Metro Atlanta areas that are going "downhill"

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Agreed. We've know two couples who've moved to Powder Springs and they are very happy. One of them relocated from Buckhead and the other from Sandy Springs.

Powder springs has some nice newer neighborhoods. I looked at a house out there.
When you put in nice neighborhoods some newer amenities start showing up enhancing the area.
I also saw the lower income areas that weren’t as nice. It’s a mixture .

[equinox63]

First, let me say that I have a lots of love for all of Atlanta, the city and metro (albeit I do have a soft spot for DeKalb, the SWATS, South Fulton, and areas that are often unjustly maligned by people who have never really visited, etc.)

But I think the big disconnect here is how DoubleZ OTP defined “undesirable”. This is his quote:

“Undesirable: These neighborhoods have few or poor amenities, underperforming schools, poorly-maintained or old housing stock, inconvenient or distant locations, or some combination thereof. Many of these neighborhoods experience occasional crime. Middle-class and wealthy households usually overlook these neighborhoods. Undesirable neighborhoods almost always eventually become bad neighborhoods.“

I don’t believe that what he calls “undesirable” will inevitably become “bad”. But if I’m being honest, what he has described above does not sound extremely unlike parts of the areas he has listed:

“- Parts of South Fulton, Union City, and Fairburn in southern Fulton County…
- Parts of Redan, Stonecrest, and Lithonia in southern DeKalb County…
- Parts of far-southwest Atlanta near 285…”

I didn’t interpret “parts” as the whole area/town. Again, I don’t know Gwinnett like that, but I think his prediction is coming from the social patterns that have taken place in the metro over the last few decades. Of course, things can always change for the better — as many say they are in certain areas. I also believe that there will likely be areas that have some very nice parts, and some not so nice parts.

So I can agree with some of you that we’re painting with a pretty broad brush here, but at the same time, I don’t see his predictions as being totally off base either (at least based on previous precedent—but of course, things can also change for the better).

As some have alluded to in this thread, no matter how wealthy and nice and no matter how many amenities come to certain areas, some people will always look at them as inferior simply because they do not want to closely associate with the some of the people who populate those areas — regardless of class/income, etc.

[DoubleZ OTP]

Originally Posted by equinox63

First, let me say that I have a lots of love for all of Atlanta, the city and metro (albeit I do have a soft spot for DeKalb, the SWATS, South Fulton, and areas that are often unjustly maligned by people who have never really visited, etc.)

But I think the big disconnect here is how DoubleZ OTP defined “undesirable”. This is his quote:

“Undesirable: These neighborhoods have few or poor amenities, underperforming schools, poorly-maintained or old housing stock, inconvenient or distant locations, or some combination thereof. Many of these neighborhoods experience occasional crime. Middle-class and wealthy households usually overlook these neighborhoods. Undesirable neighborhoods almost always eventually become bad neighborhoods.“

I don’t believe that what he calls “undesirable” will inevitably become “bad”. But if I’m being honest, what he has described above does not sound extremely unlike parts of the areas he has listed:

“- Parts of South Fulton, Union City, and Fairburn in southern Fulton County…
- Parts of Redan, Stonecrest, and Lithonia in southern DeKalb County…
- Parts of far-southwest Atlanta near 285…”

I didn’t interpret “parts” as the whole area/town. Again, I don’t know Gwinnett like that, but I think his prediction is coming from the social patterns that have taken place in the metro over the last few decades. Of course, things can always change for the better — as many say they are in certain areas. I also believe that there will likely be areas that have some very nice parts, and some not so nice parts.

So I can agree with some of you that we’re painting with a pretty broad brush here, but at the same time, I don’t see his predictions as being totally off base either (at least based on previous precedent—but of course, things can also change for the better).

As some have alluded to in this thread, no matter how wealthy and nice and no matter how many amenities come to certain areas, some people will always look at them as inferior simply because they do not want to closely associate with the some of the people who populate those areas — regardless of class/income, etc.

Everything equinox63 says here is spot on and accurately conveys the angle from which I approached the original inquiry. I don't think I could have put it better myself, honestly.

