Powder Springs Area (Atlanta, Smyrna, Kennesaw: lower-class, for sale, real estate)

[daved]

We currently live in Pennsylvania and I am considering a position in Powder Springs, Ga. Would like to get some input on the Powder Springs area and the other towns in that vicinity....housing, crime, etc. Any and all info would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

[brentbotes]

Hi Dave

Powder Springs is a great area where property is inexpensive and the houses sit on a little bit more land. The only draw back is the distance one might have to travel if you worked somewhat close to Atlanta.

The Schools are decent, but some areas depending on where you live might seem a little rural to some. You may also want to try Cherokee County or even West Cobb, they have great schools and very affordable housing.

I live in Cherokee, just off Lake Allatoona. My website may be of some assistance to you, take a look and let me know if you have any questions.

Take care, Brent

[lee]

Hi Dave,
You may think it a bit strange for someone living in England offering an American advice but if you try the site City-Data.com you can find all the vital statistics for nearly all US towns and cities.
Hope you find it useful
Lee

[daved]

Originally Posted by lee

Hi Dave,
You may think it a bit strange for someone living in England offering an American advice but if you try the site City-Data.com you can find all the vital statistics for nearly all US towns and cities.
Hope you find it useful
Lee

Lee,
Thanks very much for your suggestion. I have used the stats from City-Data in the past and while I greatly appreciate the info (and please don't take this the wrong way), sometimes stats are just not enough. I guess the reason I initially threw the question out was just to get some feedback from the people who live there or in the surrounding areas. Statistics and city and/or county websites can really make an area sound great, but the honest opinions of the residents will really tell the story. It is potentially a major move for us. We've lived in a rural area in central Pennsylvania most of our lives, so making a move like this is not being taken lightly. Again, I appreciate the reply. It will be used as part of our decision.

And I guess I should add for others that may be reading my initial post, we are not really concerned with school data (our kids are on their own). We are more interested in neighborhoods, overall quality of living, recreation (I'm a fishing/boating fanatic and we also do long distance bicycling), etc. Aside from work, we like the outdoors and having a little "room to roam" with our property is important to us. It's tough moving from the area where you grew up and we are just trying to cover the bases and make this move a good one.

[Brian]

Powder Springs is located in two counties of Cobb and Paulding.

Since you like outdoor recreation, you'd probably like the Silver Comet Trail for biking.

You might want to check out the Paulding domain. Many people there live in and around Powder Springs.

[JerseyGurl]

Hi there,
I just moved to Paulding County GA from New Jersey about 3 months ago. Powder Springs is very nice, you can get a great home at a very affordable price, it is also very safe. Its convenient to major shopping as well as a small historic downtown that is very charming. I love Powder Springs.

I live in Hiram just a town over from Powder Springs...I have to say that Paulding County is growing, most of the homes in Paulding are under 10 years old. If you need, I can refer you to a very good realtor. Someone recently told me that the schools in Paulding are now better than Cobb.

We moved here for my husband's job. I came here kicking and screaming and now I absolutely love it! The people are wonderful. And if you can work in Powder Springs, it would be fantastic for you because the only thing that is bad here is the traffic going to and from Atlanta.

Is there a way you can email or page me from this site? I can give you tons more info. if you need it.

Best Wishes,
Kelly

[atlantagreg30127]

This thread is a few months old by now so I'm not sure if you're here yet or still looking around (others may be considering the area now who are reading this, though), but I'll revive it to add my two cents since I actually live in Powder Springs.

The basics...

THE GOOD: With the addition of a couple of new roads a couple of years back, and the expansion of the "East/West Connector" road, Powder Springs is pretty much now just considered a suburb of Atlanta as opposed to a rural location. In just the last couple of years, a number of projects have started in the immediate area which include things like townhomes and condos, a couple of shopping centers, and just a few weeks ago, a new "Home Depot" (large home improvement chain) just opened up near downtown Powder Springs. The "Silver Comet Trail" runs right through the town, which once fully completed, will connect downtown Atlanta with Alabama.

