Brown Elementary
Russell Elementary


*you should look in the above school districts.

The middle and high schools in the Mableton-Smyrna-Vinings area are decent/good.

[gumboula]

Don't want to highjack the post, but can anyone give some info on Griffin Middle? We are looking at a house zoned to Nickajack, Griffin, Campbell. Our oldest has seven years until middle school, but the test scores and Great Schools rating scare me. I know better than to base my opinion of a school solely on test scores; but they are really BAD.

[emma31]

Originally Posted by techugagrad

I'd recommend Smyrna since it has become more affordable.

Really? Doesn't seem like it to me.

[techugagrad]

Originally Posted by emma31

Really? Doesn't seem like it to me.

You aren't looking then. I bought my house in the covered bridge area for $130k less than the original asking price... I've seen sizeable price drops in the area since I started following the MLS.

The contemporary homes in the Deerwood subdivision, for example, have gone from $220k asking prices to $110k asking prices. One REO in Deerwood sold for $67k. I watched an estate-owned home in Hickory Hills go from $209k to $159k. Many of the Smyrna Heights homes have gone from the $200k range to the $150k and less range.

[emma31]

Originally Posted by techugagrad

You aren't looking then.

That's pretty hasty judgment wouldn't you say. What is more affordable to you may not be more affordable to me. It's just as easy to say that the homes in Mableton are now "more affordable".

[Windu]

The jury is still out on Mableton development. It got stopped in its tracks, and didn't quite get far enough along before the crash to ensure that it will gentrify and be a good investment. Check out Wieland's Legacy shopping center, which only has two or three tenants. There are other brand new commercial strips on Veteran's Memorial that have no tenants. And the Starbucks at Buckner didn't make it.

The problem with Mableton is that it's nextdoor neighbor Smyrna developed first, and it doesn't make sense to duplicate the retail developments right up the street. They also aren't attracting high paying jobs. Stay tuned.