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Old 03-13-2010, 05:42 AM
 
17 posts, read 63,065 times
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I'll be moving to Atlanta from Dallas, TX, in May, 2010, and am looking for some insight to see if the results of my research are correct or not. First, some info about me. Divorced, late thirties, African-American, engineer. My new job is in Midtown (Georgia Tech to be specific), so I've been concentrating my home search around the Midtown area. I'm commute averse, so the furthest out I'd be willing to live is ~10 miles from Midtown.

I don't have children living with me, but need space for them to visit. I may rent short term, but I will be looking to purchase a home within 6 months. As such, I'm primarily interested in a townhome, but a house with a small yard is not out of the question. My housing (mortgage) budget is $1000 - $2000 per month. This does not include any other monthly living expenses as I've budgeted for them separately. I'm from New Orleans originally, but over the last 10 years I've lived all over...Chicago, Los Angeles, DC, and now Dallas. I'm looking for a diverse environment (a variety of everything...races, nationalities, religious prefrences, etc.) and am not very into suburban living. Driving to a mall is not as appealing to me as walking to a local coffee shop. I'm agnostic, so living in an area that is accepting of secular individuals is important. I'm somewhat of an outdoors/active type, so access to open space is important to me as well...parks, rivers/ponds/lakes/streams, bike/jogging trails, etc. I love mass transit, and would enjoy easy access to MARTA (there is a station near GA Tech).

So far, my research has shown that living in Midtown would be ideal, but some other areas have piqued my interest...Atlantic Station, Vinings, Cabbagetown, and to a lesser extent Downtown. From what I've seen/read/heard, Midtown has the mix of everything I desire, but I'd like to get some opinions of folks that know the area better than me.
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Old 03-13-2010, 06:44 AM
 
Location: Inman Park (Atlanta, GA)
21,870 posts, read 15,087,284 times
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Here are some links for you to explore:

MidtownAtlanta.org - News and Events

Midtown Alliance

www.piedmontpark.org

PATH Foundation

I live in Inman Park which would be a very quick commute to GA. Tech. Inman Park

Additional neighborhoods to explore:

Virginia Highland :: Atlanta, Georgia

Candler Park Neighborhood Organization | Welcome to your intown hometown

Good luck and welcome!
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Old 03-13-2010, 07:19 AM
 
17 posts, read 63,065 times
Reputation: 27
Thanks for the info, George. I hadn't heard of Inman Park, Virginia Highland, or Candler Park before. This is exactly the type of info I'm looking for. The Midtown & Piedmont Park links were also very helpful. Midtown is looking more & more appealing.
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Old 03-13-2010, 10:13 AM
 
9,124 posts, read 36,382,644 times
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The only thing that downtown would offer is a lower cost for a condo than in midtown. Other than that, there's no advantage to living in downtown over midtown, IMO, and there's more amenities in midtown.
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Old 03-13-2010, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Washington, DC
93 posts, read 140,283 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by netpack73 View Post
Thanks for the info, George. I hadn't heard of Inman Park, Virginia Highland, or Candler Park before. This is exactly the type of info I'm looking for. The Midtown & Piedmont Park links were also very helpful. Midtown is looking more & more appealing.
You can't be a homophobe if you move to Midtown, as you know if you had done your research, Midtown is the Gay Mecca of the south.
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Old 03-13-2010, 11:05 AM
 
17 posts, read 63,065 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezequiel View Post
You can't be a homophobe if you move to Midtown, as you know if you had done your research, Midtown is the Gay Mecca of the south.
Point taken, and yes, I've done my research. I'm heterosexual, but have lived in gay friendly cities (New Orleans, Los Angeles), so no problemo. Again, diversity is key for me.
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Old 03-13-2010, 03:28 PM
 
2,642 posts, read 8,260,766 times
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Inman Park and Candler Park are both on the east MARTA line, so commuting to GA Tech would be easy (MARTA to Georgia Tech « Exploring Atlanta on MARTA). Plus these two neighborhoods are EXACTLY what you like, only they're very, very family friendly. My husband and I are raising our son in Candler Park (3rd grade). The school cluster for these neighborhoods (as well as Midtown) are really great so if you ever have to send your kids to school here you'd be set (just as Plan B, know what I mean?).

