Comments on a recent trip to Atlanta (Smyrna, Vinings: apartments, foreclosures)

[msandli]

All,

I will be attending Ga Tech this fall, and I've been searching craigslist, zillow, atlanta MLS, and several other resources for places to buy, rent, whatever opportunity presents itself, as well as lurking this board for a couple months. I recently took a two day trip to ATL to check out a few houses I've seen, as well as just get a brief impression of the city and some of the areas. I wanted to share some of my first impressions with the city, and I would ask for any constructive comments that you have: things I was right about, things I was way off on, areas I need to give a second look (or first look). Again, I know that it was only two days, so I know there's plenty I missed. Also, I gently request to be spared a lecture on buying vs renting, biased EITHER way. I'm keeping my options as open as I can. I would be living with my girlfriend and two dogs (siberian husky - i know, i know - and great dane) and cat, so I would require someplace animal friendly.

None the less, this is not a request for specific addresses, this is a request for critiques of my first impressions. Please excuse my labeling - if I'm not familiar with an area, I will probably just call it whatever google maps labels it.

- stayed in the quality inn downtown. It definately had a quality, but all i was looking for was a bed, which it had. Also, slice and side bar were across the street, which i liked. there were some more shops/eateries a few streets over (broad st). a little north was the hard rock, hooters, and things like that. saw a lot of braves jerseys saturday night. a little walk (walked all the way to 17th street that night) saw plenty of really nice restaurants and bars, but I didn't really see an area where you could go "bar hopping". maybe this is in buckhead, atlantic station, or just not on peachtree?

- west end/westview/sw of downtown - this was kind of a letdown. ive read lots of positives about these two hoods in particular, so i was interested in checking them out. however, i guess i didn't find the "historic" disctricts, or the areas that are being revitalized. saw lots of run down houses, messy yards, and nothing that said "ghetto", but what i would call trashy (i'm from oklahoma, so i know trashy when i see it!). however, the houses west of adams park, around falling water, around cascade heights seem nice. they remind me a lot of my grandmothers hood: not huge but nice homes, with big yards. The only problem i had with this area was that the very suburban layout meant that things (work, school, food, etc) seem a lot farther away than what the crow flies.

- grant park/east atlanta/east lake/edgewood/candler park - i think this area holds a lot of potential. good access to downtown/midtown, moreland ave seems like it has a lot of the grocery stores/home depots/big box stores one would need, L5P/EAV both in the area which seem to have a lot of local vibe. I don't think i would want to live adjacent to those areas, however, as the traffic was pretty bad. i'm not sure how far south i went, i went as far north as emory (which was getting out of my price range long before i hit that campus, beautiful part of town though), and didn't go really further east than fayetteville rd. overall, nice houses, not too many run down shacks, not too many redone to the nines, but nice solid looking houses.

- smyrna area - this area reminds me a lot of the town in grew up in, fayetteville, ar. hilly, curvy, lots of trees, mostly older hoods (i tried to stay fairly close 75/285), didn't see a ton of local vibe, but being a phd student i probably wouldn't have time for that, so that isn't a huge priority for me. it appears that 75 south might be a good rout to tech, as i can take the 10th st exit and miss the 75/85 merger. if that is the case, then that's a big plus for this area. this would probably be the most rational/least emotional choice.

- west smyrna (mableton/east cobb? below east/west, east of floyd) - this area seemed fairly similar to the parts of smyrna i visited, except that access to the city seemed like more of a problem. 278 seems like an awful lot of traffic lights, and the east/west connector doesn't exactly run right into the heart of midtown. the silver comet trail seems like a pretty nice feature though.

- mozley park - this area seemed like a surprise. i hate to follow this stereotype, but everywhere i've been, chris rock has been right, and MLK is not the street to be. however, i traveled this road on the way to somewhere else, and the homes seemed bright, there were plenty of people walking the streets, and the area seemed pretty legit. obviously its proximity to campus appeals to me. can anyone give me some more info?

please, i welcome any comments, suggestions, or corrections about my observations. again, these are my opinions based on two days of driving around, don't take any of this personally. once again, i'm MOSTLY interested in a single detached, (buy or rent pet friendly), but i also have seen lots of condos/lofts that i will be willing to check out at a later date.

fire away!

