Moving back to Atlanta, having trouble pinning down a place to live (Alpharetta: lease, home)

[subwaytraveler]

If you’re looking for areas inside the perimeter I would start with anywhere along the belt line or the Highlands. Some ideas:
Cabbagetown
Inman Park
Midtown
Old Fourth Ward
Virginia-Highland

Brookhaven and buckhead are also good options

[ugonna100]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Smyrna is more of an inner suburb that has been rapidly gentrifying with young professionals in their 20’s and 30’s.

Your budget of $1500/month for 2 bedrooms likely will go pretty far in Atlanta, likely much farther than it went in a notoriously high-priced city like San Francisco.

With your fairly large budget and with your desire to have good access to nightlife and a good social circle, you should probably look in some closer-in neighborhoods in the city.

If you don’t mind living in a more urbanized environment, look in areas with many active nightlife options like:

> Along the section of the East/Northeast Atlanta Beltline Trail between DeKalb Avenue on the south end and Ponce De Leon Avenue on the north end...

> Midtown Atlanta, including along the Peachtree Street, West Peachtree Street and Spring Street corridors where lots of new mid-rise and high-rise condos and apartments have gone up in recent years ...

> East of Downtown Atlanta along the Edgewood Avenue corridor through the Sweet Auburn and Old Fourth Ward areas, including in the area where Edgewood Avenue intersects with the aforementioned East/Northeast BeltLine Trail on the border between the Old Fourth Ward and Inman Park areas...

> In the 30318 zip code (like lorilove recommended) along the Marietta Street/Howell Mill Road corridor through West Midtown, from roughly about North Avenue (the intersection of Marietta Street and North Avenue) on the south to about Collier Road (to the intersection of Howell Mill and Collier roads) on the north...

> East of Downtown Atlanta along the burgeoning Memorial Drive corridor through the Oakland, northern Grant Park, Cabbagetown and Reynoldstown areas...

> In Decatur proper’s popular downtown village area (Downtown Decatur).

Areas like Little Five Points, East Atlanta Village, the Cheshire Bridge Road corridor, Poncey-Highland, Buckhead and Brookhaven have some active nightlife elements in and near them, while other areas like Glenwood Park, South Buckhead (Brookwood Hills), Lindbergh and Grant Park will put you close to some of the most active areas of the city.

Other areas like Chamblee, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Vinings and Smyrna will not necessarily put you right in the middle of the action, but will provide you with some good living accommodations that are within a reasonably close commute of the most active areas in the city.

The Battery, a new mixed-use development with some bars and restaurants adjoining the new Atlanta Braves baseball stadium at Truist Park in the Cumberland area might also be a closer-in suburban option to consider, while Avalon is an outer-suburban mixed-use development option that might also be considered if you want to be further out from the city.

Marietta is a suburban community with a popular historic downtown village area situated around an adored historic town square (Marietta Square) that serves as the social and emotional epicenter of a larger Cobb County community... But Marietta generally is geared much more towards family-oriented community events than it is towards young singles.

Gwinnett is a suburban bedroom community that people and families with children flock to in droves because of its excellent school system. You will not necessarily find very much (if anything) in Gwinnett that will be geared towards young singles, and you might be farther away than you might like from the action in the city.

Whoa thats a wealth of info!

I see! i was mistaken about gwinnett and marietta. I also was considering the area near smyrna and vinings as still part of marietta too

to be clear i was planning a 1bedroom under 1500 or a 2bedroom under 1500 solo, not with a roommate, i was wondering if my budget is too small for a 2br solo. its starting to look like it is after looking at sandy springs and little five points, but i'll still keep searching

Talking with a few people, they all shotdown decatur due to crime but the other choices were well received, however i'm thinking if i want a good amount of space i may have to live in the areas close but not inside the city like you mentioned. So i wanted to ask about Vinings, Smyrna, and Chamblee, when they're considered close to the most active parts of the city, what are those areas exactly? Is it cumberland mall area?

[AtlJan]

I wouldn't rule out Alpharetta. With the number of tech jobs there, it is just really vibrant right now with younger folks.

Pre-covid, I would have said anything around the belt line--still a great option, though pricey. Since then, I'm more inclined to point you to Alpharetta.

Westside provisions district and Emory/North Druid Hills would also be desirable.

[lorilove]

Originally Posted by ugonna100

... So i wanted to ask about Vinings, Smyrna, and Chamblee, when they're considered close to the most active parts of the city, what are those areas exactly? Is it cumberland mall area?

Cumberland Mall and Vinings are both zip code 30339 which also includes The Battery (mixed use development that includes The Truist Braves Stadium). Cumberland Mall area is a Business District (office buildings, shopping, apartments etc.) while Vinings is more residential.

