Georgia Tech environment (Atlanta, Lilburn: 2009, apartments, crime rate)

[revolutionary1492]

I know Georgia Tech is in downtown Atlanta. But what is the crime rate like there? Is it safe for a single eighteen year old? Are there a lot of things for college kids to do in the area? What kind of hype does the neighborhood send out?

[reet4587]

There's been a crime wave in the neighborhood adjacent to the GA Tech campus to the North, called Home Park:
Crime brings Home Park residents together*| ajc.com

Most of the areas immediately surrounding campus are mostly not great for walking around and looking for things to do.

However, there is a nice strip on the eastern edge of campus called Technology Square that has restaurants, plazas and a Barnes & Noble that also serves as the campus bookstore. You can also find nice places to go in Midtown Atlanta just east of this Technology Square area:
Technology Square - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In fact, that section of Midtown just east of Technology Square is becoming really nice and filled with residents and spots to hang out (Cypress Street Pint & Plate is my fave). I'm not sure how many Tech students venture out there, though.

[noah]

I am sure someone will speak to the recent crime spree but its a perfectly safe neighborhood coming from someone who lives right near Ga Tech. In fact we have a lot of Ga tech students who live in our building. Its a great area with lots to do. The midtown neighborhood it borders is great too so I wouldn't put it down at all because it is in downtown Atlanta or Midtown as most people call it.

[wxjay]

Will you be living on campus? The dorms by the stadium are OK during the day, but nighttime can be a little rough, especially at the North Ave. Apts. Try to stay in the west campus housing if possible.

If you're going to live off-campus, then areas north of campus are the best. Lots of apartments off of Northside Dr. that you can check out. Also check out The Flats at Atlantic Station.

[Windu]

Let's stop the sugarcoating. Georgia Tech students are being preyed on like wildebeests in the neighborhoods north of campus. Multiple shootings and armed robberies over the past year. I lived in that area when I was at Tech and we didn't have those problems. Some arrests have been made but armed robberies have continued after the arrests.

Read the student newspaper for yourself at nique.net, if the link below doesn't work. Check the pdf of the July 10 issue for the students' opinion of the crime and the response. A spoiler: They ain't happy.

http://www.nique.net/pdf/2009-07-10.pdf

[noah]

Lets not exaggerate. The whole Ga tech area is not crime ridden. Don't live north of the campus if thats the problem. I live just east of campus and the area was great. And there were lots of people out last night at Tech square for the movie on 5th street.

[Mishap]

I'd say there are probably still more cases of alcohol poisoning than armed robberies as is the case for any college campus. Home Park is sketchy b/c it's out of GT police jurisdiction, poorly lighted, and fairly deserted during the summer making it low hanging fruit for opportunistic muggers. I personally think Atlantic Station actually improved the area from what it was back in the '90's.

A big part of the issue is college students not taking their own safety seriously. Walking alone at 1am through an area full of mostly empty student apartments within a few miles of very sketchy areas while listening to an ipod is kind of making things easier for these thugs. When you're in school you do tend to get immersed and forget you're in an urban environment that can't be easily patrolled fully by police. I used to do stupid stuff all the time like sleep in my car after working in the lab for 24 hrs straight when I was too tired to drive back out to Lilburn. There are cases of crime outside your own capabilities and no one wants to be a prisoner by their fears but those tend to be fairly minimal.

Being in a dedicated college town like Athens doesn't make you immune either though. IIRC UGA has far more than its fair share of crime despite a huge student population and large campus police presence. My parents owned a liquor store there in the 80's just off campus and robberies were an almost weekly occurrence.

So if you're a paranoid parent concerned about your kid's safety...take away their iPod and send them to a personal safety training course. Also give them money for the occasional cab and then pray you taught them enough common sense to be aware of your surroundings.

If you're just worried about your own safety, then just live on campus or toward the heavier pedestrian traffic areas. Don't live in an easily accessible house, ride the shuttles when available, and call the Stingerette when you need a ride. Campus can be perfectly enjoyable w/o traveling it alone in the early AM hours.

[Windu]

Some fair points, except for blaming the students.

At least two of the shootings occurred when students were NOT alone, but were with at least one other student. So how many friends do you have to enlist to go get a sandwich at Firehouse Subs? Must be 3 or more. These criminals are brazen and depraved. APD needs to do more.

[whatiswrong]

maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=113228395073866138533.00046956095ca2 430d142&mid=1248366307
(remove any space in the address)
Check for yourself how bad it has become. In some cases, the thugs shot the victims even after they got what they wanted.

[Windu]

Nice map. So 4 out of 8 street crimes at or north of 10th street involved multiple victims. So let's at least stop the fiction that this is careless students walking solo at night. I've also read that false assumption being made by non-student Home Park residents in newspaper reports, I think by the head of the neighborhood association, saying something like "If these students wouldn't be careless by walking alone at night blah blah blah."

One of the incidents on that map that I hadn't heard of involved a group of people getting robbed while hanging out on their own front porch! That's unbelievable. Now when doing that starts being seen as irresponsible or inviting crime, all hope is lost. Let's not go there. Law enforcement needs to bring it.