[msandli]

I did explore home park a little bit. If it were just me and "the guys" moving, i would be all over that place, but it doesn't seem to agree with the somewhat less cluttered lifestyle i'm after now. Also, i currently have a 30 minute commute, which isnt in bumper to bumper, but i could live with a commute like that (but the shorter the better).

In other words, here's my answers to the 7 questions in the sticky. See if there's anywhere in the places i explored that i would probably find acceptable

1. Budget - probably $100000, so I know this puts me in range of houses that are foreclosures, need work, not in mayberry, etc. Alternatively, probably could afford rent around $800-1000
2. House/Condo/Townhome? - prefer house, but if a townhome/condo had a yard or greenspace nearby, i'd listen
3. Employment Status(commute/work from home) - full time grad student at ga tech
4. Children(public school vs. private) - none
5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two - no real preference
6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? - not really
7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood. - no real preference, just dont want to have to join a gang to live there

Probably the most important thing to me would be access to tech, whether by car, bike, walking, marta, rickshaw, vacuum tube like in futurama....

also, my gf is currently looking/applying for jobs in atlanta, just secretarial type stuff. since she doesn't have a bit yet, i'm trying to pretend like I'm the only one that will be living here, paying bills, traveling, etc. i'm hoping that will change for the better, but i'm not counting on it just yet.

what say you?

[lorilove]

Your first impressions are reasonable.

I live in Smyrna just north of 285 and lived in Vinings (right next door) just south of 285 when I was in grad school at Ga Tech. It is an excellent location and would meet your needs. I generally exited I-75 at Northside Parkway to get to Tech. There are several backroad options to Tech when necessary you can take Northside Parkway, Howell Mill or Atlanta Road. The local vibe is mostly along Atlanta Road in the various mixed use communities.

Your price range will be tight. I live in Townhouse (no assoc fee - you take care of the yard etc) and the rentals are going very quickly and no less than $1200. $100,000 will be an older home needing upgrades. I have seen a few foreclosures in that price range but they are often not in the best of shape.

[RZaakir]

There are several very nice units Downtown in TWELVE Centennial Park, 123 Luckie, the Kessler Building, the William Oliver Building, the Healy Building, and The Metropolitan that are under 100K. All of these places are within 2 blocks of the MARTA North line that will take you to tech via the North Ave. station. You could easily walk to North Ave from TWELVE.

[DeaconJ]

The bar-hopping area of Midtown is a block or so off of Peachtree around Crescent Ave. and 17th. There are other such areas around the city...Buckhead, Virginia-Highland, East Atlanta, Castleberry Hill, Little Five Points, etc.

I would want to stay in an area near Tech, like Midtown/Downtown/Atlantic Station...you should be able to find a decent condo in one of those areas in your price range.

[wxjay]

I just recently got my Ph.D. from Tech (Dec. 2010). I lived in Vinings ("true" Vinings - i.e., inside I-285 off of Paces Mill Rd). It was the nicest place to live and super convenient to EVERYTHING. Kroger was next door (Publix ~1 mile up on Cumberland Pkwy), lots of restaurants in Vinings Village and then up Cobb Parkway, shopping very accessible, and VERY easy access to Midtown and Tech (averaged ~20 minutes door to door, even during "rush" times). Buckhead also was a 15 minute drive (not sure if you explored there - it's the "yuppie" part of town with big hi-rises, expensive stores, etc.).

There are a lot of apartments in that area that you could rent for $500-1000/mth. I would look into those if I were you. Personally, Midtown is also a great option, especially if you are thinking about renting with a friend. You could split a pretty nice condo or look into some of the "older" homes between W Peachtree and Piedmont Park.