Please come down for a long weekend and visit Midtown, Inman Park, Candler Park, as well as others that were mentioned.
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Old 03-13-2010, 03:30 PM
 
2,642 posts, read 8,260,766 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive View Post
Inman Park and Candler Park are both on the east MARTA line, so commuting to GA Tech would be easy (MARTA to Georgia Tech « Exploring Atlanta on MARTA). Plus these two neighborhoods are EXACTLY what you like, only they're very, very family friendly. My husband and I are raising our son in Candler Park (3rd grade). The school cluster for these neighborhoods (as well as Midtown) are really great so if you ever have to send your kids to school here you'd be set (just as Plan B, know what I mean?).

Please come down for a long weekend and visit Midtown, Inman Park, Candler Park, as well as others that were mentioned.
My point about mentioning that these neighborhoods are family friendly was mostly to imply that your kids would quickly find playmates. In the one square block I live on there are 11 school-aged children (there were 13 but one family just moved to DC) and few babies on the way.
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Old 03-13-2010, 04:02 PM
 
17 posts, read 63,065 times
Reputation: 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive View Post
Inman Park and Candler Park are both on the east MARTA line, so commuting to GA Tech would be easy (MARTA to Georgia Tech « Exploring Atlanta on MARTA). Plus these two neighborhoods are EXACTLY what you like, only they're very, very family friendly. My husband and I are raising our son in Candler Park (3rd grade). The school cluster for these neighborhoods (as well as Midtown) are really great so if you ever have to send your kids to school here you'd be set (just as Plan B, know what I mean?).

Please come down for a long weekend and visit Midtown, Inman Park, Candler Park, as well as others that were mentioned.
Thanks for the info. Catching the MARTA to GA Tech is definitely the way I'd go, so thanks for the link. Inman Park & Candler Park do sound very nice, and I don't have a problem with family friendly (as long as the families don't have a problem with me...). To give some more info, my kids are teenagers, so being in the Grady High School district is a major plus, but I don't plan on needing any more strollers...lol. I'm not into club or bar scene, but I am into cultural events (plays, poetry, live music, etc). Are there venues for such things in Inman Park or Candler Park, or would I have to go over to Midtown?
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Old 03-13-2010, 05:10 PM
 
2,642 posts, read 8,260,766 times
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No, you'd definitely have access to that in and around both neighborhoods. And they're so close to Midtown that any event in Midtown is less than 10 minutes away. But there are several small local theaters in Little 5 Points (L5PBA Home Page - the funky commercial district that's between Inman and Candler). Also, Decatur, which you can get to by going east on MARTA, also has a lot of cultural events (a huge book festival and an art festival).

Inman Park has the BEST street festival in the state, but it's in the spring, so you'd have to wait to next year. But Candler Park has a music festival in June (a one-day festival) and then in October we have a two-day FallFest.

And while I discussed the family-friendliness in terms of grammar or middle school aged kids there are a lot of high schoolers here, too. Grady High is very popular.

And the families here wouldn't have a problem with you, based on how you described yourself. In fact, you sound a lot like a lot of people here. These two neighborhoods (as well as Midtown, Virginia-Highland, and Decatur) are all pretty much the same, in that regard. The people who live here come from all over the world, so it can be pretty culturally diverse. And also gay friendly. And "religiousity" is very diverse here, too. We're agnostics, too, and it's never been a problem. Honestly, it wasn't a problem when we lived in the burbs, either, but the topic of religion came up a whole lot more often in daily conversation. It doesn't here.

Anyway, check out all the neighborhoods and pick the one that feels like the best fit. You'll be happy with all of them.

BTW - I'm from outside NOLA myself. There are a lot of us in Atlanta. Welcome!
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