Regional Talk > Atlanta > Jobtransfer to Atl - where to live

Jobtransfer to Atl - where to live

Basically, downtown atlanta is what you wanna avoid.

Most metro atlanta areas are okay, but AVOID clayton county. They just had their accreditation taken, and houses are gonna be worthless soon.

Dekalb county is kinda meh. Pretty big crime rate in dekalb.

»www.peachpundit.com/2008/06/24/c···-county/

I also personally don't like cobb. But cobb has good policemen, low crime rate, it's just my opinion.

Basically, atlanta's great and all, but the closer you live to it, the more it sucks.

reply to seederjed
The Atlanta metropolitan area is huge. You first need to narrow your search down to a particular section of the area so your commute time is not too long, otherwise you could be looking at a very long drive to work. Where will your job be located?
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The foundations of character are built not by lecture, but by bricks of good example, laid day by day.

The job entails the Atlanta region. I am responsible for maintaining a number of buildings scattered around the Atlanta area, so location is not terribly important.

Thanks for the replies.

reply to seederjed
I do a similar job as I maintain houses for an investor out of Jacksonville. I live in Smyrna which is in on the northwest corner of I-285 between I-75 and I-20. It's been a great spot for getting around the metro area to various properties. Especially good for dealing with I-75. I'm usually going north when everyone is coming south in the mornings. Same in the afternoons. I'm flying in when everyone else is parked on the northbound side.

I've also found it easier to get to the south side of Atlanta from Smyrna than trying to come down from Gwinnett or Norcross area. Driving on that side of town just plain sucks to me....

reply to seederjed
Do you like more rural or city life? How much do you want to spend on a house? If you are looking in the 50K range it will either be VERY far out or won't be in a very good area. Where are you seeing houses that low?
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The foundations of character are built not by lecture, but by bricks of good example, laid day by day.

reply to seederjed
I would rent first, even short term and then decide to buy. That way you get to know Atlanta before rushing out and buying. It is a buyer's market and will be for a while.

I think anything that is under 50K is either in SW, or SE Atlanta or areas in Clayton county. Most of these areas have high crime, so it is best to avoid them unless you are a pioneering type. Houses that cheap can be in good shape, typically the problem is high crime rates.

reply to seederjed
I live in and LOVE Newton County.

Covington or Newborn....Close enough to comute, far enough away to catch your breath.

And some of the best public schools in the state.
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Protect your right to keep and arm bears!

I moved 1000 miles and am currently renting in Norcross. Which wasn't the wisest decision ;( When I'm ready to buy it'll likely be in Cobb county, near or around Smyrna.

A house in the 50k range is either going to be in a bad neighborhood, or nearly destroyed... probably both.

reply to Metatron2008
At the risk of being overly defensive about a county that does have crazy politics and more than it's fair share of crime to go around, please remember that the peachpundit article is a blog, so you may run into some incendiary language and rhetoric there (no big surprise.) Just like Mark Twain said, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. That having been said, there are areas I would avoid in Dekalb County. I used to live South of Decatur for a while and will no longer do so because I do not feel safe there. Currently, I live in north central Dekalb and feel reasonably safe here (though not as safe as 20 years ago). But then, there are no $50,000 houses in my neighborhood either. I love living ITP (inside the perimeter) and save for a few failed escape attempts, I always have. If 50K were my range, I wouldn't waste my time looking ITP, but would look at Rockdale/Newton county like DeltaElite suggested. Even there, your choices will be a bit limited at 50K, like you said a damaged foreclosure could work. You might be able to do a trailer manufactured home out there for that amount.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/xpkranger/

reply to seederjed
Easy answer: Get an apartment for the first year or two and get to know Atlanta before investing in a home. I did that 5 years ago when I first moved to Atlanta.
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Satan is always busy. He makes bad things look good and good things look bad! Watch that Devil.

reply to seederjed
Thank you all for the replies. As it turns out, there is a realtor the company uses for all the relo's. She should have a pretty good idea of where to look in relation to the areas i will be covering.

Granted, a 50k home may be beat up, etc, but I have almost 20 yrs as a residential remodeler, so damage is not a huge concern for me.

I have found quite a few in the 80-100k range that look really nice, but until I speak to the realtor, the viability of their location is in the air.

Here is the site I've been poking around on, but the search is a little funny as it won't return results at times, even though there are houses in that range:

»www.homeatlanta.com/atlanta_mls.htm