The most-dramatic surge in Atlanta home prices? South of I-20

[bu2]

[quote=ATLTJL;56845204]It makes perfect sense, and I totally get why someone would move to an area like this, especially if being close to MARTA is important to you.

However, it's not without risk. All the restaurants, bars, retail etc. people love to be close to could be decades away in these neighborhoods. Things that rise this quickly this recently are also at highest risk of crashing jas hard if there is a slowdown.[/QUOTE

These areas crashed the hardest in 2008-9. I suspect they are just now catching up.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I took a look at Venetian Hills, because I've never even heard of it before.

Quite an interesting looking part of town. The biggest problem is houses of at least 2,000 square feet are totally non-existent unless they are total teardown/rebuilds, which of course puts them in a much higher price point.

This just makes it even more remarkable how expensive they are getting on a price per square foot level. I'd say for the moment, it's overpriced given all the amenities the area lacks. But time will tell. Either the amenities will catch up, people will buy the houses anyway, or prices will fall.

Venetian Hills does have nice lots and some green park areas. But its an old area, houses built in the 40s and 50s that generally haven't had much recent updating. You're going to find small houses and small closets.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by atler8

I tend to agree with some things you said but others, well... they are just off the mark in my opinion.

I'm with you in regard to the traffic problems of southeast Atlanta given how in my ten years of living in Grant Park, I saw the traffic congestion there get so bad that my commute into the heart of Midtown & back became a frustrating nightmare.
There were numerous problems that combined so as to make my daily commute into a worsening experience and I saw no way for the problems to effectively be solved, much less alleviated.
As a result, I chose to move closer in & called the Old Fourth Ward my home in Atlanta for 3 years until I moved outside of the city.

As for your opinion, "it's always going to look that way", I heartily disagree.
One need only look at the almost lightning speed transformation of Memorial Drive as an example of how fast things have & can turn around in close in neighborhoods that were previously written off for decades.

Is it Boulevard that is so bad?

I can't believe Atlanta had an underpass there at one time and did away with it.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by bu2

Is it Boulevard that is so bad?

I can't believe Atlanta had an underpass there at one time and did away with it.

Yeah, with all of the traffic at Boulevard and Freedom Parkway now, it seems weird that a separated grade junction was replaced with an at-grade intersection.

But given the sensitive and extremely contentious history of Freedom Parkway (which, of course, at one time was proposed to be an extension of Stone Mountain Freeway to Downtown Atlanta), I can kind of understand why it was done politically.

Also, let's not forget that Freedom Parkway is officially a state-owned highway (signed Georgia State Route 10). So it was not the City of Atlanta that replaced the overpass with an at-grade intersection, but it was the Georgia Department of Transportation that understandably felt the need to do so because of intense political input from surrounding Intown Atlanta residents and neighborhoods.