Historic West End (Atlanta, East Point, Jefferson: crime, mortgage, cheap home)

[VirtualM]

Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing a home in Historic West End. I currently live in East Point, I've been in the Atlanta area for 3 years, and I'm ready to upgrade to a larger place. I would like to stay near the city, and my budget is around $200k. I've looked in all of the neighborhoods on the SE side of town, and I just can't afford what I really want, which is a great historic home. Historic West End homes are exactly what I want, but I'm concerned about the neighborhood. I'm asking here because I really don't know much about Historic West End other than what I've seen driving through and, well, from its not-so-great reputation.
Does anyone live in or near the area that can give me some advice? Would it be worth getting one of the uber-cheap homes to fix up, or is it not worth the risk that one might take living in the area?

Thanks!

[Atlantasfinest]

I have property in the area and lived in the West End area so I feel qualified to talk about this subject a bit.

It really all depends which block you decide to purchase on inside the West End corridor. I think it's a solid investment especially If you plan on living there because there are some wonderful homes in the area and in the Westview community. You just have to take all the safeguards and pre-cautions neccesary to insure your property is secure. This is not Disneyland so don't leave anything outside you don't want stolen. The K-12 schools aren't very good in the area so If you have kids plan to send them to private school. Good thing about the area is there is alot of development going on, your close to the city and a Marta Station on the N/S line and there are plenty of grocery stores and new developments coming into the area. It's going to take Urban Pioneers like yourself to dig in and make the community really take off, hopefully the community can continue it's turn around in the years to come. You cannot beat the deals in the area and you are in the same distance to everything within the city as you would be in as Grant or Inman Park but with a 40%-60% decrease in price. Check out the NPU(Neighborhood Planning Unit( meetings in the area and see what the actual residents have to say or just talk to some potential neighbors and see what they have to say. I've always felt that's the best way to gauge a community. Most people on this site have no idea what the West End is all about so you will most likely hear negative comments from posters who think any area south of I-20 is a danger zone.

[davesm]

Ditto to Atlantasfinest's post.

I've lived in the West End Historic District for about 3 years and like it. Moved here from the burbs and it works for my wife and I. We love our old home and one day we may just finish renovating it.

[ceverett2000]

Reportedly, the first mile of the beltline trail will be built there next spring. Also, you would have a Krispy-Kreme donut shop nearby. What more could you want?

Coming from East Point, you probably know the ins and outs of buying in town. There are some beautiful homes and neighborhoods in southwest Atlanta, but the neighborhoods are still going through a lot of changes. There is crime in the area, but I think most of it is petty stuff - car breakins and such. Try to buy on a street that doesn't have a lot of vacant homes. This whole area suffered much during the last few years with mortgage fraud. The result is a lot of vacant homes, and vacant homes lead to crime. In my opinion, some of thse forclosures are coming down so low in price, that rehabbers are snatching them up and it should be much different in a few years.

Get the know the neighbors and become involved in the neighborhood association. Best of luck to you in your search.

[c.zhou57]

I am looking to buy a starter home in East Point due to its proximity to the city and good neighborhood vibe (Jefferson Park area). However, seeing your post it makes me wonder about West End. Could you please elaborate on what you see the differences ( East point vs West end vs other in-town neighborhoods). I am originally from Oakland, CA and have lived in a bunch of "up and coming" areas growing up.

Thanks,
Charles

[VirtualM]

Well, I can't speak to West End (because I don't live there yet!) but I will have to say that if you want a huge historic house for very little money, you'll probably do better in West End. I've been in East Point for almost 3 years now, and we bought our house on pure emotion - we walked in and knew it was the house, and we knew very little about the area except that our realtor felt okay showing us houses in the area. We were under contract within 24 hours of stepping foot in East Point for the first time and had a month to get acquainted with the city before moving in (we'd been in Atlanta only 6 months at the time.) I find that this area is great for my demographic - I'm a young mum and there's a lot of other young families with small children. I hope I don't lose that if I do move to West End. I also don't live in Jefferson Park; I'm in Colonial Hills, and we've got a good neighborhood association and great neighbors, along with some not-so-great neighbors. We do love it here, even though at first we weren't as sure; we're just getting restless and ready for the next step, hence Historic West End.
As for differences between the two, I feel like West End is more 'in-town' and 'urban' - it's more inner-city than East Point. Apparently there's more crime in West End, but that's hearsay at this point. The homes in Historic West End are more impressive than the homes in East Point, and right now, cheaper for the most part.

[intoeyes2001]

I and my husband have been living in Historic West End for 4 months now and we are positively surprised with this place and neighbors. I think that all these negative opinions about West End are more rumors than actually the truth. This neighborhood has changed a lot in the recent years thanks to very active neighbors who work on improving this place. When we moved here, we were very concerned about safety and future of this place. 4 months of living here was enough to reassure us that it was the right decision. Houses are being renovated almost on every street now, more new people are moving in. It is surprisingly quiet and real, no sweet Virginia Highland atmosphere. I walk my dog every day and never had any problems, but you meet all sorts of people on the streets. Once you live here for a while, you can tell who is a stranger and does not belong here. Of course, you need to be careful, but suggesting that you will be robbed if you walk around West End, is a big exaggeration. The West End Community is very strong and consists of very active and friendly people watching for themselves, and putting their hearts in restoring these place to its finest time. This part is even older than Atlanta, and many notable people used to live here. I do not need to mention the housing opportunities here.. it is one of the last locations in Atlanta for finding beautiful historic houses in really affordable prices. It is going to be a transit oriented(Marta, Beltline, Steetcar, easy access to highways), walkable neighborhood. In addition West End has already big retail and commercial district, which hopefully improve with the influx of new residents. Location, location, location...
We will stay here for a long time...

Links
http://www.peachtreecorridor.com/doc...nt7_zoning.pdf

The Wren’s Nest

WEND BLOG

West End Neighborhood Development, Inc.

Westview Bungalow: Our Bungalow in Westview Atlanta

[c.zhou57]

thanks for the information. do you know of certain streets in west end that are better than others? how is the commute to downtown on local roads?

[VirtualM]

In addition, what are some other neighborhoods in SW Atlanta that might have great homes like West End? I'm realizing, that for living on the SW side of Atlanta, I actually know very little about what lies between East Point and downtown.

[intoeyes2001]

In my opinion the best streets to live in Historic West End are: Peeples, Oglethorpe, Gordon, Queen, Lawton, Grady, Mathews, and Oak street. You will find that a lot of houses over there has been already renovated, and there are single family houses for the most part.
If you ask about a commute to downtown - I take northside drive, it will take you probably 5-10 minutes to get to downtown. It takes me 15-20 minutes to get to Midtown in the morning. Location is great...