Best Area to live in Atlanta (Marietta, Smyrna: low crime, how much, house)

[cjsilen]

My Wife and I are considering Atlanta as a place to reside. We like the features of the city. We are only learning at this time of all the areas to live in. So far we've heard a lot about Marietta and Douglasville. I guess those are the runners so far but we'd like to know if there are any other good places that could be affordable and nice with low crime as close to Atlanta as Marietta or Douglasville.

Thanks in advance,

Carlos Martinez

[BobKovacs]

Define "affordable", as that will drive alot of your decisions, along with how much how you need, whether you need a quality school system, and where you'll be working.

[rox011]

my sister is also considering the city or an area near. She's looking to spend about 400K for fixer upper. She loves Buckhead but its too much. How close is Douglasville?

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by rox011

my sister is also considering the city or an area near. She's looking to spend about 400K for fixer upper. She loves Buckhead but its too much. How close is Douglasville?

Douglasville is about a 30-40 minute drive on a good day from Atlanta.

I suggest that your sister look at Smyrna/Vinings - she can buy new construction for $300K+ there and the area is very convenient to downtown, retail, etc.

[goozer]

Take a look at the City of Decatur, which is about five miles east of downtown Atlanta and inside the perimeter. While your original post does not mention a price range or many specifics, I think Decatur is one of the best (inner) suburban neighborhoods in the entire Atlanta metro. You should definitely plan a drive out there to check it out.

[plessthanpointohfive]

Yeah, but some people LIKE getting fixer uppers. For us it was because we could get into a nicer neighborhood and see our house value increase as we fixed it up.

You can get a nice fixer-upper for $400K in any intown neighborhood such as Midtown, Inman Park, Candler Park, Lake Claire, Virginia-Highlands, Poncey-Highlands, Decatur, Grant Park...

[jeweloflight]

Originally Posted by goozer

Take a look at the City of Decatur, which is about five miles east of downtown Atlanta and inside the perimeter. While your original post does not mention a price range or many specifics, I think Decatur is one of the best (inner) suburban neighborhoods in the entire Atlanta metro. You should definitely plan a drive out there to check it out.

Oh, yes, Decatur, good choice! Douglasville is not what I would consider "close." Who told you that? Marietta is much closer, depending on what part you're coming from, although 75S can be a bear in morning traffic. Vinings/Smyrna are next door to each other. I use to live in Vinings. You'll most certainly pay more for a home in Vinings than Smyrna. Vinings is considered the upscale part of Smyrna, and Vinings is not an address. If you live in Vinings your mail will say Smyrna, Georgia. You could also live intown Atlanta, or Dunwoody, which won't be cheap, but I don't know your budget.

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by jeweloflight

If you live in Vinings your mail will say Smyrna, Georgia.

You can mail a letter with "Vinings, GA" and if the zip code is correct, it will make it to the house. Plus, almost all of TRUE Vinings has an Atlanta address, not Smyrna. The exception are properties on Log Cabin Rd (the farthest reach of the Vinings border) which have a Smyrna address.

[casualobserver]

Originally Posted by wxjay

You can mail a letter with "Vinings, GA" and if the zip code is correct, it will make it to the house. Plus, almost all of TRUE Vinings has an Atlanta address, not Smyrna. The exception are properties on Log Cabin Rd (the farthest reach of the Vinings border) which have a Smyrna address.

Not to hijack the thread off course, but the Vinings/Smyrna thing is still unclear.

Here are some assumptions/observations of mine.......how correct/incorrect are these?

1. Vinings starts west of the 'hooch......there is no true Vinings east of the river.

2. Cobb County starts west of the 'hooch as well. Therefore, all of Vinings is in Cobb and none of it is in Fulton.

3. Cobb taxes are substantially lower than Fulton's.

4. Smyrna city limits "basically" starts west of 285 (although I guess the mall properties on Cobb Pkwy and east of 285 have been officially annexed). Therefore, "true Vinings" is unincorporated Cobb, not city of Smyrna.

5."True Vinings "owns" zip code 30339. No Smyrna annexed areas carry 30339.

6. Bonus question.....Vinings Estates shows on the ADC maps as within Smyrna, VE kids go to Smyrna schools, but the Mableton post office delivers the mail to the newer sections of VE. Therefore, depending on what part of VE one lives in, your zip could be either 30126 or 30082.

Thanks for the help.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by wxjay

You can mail a letter with "Vinings, GA" and if the zip code is correct, it will make it to the house. Plus, almost all of TRUE Vinings has an Atlanta address, not Smyrna. The exception are properties on Log Cabin Rd (the farthest reach of the Vinings border) which have a Smyrna address.

Atlanta, GA 30339, isn't it? That's my address here at work, but we're in the Cumberland Mall area.