"gated" open or closed community? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: cul-de-sac, real estate)

[coming2america]

As per my previous thread on gated communities. I have been looking at houses to buy (out of curiosity) and have noticed that some really nice houses are in gated communities. The security issue doesnt bother me (crime is everywhere even here is australia). My question is living in a gated community is it the same as living in a neighbourhood (such as knowing who your neighbours are, playing in the street etc) or do people tend to keep to themselves? thanks!

[flyonpa]

I'm in a Ungated and unless the gate is man'ed the gate does no good. All it does is stop the drive thru's and people who are just driving around. The 'better' unman'ed gated ones have card/keys, but the visitors go to a phone station that they type in either type in a temp code (your having a party) for the day. or punch in your house number and it auto dials you so you can buzz them in. There is not alot of hunging around in the streets in the summer to hot, kids in winter/early spring/late fall will be outside. but once the temps get high they will be at the pool or inside with the AC.

[jsimms3]

Gated communities are sterile and usually suburban in nature with windy roads and cul-de-sacs. If you live in the "back" of the neighborhood you are going to get tired of driving for 5+ minutes past house after house that looks virtually the same just to get out of your gate. Then take where gated communities normally are located: in the suburbs. The roads are windy and arterial, change names frequently, and dump you on commercial corridors loaded with strip malls and fast food chains and office parks. Some areas appear nicer and cleaner than others, and gated does not always mean nice (never in my opinion unless it is a gated condominium building or gated community of 25 or less townhouses/houses in an urban area).

I am biased and have been on a lifelong mission against suburbs (I am super conservative in every other regard except that, where I am super "liberal" if you will). Choose to live in a gated community and you will spend significantly more time in your car battling traffic on highways and arterial roads and you will have less time to enjoy life. Also, it is my research and experience that tells me that many gated communities are fairly transient, even the nice ones, when compared with their non-gated counterparts in the city. What that means is you will most likely know your immediate neighbors and make a few friends via the "clubhouse" or gym, but it is all fairly superficial and you may not even know your neighbors.

In a non-gated community like Druid Hills, Poncey-Highlands, Brookwood Hills, Brookhaven, Buckhead to a degree there, Inman Park, Ansley Park, and the list goes on, you will find a much closer knit community. Houses tend to be older and have more character as well as unique histories and there are more neighborhood organizations to join. You will get to know a lot more people who are more "rooted" if you will. That can be a turn off for people if they feel like they are out of place, but don't have that attitude. If you are nice and want to take part in the community, you can make as many close friendships as you want with the people who have already been there for a long time. You just have to tour the neighborhoods, pick a good realtor who knows what the people are like and the history, and choose the neighborhood right for you.

The best parks, cultural venues, MARTA, universities, offices, museums, sports, events, etc are all ITP around the older and more established non-gated communities. The biggest drawback to these are going to be either the prices (what's your budget?) or the taxes. Atlantans basically have to support all the wonderful assets in their city with City of Atlanta citizens and to an extent Dekalb County citizens (those who pay taxes ahem) while those from the suburbs essentially get a free ride and just have to drive in to use them. But that's also the key...driving in Atlanta, a city notorious for traffic.

[coming2america]

I dont want to move to an area that is sterile thats for sure. In relation to my price range Im comparing what I get here in Melbourne Australia to Atlanta. In Melbourne an average 3 bed 1 bathroom 1 story house on a 1/4 of an acre block which is approx 30-40 years old is approx 550k. the average wage is 55k so therefore you are spending 10x your wage. When you look at places like Sandy Springs (which would be compared to a rich suburb of melbourne in demographics) where you pay say 400k for a 5 bed 2 full bathroom 2 story house that to me is a bargain. Plus the fact that food is cheaper, clothes are cheaper and your furniture is better style and better functional (love the tv cabinets that the tv lifts in and out of never seen here in oz) and great prices. I cant wait to move to Atlanta! By the way if you want to check out property in melbourne go to www.domain.com.au and check out properties in suburbs of sunshine (which is heavy industrial and known as a ghetto) to suburbs like mount waverley and doncaster which are middle class to suburbs like toorak and brighton which is the rich multi millionaires suburbs. then check out the similar areas in Atlanta! I rest my case. But would like to hear more opinions! Oh by the way Im looking at the Sandy Springs area (already checked out schools, church, shopping, demographics etc) I love the internet!

