Segregation (Atlanta, Kennesaw, Decatur: to buy, school, pros and cons)

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Taxes in Dekalb are too high, and prices would be higher than I'd be willing to pay, just like any desirable intown neighborhood.

I know taxes are high in the City of Decatur, but i didn't realize Dekalb taxes were comparatively high overall... Aren't taxes in North and South Fulton OTP higher than Dekalb's. I guess Cobb and Gwinett have lower taxes than dekalb also...? (Remember, this is excluding the city of decatur...)

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by equinox63

I know taxes are high in the City of Decatur, but i didn't realize Dekalb taxes were comparatively high overall... Aren't taxes in North and South Fulton OTP higher than Dekalb's. I guess Cobb and Gwinett have lower taxes than dekalb also...? (Remember, this is excluding the city of decatur...)

Fulton and Dekalb are both too high for my liking. The bigger thing that would keep me from buying there would be that, as I said, prices would be far higher than I'd be willing to spend, because having good schools would make the area desirable and drive up prices.

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Fulton and Dekalb are both too high for my liking. The bigger thing that would keep me from buying there would be that, as I said, prices would be far higher than I'd be willing to spend, because having good schools would make the area desirable and drive up prices.

Not if you got in on the ground floor. The real estate is actually extremely affordable and you get a whole lot for your money.

But if within a year or two, key schools just suddenly made a 180 change for the better, i don't think real estate would skyrocket overnight. I think it would be a gradual transition of non-black people, and that would start a snowball effect of more non-black people moving to the area. You're answering as if full gentrification had taken place. I'm asking what would keep you from moving to South dekalb now -- with the only change being superior schools... Basically, would that be enough to make you the "suburban pioneer"?

[AcidSnake]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

I think what makes this problem hard is that it's neither race based nor 100% economic. It's hard to eradicate poverty because there's a culture of poverty that doesn't buy into middle-class style striving for success at school and in the workplace. The origins of the culture of poverty may be economic, but unfortunately, just throwing money at the problem doesn't fix it.

In my opinion, the most important difference between the lousy schools in high-poverty areas and the esteemed schools in high-income areas is not the newer musical instruments, better repaired buildings etc. that may or may not be present in the high-income schools. It's all about the home expectations. When all the parents are setting a clear expectation that the kids will get good grades and go to college, that tends to be what happens. When the parents place little value on education (as described in the quote I bolded, above), it's a rare child who finds the self motivation to make a sustained effort at school.

Kids are also influenced by their peers, as everybody knows. Thus parents who want their kids to succeed often tend to be extremely concerned to get their kids into schools with high test scores. I think this concern mostly derives from a feeling that if the kid is surrounded by other kids who are working hard at school, they'll be more likely to fall into step and work hard as well. Conversely, of course, at a school with a lot of students who aren't doing well, there's more risk that one's child may fall in with the wrong crowd i.e. students who don't work hard at school -- and of course, may be putting their energies into other, less desirable activities.

Those exceptional schools that produce high-achieving students in high-poverty areas seem typically to go in for extended school days and even Saturday school as well, because they're replacing hours in the home environment (may not encourage study) with extra hours in the school environment.

Very well artculated! I wish i had used those words.

[AcidSnake]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Bah? Several of your points never came up in what I wrote.

And yes, a few thing are about race in a segregation discussion, but segregation today isn't at all like segregation 40 years ago. Today it's either voluntary or economic. Those who voluntarily segregate themselves are doing so on their own accord. While I find it vile that someone would say they only want to live around certain kinds of people, they are perfectly within their rights do so.

I've already explained economic segregation so I won't do so again.

And I don't expect you to. Personally I think we saying the same thing but are coming at it from completely different standpoints. To be more blunt we are disagreeing with each other's delivery of the subject, not necessarily the subject itself. At least that's what I am sensing anyways.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

And I don't expect you to. Personally I think we saying the same thing but are coming at it from completely different standpoints. To be more blunt we are disagreeing with each other's delivery of the subject, not necessarily the subject itself. At least that's what I am sensing anyways.

There's a possiblity

[joe2000]

Video on segregation in Lithonia, Ga

CNN.com Video

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by equinox63

Not if you got in on the ground floor. The real estate is actually extremely affordable and you get a whole lot for your money.

But if within a year or two, key schools just suddenly made a 180 change for the better, i don't think real estate would skyrocket overnight. I think it would be a gradual transition of non-black people, and that would start a snowball effect of more non-black people moving to the area. You're answering as if full gentrification had taken place. I'm asking what would keep you from moving to South dekalb now -- with the only change being superior schools... Basically, would that be enough to make you the "suburban pioneer"?

The problem is, key schools normally don't "suddenly make a 180", and most people would wait until they'd stabilized and had a bit of a track record before diving into your newfound shangri-la. By that point, again, prices would have risen to a point that doesn't work for me. If I wanted to buy in an intown area with decent schools, I could do so now- why would doing it in South Dekalb, assuming your dream was to come to fruition, be any different?

WRT becoming a "suburban pioneer", I have no interest in doing that- it's why I moved where I moved. The schools are already very good, the prices are where I wanted them to be for what I wanted to buy, and the area has what I desired.

[IMISSNY]

Was reading through this and ATL is very segregated, in my community alone, my subdivision is consider the Premier Community for AA's. It is a diverse area yes, however, we have several whites leaving because they do not feel it appropiate to live with AA's. at our community pool we have two pool areas and for the most part it is completely divided.

Someone was saying that ATL is not as segregated as NY, that is nuts, New York is a melting pot. I grew up there and living here I can see the difference. I cant wait to get to the place where I can find a new job and move out all together, I guess it is because of where I am from and how I was raised, but to me it all is sick. There is segregation everywhere but more so here, and I for one can't stand it, I think for it to be so dominate here is sad

[joe2000]

Please, NY is a melting pot but it's also segregated especially Upstate NY. It's segregated like any other city. Most of the PR's live in Bronx, blacks live in Harlem and parts of Brooklyn.