So Confused..Please Help.. Intown neighborhoods (Atlanta, Decatur: condos, house, safest area) - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum

libbyac · 07-06-2007, 09:44 AM

My husband and I are looking to move to an intown neighborhood in se atlanta. WE like Oakhurst and are very confused on the surrounding areas. We have a budget of 450,000.00 We would like a 4 bedroom. I have two small children who we are thinking at this point we will put into private school. But my husband travels and works late alot so safety is a concern. Can anyone give me any good suggestions of other areas than Oakhurst..Kirkwood and etc... Thank you so much in advice..we need help!!!
I guess give me the skinny on the areas?!!

gumboula · 07-06-2007, 10:32 AM

That is a lot of skinny... Lots of neighborhoods around there, each with their own character.

Someone already mentioned Winnona Park. That is directly east of Oakhurst. Still in the Decatur city limits. Safe and established. Good schools, nice area. Older homes will still be in your price range. Also on that side of Decatur is College Heights. More like Oakhurst than Winnona Park.

What about Avondale Estates? That is essentially due east of Winnona Park. If schools aren't a consideration, Avondale Estates is great. BEAUTIFUL old neighborhood. Some very pricey new construction, but lots of large, charming homes under 500k. Also there are some rumors of plans to build a large mixed-use development between Avondale Estates and the Dekalb Farmers Market (there was an article in the AJC a few months ago). I really can't comment much on safety, but it is definitely a place where neighbors look out for one another (you have to have a special city tag on your car to park in the neighborhood!).

If you like Oakhurst and Kirkwood, have you looked at East Lake? Very similar to those neighborhoods; it is essentially dead south of Oakhurst Village. Like Kirkwood, it will be less expensive than Oakhurst and have Atlanta taxes versus Decatur taxes.

Hope I haven't confused you more!

cmtiger · 07-06-2007, 11:05 AM

We live in Oakhurst with kids and love it. There are a ton of kids in Oakhurst, particularly young kids and there are some very active young parent groups.

Unless you plan to send your kids to STM for religious reasons, I would also take a good look at Decatur schools before spending money on private. We could send out kids to private school if we had to, but we have been very happy with the Decatur system. I have had two kids in elementary are Oakhurst and one at Renfroe and both have been great.

cmtiger · 07-06-2007, 11:06 AM

Oops, I meant to say "our kids" instead of "out kids" .... sorry...klutzy fingers!

libbyac · 07-06-2007, 11:56 AM

we would like to have the option of private or public, we are catholic and both us went to catholic schools until college. But I would like to give my kids the choice. thanks for the suggestions, i think we are a little all over the place. We had been told mixed reviews about Kirkwood, and just wanted to see what people who lived in the areas had experienced. But I do love Oakhurst, just afarid we wont be able to find anything in our price range.

Is East Lake a safe community?

gumboula · 07-06-2007, 01:09 PM

I think East Lake is about the same as Kirkwood in terms of safety. Schools are probably equivalent too. There is an area of East Lake that is zoned into Southside High School and not Grady High School though. I think it is the area south of Glenwood. Not positive about that though.

yankee_transplant · 07-06-2007, 02:14 PM

I'm not sure how safe it is. It used to be very dangerous, but gentrification has improved the area immensely. For your kids, I recommend living to the north side towards Decatur, or in Decatur if you can afford it. Somewhere closer to Oakhurst or Kirkwood. Decatur has the best schools in the state.

Quote:

Originally Posted by libbyac

we would like to have the option of private or public, we are catholic and both us went to catholic schools until college. But I would like to give my kids the choice. thanks for the suggestions, i think we are a little all over the place. We had been told mixed reviews about Kirkwood, and just wanted to see what people who lived in the areas had experienced. But I do love Oakhurst, just afarid we wont be able to find anything in our price range.

Is East Lake a safe community?

libbyac · 07-06-2007, 02:21 PM

so i am getting the feeling that kirkwood is a good area?! is that correct andwe want to stay either in oakhurst or as close to it as possible?

yankee_transplant · 07-06-2007, 02:27 PM

Well, judging by the $350K condos being built in the neighborhood, I think that it's moving up. The only problem might be a dirtbag passing through looking for an easy mark. That's a problem in any big city. Just get a big dog. I almost bought a fixer upper in that area earlier this year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by libbyac

so i am getting the feeling that kirkwood is a good area?! is that correct andwe want to stay either in oakhurst or as close to it as possible?

cmtiger · 07-06-2007, 05:05 PM

Kirkwood is fine, but you may lose the option of public school. Toomer and Eastlake Elementary have a long way to go and Toomer currently uses sth called Direct Instruction which is a hideously bad, canned curriculum where teachers read from a script every day and use hand claps or dog clickers to elicit responses from their well-trained children. Sort of like obedience school!

Things are definitely turning around at these schools, but they both (particularly Toomer) need help with pedagogy.

However, if you do STM you aren't worrying about public anyway.

Kirkwood north or Memorial and east of Toomer Elementary is the safest area.

I think you can find sth in Oakhurst though so long as you don't need a huge house or new construction. Decatur schools are also either Expeditionary Learning (ELOB) or International Baccalaureate schools so you don't have pedagogy issues. Avondale Estates is also very nice and very safe and has a bunch of STM kids. Again, you lose the public school option there too.