Best area for a poor Emory post-doc to live (Atlanta: sale, rent)

[pdadda]

How bad of a drive would it be to commute from either East Atlanta Village or Grant Park to Emory?

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by pdadda

How bad of a drive would it be to commute from either East Atlanta Village or Grant Park to Emory?

Not too bad as far as a commute, IMO...you just have to be careful about the safety factor of those neighborhoods. They're not "all the way there" as far as being reclaimed as gentrified neighborhoods.

[MMANN]

I would look into some parts of doraville or chamblee. I have heard Cary Reynolds in doraville isnt too bad, and you would be inside the perimter so the commute would be all back roads (usually in Atlanta if you stay away fromt he highways your commute isnt too bad as long as you arent going outside ther perimeter, which you wont be). I am not too sure about the other schools in those areas, but I they are way better than Atlanta city schools, and some areas of chamblee and doraville are in your price range. I would definitley stay away from grant park and east atlanta, they are not fully gentrified and the schools are not very good.

[lastminutemom]

Cary Reynolds isn't a bad school for non-English speaking children. In fact, it is a pretty good school for them. Not so much for anyone else. Actually, the city of Atlanta as a whole has higher test scores than DeKalb County and the schools in many parts (not just Buckhead) out score the vast majority of DeKalb county Schools.

Chamblee has some ok elementary schools, Doraville (unless you count Evansdale as Doraville) doesn't.

[bicycleguy]

I forgot to mention that Fernbank Elementary is also an International Baccalaureate (IB) School, as well as being connected to the science museum, telescopic observatory, and planetarium directly across the street from the school, run by the school district.

Fernbank's brochure is here: http://schools.dekalb.k12.ga.us/fern...088472285D.pdf

[cmtiger]

Mmann and Lovindecatur are not fully correct. East Atlanta Village (EAV), Ormewood Park and Grant Park are great places for families. My kids have had friends who live there and we have never felt unsafe. True, these areas not as gentrified as Decatur, Candler Park and VaHi, but if you pay attention to your surroundings as you house hunt, you can get a very nice house or apt in a good part of these neighborhoods. Also, these areas have a terrific charter school called Neighborhood Charter School (NCS). Their test scores aren't sky high, but part of the reason for that is that they just aren't too interested in teaching just for the state tests (I consider not teaching to bubble tests to be a positive). Anyway, I know lots of very highly educated families that are thrilled with NCS. Grant Park and Ormewood Park get first preference in the lottery for NCS so I would focus on those neighborhoods first. They also have a great preschool in that area called Grant Park Cooperative Preschool. I know the director, and she is wonderful.

The commute to Emory from Grant Park/Ormewood/EAV would not be terrible. I would guess about a half hour each way tops. This area has several nice commercial nodes with hip restaurants and shops. It's not swimming with kids like Decatur, Candler Park and VaHi - but there are definitely a good number of young families there so your kids would have n'hood buddies. Also, you could walk to the zoo!

BTW, parts of Chamblee are nice - forget Doraville though.

[bicycleguy]

This is probably obvious, but worth noting. The Emory Off-Campus housing finder is geared for (often way too wealthy) undergrads as well as grad students and young faculty. All listings are keyed with an automatically generated "distance-from-center-of-campus" mileage feature. Here: Welcome to Emory Off-Campus Housing Finder

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

Also, these areas have a terrific charter school called Neighborhood Charter School (NCS). Their test scores aren't sky high, but part of the reason for that is that they just aren't too interested in teaching just for the state tests (I consider not teaching to bubble tests to be a positive). Anyway, I know lots of very highly educated families that are thrilled with NCS. Grant Park and Ormewood Park get first preference in the lottery for NCS so I would focus on those neighborhoods first. They also have a great preschool in that area called Grant Park Cooperative Preschool. I know the director, and she is wonderful.

Worth mentioning that you don't get an automatic "in" at NCS regardless of the neighborhood in which you live, but you'll have a much higher probability in Grant Park. Check with the school for info about admission.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

Mmann and Lovindecatur are not fully correct. East Atlanta Village (EAV), Ormewood Park and Grant Park are great places for families. My kids have had friends who live there and we have never felt unsafe. True, these areas not as gentrified as Decatur, Candler Park and VaHi, but if you pay attention to your surroundings as you house hunt, you can get a very nice house or apt in a good part of these neighborhoods. Also, these areas have a terrific charter school called Neighborhood Charter School (NCS). Their test scores aren't sky high, but part of the reason for that is that they just aren't too interested in teaching just for the state tests (I consider not teaching to bubble tests to be a positive). Anyway, I know lots of very highly educated families that are thrilled with NCS. Grant Park and Ormewood Park get first preference in the lottery for NCS so I would focus on those neighborhoods first. They also have a great preschool in that area called Grant Park Cooperative Preschool. I know the director, and she is wonderful.

The commute to Emory from Grant Park/Ormewood/EAV would not be terrible. I would guess about a half hour each way tops. This area has several nice commercial nodes with hip restaurants and shops. It's not swimming with kids like Decatur, Candler Park and VaHi - but there are definitely a good number of young families there so your kids would have n'hood buddies. Also, you could walk to the zoo!

BTW, parts of Chamblee are nice - forget Doraville though.

I wasn't writing off either neighborhood, but there are good and bad sections in both of them.

[beubanks]

The best time to buy a home is when the market is down. I own a home very close to Emory, off of Clairmont Road near Buford Hwy. There are plenty of quiet, safe, tucked away, beautiful neighborhoods for you to find a home under $200,000.

I also own a home in East Atlanta (just moved to it from my Clairmont house.) I bought it under $200,000, it is completely renovated, surrounded by brand new homes, and is a quiet, friendly, walk your dog area/stroll your baby neighborhood.

As a realtor, I suggest you contact a Realtor so they can discuss the market and the neighborhoods where can find you great rentals and/or homes for sale and point out good school options for your child.

Good Luck!