Decatur or Fayetteville - can't decide (Atlanta, Peachtree City: 2013, to rent, crime rate)

[gumboula]

Schools vary considerably once you move outside the Decatur city limits. Some Dekalb County Schools are good, some are struggling. Ditto for the city of Atlanta schools in neighborhoods nearby Decatur. BTW, East Atlanta proper is zoned for Burgess-Peterson Elementary, Coan Middle, and Southside. The schools mentioned by ATLianGirl serve neighborhoods north of I-20. Housing prices are MUCH higher in these neighborhoods, higher than city of Decatur I would say.

[ATLienGirl]

Originally Posted by meadgrad

are you implying that you cannot have a strong family oriented vibe as well as a strong city vibe? to me Decatur is a great combination of both. You DO NOT have to give up the city vibe to get a great family vibe.

suburbia is not the only place to find a strong family vibe!!!!!!!!!

The schools in Decatur are great too...

No, I am not saying that, I am just saying that you will not find both in Fayetteville. The schools in Decatur City are good...the further away from Decatur City you get into REAL Decatur, the worse the schools are.

[rizza]

Thanks for all the input..it's very helpful to hear from the people who live there.

[cmtiger]

Originally Posted by ATLienGirl

No, I am not saying that, I am just saying that you will not find both in Fayetteville. The schools in Decatur City are good...the further away from Decatur City you get into REAL Decatur, the worse the schools are.

The City of Decatur is the "REAL" Decatur. The surrounding areas that are further away are not Decatur, although they like to call themselves "Decatur" - they are very, very different, however.

[ATLienGirl]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

The City of Decatur is the "REAL" Decatur. The surrounding areas that are further away are not Decatur, although they like to call themselves "Decatur" - they are very, very different, however.

To me, the City of Decatur is like the "fairy tale" part of Decatur; I say REAL Decatur because of how REAListically horrible it is. I have cousins that grew up in Decatur (the REAL) part of Decatur. As a native and from all my native friends, including the ones that grew up in Decatur (more specifically south DeKalb, Snapfinger Woods, parts of Columbia Drive, the OTHER part of Candler Road), say the same thing. That's how WE look at it.

[lyukos]

Decatur has more things to do, especially for kids, and better schools. Great for coffee shops and book stores.

[JayRockTeam]

Take a look at Decatur and the City of Decatur. As you can imagine the City of Decatur has the municipal buildings and is a little more urban than the rest of Decatur, it has its own PD who are pretty strict, the schools are a little better than in the rest of Decatur (IMHO). It there is plenty of dining and entertainment in the area, along with new mixed used developments. It is close to public transportation and shouldn't be too bad of a drive for your husband to the auto malls on Peachtree Industrial, up I-85 or back down on the south side (going against the flow of traffic). The rest of Decatur is more of residential.

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[plessthanpointohfive]

Morningside ES, Inman Middle, Grady High serve the Virginia-Highland neighborhood and parts of Midtown.

Mary Lin ES, Inman Middle, and Grady High serve Candler Park, Inman Park, Lake Claire, Poncey-Highlands and a small part of Druid Hills.

These two school lines are probably the best in APS (I think Centennial ES probably is very good but I don't know about it's middle school, though they do go on to Grady).

Deklab County has Fernbank ES, Shamrock Middle, and Druid Hills High, which are good and serve unincorporated Dekalb, including part of the Druid Hills neighborhood, and the area up Clairmont before you get to N. Druid Hills Rd.

For the OP I would suggest Decatur over Fayetteville because of the city vibe and the shorter commute. You might want ot look in the above neighborhoods, as well.

$1500 should get you a small house in Candler Park, Lake Claire, or Poncey-Highlands, probably even a 3/2. I own a duplex and live in the bottom apartment with my husband and son. It's a 2/1 with office. We rent out the upstairs apartment, which is a 2/1 about 1100 square feet with a nice balcony, sun porch off the kitchen and a really big back deck, for $1100/mo. Before we bought this place we were renting a 2/1 house with basement for $1200/mo and we had seen larger places for the OP's price range.

However, the biggest warning is that you will not find a large house for that price. Actually, it's hard to find a large house for any price. Most of the houses are historical, built in the early 1900s, so they're just small. But, these neighborhoods have lots of young familiers, are close to things to do and work, and have good schools.

Welcome to Atlanta where the closer you can live to work the better.

[rallen77]

I would go with Fayetteville. It's safer.

[NMTX2GA]

What part of Fayettville is the better part to live in??? We are relocating this summer and I am looking there, PTC, and Tyrone. I don't have to have the city vibe. I grew up in a small town and have lived in a big city for the last four years. Need a change from big city. Any advice from anyone is great!