Which building is best for quiet people? (Atlanta: apartment, leasing)

[southcarolinaboy82]

We are two mature responsible QUIET adults relocating to Atlanta in about 6-8 weeks. I am familiar with the areas and have narrowed down our choices to a few buildings. We are looking to rent. The main things we are looking for are safety and QUIET. We live in an apartment now in South Carolina and we can literally hear everything our neighbors do. Even down to dropping a fork on their kitchen floor, we can hear. So I am assuming condos, especially newer ones, are built a lot more soundproofed than regular, older apartment buildings.

The buildings we are looking at are:

Spire
1010 Midtown
Aqua
Twelve Centennial Park
Mayfair

Out of these which would be best for quiet neighbors and safe surroundings? We don't want to end up next to frat boys or aspiring rock stars. I like the fact that Aqua offers private elevator landings for most units but rentals are hard to find.

Thanks in advance!!

[George Chong]

I would say Aqua and the Mayfair Renaissance. Aqua because of the private elevators and the Mayfair Renaissance because some floors only have 8 units per floor (4 on either side of the elevator vestibule).

[southcarolinaboy82]

What's the difference between Mayfair Renaissance and Mayfair Tower?

[red92s]

Having lived in one of the concrete and glass highrise condo buildings in midtown, I can say that the noise from one unit to the others isn't as much of an issue as the street-level noise. I was on the 12th floor, and could pretty plainly hear all the loud stereos, emergency vehicles, Harley Davidsons, construction equipment, and sanitation trucks below. The sound penetrated well enough that I could tell which rap song someone was blasting.

We rarely heard anything from people above us, or besides us. But we heard everything from the street. We fronted on Peachtree, so maybe that is why it seemed so noisey.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by red92s

Having lived in one of the concrete and glass highrise condo buildings in midtown, I can say that the noise from one unit to the others isn't as much of an issue as the street-level noise. I was on the 12th floor, and could pretty plainly hear all the loud stereos, emergency vehicles, Harley Davidsons, construction equipment, and sanitation trucks below. The sound penetrated well enough that I could tell which rap song someone was blasting.

We rarely heard anything from people above us, or besides us. But we heard everything from the street. We fronted on Peachtree, so maybe that is why it seemed so noisey.

It depends by building. When I was looking I was impressed by how sound proof the unit was when comparing the door open and closed. Some of the relatively older buildings were still pretty loud even with doors / windows closed.

[cittic10]

I haven't lived in any of those bldgs but red92s described the noises you can expect in an urban (or even suburban) condo pretty spot on.
I lived in one many years and it was anything but quiet. I can't tell if you're just trying to avoid a college dorm-like atmosphere or if you're really sensitive to noise. If you want quiet, that ain't the right living situation for you. Even with courteous, responsible adults as neighbors, noise is unavoidable. You'll hear things like people walking above. Stuff dropping. Where I lived, I would even hear people peeing in the bathroom above and one room over. Lucky for you, if you don't like noise, there are lots of quiet communities in the atlanta area.

[southcarolinaboy82]

We have no problem with city noise such as traffic, planes, ambulances. What we have issues with are disrespectful noise. Loud parties, loud radios at 2 am, stuff like that. Traffic is gonna be loud regardless. But neighbors don't have to be. We are looking for buildings where people think that too.

[ATLTJL]

Sounds to me no matter where you go, you're going to be the kind of neighbor who everyone around you loves, but who hates everyone around you.

Having said that, I would agree with Aqua and Mayfair as probably the better options. However, I would ask if you can afford Aqua, why not try Luxe? I don't know if the construction is any better, but these are all conservative buildings, so I'm guessing they have a more conscientious crowd. Aqua and Luxe especially. They seem to attract the kind of tenants that are going to be understanding if you knock and ask them to quiet down. Remember, with privately owned communities, you don't have much recourse. There is no leasing office to intervene and if the noise is loud enough to bother you but not loud enough for police to write noise ordinance tickets for, you're pretty much screwed.

I've never lived in these buildings, but according to friends, any building that has hardwood or concrete floors you are defintely going to hear your upstairs neighbor walking if it is a woman who likes to wear high heels.

[southcarolinaboy82]

If we were to pay 3000 a month for a rental at 1010 or Mayfair, would we really hear people peeing? That seems hard to believe. lol.

[southcarolinaboy82]

Sounds like we may be better off doing a month to month rental to start. Any recs on rental companies who list month to month rentals in Atlanta? I see a company called Wells Luxury on Craigslist posting a lot. Are they reputable?