How Did YOU Decide Where To Live In The ATL Metro? (Atlanta: apartments, lease)

[Skrilla757]

There's so many different cities I'm considering it's become quite overwhelming to say the least lol....I'm still trying to secure a job before moving down but I've been doing tons of research on several cities and can't seem to narrow my list down....I originally had my choices narrowed down to Mableton/Smyrna/Vinings and then Tucker/Doraville and Austell jumped in the picture as well as Norcross

I'm looking for a one bedroom apartment between $500-$700 and all those cities have apartments in my price range.....I would like to be close to the major interstates to commute into the city of Atlanta but then again my final decision will depend on what city I can find employment in.

[roxyrn]

The job location was the driving factor (no pun intended).

[neil0311]

Schools, homes, general location relative to key resources. Drive to the airport is relatively easy, and there are two ways to get to/from the airport via either I-75 or I-285.

[kelnic]

I wanted to be in a somewhat centralized location, quick commute to downtown/midtown,close to interstates.

[Onthemove2014]

I choose central location closer to the nothern part of the city near Sandy Springs and Dunwoody just be able to get a job pretty much anywhere that wasn't in the far south suburbs. Most jobs aren't that far south anyway and I wanted to still be close to the city.

[cqholt]

I wanted to be close to the MARTA lines for quick access to work.

[arjay57]

We stayed intown for the convenience of getting to work, shopping, medical care, the airport, etc., but we still wanted to have a little land and good schools for the kids. Obviously all that changes as the city and your own needs evolve, although I still enjoy having everything close by and the option to use to public transit.

[Mutiny77]

Well I have a reverse commute but didn't want to live in Hall County, so I decided to live in the northern suburbs for decent access to Atlanta while maintaining something of a reasonable commute.

[ATLTJL]

What I think a lot of people aren't telling you is this.....

Where you end up settling down in Atlanta is almost never where you get your first apartment. The city is way too spread out and has too many different personalities to be able to make a permanent decision without intimate knowledge of the city.

The best thing to do is come down, look around for a couple of days, and then rent an apartment in a place that you think you pretty much like ok. Then after you have been there for a year, you will have a much better idea where you would like to live for a longer period of time.

Don't stress so much over where you get your first place. People move all over the city all the time.

You can always rent an apartment with a big company with tons of properties in Atlanta. They will usually let you transfer your lease to another property they own with a small transfer fee. That way if you move somewhere and hate it so much you can't even imagine staying for your lease, you at least don't have to break it in order to move.

[rzzz]

I found it's not that easy to rent a place for short term, at least not in the neighborhoods along the MARTA going east from 5 points out to Decatur. I basically just got lucky.