Where to live in Buckhead? (Atlanta, Marietta: apartment, renting, house) - Georgia (GA) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

john1963 · 09-26-2006, 12:19 AM

i hate to sound negative, but buckhead has really gone downhill. I lived in the area for 39 years, it used to be paradise, but at night it is thousands of SUV's driving 80 miles an hour down peachtree road and blasting rap music at 150,000 decibels. Most of the party types don't go into the clubs but ride around all night screaming "hey baby" to all the women. Crime has gone trough the roof, i was robbed in buckhead one night and on my way to the pay phone to report it i was chased by a different second robber. I finally had enough of the buckhead life and moved to another city.

You might want to deal with the trade-offs, if so, i would atleast live near lenox square or further north in brookhaven as there is not as much riff raff up there.

Also look at the perimiter mall area/dunwoody

Prichard · 09-26-2006, 06:32 AM

Buckhead is still a nice location. There are pleanty of quitet areas - just stay away from Roswell/Peachtree road(s). You can't beat living in Buckhead if you work in Midtown, Buckhead, or Downtown. If you are a professional that works in these areas, the prices in Buckhead are relatively cheap for what you get. This is a very undervalued area right now. Buy now, or be sorry tomorrow.

marysally · 09-26-2006, 06:58 AM

My sister and I were just discussing their plans to update my mother's house that she is planning to put on the market in the next few months. The house is in Garden Hills one block from the corner of Lindbergh Drive and Acorn Ave. The house was built in the 1950's, has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and a partial basement. Garden Hills is a nice area with a lot of people buying the older homes to renovate - old construction that has stood the test of time.

Prichard · 09-26-2006, 11:51 AM

There's good and bad with old construction. The good is that it's easier to properly renovate old construction than shabby new construction. All of the new houses built in the Atlanta area are wood-frame with brick veneer. The older brick homes, characteristic of Buckhead are REAL brick. The bad part of old construction is that many of the 3/2 designs are small and obsolete by today's standards. Most people in Atlanta want 3000sf+ homes AND a basement. The older 1950's homes were about 1800sf ranch style homes. Some have basements, some just crawl spaces. I've seen people add large rooms vertically if its a solid basement home. My relatives just completed such a renovation in Buckhead. Their house really looks nice, and is very usable. Others have opted to scrape the house and build fresh. Just depends on the condition and design of the existing house.

FWIW, my relatives purchased a 3/2 w/ finished basement and garrage in Buckhead for about $500,000 about 1 year ago. The lot looks to be about 3/4 of an acre and has lots of trees. If I were to try to find that same house in Winter Park Florida (Winter Park is to Orlando sort of like Buckhead is to Atlanta), I'd easily pay at least $1,000,000.

Genevieve · 10-01-2006, 08:25 PM

Thanks, again, for all the great info.

Could someone clarify where exactly Brookhaven is? I gather it is a secion of Buckhead?

My husband wiould be working in Marietta, at a job requiring that he is within 30 minutes. Is this do-able, driving from Brookhaven to Marietta?

How about from Virginia Highland to Marietta? (I realize V. Highland isn't in Buckhead, but it looks like a great walkable community...

Thanks again!

Genevieve

nrgpill · 10-02-2006, 12:00 PM

Brookhaven is an area in Dekalb county north of Buckhead. The commute to Marietta from Brookhaven should not be that bad and it would be considered a "reverse" commute. However, depending on the location within Brookhaven, the commute to Marietta may take more than 30 minutes.

The commute from Va-Hi will most definitely take more than 30 minutes and you may not even have enough time in a day to enjoy the "walkable" community.

bbuch · 10-03-2006, 07:30 AM

uhhhh...I don't think a reverse commute from VA high to Marietta would take longer than 30. You may be close to that though.

Have you thought of living in historic marietta near the square? This is a walking area with some beautiful homes. Might take a look since commute time is a consideration.

B

nrgpill · 10-03-2006, 07:57 AM

I don't disagree if you are talking about 30 minutes on the highway only. Also, do expect the commute time to increase as the infill continues.

xxman777 · 10-03-2006, 09:03 AM

I do a reverse commute from the Brookwood Split up to the north Loop everyday and it never takes more then 15 minutes. Usually 12-13 minutes. From VH you would be getting on a half mile south of the Brookwood split and the North Loop is the second from last Marietta exit so your highway commute would probably be similar. Surface streets are another story and of course it depends on where in VH you are going to be living and where in Marietta you are going to be working.

irish2 · 10-04-2006, 11:32 AM

If your husbands job is going to be in Marietta.....you may want to check out the Acworth, Kennesaw, Marietta areas for purchasing a home. These areas have a lot to offer. I live in Kennesaw and absolutely love where I live because I am so close to the city, yet, I can drive a short distance and still be in the mountains or by the lake. The main reason we moved to Kennesaw is because we could have the best of everything....shopping, restaurants, mountains and I can be down to Atlanta in 30 minutes if I want to catch a show at the Fox. Since just about everything under the sun can be found around where I live...there really is no reason to even go to Atlanta to dine anymore...it seems like everything has moved closer to us!