Family looking at Olde Town area - advice? (Atlanta, Savannah: fit in, for sale)

[5augustabound]

Hi everybody,

I've been reading up on the current posts here and it seems like Augusta's doing a TON of growing and renovating... that's awesome!

Here's our situation: Hubby is starting med school at GHSU in August. Baby #3 is also due in August. Older two kids are 6 & under. We're looking for a home near campus, within 5 mins or so. We love the old homes in Old Town, between Broad & Greene, and 4th & E. Boundary. There are a couple houses for sale in those areas that are in our budget.

What I'd like advice on is, is this a good place for a family? We will live there at least 4 years, and possibly much longer. Crime charts show that crime is comparatively high there, and it seems like lots of students / singles live there. I didn't see any families when we visited.

Thanks in advance! I appreciate your input!

[5augustabound]

Quick update for more info:

Diversity is not important. Proximity to GHSU is priority, and family-friendly is a close second. Walkability is a nice factor.

We have a dog and plan on getting a bigger one, and we do carry, so hopefully that makes crime less of an issue.

Another question: The Walker elementary school website mentions that registration ONLY happens in January. Is there any way to get in later? How? What is the process of getting in?

[nortonguy]

Olde Town is home to whites, blacks, asians, latinos, middle class, gay, rich, upper middle class, etc. Olde Town is mostly full of singles and empty nesters, but the family population is starting to grow faster... The president of the neighborhood association lives with his wife and two younger children(under 10)..

http://chronicle.augusta.com/life/ho...week-olde-town
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/me...form-olde-town

The neighbors care about their community, know each other, and get involved all the time.. They have the annual tour of homes, festivals, events, and recently helped the city plant trees along Broad street.
//www.facebook.com/OldeTown
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/go...n-trees-begins

I'm pretty positive those crime charts include Eastbound, and areas near May Park which aren't apart of the neighborhood... If somebody says something negative about Olde Town, they ALWAYS think this is apart of the neighborhood.. Telfair, Broad, and Greene are the main roads...

Violent crime is definitely not a problem in Olde Town, but car breaks do happen sometime... Between Broad & Greene and 4th and 2nd is a good place to live.. Between 2nd and Eastbound still needs additonal work in the neighborhood. The streets right up on Eastbound are going to look better though soon...


Summerville is overwhelmingly white and offers plenty of historic homes(more expensive than Olde Town).. Olde Town is growing because it's close to the CBD(the real downtown) and the Medical District, but it's surrounded by East Augusta(a poorer area) so Summerville would be safer overall... Summerville is more the republican tea crowd, and Olde Town is the liberal latte crowd..

[5augustabound]

That was great info, thanks for responding. I loved the articles on the Keuroglians. That was what I wanted to hear - that families can live and thrive in that area. Hopefully there are more! Any idea how long it would take to bike to GHSU... and how safe it would be late at night? We didn't get a chance to drive through the neighborhood at night, but I really wanted to to get a feel for it. Is there a neighborhood watch in place?

I'm not particularly interested in Summerville. Less bang for our buck, too white (sorry), and not as exciting. But the safety is a plus. I'll maybe look around there when we get a chance.

Nortonguy, may I ask what area you live in? You seem in the know about Augusta, and are proud of your city, so where you choose to live would mean a whole lot, although I'm sure there are tons of factors influencing it.

Thanks again for your advice!

[nortonguy]

I live in the Central Business District downtown... I would contact the neighborhood association, but I do believe they have a neighborhood watch program.. I think they also have organized patrols too in the area.. I would ask some of the neighbors in the community and ride through late at night.. The bike ride to the MD would probably be around 15 minutes...

[5augustabound]

Thanks Nortonguy. We'll talk to some of the neighbors the next time we visit.

Medical District and Laney Walker... any pockets of good areas / potential community development around there we might be interested in looking at? We stopped by a new nicely developed street off Laney Walker immediately to the east of GHSU, but it turned out to be a government subsidized neighborhood for lower incomes.

[5augustabound]

Another question. Sorry I have so many!

Is there a strong crew team presence on the CSRA? Does the river have a lot of regulations attached (swim, fish, sports)? My husband's from UW, I'm from GT, and we were both into rowing, and I've already looked into the Augusta Rowing Club. With the Old Town district so close to the river and clubhouse, I can hardly contain myself!

[nortonguy]

Well the Medical District doesn't really have any residential at the moment.. The city is revitalizing both Laney Walker and Bethlehem... Bethlehem is still far behind, but Laney Walker is closer to the MD/CBD, and is much further ahead. A couple of the homes, apartments, townhomes will be made 'affordable' for the elderly who stayed through the hard times... Homes in Heritage Pine for example are between $110k-$210k... Local churches, banks, and private developers are now starting to get more involved.. The city is trying to do the right thing in terms of not displacing the elderly, but when private developers get involved.. We know they're more concern with making a profit in the community. The Heritage Pine neighborhood is the one I think you already saw.. The area near 9th street/James Brown Boulevard between Laney Walker and Walton Way(initial area before the city got involved) is okay.. The landscaping, etc improvements on 9th street begin this year...


I'm not into the sport, but you've definitely come to the right city... Savannah River and Langley Pond= why the US National team trained here before the 1996 olympics in Atlanta..

2012 Augusta Invitational Regatta - Start - YouTube

[urbandevelopment]

Another area you may want to consider is the lower Hill area around Richmond Academy.Baker Ave on the east, Heard Ave on the west, Walton Way on the north and Central Ave on the south.
It about the same distance from GHSU as Old Town and is probably an easier bike ride, ie less traffic if you go on one of the back roads

[5augustabound]

Thanks Urbandevelopment, I'm looking into it now. Is the area directly south of that safe also?

Also, so you're saying there's less traffic going into GHSU from the west than from the east? I would've thought it was the opposite.

Another question for all: a friend of mine who lived in Augusta about 5 years ago said that south of Washington street has really good public schools... top in the state, in fact. Is there truth in that? I've looked at school ratings and it seems like best schools are three magnet schools east of GHSU. All the others didn't rate so stellar. And I think she meant Wrightsboro, not Washington. I couldn't find a washington street.

Nortonguy, love the video! Something def for us to look forward to. Actually our first choice would have been that Heritage Pine development you were talking about, until we found out it was subsidized. It's just SO CLOSE to GHSU! there are amazing house deals in that area...with a little renovation of course... but it would basically eliminate us having a mortgage. Would you even recommend a young family of 5 considering the area? It was pretty scary when we drove through. How fast is Laney Walker predicted for change?