Newbie question - Bad neighborhoods? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: crime, dorms, safe area)

[cj000]

All locations have them, the bad neighborhoods... the ones that you know to stay out of for your own personal safety. I know Atlanta has bad sections of town, where are the most dangerous? This is a question that only the native ATL residents can answer I think. Specific areas would be helpful as I am not familiar with GA. Thanks!

cj

[Tdiddy0027]

pretty much all the bad sections of Atlanta are becoming good sections due to gentrification. College Park has been known as a bad ghetto section of town for a long time, but that is changing. I drove through their downtown a few days ago and I was amazed at the amound of upscale, gourmet restaurants lining the streets. I also saw a lot of new developments coming up. Everywhere inside the perimeter I-285 will eventually become very desirable. However, in 10 years you might want to steer clear of northern Clayton County, South Dekalb County, South Cobb around Six flags, parts of Norcross in Gwinnett, and areas of Roswell road in Sandy Springs. Those seem to be going downhill, but I could be wrong.

[xxman777]

if you gave us an idea of what neighborhoods or cities you are looking at we might be able to tell you specifically which areas are bad. To generalize what parts of town is hard because there are so many good neighborhoods mixed into the bad parts of town and so many bad neighborhoods are mixed into the good parts of town. In general the south side is the bad part of town and the north side is the good. However there are plenty of exceptions.

[cj000]

We are looking at Acworth on the Cobb co. side right now. My husband will need to commute to Marietta Blvd in ATL.

cj

[Tdiddy0027]

Acworth is pretty nice. It's a good white collar suburb, Nothing special though

[xxman777]

I know there are certain neighborhoods around there to stay away from but I don't know what they are (I live on the other side of town). My understanding is Acworth is pretty nice though. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Good luck.

[Original_GA_Peach]

Just be sure your husband is away from Marietta St. before dark! Also stay out of Atlanta, Clayton Co., Fulton Co. (a few exceptions in the far north part of the county), Clayton Co., Dekalb Co., Clayton Co., the southern part of Cobb Co., much of Douglas Co.,...did I mention Clayton Co.?...anytime after dark. You should do just fine!

There may be more...I'm sure we'll hear about it.

Acworth, most anywhere in Cherokee Co., the northwestern part of Cobb (and that's for a limited time only), parts of Gwinnett (I don't know much about that side of town), Fayette Co...all good possibilities. Peachtree City, in Fayette Co., is rated among the 100 safest places to live in the US, has good schools (for the GA public school system), good shopping. They don't have really good traffic right now, but they seem to be working on it. Also, it's only about half an hour to the Atl. Intl. airport.

You just have to realize, the entire metro Atlanta area is changing...rapidly. So, what is a safe area today, likely won't be in a very short time. I grew up in the Six Flags/Mableton/Austell area. Lived there from 1965 until 1993 and it was a great place to live and raise kids. Now...a hugely, crime infested area!!! And it's been that way for several years now. After that, I lived in Powder Springs, from 1993 to 1996...same story. Nice place to live and raise my kids. Until about 1996 when my kids started getting threats from other kids at the bus stop and at school...threats involving knives and guns. That's when we moved out of the area completely. It just happened so very fast!

Any place that's within commuting distance of Atlanta...you'll see the same thing happen.

Sorry I can't be more optimistic. It saddens me...I loved Cobb County, but it's not there anymore.

Peaches

[baily]

Where Do You Live Now Is Canton Ok Or Cumming Tks In Advance

[Accountable]

Originally Posted by Original_GA_Peach

Just be sure your husband is away from Marietta St. before dark! Also stay out of Atlanta, Clayton Co., Fulton Co. (a few exceptions in the far north part of the county), Clayton Co., Dekalb Co., Clayton Co., the southern part of Cobb Co., much of Douglas Co.,...did I mention Clayton Co.?...anytime after dark.

[moderator CUT]

I used to go to French classes in midtown two nights a week (Fulton co.) and walked several blocks to my car instead of paying for covered parking. All I saw were other people heading to Starbucks, or in and out of restaurants, or in and out of the High Museum.
And, let's see, that would mean you also wouldn't want to join anyone at any of the bazillion restaurants that are in those two counties, or work out at the 80,000 sq.ft. Concourse Athletic Club (Dekalb Co). In fact, that would eliminate joining most of the Bally's, LA Fitness, The Zabin Center in Dunwoody, and several dozen personal training studios, unless you could get it in at 6 am. before you head to work.
And you couldn't join a tennis league either because they'll be playing tennis into the night at any of the 258 tennis parks I found listed in those two counties. Nor could you go into or out of either St.Joseph's or Northside Hospital. Oh, and the Gaming club I visited a couple of nights to play board games at a pizzeria in Tucker would be out of the question. You couldn't go to school at Emory University, or Agnes Scott, unless you can avoid being out at after dark,....but hey, college students only sit in dorms at night, right?

And you FOR SURE wouldnt' dare venture near the planetarium (also Dekalb) for the star shows, or go to "Martini's and Imax" to see a film about Everest or the Pyramids.

Well,....you get the point....
[CUT]

[Original_GA_Peach]

Been there, done all that...don't care to go back!