The 30339 zip code is primarily ITP with a small portion (inc. The Battery) just OTP. This is unincorporated Cobb County with an Atlanta mailing address. Cumberland Mall/Vinings, Sandy Springs and Chamblee are often referred to as ATP (At The Perimeter).

Smyrna is right next to Cumberland Mall/Vinings - just OTP from Vinings and just West of The Battery. Smyrna is a traditional suburb but if you live on the south or east side of Smyrna you are a stones throw from Cumberland/Vinings.

Pre Covid, most 20 and 30 years olds told me they rarely felt the need to venture much past The Battery. But when you do want to check out other areas, you are an easy 10-12 miles from Midtown or the Westside which are very active areas.

You are also an easy 5 miles from Marietta Square or 8-10 miles from Sandy Springs

[ugonna100]

What about rental condos? Is it a good idea to rent a condo in these areas instead of an apartment?

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by ugonna100

What about rental condos? Is it a good idea to rent a condo in these areas instead of an apartment?

If that is what you prefer, then go for it.

[columbusboy8]

I like Woodstock. Check out the demographics. An up and coming town. Kind of upscale, but reasonable.

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by ugonna100

Hello! So after searching a bunch on the forums i got a lot of info on areas around Atlanta (I always heard buckhead was where the nightlife was, apparently thats changed!) and etc, and i was hoping to get some help with pinning down my apartment search.

I'm moving to Atlanta from SF (trust me don't live there) so my priorities for an apartment have been very focused on getting SPACE but also still at least not being "far" from young people hangout spots.

I'm 25, single guy, and i work from home (until pandemic is over)
My goal of course is to probably make friends and i'd like to find people to date at one point, the info on the forums is a few years old but am i right to assume that the good places to find a large apartment that isn't too far from people would be Marietta, Sandy Springs, and Gwinnett?

And is it unrealistic to find a 2BR with a 1500$ budget? should i aim lower?

You have a few conundrums. Instead of looking for where people will be (because there is a pandemic and you'll be able to move once your lease is up and the pandemic has relented) look for what you want to do. $1500 isn't horrible, but it will still limit where you can live in the city if you're looking for a newer, more upscale place to live. I was pricing complexes in Sandy Springs and several had 2 BR apts for more than $1500. I think that $1800 is a sweet spot. It will give you a large amount of options for 2BR apartments or even houses to rent.

I have no idea what young singles are doing during this pandemic. Restaurants are open here and many types of groups are still meeting, but I imagine the type of random, serendipitous meeting of strangers while walking about doesn't happen much these days. For the time being, live somewhere close to what your hobbies are to get yourself out of the house/apt., or rent a place large enough to accommodate a hobby (maybe you like playing the drums, or painting or model train sets).

[ugonna100]

Originally Posted by Tarzanman

You have a few conundrums. Instead of looking for where people will be (because there is a pandemic and you'll be able to move once your lease is up and the pandemic has relented) look for what you want to do. $1500 isn't horrible, but it will still limit where you can live in the city if you're looking for a newer, more upscale place to live. I was pricing complexes in Sandy Springs and several had 2 BR apts for more than $1500. I think that $1800 is a sweet spot. It will give you a large amount of options for 2BR apartments or even houses to rent.

I have no idea what young singles are doing during this pandemic. Restaurants are open here and many types of groups are still meeting, but I imagine the type of random, serendipitous meeting of strangers while walking about doesn't happen much these days. For the time being, live somewhere close to what your hobbies are to get yourself out of the house/apt., or rent a place large enough to accommodate a hobby (maybe you like playing the drums, or painting or model train sets).

You're right, my search was running into a lot of trouble for a 2 bedroom under 1500$
So i had to downscale to a 1BR. after looking at a few in person i realized that i had been in San Fran too long and the space in a 1 bedroom here was definitely great enough for one person.

To be clear it IS true that theres pretty much no way to really just hang out with strangers and make friends outside nowadays since we're still in quarantine and i definitely was at home pretty much all this year. But i do think we'll be opening up around the mid of this year as long as nothing extreme happens (fingers crossed) and if i choose to live somewhere totally out from where I want, it wouldn't do me any favors in the end.

I do have a few hobbies i do inside but 1 bedroom seems to be enough space to do them, the info on the various neighborhoods of atlanta was very useful! i've been looking at pretty much midtown, cumberland, and buckhead.
and due to the pricing requirements, it ended up being far better to rent a condo than it was to rent an apartment, as the quality apartments were several times more expensive without a roommate (probably since nowadays everyone gets a roommate)

[VirtualErik]

How about decent apartments or areas near the Atlanta airport and near the MARTA if possible? just me, no kids, no spouse, no pets. Just need a 1bed 1 bath at min. Budget around 1k/mo.