Thoughts on the Western Suburbs? (Atlanta, Marietta: house, neighborhood, to buy)

[Fubarbundy]

Douglas is kind of over in the corner, maybe losing his religion... the shy quiet wallflower at the party that is metro Atlanta, which is perfectly fine. Just think, would you rather he be more like Clayton, DeKalb, or (heaven forbid!) Cobb?

Glad you got the courage to speak up though... now any time prospective transplants ask which creek or lake we think they should jump in, go ahead and say Sweetwater!

[Chilly Gentilly]

Originally Posted by Fubarbundy

Douglas is kind of over in the corner, maybe losing his religion... the shy quiet wallflower at the party that is metro Atlanta, which is perfectly fine. Just think, would you rather he be more like Clayton, DeKalb, or (heaven forbid!) Cobb?

Glad you got the courage to speak up though... now any time prospective transplants ask which creek or lake we think they should jump in, go ahead and say Sweetwater!

What's wrong with Cobb County??

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by Fubarbundy

Douglas is kind of over in the corner, maybe losing his religion... the shy quiet wallflower at the party that is metro Atlanta, which is perfectly fine. Just think, would you rather he be more like Clayton, DeKalb, or (heaven forbid!) Cobb?

Glad you got the courage to speak up though... now any time prospective transplants ask which creek or lake we think they should jump in, go ahead and say Sweetwater!

What's wrong with Clayton, Dekalb, and Cobb.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Chilly Gentilly

What's wrong with Cobb County??

Nothing.

Collectively Cobb, Gwinnett (adding into the mix), Dekalb, and Clayton are Atlanta's more denser overgrown core suburban counties where a majority of our regions population lives that has all the pros and cons that come with that.

So anyone who prefers a more small town ruralish area with less traffic will talk about them with disdain as will anyone who is a I only want to be an intown hipster type.

[thejaz982]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I don't know much about the west side of town. All I can really say is based on conjecture and observations on few and far between visits.

When I first moved to Atlanta in 1996, Douglasville seemed to be about as close as you could get to Alabama (literally and figuratively) in the metro. Nice, large homes for cheap...but also lots of Confederate flag waving rednecks.

As was mentioned, it really seemed like it was taking off in the late 90s/early 2000s during the real estate boom. When people were buying up whatever they could find, the western burbs offered some really affordable deals. As the rest of the metro continued on its way to sophistication, that area just seemed to lag. You don't really meet too many people that live out there these days. When I do make any stops there, it seems like it's become almost 100% African American. You don't hear about it being an African American haven like Lithonia or Cascade, but that's sure what it looks like around Stonecrest Mall.

That made me think that it's one of the suburbs that has been affected by white flight into the city and it has absorbed some of the poverty that used to be contained in the city. I'm not sure if that's really what has happened, but that's what it looks like.

Whatever is happening out there, it's pretty under the radar. You just don't hear a peep about any of the western burbs elsewhere in the metro.

You've got some of that right, in the sense that Douglasville/Douglas Co. along with all the outer ring counties have experienced a sharp rise in AA population in the last 15 years, but Douglas more than the others (Paulding, or Carroll) i'm guessing due to our proximity to the city. I think it's a good thing really that the city and county became more diverse and unlike other areas around the country and other counties in the metro that went or are going through this, that seem to go through a sort of clash of community when that happens, It sort of happened under the radar with little fuss. The white population that had an issue with it left a while ago to flee into Carroll and points west, but that was a relatively small percent of the population. Again, it seems we do things a little different. Last numbers I saw the city of Douglasville has 56% AA, 36% White, and 7% Hispanic with the county being about the flip of those numbers; 52% White, 39% AA and 10% Hispanic. Diversity and our community being as close to one another is really a special draw here and what could be attracting the people that are coming here. Not saying it's all rainbows and unicorns, but we have a diverse population, diverse representation on city council, school boards, board of commissioners, and nobody out here bats an eye.

As far as the poverty end of that, Douglas and Douglasville has always had a middle of the road to lower end on the income ladder which grew when the population did and kept growing even as the population diversified. We still are sort of middle of the road with the rest of the Metro, and we do have areas in Douglasville that need some love both economically and developmentally (think the North side of the city), but on the whole, we aren't riddled with poverty and violent crime is pretty low.

Originally Posted by Chilly Gentilly

You may not want to talk it up too-too much. I've seen first hand what happens when people discover what you love about an area. Droves of individuals swoop in, drive up home prices, and ruin traffic...among other things

...sometimes the attention we desire for our favorite towns can completely diminish what makes it so special to us

You raise a good point, this place is kind of special to me. I grew up here and have seen the change, the growth, the diversifying, the stall from the crash. The closeness of the community and quietness is what keeps me here. But at the same time it would be nice to take Douglas County and the rest of the west up a notch, to really create a special place in the metro. Everyone focuses on the North (obviously) and the neglect of the South and some parts East, but the West is always left out of discussions on what to do to improve. I'm here to suggest that maybe we bring some cards to the table too.

[cwkimbro]

I finally found a good map I think I can post to here. This is a really interesting view of the city, but it shows the slow start the Westside had with all of the railroad tracks and switching yards that divided the westside form downtown.

This was in 1892. If you look carefully you can see the line of large homes lining Peacthree St in what is now Midtown and you can see the early development of many mill neighborhoods throughout town.

(This would be a good time to download to your computer and zoom in. There is alot of detail in this map)

[ATLTJL]

Last numbers I saw the city of Douglasville has 56% AA, 36% White, and 7% Hispanic

I think that's pretty telling.

I don't know if you would necessarily be able to call that diverse because it's black and white, with a splash of Hispanic. That's really not the type of majority minority that most people find attractive because your majority is a single race: black. The type of diversity people are looking for nowadays is where no specific race makes up the majority, it's just a distributed mix.

For example, where I live in Duluth, we are also majority minority. But the breakdown looks like this: 48.7% white, 20.2% Black, 22.3% Asian, 14% Hispanic, 5.2% some other race, and 3.1% two or more races. Only 68.9% of the population is accounted for by blacks and whites, as opposed to Douglasville, which according to your numbers is 92% either black or white.

I think this explains why diversity is not helping Douglasville as much as it is helping other areas. It sounds like out there, if you're not black, you're in the minority. In the majority minority areas that are experiencing upswings, you're a minority no matter who you are.

That's just one possible explanation, I'm sure the reasons the west side is the way it is are numerous.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

I finally found a good map I think I can post to here. This is a really interesting view of the city, but it shows the slow start the Westside had with all of the railroad tracks and switching yards that divided the westside form downtown.

This was in 1892. If you look carefully you can see the line of large homes lining Peacthree St in what is now Midtown and you can see the early development of many mill neighborhoods throughout town.

(This would be a good time to download to your computer and zoom in. There is alot of detail in this map)

Great map! I could stare at that one for hours.

[Fubarbundy]

Originally Posted by demonta4

What's wrong with Clayton, DeKalb, and Cobb?

Zip, zilch, and nada.

Sorry, was unwise in being facetiously rhetorical.

Pretty sure OP understood that, hope so anyway.

[sedimenjerry]

Western burbs are an enigma to me. Ironic since my mom grew up in the Mableton, Lithia Springs, Austell area. My grandma lived over there and in Douglasville til about 10 years ago. Still have some family over near Villa Rica but I know very little about the area. Parts of Douglasville are ok but from downtown west on 20, Villa Rica is probably the closest I would choose to live.