East Lake: Memorial and East Lake Park Area Safety & Crime (Atlanta: rent, houses)

[tarheel83]

Hey Guys,

Moving from Northern VA to Atlanta in a month, wanted to know if the East Lake area (around memorial and carter ave) is safe for a young married couple(around 30)? Will be working in Midtown. Have been doing some research and it looks like a hidden treasure. How busy is memorial street at rush hours?

[gumboula]

Surprised you haven't heard from anyone who lives down that way. I don't anymore... When I did, the rule of thumb was that in East Lake the areas south of Memorial were safer than the areas north of Memorial. The closer to the golf course the better. I would say a married couple around 30 would be just fine in this area. I never took Memorial at rush hour, but I wouldn't think it would be too bad. And if you are heading to midtown, you could jump on I-20 or get over to Dekalb Ave. pretty easily from here.

[VJP]

Other way around, North is preferred over South of Memorial. That said I live south of memorial in a subdivision that's fairly new (7 years or so) and really enjoy the location. Outside of keeping a watchful eye and not inviting anyone by leaving doors/blinds open and stuff out on the porch, we've been fine and have had no issues.

[cqholt]

I live in neighboring Kirkwood and the farther north of Memorial Drive the better the area.

[gumboula]

Originally Posted by VJP

Other way around, North is preferred over South of Memorial. That said I live south of memorial in a subdivision that's fairly new (7 years or so) and really enjoy the location. Outside of keeping a watchful eye and not inviting anyone by leaving doors/blinds open and stuff out on the porch, we've been fine and have had no issues.

Not where they are looking, I would say. They are looking right near the golf course.

[sjuraud]

Yeah, those areas are really hit or miss going block by block, street by street. I lived in Belvedere Park for a long time so I'm familiar with these areas. Are you renting or buying? I'd say you should probably rent for a year to get a feel for it first if you are thinking of buying. You might look into Oakhurst (general area of Oakhurst Park & McCoy Park) and Midway Woods (Dearborn Park area) neighborhoods as alternatives. The closer towards Agnes Scott you go the better the neighborhoods get in that area. That said though rents will generally be cheaper South of Memorial Drive with still some really nice, well taken care of houses (you just have to look for them).

[sjuraud]

P.S. I forgot to answer your question about rush hour traffic. Memorial is a pretty easy street to travel down even during rush hour. Traffic will increase but it's really not bad, and I drove that route for about 15 years to downtown. So over time it really hasn't gotten to much worse. You could also take Hosea Williams or College Street / DeKalb Avenue towards downtown. There are actually some pretty cool houses if you travel down Hosea Williams towards Atlanta. I recommend you take a drive that way when you get down here just to have a look.

[tarheel83]

Thanks sjuraud,

We are actually going to be renting in Buckhead for a few months but we would like to buy in the East Lake area because pricing is much lower and I feel like it could be a good area in the future because of its location.

Regarding Memorial, would it be alright to buy a house off of the memorial or is it to loud and busy, I noticed it was a three lane road?

Thanks

[sjuraud]

Ah ok. Yeah, the north side definitely is more expensive. A good portion of Memorial has a reversible lane in the middle. Between Candler & 2nd Ave are reversible lanes as well as between Moreland Ave. & Boulevard Ave. The other sections are 4 lane. Usually in the morning hours the middle lane is for Atlanta bound traffic and after work traffic the lane reverses towards Decatur / Stone Mountain. I never lived right off of Memorial and I don't think I would ever be directly on a main road like that anywhere. I was only about a block or so from Columbia Drive though and traffic noise never bothered me. Atlanta is hilly and has a lot of trees, which probably absorbs some noise. It won't be as silent as living out in the woods though.

Be aware that "City of Decatur" is not the same as the area right outside just called "Decatur". City of Decatur has higher taxes and I think have their own police force. Here's a crime map that's been posted here before. CrimeMapping.com - National Map This doesn’t include Fulton County though (and I think City of Decatur is left out too, but I'm not sure. Might just be lower crime from better police protection).

[oakhurstlauren]

Originally Posted by sjuraud

Be aware that "City of Decatur" is not the same as the area right outside just called "Decatur". City of Decatur has higher taxes and I think have their own police force. Here's a crime map that's been posted here before. CrimeMapping.com - National Map This doesn’t include Fulton County though (and I think City of Decatur is left out too, but I'm not sure. Might just be lower crime from better police protection).

Just to clarify, City of Decatur is directly north of and adjacent to East Lake. There are no areas in between that are unicorporated Dekalb, though the areas directly south and east of East Lake are unincorporated Dekalb. Taxes in East Lake and Decatur are similar since you are paying city taxes in both places. Homes are much more expensive in Decatur though.

I really love East Lake. It has come such a long way and is a beautiful thriving neighborhood. The park, golf course (pga time is great people watching), and East Lake Family YMCA are all perks. It is zoned to Grady High, has a great charter elementary school (Drew charter), and East Lake Elementary and Cohen Middle are improving leaps and bounds every day.

I would not personally live on Memorial though, it's pretty hilly and people tend to speed. There aren't enough crosswalks, and the ones that are there in front of the park are treacherous at times. Drivers rarely stop for them and they aren't marked well enough. Memorial could use a a few speed humps, stop signs and/or flashing disco lights at the crosswalks.
It really only has bad traffic during the PGA tour, and you will figure out many detours for that through neighborhood streets. Your commute should be fairly painless.