Macon - help me out here (Milledgeville, Gray: rental, high crime, houses)

[vst]

I'm looking into purchasing property on Shurling Drive in Macon (near Bowden Golf Course).

How is this area? Is it safe? Is there anything I should know about this area?

Thanks

[MaconWard1]

As a rental house or to live in?

I don't live in the exact area but Shurling Dr. is not the best in town. Fort Hill is near by - run down and high crime.

[Hyun-Soo]

Shurling Drive??

I thinkt that's near downtown and also near the bad side of town..

[vst]

No as a potential area to buy a business in.

I just wanted to get locals perception of that area.

I drove through there and it wasn't particularly attractive, but I just wanted to get the inside scoop on the area. Do you know something I don't? If so, let me know.

Thanks

[MayorOfMacon2019]

Shurling drive sends alot of mixed signals, on one section you may see run down homes, and high crime, but on another section you may see the large effort going on to rebuild some of these houses. BUt if your looking to establish a business in Macon, I would strongly suggest downtown Macon, which is making a huge comeback, and you can expect business to be high on every first friday because of the vast community events that go on on first friday.

[MaconWard1]

OK. When you said property I was thinking a house. Down towards Bowden you are moving out of the city a bit. Most of the retail along Shurling is at the Gray Highway interchange. To be honest, unless you are opening a pawn shop, liquor store, or auto parts store you might want to look around more.

What is your business? What is your target customer?

I live on this side of town. It's not too bad of an area, but you will not get many people outside East Macon to frequent you business. Unless your a Macon staple business like Grants Bakery, Chi-Chesters, or Finchers.

Also, and this goes for ANY part of Macon/Middle GA, watch out for metal thieves. AC units, plumbing, electrical wiring, church bells, even parked cars can disappear anytime.

[vst]

Well, I was looking more at the Millerfiled/Shurling intersection. I think Shurlington Plaza is pretty run down, but I heard rumors that there may be new developments going up soon in this area.

So, is Bowden Golf a decent golf course? Is there any attraction to this area by the locals or just local East Maconites?

[MaconWard1]

"is Bowden Golf a decent course" - Bowden is the city owned public course. There are a few semi-private courses around town but Bowden has been historically the course for the common folk. It has been years since I played there so I cannot comment on the condition of the course today nor am I a big golfer. I would venture a guess that people from around the city use the course, not just those of us in East Macon...again, mainly being the only public course.

East Macon as a whole has had its ups and downs. It has taken a few years for the old Wal-Mart shopping center to re-populate (after they built a new store across Gray Hwy) with retail, but occupancy is way up. Some of the older strip malls are is desperate need of repair/renovation as are most in older cities.

There has been some growth, not like North Macon, but some improvements have come to the"right side of the river". The traffic counts along Gray Hwy and Shurling Dr (towards Milledgeville) look great for businesses. The only drawback is when the sun sets and the crime increases. A fast food joint is hit every month or two I think mainly due to the proximity to residential areas to hide and the easy access to a highway get away system.