crimes on highland avenue and Boulevard (Atlanta: apartment complex, crime, to live)

[cdrenka]

My 19 y/o son wants to move to apartments located on highland avenue and boulevard, atlanta 30312. We have heard that the area is not safe (high rate of crimes, shooting, etc) Is it true. Where we can find out accurate information?

[Mishap]

Why exactly does he want to move there? There are dozens of other affordable areas that don't have the same reputation.

An article on the area:
Down on Boulevard: Positive change might finally come to Atlanta’s lawless street | Atlanta | News & Views | News Feature

[IntownHomes247]

The City of Atlanta police department has an online crime mapping web site at:

Atlanta Police Department | Crime Map Page

Good luck.

[jurban8]

I love and live intown but that's not a locale I would even consider.

[straightfromatown]

Boulevard is pretty crazy. During the day there are large groups of people just hanging around in the street. I don't like being near people who just stand around the street doing nothing, it makes me think they are looking for trouble. If this bothers you it might be a problem.

I try to avoid the area at night. When I do have to drive through I always try to keep some distance in case I need to drive away. I've seen people mob cars that were stopped at lights on that street. I have also seen numerous people arrested near Boulevard and Ponce and police are frequently in the area. It might be getting cleaned up, but I try to avoid it and I don't think I'd want to live there.

Just drive through in the afternoon and later at night and you should get a good feel for it.

[south-to-west]

I'm sure that the apartments in which he is interested are located further down Highland away from Boulevard. It's absolutely weird and it's a phenomenon common in a lot of Southern cities, but if you go a few blocks to the west, the envirnoment completely changes and vastly improves.

Also be careful with checking the crime stats for the 30312 ZIP as they may be a little misleading since the ZIP code boundary includes areas of Mechanicsville and other underserved areas located immediately south or east of Downtown. The best thing to do is visit the area yourself--and if you're unable to do that then consult Google Maps and use the Street View application. For further research, call the Atlanta Police Department and inquire about the specific apartment complex in which he is interested.