Is Atlanta Getting Older? (Decatur, Lilburn: apartment, homes, neighborhoods)

[fdladkrkme]

I've noticed this town seems to have a lot of older people. In the 80s and 90's there seemed to be a lot more younger families around. Those same people have stayed put, I guess. Short of the intown areas, Atlanta seems to be getting old.

What happened? Did Nashville and Dallas take all the young people? Atlanta has many advantages but other cities have nice areas full of under 40 crowd. I don't see that here. I see "seedy" areas with younger people. But not nice areas.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by fdladkrkme

I've noticed this town seems to have a lot of older people. In the 80s and 90's there seemed to be a lot more younger families around. Those same people have stayed put, I guess. Short of the intown areas, Atlanta seems to be getting old.

What happened? Did Nashville and Dallas take all the young people? Atlanta has many advantages but other cities have nice areas full of under 40 crowd. I don't see that here. I see "seedy" areas with younger people. But not nice areas.

yes/no.

Yes, Atlanta is getting older. We grew really fast in the 80s-00s. Well those young families are now becoming old empty nesters. We just have older people in ways we didn't have before. The baby-boomer generation was big too, so that adds to the phenomena.

No, I don't believe Dallas or Nashville are necessarily taking our young people or are a whole lot different than us. By most metrics we still have sizable young families. One important note is we are a recession-affected generation in a city that got hit rather hard by the great recession. This delayed home ownership and left less room for saving up large down payments. You will likely find many young people in one of 2 areas: apartment heavy areas (both intown and out of town) and in new housing developments on the exurban fringe. Those are still dominated by younger families, but they are out of sight-out of mind to many not living there.

If you are still frequenting neighborhoods you grew up in, those will seem older. That is true of any city you go to. There is a growth cycle to neighborhood in who owns the homes.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

yes/no.

Yes, Atlanta is getting older. We grew really fast in the 80s-00s. Well those young families are now becoming old empty nesters. We just have older people in ways we didn't have before. The baby-boomer generation was big too, so that adds to the phenomena.

No, I don't believe Dallas or Nashville are necessarily taking our young people or are a whole lot different than us. By most metrics we still have sizable young families. One important note is we are a recession-affected generation in a city that got hit rather hard by the great recession. This delayed home ownership and left less room for saving up large down payments. You will likely find many young people in one of 2 areas: apartment heavy areas (both intown and out of town) and in new housing developments on the exurban fringe. Those are still dominated by younger families, but they are out of sight-out of mind to many not living there.

If you are still frequenting neighborhoods you grew up in, those will seem older. That is true of any city you go to. There is a growth cycle to neighborhood in who owns the homes.

The latter is a good point. But Atlanta is getting older as home prices are rising. Younger families are definitely getting pushed further out. Prices are also keeping a lot of younger single people in the suburbs.

[bu2]

I know the high school in my area is a consolidation of 3 high schools that existed in the 80s. They closed a bunch of schools in central DeKalb about 4 years ago. Many people were complaining until they pointed out that the number of students was half what it had been 30 years ago.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by bu2

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The latter is a good point. But Atlanta is getting older as home prices are rising. Younger families are definitely getting pushed further out. Prices are also keeping a lot of younger single people in the suburbs.

Yep, it's hard for young families to live inside the city limits. That's a very important demographic factor.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by bu2

I know the high school in my area is a consolidation of 3 high schools that existed in the 80s. They closed a bunch of schools in central DeKalb about 4 years ago. Many people were complaining until they pointed out that the number of students was half what it had been 30 years ago.

True, and there is a neighborhood cycle that adds to this... and to a large extent that area is probably at its peak oldest.

However, I think there is a little more going on here. I think the school system in that area got tarnished. Gwinnett's schools in very close proximity are packed and growing. Even Decatur City has seen a bit of growth.

The Lilburn/Mountain Park area just inside Gwinnett I would say is seeing an increase in young families. It isn't flooding by any means. It is nothing like you will find in a new neighborhood in Dacula or Buford, but it is past its' empty-nester peak and slowly starting to re-balance.

[Iconographer]

Yes. It will be celebrating its' 180th birthday next year.

[ATLTJL]

I know that in the early/mid 90s (and probably 80s before that), Atlanta was seen as a big party city for a lot of young people, and that was a major draw.

Anecdotally speaking, when the famous Ray Lewis murder happened in the early 2000s and the city overreacted by enacting laws that killed Buckhead and the small but important 24-hour club scene, I saw a lot of people gradually leave. I mean, it wasn't specifically because of that, it's not like they said, "the scene is dead, so I'm leaving." The city just lost its edge and it wasn't a fun place for a young person to be anymore.

I was getting older at the time and sort of moving on anyway, but it sounds like some other kind of scene has developed nowadays. But there was definitely a period of a few years where there just wasn't much cool for young people to do, nightlife-wise. Most people I knew moved to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, where there were also better jobs available.

It's why I still think that a lively nightlife scene, even though it doesn't seem important to the older people with money who make decisions, it absolutely vital to the survival of a city. You have to have a steady supply of young people who find your city a fun and creative place to live.

[Atlwarrior]

As a Uber driver with over 2000 trips, I pick young professionals from a Midtown, Buckhead, VA Highlands, East Atlanta area all the time. I think the demand of empty nester selling there suburban homes and downgrading for intown living has definitely increase. I see that as a plus consider the Anti- Atlanta attitude that some carry. I think Piedmont Park on a nice day is a great sample for intown demographics.

[lorilove]

I have a 96 year old mother that lives in a retirement home here in Atlanta. Many of the residents in her building were not originally from Atlanta but moved here to be closer to their children. So some of that growth is simply that our parents are living longer which is why you are seeing more. And as Atlanta grows so does that population as we move our parents closer to us.