Housing is still reasonable compared to the rest of Atlanta. It is still possible to buy a home for around $160,000 here or less if you buy an older home, whereas it's a bit higher in other areas of the metro area. You are not right on any interstate highway here, but are reasonably close (20 minutes each way) to I-20 (E/W) and I-75 (N/S). Half an hour drive north and you are in the Kennesaw area with all of the shopping (and traffic) it has, and Half an hour West and you are in the slightly more rural Douglasville and its version of shopping, etc. Five miles west is the area of Hiram with a TON of recent retail development (good or bad depending on who you ask). Atlanta is around a 35 minutes drive in "ok" traffic - add to that if it's "normal" traffic.

ok...

THE BAD: An increase in traffic, some quite heavy in some spots. Increase in certain crimes as the area grows. Somewhat lackluster city government (kind of old south-ish some might say). Not really a specific "downtown" area for the town - just a few buidings with a couple of shops, restaurants, and that's it.


And now the CONTROVERSIAL BAD: After having *finally* had the opportunity a week ago to sit down with a couple of black families at a small gathering and get them to completely open up to me about something that has boggled the minds of whites here locally, here is what I found out....

In the last 4 years, the number of black people in Powder Springs has grown from an estimated 17% to what I've heard to be around 35%. With that has come a very noticeable increase in certain types of crime such as burglary, theft, car thefts, mail box theft, and a slight increase in more serious crimes like a couple of carjackings, home invasion type things, etc. With each of these when someone *IS* caught, the media story usually begins with .. "young black males". Those inclined to point fingers of racism might say that many here are blaming the increase in crime on black people in general, and so I wanted to find out what was REALLY going on, so happily took up a friend's offer to attend a particular gathering where folks were laying stuff on the table about race, crime, reasons, etc.

continued in the next post below due to space...

[atlantagreg30127]

continued from above...

So during this little "forum" here's what I found out: Apparently, the reputation of McEachern High School (a large local school) for being so well maintained, disiplined, and high in test scores, reached the more urban areas of Atlanta. Black parents who had kids who were hanging out with the wrong crowds, decided to move their kids out of Atlanta-proper, move to the Powder Springs area, and enroll their kids in McEachern. The THEORY, was, "better school, better class of kids, more disipline = my kid(s) getting out of his/her bad environment, and my kid(s) will improve both academically and socially". Doesn't sound like a bad idea - happens in lots of places, right?

Here's the problem: The "word" hit A LOT of people with troubled teens. They ALL moved out here within just a few short years. All of these troubled teens then started going to McEachern, found each other, and instead of improving, just formed their own little "gangs". Instead of improving a few kids who could have improved, too many of these kids in such a short period of time instead, have degraded that school to the point that the longer established area parents are now pulling THEIR kids out of it and enrolling them in a brand new school build just north of the town here. The black parents at our little meeting agreed they noticed this, and it was not anticipated.

The result? Powder Springs by not means is a "dangerous" town, however, it is now fairly common to see small groups of younger (teen) black males walking/roaming the streets, especially all day long in the summer when school is out. They (when caught) are usually found to be responsible for the home burglaries, car thefts/burglaries/damage, and things like that when they happen. Where this was once a town where you could (in theory) leave your front door unlocked for periods of time, or your car, it's more likely now that in most areas you want to lock everything up, keep your garage door down, keep your outdoor lights on at night, and buy a locking mailbox. Some people just shrug and say it's a sign of the times, and acknowledge there are MUCH worse areas throughout the metro area. Others who have been here longer won't put up with it, and you are starting to see a LOT more "for sale" signs in yards here now.

---

This was not meant to be a controversial post about race, but since Powder Springs *IS* really in the middle of this "transition" with the population, and it's a bit uncertain as to which direction this is going, I am bringing it up. I learned a lot from my meeting with these parents - they are away of what's going on, and it's a concern by both white AND black good parents that perhaps some lower-class families are moving in and bringing troubled kids with them. (note, class and income are not the same - some of these bad kids are coming from higher income yet low class families, etc).

Powder Springs is still an ok place to live. Personally though, I would tell someone to avoid the subdivisions altogether here. The lower priced subdivisions are the ones where all of the families with the bad kids are moving into - the higher priced ones are the ones those same kids GO to, to commit their petty crimes. Buy a place in the surrounding area (especially north of Powder Springs) in areas where you don't really have subdivisions of homes - just homes along country roads with no sidewalks, or older more spread out neighborhoods, etc. There are plenty of affordable and nicer areas around here, but a few that have recently gone down hill, so investigate well before making a purchase.

