Lithia, Douglasville, or Mableton, Ga (Atlanta: school, cities, places)

[Sound of Reason]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

I was just going to say to Sound of Reason that to people like us (I am also from Chicago) Mableton is pretty country.

Rural:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...iry_farm_5.jpg


http://static.auctionservices.com/im...ed_reduced.jpg

By contrast, here is Mableton


http://www.pellerin-salomon.com/proj...ton_aerial.jpg



In terms of roads, with exceptions of some industrial buildings along the town's eastern edge near Mableton Parkway and a girl scout camp, in existence for decades, and located under where it says "Pebblebrook Estates", I see little difference from Vinings in development.

//www.city-data.com/forum/attac...ton_border.jpg

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Ok, I stand corrected. Thank you. So, 285 Donald Hollowell exit is not Mableton then? I ask bc my Husband has friends that live in a new subdivision in "Mableton" and I thought I remembered us coming off at that exit. Perhaps I am mistaken?

yes was once you turn toward fulton industrial and then past those old projects. (if they are still there) it definitely becomes Mableton. But its almost like night and day. I use to live right there by that gas station. It was nice then...don't know about now.

[dgreen]

I think the Chapel Hill area of Douglasville is a good option. Mableton is a little overpriced in my opinion and yes Hollowell was previously Bankhead HWY. Homes in Douglasville are cheaper and you will get more home and space.

The schools are good in the Chapel Hill section also and its only 20 miles from Atlanta. I can get to downtown ATL in about 20-25 minutes with no problem.

Douglasville is closer to downtown ATL and the West End Atlanta area.

[alwaysreading]

Thank you all for the info on the three cities. One other question, we are also concerned about flooding. How's the flooding situation in Lithia? Minimal? Very heavy? Please elaborate.

Also If anyone can recommend a city in Ga that is safe, family/kid friendly, with strong schools; with LOTS of safe, clean parks; Barnes and Noble, safe clean movie theater, safe Jazz clubs, (we are a musical/band family, so we love activities that involve music and outdoors) Walmart, Publix. We appreciate any advise, and thank you again so much.

[DivaDahv]

I know i am late into this thread. I live in the Retreat at Old Vinings Lake and I love my little piece of quiet. We just purchased in Oct 2012. It was between building new in Douglasville or buying the house we currently own. We went with the latter. So after a year of living in the area, the truth about Mableton:

1. Living in a subdivision off of the Cooper Lake Corridor is prime - you have almost instant access to Smyrna and Vinings

2. Close to the City -with less crime than being in the actual city. No place will be 100 percent crime free

3. Close to the Silver Commet Trail, but also close to run down industrial area of Bankhead

4. Schools are problem the bottom of Cobb, but Cobb schools systems are better than most.

5. If you live in North Mableton and don't like Veterans Memorial (Bankead Highway), you can take East West Connector.

6. Not all of the areas are nice, but I found run down areas in Douglasville and Lithia Springs

7. Cobb Police. enough said. My alarm company was testing systems in the area and accidentally triggered our silent alarm. We had Cobb's finest at my house in t-2 sec flat surrounded the house, guns drawn.To be sure they everything was on the up and up they checked the house and the credentials. Living in Midtown we have gotten robbed and apt broken into multiple times and the slow response is scary.

At the end of the day you know the needs of your family - and they change. If you would have asked me in 2010 if I would ever move out of the Towne Lake area into South Cobb, let alone Mableton, I would have given you an extreme side eye (aka are you kidding me). But now in 2013 I prefer to be closer to the city and live on a stocked lake. :-)

Happy hunting

[ElleKaye]

Originally Posted by alwaysreading

I am a elem teacher and we (husband and two teenage daughters) are thinking of moving to Lithia, Douglasville, or Mableton, Ga. We are African American, and want to live in a quiet area near the City of Atlanta but not in it.

We want to be in a city that has several libraries, Barnes and Nobles, Publixes, and clean spacious parks close by.

What are the pros and cons of Lithia, Douglasville, and Mableton, Ga.

I rhink all three are quiet, but of the choices, I'd select Mableton based on proximity to the things you want. Even if you have to drive to Smyrna or Powder Springs to get to them, it's not any further than you'd have to drive in Douglasville proper.

Although I cannot say I'm all that familiar with Douglasville, it does have a small town feel to me yet has lots of retail spots. If you move there, prepare yourself to see some confederate flags here and there because you will. (I'm just saying if you have issues with that, you're going to have a problem.)

Litihia Springs, I love the name but just don't like city. Maybe I did not explore it enough or something I cannot quite put my finger on. Maybe I thought it was a little too country like Burnt Corn, Alabama. (Don't ask.)

