Are there bad areas in midtown? (Atlanta, Marietta: real estate, lofts, condos)

[Panks]

Hi Atlantans,

I just came back from a 3 day trip to Atlanta and I really liked it over there! Has anyone else said that downtown looks a lot like San Francisco? Y'all have a nice town

I drove through a neighborhood called Morningside in my search for a good pet store and thought it looked adorable. I just love, love Tudor homes! Now that I'm looking at the prices from back here in CA, I can see that everyone else loves them too!

I just wanted to ask you guys what the cons are of living in the midtown area? I looked up crime and it seems like there are tons of burglaries and robberies ...anything else that I should be aware of before I pick up and move from CA.... in 3 weeks? I don't have a job yet but I figured the commute to downtown would be easy if I lived in midtown..is that true?

Thank you!

[KevK]

The area around Peachtree and Pine is bad because there are many homeless people around there. They often urinate and do number 2 on the sidewalks around the area. Other than that, it is fine. The further north you go, the better it gets.

[Panks]

Aackk! #2 I saw a guy do that in downtown SF once...I'll never forget it.

Thanks for the info! Is the commute to downtown OK from midtown? Does everyone drive or take buses and trains? How long would you say to drive from North of midtown to downtown?

thanks

[IntownHomes247]

Midtown is adjacent to Downtown. Take a look at this google map:

30308 - Google Maps

Find Peachtree St on the map (runs N/S) and see where it intersects with the street with the arrow. Basically north of that is midtown and south of that is downtown. There are people who walk and bike to work from midtown to downtown. Others that the MARTA rail. There are also buses. Parking downtown is expensive, so using alternate transportation is best.

[Panks]

Thank you! I didn't know where the dividing line was. I was thinking of downtown as a bullseye in the middle of Atlanta.

Can you tell me if its possible to find large commercial brick buildings in midtown (that could be converted to a SFH) for under $350?
I've always wanted to do something crazy like live in an old fire station or water tower or factory

[sweettea1]

Commercial stuff that's affordable (but not so much anymore) is mostly in an emerging area called Midtown West, about 2 miles from Midtown, west of the city. Was once all industrial but is turning into lofts, condos and a few SFH in developments. you wouldn't want to do a SFH by itself in this area. Midtown is very expensive now. Fixxer Uppers are easily in the high 4s and 5s in semi decent areas. In Midtown itself, stuff is cheaper as you move away from the park and closer to Ponce but then crime increases in those areas as well.

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by Panks

Thank you! I didn't know where the dividing line was. I was thinking of downtown as a bullseye in the middle of Atlanta.

Can you tell me if its possible to find large commercial brick buildings in midtown (that could be converted to a SFH) for under $350?
I've always wanted to do something crazy like live in an old fire station or water tower or factory

No, that's not possible in Midtown. As sweettea mentioned, there are industrial buildings on the westside that are being converted to residential lofts. The Castleberry Hill neighborhood of downtown is actually the neighborhood where this is most common, although many of the old buildings have already been converted into lofts or art galleries.

http://castleberryhill.org/

$350k is not the kind of budget I would want to try to accomplish this goal, though. The "intown" neighborhoods of Atlanta are generally very expensive. You can very easily spend $350k on a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo in Midtown.

Here are some helpful links you might want to explore about downtown and midtown.

http://atlantadna.org/

http://www.atlantadowntown.com/

http://www.downtownatl.com/

http://midtownatlanta.org/

http://midtownalliance.org/

http://midtownmile.com/ (broken link)

[netdragon]

Re the brick buildings question ... You may be able to afford Bankhead and Mechanicsville brownstones in an area called "West Midtown", West of Northside Dr but South of 75, which is really Bankhead with marketing trying to avoid the negative connotation of Bankhead. In Bankhead near where Marietta Street meets Marietta Blvd, down to Bankhead Hwy (Donald Lee Memorial Highway) and up Marietta Blvd towards Bolton Rd and also down Chattahoochee Ave, you may be able to find some brownstones on roads around there but you need to act fast because major developers are putting big time mixed retail/residential communities in there with huge footprints, like M West and homes in neighborhoods around there are being improved. They call that West midtown, but it's really Bankhead. It isn't very nice now, but in a couple years stuff like that won't be available because young professionals are moving there in droves, especially those from the Universities which are right on the edge of these neighborhoods. I'm not as familiar with Mechanicsville but I've heard the same things are going on there.

As mentioned, many of the neighborhoods on side streets with single family homes are already being fixed up. Anything North of Bolton Rd is already probably out of your price range, and anything between Northside Dr and the main part of midtown is out of your price range as well. But other than that you may be able to find a deal if you are willing to put some work into fixing the place up. There really isn't that much space in there that isn't neighborhoods with single family homes, so it won't take long before it's filled in. The Hollywood Rd neighborhoods are already starting to have some investors move in, but the other areas I mentioned are probably going to get nicer faster because they are closer to midtown, however that's where you'll find the best deals.

Originally Posted by Panks

Thank you! I didn't know where the dividing line was.

Just like NYC, midtown pretty much starts where the numbered streets begin and ends not far past 17th street, since once you pass, approximately, Collier Rd, that's the beginning of Buckhead, though the line is blurred between Buckhead and midtown between Collier and Deering.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Panks

Thank you! I didn't know where the dividing line was. I was thinking of downtown as a bullseye in the middle of Atlanta.

Can you tell me if its possible to find large commercial brick buildings in midtown (that could be converted to a SFH) for under $350?
I've always wanted to do something crazy like live in an old fire station or water tower or factory

The official boundary between Downtown and Midtown is North Avenue. However, developers have tried/started taking the Midtown name south of North Avenue...

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by aries4118

The official boundary between Downtown and Midtown is North Avenue. However, developers have tried/started taking the Midtown name south of North Avenue...

Yes, I told the OP to look at Ponce because it's easier to see on the Google Map (has an arrow), and it's "close enough". Panks, North Avenue is one block south of Ponce. The area south of North Avenue has recently been dubbed "SoNo" by developers eager to brand it with a hipper identity.

"Downtown Atlanta" actually has a number of neighborhoods (you can find a map on the Central Atlanta Progress web link above). Also, FYI, there is tremendous fuzziness in the collective consciousness of Atlanta about what constitutes "Downtown" versus "Midtown" versus "Buckhead". People use each name very loosely. The auto mechanic I use has a shop off Cheshire Bridge and he tells people who call for directions that he is in "Midtown." Many people will say "I'm going downtown" when they are actually going to a destination in what is technically Midtown.

You'll also find this same fuzziness in real estate ads. People will say "Midtown loft" when the property may actually be located on the west side of I-75/85 (the area that has recently been called "Midtown West" but actually is not related to Midtown).

Always get a street address and zip code. If you're looking for Midtown and the address is not in 30308 or 30309 zip codes, it's not a Midtown address. (Not all 30308 and 30309 addresses are in Midtown, but all Midtown addresses are in 30308 or 30309.)