AZ to ATL (East Point, College Park, Decatur: 2015, for rent, mortgage)

[Wcoast]

Go laid off here in sunny AZ but fortunately I've been offered a job in ATL a bit east of the airport. I only have one shot at finding a place to live shortly on a weekend trip so I've been trying my best to research ATL. I've read many threads here and concluded that living north is out of the question because I don't have the patience for hours in ATL traffic every day. Besides that I like living in an area that has a Saturday farmers market, Whole Foods market-or someplace to buy organic foods, nice parks, varied architecture, interesting shops, hopefully a decent gym but isn't so far out that it's all homogenized cookie cutter houses, big box stores and the usual generic Chili's-type restaurants. If I can believe what I'm reading here, living south - Henry, Clayton etc. is probably not for me due to crime, gangs etc. I've already done that tour in St. Louis. I prefer a diverse, somewhat liberal community and Decatur seems to fit that description. For now I'm stuck paying $1300 a mo AZ mortgage unless I get lucky and someone rents my home (rent is so cheap here now it's almost free.) That leaves me with a budget for rent around $1100 a mo. I would be okay living in Midtown but cannot seem to find anything that fits the budget and I'm really not a tiny 1 BR kind of girl.

I prefer a house with small yard and fence - 2 BR works (not keen on lawn care but not thrilled about walking my dog at 5 AM until I know my neighborhood well). I'm divorced, kids are grown so my only kid is a 5 yr old med sized dog. I would love VA Highlands or any trendy historic area but it's out of my budget so I'm looking at 30030 and 30033. Now my question is if I find a place, how bad is the commute going from Decatur to the airport area?? I just can't wrap my brain around the traffic issues and cannot seem to calculate the 'real' time as opposed to google map time.

Any insight would be great about traffic, ways to work around any challenging part of the highways (I'm notorious for doing "shortcuts".) Any other ideas or areas to avoid (traffic or living) - let me know. Thanks! Laurie

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Wcoast

Go laid off here in sunny AZ but fortunately I've been offered a job in ATL a bit east of the airport. I only have one shot at finding a place to live shortly on a weekend trip so I've been trying my best to research ATL. I've read many threads here and concluded that living north is out of the question because I don't have the patience for hours in ATL traffic every day. Besides that I like living in an area that has a Saturday farmers market, Whole Foods market-or someplace to buy organic foods, nice parks, varied architecture, interesting shops, hopefully a decent gym but isn't so far out that it's all homogenized cookie cutter houses, big box stores and the usual generic Chili's-type restaurants. If I can believe what I'm reading here, living south - Henry, Clayton etc. is probably not for me due to crime, gangs etc. I've already done that tour in St. Louis. I prefer a diverse, somewhat liberal community and Decatur seems to fit that description. For now I'm stuck paying $1300 a mo AZ mortgage unless I get lucky and someone rents my home (rent is so cheap here now it's almost free.) That leaves me with a budget for rent around $1100 a mo. I would be okay living in Midtown but cannot seem to find anything that fits the budget and I'm really not a tiny 1 BR kind of girl.

I prefer a house with small yard and fence - 2 BR works (not keen on lawn care but not thrilled about walking my dog at 5 AM until I know my neighborhood well). I'm divorced, kids are grown so my only kid is a 5 yr old med sized dog. I would love VA Highlands or any trendy historic area but it's out of my budget so I'm looking at 30030 and 30033. Now my question is if I find a place, how bad is the commute going from Decatur to the airport area?? I just can't wrap my brain around the traffic issues and cannot seem to calculate the 'real' time as opposed to google map time.

Any insight would be great about traffic, ways to work around any challenging part of the highways (I'm notorious for doing "shortcuts".) Any other ideas or areas to avoid (traffic or living) - let me know. Thanks! Laurie

Hello and Welcome!

Decatur is very nice, but based on where you will be working and your other criteria, I think you should definitely consider these areas:


1. Historic Downtown College Park
2. Historic Downtown East Point
3. City of Hapeville

(all areas are very close to the airport and your place of work)


All three areas offer cute/nice main streets, thriving/vibrant/improving downtown and historic districts, and quality housing.

*Note: For College Park and East Point I said "Historic Downtown" for a reason. Though other parts of both cities are very nice, many areas are still hit and miss. It's important for you to know this. If you someone will be assisting you, don't just say interested in "College Park" or "East Point"...you have to be specific to which parts (historic downtown!). For Hapeville, all of the city will suffice.


I hope this helps. Good Luck!