[flyonpa]

$aus550K = $usd497K Will get you a Huge House 5bed 4bath on a nice lot in the northern Atlanta suburan area, Do you know where you wll be working? Highway/exit would help alot.

[coming2america]

I wont spend that much on a house besides your average size house is what we call mansions here!! I am 4 years in the planning. I have to finish uni first. I will be doing uni by distance and working full time in my chosen career. So thus I have a degree plus 4 years experience plus 7 years experience in my old career (which is also part of my chosen career). From what I can see online it looks like that in todays market (as real estate prices are never stable) I dont need to spend any more than 350k. Also job wise I will either get a job transfer or have to find an employer to sponsor me. I definatly want to move to Atlanta and will do anything (legal of course) to get there! In fact after I move to Atlanta 5 years to that I want to be an American citizen!!!! I will give up my Australian citizenship (but I will never give up on vegemite which Im willing to share ) Sorry I have really bad Aussie humour which I will not give up either ha ha

[jsimms3]

First of all 5 bedrooms to 2 baths? Eww, doesn't sound like a good ratio to me, lol. Also, do you have a large family? If so, maybe you need a larger house and cannot afford a larger house in the city of Atlanta (a larger home in the city could easily cost you close to a million bucks +). If you have just 1-3 members with you, then I would still look in the city at a traditional non-gated neighborhood. We all agree that Australia, as well as the rest of the world for the most part, is more expensive than the suburbs of any sunbelt city. Moving from anywhere in Melbourne to the suburbs of Atlanta, though, you are going to sacrifice a certain "cosmopolitan" quality of life for a greater percentage/concentration of ugly strip malls, worse traffic (trust me on this and I know Melbourne is a very big city), a complete lack of character (except in a few locations like historic Roswell, Marietta, etc), and you will be further away from city amenities/cultural venues in the suburbs of Atlanta versus the suburbs of Melbourne. Atlanta is plenty more spread out and is not planned quite as well.

Sandy Springs is not toooo far out, to be fair, but the area is one of the most poorly planned areas I have ever been to (and I currently intern at Northpark Center nearby, so I am in Sandy Springs all the time...I get off at the Sandy Springs MARTA station). There is no walking/jogging here, and people try, I see it all the time, but I would rather sit in the horrendous constant traffic to drive into the city to Chastain or Piedmont parks or Kennesaw Mountain to do any walking than try to breathe in all the fumes and fight aggressive drivers who view pedestrians as a nuisance in the Sandy Springs area.

If you absolutely HAVE TO live in the burbs, try to be as close as possible to historic Roswell, historic Marietta, Riverside Drive, or Vinings off of Paces Ferry. Avoid Gwinnett County at all costs and avoid being too far out if you plan on "using" the city at all. You will drive yourself nuts with traffic because our transit here pales in comparison to Melbourne's, our city is more spread out, larger in overall population, and there are just tons more cars (we have other cities here in the states with people coming and going through Atlanta, so it isn't even just Atlanta traffic, versus Melbourne, which is isolated in comparison...trust me).

[K'ledgeBldr]

Originally Posted by coming2america

(but I will never give up on vegemite which Im willing to share )

How?
It's banned in the US. Marmite might be also.
But, you might get iSnack 2.0 here.

[coming2america]

Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr

How?
It's banned in the US. Marmite might be also.
But, you might get iSnack 2.0 here.

Dont worry I will get a few boxes of vegemite shipped over and we can share it!