Quote:
Originally Posted by Wheelingman04
Also, how is the crime rate overall in the city and metro area?
Thanks.
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I think i can help. First, Atlanta HAD the worst murder rate in the 60/70s for a while, & ONE OF the worst crime rates still today.
However, it truly depends on what AREA you're looking at. ATL is split (sort of) by the NORTHERN parts (Midtown, Buckhead, Atlantic Station, Vinings, Sandy Springs, Doraville, etc.) and the SOUTHERN parts (East Point, Downtown, College Park, Hapeville, etc.)
The NORTHERN Parts are nicer, safer, more developed, and the SOUTHERN parts are, how should i say, NOT.
Despite what tourists usually think, the BEST things to do & places to see are NOT downtown - the touristy things like GA Aquarium, Coca Cola, CNN, GA Dome, etc. are great but the real "Atlanta" is in other parts.
Tip - dont go to the southern parts of downtown/MLK neighborhood at night, period. I tried that a few times, once had 3 guys try to overtake my car on Auburn Avenue (MLK's orig. home). Dealers, homeless, crack & heroin addicts, "gangs" and fewer police than you can imagine. It SUCKS there. And if you go West of DT too far you get into even worse neighborhoods, one where i was afraid of driving in the DAY, and never went back. South of there is East Point & College park - they SUCK, period. Last week, a drive by shooting INTO a KFC where i used to work. Sucks.
However, MIDTOWN has only gotten more developed, more upscale, more urban, more hip, with cooler architecture - all in the last 10 or 15 years - TONS safer than then. GA Tech campus (superb), BEAUTIFUL Ansley Park wiht upscale homes, eclectic modern restaurants & clubs - just stay around Peachtree Street & you'd be fine at night.
ATLANTIC STATION is booming, only 3 years old & already has like 12 restaurants (fast food to diners to upscale to modern, all there), sweet architecture with 5 skyscrapers, its own Paris style arch, AWESOME upscale apartments/condos with super cool modern blue, green, orange & red accents on the exteriors. A Target & ATLs only Ikea store. LOVE it there!
Head north on Peachtree you'll be in BEAUTIFUL, beyond upscale, & sophisticated, modern, ritzy, classy & tastefull BUCKHEAD, the Bevery Hills/Upper East Side of the Southeast. $300,000 - 20 MILLION dollar homes, condos, and mansions with some of the larges (on average) yards in the world are scattered over 40 square miles of this area. Peachtree Street is the main focal street of the area, much like Wilshire is to Beverly Hills & Fifth Avenue is to the UES. Over 200 restaurants in the area, the BEST & most upscale in the southeast are here. TWO of the most upscale malls in the South are here, adjacent to eachother in fact: Lenox Mall (new money) & Phipps Plaza (old money). A new developement called Streets of Buckhead is opening next year as the "Rodeo Drive" of the Southeast, & is gonna have nearly 80 restaurants & very upscale retailers. making Buckhead the supreme shopping destination in the city. It also has the best overall hotels, including Mansion on Peachtree ($400/night+), W Buckhead, & the new St. Regis. Toping it off is wonderfully sophisticated architecture that shames even some of the newer developments in cities like LA, Chicago, Miami & New York. This helps to make the new Buckhead skyline the best of the best of all "US subcities". Basically Buckhead is where it's at if you've got money. Oh, and your chances of getting mugged or shot in downtown BH, are about as great as - well it's not gonna happen.
Finally, just north, north west of Buckhead is VININGS & SANDY SPRINGS (not technically part of ATL but wouldnt be anything without us so it's still ATL). These are ALSO pretty upscale, more suburban luxury areas of the city. Lots of highrises, lush townhome developments, beautiful homes & 2 awesome malls, Cumberland Mall & Perimiter Mall.
Oh, yea thanks to the "moneys" heading north from ATL, "metro" ATL has expanded as far north (directly) as ALPHARETTA. Never spent a lot of time there, but if you want true suburbia combined with "white picket fence Mr. Rogers meets 90210 money" - Alpharetta is IT. Farmland was here 10 years ago, but now it's morphed into a wonderful suburbia with thousands of NEW & BEAUTIFUL homes & mcmansions could make even old money Mansion owners of ATL jelous. True place to raise a family, expecially if you want to be FAR from crime!
Point is, in my opinion, Atlanta's BEST places to live/be are around MIDTOWN, ATLANTIC STATION, BUCKHEAD, VININGS, SANDY SPRINGS, & Alpharetta, in those general areas. The money's there, the history's usually there, the LIFE is there. Oh, and look on the picture forums for "buckhead" photos, if you haven't seen it's skyline & architecture yet, it's a can't miss!
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