I don't like to paint entire neighborhoods/school zones/towns/counties with a broad brush, and I think that the word "parts", as equinox63 highlighted, is important as even within neighborhoods, there can be great variation from one block to the next.

My predictions for which neighborhoods are set to "decline", to be clear, are not determined by my own preferences but rather those of society as a whole. These predictions are largely based upon historical trends and macroeconomic behavior. To elaborate, I'm aware that some of these predictions and characterizations come off as classist... and to an extent, they are classist because we live in a classist society.

Personally, I greatly prefer many of the neighborhoods which I previously characterized as "declining" or "undesirable" to the the wealthy, sterile, and classist "premium" neighborhood where I was raised (South Forsyth). But I understand that my preferences for a place to live do not align with those of the mainstream.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by DoubleZ OTP

Personally, I greatly prefer many of the neighborhoods which I previously characterized as "declining" or "undesirable" to the the wealthy, sterile, and classist "premium" neighborhood where I was raised (South Forsyth). But I understand that my preferences for a place to live do not align with those of the mainstream.

I thought I heard somebody say parts of South Forsyth were going downhill.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Agreed. We've know two couples who've moved to Powder Springs and they are very happy. One of them relocated from Buckhead and the other from Sandy Springs.

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

Powder springs has some nice newer neighborhoods. I looked at a house out there.
When you put in nice neighborhoods some newer amenities start showing up enhancing the area.
I also saw the lower income areas that weren’t as nice. It’s a mixture .

GA-360 Macland Road is roughly the dividing line between the generally more affluent northern part of the Powder Springs area (in the Hillgrove and Harrison school clusters) and the generally less affluent southern part of the Powder Springs area (in the McEachern school cluster).

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I thought I heard somebody say parts of South Forsyth were going downhill.

Unfortunately, people who may not like the increasing diversity of the area may consider an area that is widely thought of as being decidedly affluent, like South Forsyth County, to be “going downhill” because they don’t like the dramatic demographic shifts in the area.

[hilltop180]

I think there are a lot of suburban areas that have and other that could turn downhill fast. Like Kennesaw. There are some really nice areas of Kennesaw; then some really rough areas. Same with Mableton and Austel. Some nice areas and you go 1 mile and you are in a bad area.

[ATLForr]

Originally Posted by hilltop180

I think there are a lot of suburban areas that have and other that could turn downhill fast. Like Kennesaw. There are some really nice areas of Kennesaw; then some really rough areas. Same with Mableton and Austel. Some nice areas and you go 1 mile and you are in a bad area.

I don't think any part of Kennesaw could be considered really rough.

[cranberrysaus]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

Powder springs has some nice newer neighborhoods. I looked at a house out there.
When you put in nice neighborhoods some newer amenities start showing up enhancing the area.
I also saw the lower income areas that weren’t as nice. It’s a mixture .

In just the short time we've been here downtown PS has gone from a near-wasteland to an actual nice place. Couple restaurants, an ice cream shop, a park/amphitheater, and a brewery have all sprung up. I think it's uniquely positioned in that it's right off the silver comet, which drives more traffic than it would typically get. Now that they've started construction on some mixed use residential/retail in the downtown grid, I only expect it to get livelier.

The city's flown under the radar, likely for good reason, but they seem to have ambitious plans to follow in the footsteps of other metro downtowns like Woodstock and Alpharetta, and it looks like they're starting to get realized.

I think the biggest knock against the area right now is the schools. With there still being a lot of low-income pockets like others have said, it's driven down the rankings some that likely scare off a lot of would be home seekers. But I hope that as more people move to the area, those will turn around as well.

[Citykid3785]

Originally Posted by hilltop180

I think there are a lot of suburban areas that have and other that could turn downhill fast. Like Kennesaw. There are some really nice areas of Kennesaw; then some really rough areas. Same with Mableton and Austel. Some nice areas and you go 1 mile and you are in a bad area.

Genuinely asking, which parts of Kennesaw are rough?