Liberty Park neighborhood - info needed on neighborhood (Atlanta, Marietta: HOA, crime)

[alan83]

Does anyone have any information on this area? I looked at a townhouse in this neighborhood this past weekend and it was VERY nice. The only drawback is the drive up to the neighborhood on Marietta Blvd, it is very run down.

Is it a dangerous area? Any redevelopment plans in the works?

The area is Marietta Blvd and Bolton Road.

[VJP]

That area was prime for redevelopment and kind of stalled with the housing market downturn. That said, do some googling, people have varying reviews. I have several friends who live there and my biggest gripes about it are: parking situation for guests, neighbors parking on random pads, access issues with security, lots of traffic, lots of late night noise - people partying etc.

[alan83]

Is it a higher crime area over there around Marietta Blvd?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by alan83

Is it a higher crime area over there around Marietta Blvd?

You can check some of this out yourself:

Atlanta Crime Maps
Atlanta, GA Crime Map - Showing Crimes in Atlanta - Crime Statistics, Alerts and Reports - Crime Stops Here
APD Find My Zone

[alan83]

Liberty Park is definitely off my list. I found a much better subdivision where I am not questioning the surroundings... Olde Ivy at Vinings.

[samiwas1]

I've lived in LP for almost 6 years. The area around does have an appearance that could give second thoughts, for sure. When we bought, the area was prime and ready for redevelopment, but it never happened due to both market downturn and TAD funding issues that are STILL going on. So that dream was a bust.

That being said, it is actually a surprisingly low-crime area, considering that much of the area is low-income. In the almost six years I've lived here, I've known about I think two, maybe three, home breakins. Before our gated situation was beefed up (causing guests like someone mentioned above some hassle), there were numerous car breakins. That has become very rare lately. Looking at the crime map below, the area (199) has its fair share of crimes, but it appears to be below-average.



Indeed there is a parking issue and always has been, but it's MUCH better than a few years ago where everyone just completely disregarded the rules and it was a parking free-for-all, with cars everywhere. Now, you can usually actually find parking if you need it...at least in my section. One of the issues is the sheer number of guests. I think there are more guests than residents.

Now...there are two distinct parts of the neighborhood. Kind of like you have ITP and OTP for Atlanta, we have BTB and ATB in the neighborhood (before-the-bend and after-the-bend). Before the bend and the first few buildings after are generally much quieter and mostly residents who have lived there for years. After the bend, and particularly past the cove street, is a different story. Once the market dropped, and homes in the neighborhood became drastically cheaper, the quality of resident dropped. So the further down the street you go, the rowdier it seems to get. I haven't really dealt with much all-night partying or excessive noise, but I live BTB.

I don't blame you for looking elsewhere. I'm kind of ready to move on, but am too far underwater right now. In the early days, it was an absolutely fantastic neighborhood. Mostly young professionals and starting families. There was a true neighborhood feel, to the point where people would just open their garages or doors and just invite the neighborhood over. We had all sorts of fun block-party-type events and meeting people was a daily occurrence. I don't see that much any more.

But we're kind of at a turning point of residents wanting to turn things around, so hopefully we'll see some gains made.

And if they'd just tear down that blighted Moore's Mill Shopping Center with only one remaining open store and build the new one they've been fighting over for 5 years, we could all be happier!!

Edit: Of course Olde Ivy is going to be much nicer. It's in a nicer area and costs about twice as much!

[NewCCA]

Hey Samiwas1. Do you still live in Liberty Park? How do you feel about the area and neighborhood now?

[RocNY]

Can anyone give an update on this neighborhood?

[tikigod311]

Lots of activity up this way. I don't know about this specific neighborhood, but the old run down shopping center north of it is gone and a Publix is in the process of being built. There is a also a new retail center coming in across the street from there that looks to be a good addition.

I would imagine prices have gone up significantly in that neighborhood since the OP

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by RocNY

Can anyone give an update on this neighborhood?

As tiki said above, prices have gone up significantly in the past few years, and we are expecting prices to go up even more soon as the three new mixed use developments around here get completed, offering numerous walkable options for dining and retail. They're currently selling near $240k. That's up from about $200k just a year or two ago, and up from $115k 6-7 years ago.

It's the only neighborhood in the area which is gated with a 24-hour guard, so that helps a lot. I've lived in LP now for 11.5 years. We had planned on moving out after 5 or so years, but the housing market crash killed that idea. We planned on moving this year, but the development around us has us staying for a little longer.

The neighborhood itself is fine. Most units are 3BR/3.5BA, while some are 2BR/2.5BA if the terrace level isn't finished. Most are 1352 square feet, although a few select homes are quite a bit larger. One big factor that sways a lot of people is the parking. While this neighborhood has far, far more parking than a normal townhome development, the residents complain incessantly that there isn't enough. There is one extra spot for every three units. However, residents are not allowed to park in these spots overnight. So, you cannot have three cars to a unit. At times, the visitor gate backs up quite a bit, but that is going to happen at any gate when a host doesn't register their guests.

There is a pool and a dog park for physical amenities. The HOA is quite steep, but it does provide a lot of services that most HOAs do not. They are also covering a lot of infrastructure work that needs to be done. There is an on-site property manager.

Crime in the neighborhood is practically non-existent. Out near the Racetrac there is an occasional hit, but there's no big crime wave around here.

But, the best thing is accessibility. It is so easy to get around from this location. Downtown is an easy 15 minute drive even at rush hour. Midtown is 15 minutes usually. Smyrna/Vinings is 10 minutes. Buckhead is 20 minutes normally, 25-30 minutes at peak times. I-75 is five minutes away except at peak times, and I-285 is accessible at two locations in 5-10 minutes. I've commuted from here to Fayetteville, Norcross, Union City, Griffin, and Fulton Industrial, and except at the peakest of peak rush hours, it's almost never a big deal. It will certainly get a bit worse as the area builds up.