I don't know anything about the school systems of any of the three, but I'd probabaly opt for Cobb County (meaning Mableton). You may want to seriously factor in where you and your husband will be working because I'm on a serious hunt to get out of Kennesaw and I only work in Marietta. A reverse commute is a beautiful thing here.

[PlanetL]

My husband bought our home in Lithia Springs before we got married. He loved it b/c he was close enough to Atlanta (approx. 15 mins across I-20), got a large home, finished basement, inground pool, and over an acre for under 200k. I've kinda learned to adapt to Lithia Springs. I moved from my townhouse in Alpharetta when we got married. Now with two young children, we must send our eldest to private school, b/c the schools in Douglas County really aren't all that great. When we go out to the movies, dinner, really anything we do is in Buckhead or Brookhaven. There's not a whole lot to do in Lithia Springs. It is blue collar neighborhood, but everyone is friendly, and a lot of people have lived here all their lives, it's just a little "country" to me. Well, a lot country. If you have narrowed your search down to only Lithia Springs, Douglasville, or Mableton, I'd say 1. Douglasville 2. Lithia Springs 3. Mableton. If you want the Publix, parks, Barnes & Noble, nice library ...really I'd say Smyrna is probably your best bet. A couple large Publix stores, new library a Barnes and Noble and several nice parks.

[BGSIMO1]

Originally Posted by Sound of Reason

A bit biased are we?

Living in Mableton, you won't smell garbage.
Mableton was not built on a garbage dump.
Only some parts of Mableton have an industrial appearance, and even in those areas, it is mixed in with newer commercial. I think a lot of people confuse older commercial for "industrial". After all, Mableton began to become suburban in the 1950s and 1960s, so it stands to reason that you'll have a fair number of buildings from this time period.
Other parts of Mableton are relatively nice.
The schools are "bad" because of the students who attend them and the scores they receive on standardized tests. It really is a cultural attitude with many of the students in that area. There are many students who perform well in those schools. The quality of education isn't necessarily worse.
You won't find bars on the windows in over 99% of the homes in Mableton.

Are you familiar wth Creekside and Westwood Terrace subdivisions in that area? Also heard about flooding issues along the Chattahochee river. JW development Legacy on Riverline is over that way. Thanks for your input.

[WmMeeker]

Originally Posted by alwaysreading

I am a elem teacher and we (husband and two teenage daughters) are thinking of moving to Lithia, Douglasville, or Mableton, Ga. We are African American, and want to live in a quiet area near the City of Atlanta but not in it.

We want to be in a city that has several libraries, Barnes and Nobles, Publixes, and clean spacious parks close by.

What are the pros and cons of Lithia, Douglasville, and Mableton, Ga.

Mableton is OK to good. The area around Copper Lake Rd has nice newer neighborhoods while the area south of Veterans Mem Hwy have older stock 1950s style brick bungalows and ranches. I don't thin there is a Barnes and Noble anywhere around. There used to be one on East-West and Austell Rd but it closed. As for Lithia (I assume you mean Lithia Springs and not Lithonia) and Douglasville, they are both nice but they are not in Cobb County and the schools are not nearly as good as Cobb schools are. But all 3 are OK to nice areas and none of them are dangerous.

[WmMeeker]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

I would definitely say no to Mableton. Yeah sure they have some nice subdivisions but the schools aren't good. The homes are 200k and up in those subdivisions and are in my opinion too expensive for that area. Outside the subdivision the area is pretty industrial and rundown-looking. Sure it's close to Atlanta but the area close to the city has many homes with bars on the windows which is never a good sign. Also that area is close to Atlanta's city dump and incinerator so you will smell trash burning. From what I understand some of the homes there were built on landfills. It also has a few cemetaries in that area and lots of power lines.

There also nothing to do and mostly nothing but fast food restaurants. I'd never buy a house in Mableton but that's just me.

No. All wrong. The air does not smell and the Atlanta city limits is quite a run away. The Waste management dump is at least 4 miles away. The only part of Mableton that has Georgia Power transmission lines is a corridor that runs down Mableton Parkway to Factory Shoals and Blairs Bridge Rd to Thornton into Douglas County. There are only 3 lines and you would not even notice them unless you look up. Kennesaw has huge transmission towers that are an eyesore and much worse than anything in South Cobb. As for cemeteries, there is no place in Georgia that is free of them. They are next to almost every church here. Some of them are even in the lots of business buildings. Many people don't know this but even in "upscale Vinings" there is a cemetery in front of the twin office towers on Paces Fairy Rd (2727 I think).