I have a feeling this has been asked before in other places on the Internet, but I figured I’d try to get a recent view of this. I’m graduating in a few months and Atlanta is one of the top places on my “metro areas I’m considering moving to” list–it’s a big area for my field, etc. No hardcore plans yet, just trying to get a feeling for it.
So, as a young adult woman, does anyone know of fairly safe neighborhoods (ideally, apartment complexes) to look into living within?
Depends on your definitions of “Atlanta”. If you mean the city proper, that’s a different answer than if you mean the metro area. Also depends on whether you want to live “in the city” or if the suburbs are fine.
Generally, the farther north you get the safer you’ll be. If you still want to be close enough to drive in, North Druid Hills can have some reasonable apartments and is generally safe. If you don’t mind going up to Alpharetta and Johns Creek, even better.
If you actually want to live in the city though, don’t go any further south than Midtown, and even then you’ll always have some level of crime. I lived in the Post Biltmore for two years, and there were a few car thefts from our parking deck each year, but I felt as safe as I ever did in the city (if you do decide to live there, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES live facing the south. Because that means you’ll live facing a nightclub, which means you’ll hear the drunk that get discharged at 3 in the morning on Friday and Saturday, so no sleep for you).
Here ya go, a fairly standard apartment in Brookhaven. Safe, walking distance to a few good restaurants, miles of tree-covered residential streets for running/jogging, walking distance to a train station (by which the main shopping and commercial districts are less than a 15 minute ride). It’s kind of ho-hum residential, but not far from some interesting things.
See if that matches your budget, and as necessary, re-adjust your knobs for safety, affordability, and proximity to the shopping/commercial districts (mainly talking about Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead).
I will tell you that outside of the I-285 perimeter, it tends to be a cultural strip-mall wasteland in a perpetual soul-crushing snarl of traffic. I have lived both inside and outside the perimeter, and it’s worth every penny to be inside. If you must live outside the perimeter, strive to arrange your housing and office areas to be close to a train station (not an easy task, because there is only thin rail coverage of residential areas).
Oooh, good to know, definitely, HMS. yellowjacketcoder, do you happen to work in tech? And it’s good to hear specifics on neighborhoods. I wonder if there’s a website devoted to mapping out neighborhoods in big metro areas based on ratings like safety, ease of public transportation use, traffic, etc.
I do work in software. A lot of software is on the north side, OTP.
The AJC police blotter used to map all the crime in the readership area, so you could use that to parse out what areas are safer or not.
Incidentally, I used to live ITP, and now I live OTP, so I pretty much wholly disagree with HMS Irruncible. ITP is nice when you’re in college and partying all the time, but once you settle down with a family it’s MUCH nicer OTP.
Virginia Highlands hands down the best neighborhood in the city. Quite with lots of shopping and nightlife in easy walking distance. Small apartment buildings mixed with single family houses on tree lined streets. Sidewalks which can sometimes be hard to find in this town. Affordable I pay $600 mo. for a single bedroom.
You should also check out Decatur and other areas near Emory. There are lots of apartment complexes full of graduate students and young professionals. Great restaurants and neat shops. It’s definitely one of the hip locations for young professionals, and it’s safer than Midtown.
I’ll also second the recommendation to try to stay ITP, if that’s where you will be working. OTP sounds great price-wise and safety-wise, but you will spend a huge amount of time in traffic, both during your commute and getting around on the weekends.
I’m a single woman and I live alone in the Oakhurst area of Decatur - I rent through this company, and they’re one of the best property management companies I’ve ever dealt with. I’m an easy (1 mile) walk to MARTA and I work downtown.
I’ve lived in a Post property before, and they’re very nice, very apartment bland, to be sure, but if you’re looking for a big complex, you’ll generally get good service and maintenance from them.
I’m assuming from your OP that you’re fairly young, say early 20s. That being the case, I would suggest looking in the Virginia Highlands, Midtown or (maybe?) Buckhead areas, and do your best to avoid the mistake I made the first time I lived here. I was in my mid to late twenties, and lived in Sandy Springs, which is at the perimeter surburbia. For someone who didn’t know anyone in town when I moved it was awful - yes, it was safe, but it was also boring if you weren’t a shopper.
If safety is a primary concern, I wouldn’t recommend Midtown, and I say that as someone whose parents live in Midtown. The Midtown/Atlantic Station/Home Park/Georgia Tech area is having a lot of issues with robberies and muggings. Once you are comfortable in the city, Midtown is fine. But, for a young woman moving to a new city who seems a bit skittish about it, I don’t think she would feel safe in Midtown.
I’ll second the Decatur recommendation. I’m a guy, but a guy whose wife has recently moved into an apartment as we go through a time out in our marriage. My wife is a little older than you seem, but this is her first time living on her own since she was 20. She found an apartment in a historic building within walking distance of downtown Decatur. She feels very safe, and I have to admit, I love the neighborhood. I feel good about her being there.
As for Midtown, there is really Midtown on the east side of the Interstate, and then Midtown on the west side. My office is on Peachtree St near the High Museum, and that part of Midtown I would consider very safe. East side of the interstate is nice.
Also note, that there’s a difference between “Decatur” and the city of Decatur. I suspect that all of us in this thread who have referred to Decatur mean the city of, but there’s a decent sized swath on the east side of the city that’s “Decatur”, which surrounds the city of Decatur. “Decatur” has some definite rough parts, and is served by Dekalb Co. police/fire/etc, while the city of Decatur has it’s own police/fire/schools/etc.
DeKalb County Police: shoot first and murder the new Sheriff if he even says boo.
I thought this thread was going to be about Panic Rooms.