[staylor21]

atlantagreg30127

After reading your post here I decided to search for more posts by you. I have discovered that your pat reply to anyone seeking advice is 'black crime' and suggesting people look elsewhere to live. Including not moving to Georgia at all. Really doesn't matter what Georgia city, neighborhood or subdivision. It seems to always boils down to race with you whereas most other people who post replies, many who actually live in the towns, post honest, mostly positive reviews on their town. Atlantagreg, you either have more information about these nieghborhoods than the people who live in them or you're imposing your own views that don't actually reflect reality.

I also notice your negative posts go back to nearly the creation of this forum. A lot of time spent by someone living in Georgia making the place sound like a denizen of black crime.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by staylor21

atlantagreg30127

After reading your post here I decided to search for more posts by you. I have discovered that your pat reply to anyone seeking advice is 'black crime' and suggesting people look elsewhere to live. Including not moving to Georgia at all. Really doesn't matter what Georgia city, neighborhood or subdivision. It seems to always boils down to race with you whereas most other people who post replies, many who actually live in the towns, post honest, mostly positive reviews on their town. Atlantagreg, you either have more information about these nieghborhoods than the people who live in them or you're imposing your own views that don't actually reflect reality.

I also notice your negative posts go back to nearly the creation of this forum. A lot of time spent by someone living in Georgia making the place sound like a denizen of black crime.

------------------------

Simple solution for you - THEN DON'T READ THEM.

Fact: Stone Mountain used to be a really nice town, and now it's majority black and the crime rate has risen sharply. I know people who live there and are moving or have moved. Fact: Various West Cobb areas which were very mixed at one point are now turning majority black, and it's a coincidence (??) that the crime rate is sharply rising. People are moving out. Fact: Smyrna was not very long ago a very typical suburban community, and now has a huge increase in illegal immigrant and black residents - and from numbers a few short years ago to now, the crime there is also much higher.

I know police officers from more than one jurisdiction (white AND black) who will site the above as well. I know real estate agents (whiate AND black) who have the stats on paper. I know developers who have the same. So to answer your smart-ass quip... yes, frankly, I DO "happen to have more information than the people who live in them".

It's called reality. I realize that to someone like yourself, reality conflicts with political correctness. Sorry. But in the REAL world of Atlanta, lower class minority migrations usually equal a sharp increase in crime in that area. Period. Fact. The real world. It has happened and is happening in various communities in Atlanta and the metro area. Those who DO wake up and realize what's going on around them (white AND black) are leaving those areas in droves. Atlanta is a majority black city - it's going to have majority black crime. DUH. Go to Pheonix and it's majority white (or Hispanic) crime. We're not there - we're HERE. Majority black areas = majority black crime. Repeat it a few times in your head, it'll sink in while you're looking up everyone's past posts.

You list yourself as a "single black parent". You live elsewhere and are moving to this area. Have you spent a lot of TIME in this area yet? If as you say you've spent so much time reading my previous posts, you will have read where I've known, had neighbors, and had coworkers who were black, who came to this area from other parts of the country (CA, VT, TX, etc) - you will note my comments on some of the REALLY slanderous things all of these people have said about the black community HERE. Many have moved away. I know the common feeling is that it's ok for them to say it since they're black and no one else can, but I won't even repeat the things and WORDS they used to describe the Atlanta black community as a whole. Yes, really. You're in a different world here - you'll figure it out if you mingle before judging others for their warnings. When your now educated child comes home from his public school here and says the teacher said, "Now, sho nuff you take this har apples and adds them up..." (this was an experience shared by more than one black couple I knew who had kids in school here)... or you watch gangs of 15 year olds walking down your new street throwing bricks in cars... yes, come back THEN and we'll talk. You yourself know little to nothing about this area, and yet any negative comment YOU take personally as an attack on all black people, and you lash out - very stereotypical.

I'm sorry I can't post things like how beautiful the butterflies and hummingbirds are in a particular neighborhood for you, or talk about how neighbors bake fresh muffins and meet you at your door with them each morning. I'm telling people who are about to make a life changing decision (relocation) the truth about areas they're asking about. You are more than free NOT to read them. Get a hobby - you've got too much free time on your hands to go around "looking up" everyone's posts.