Tell me about the East side of Atlanta Metro area

[KoalaMommy]

DH is seriously looking at a job in the Atlanta area, near the Emory University area.  I am kind of excited about it because Atlanta has almost everything I want in a city: public transit, Trader Joe's and Nordstrom!  I'm planning to visit this weekend to check out the area a little bit.  I'm not very familiar with this part of the city.  I know from a friend of mine that I'll be able to find doctors in Decatur who will tolerate me, but I need other area info.

We'd ideally want a 4 bedroom house for under 200k, which seems totally possible, but what are the neighborhoods like?  What are the schools like?  We'd like to avoid a long commute and think we could go as far east as Stone Mountain, as far north as Briarlake Dr. in North Druid Hills (seems likely out of our price range) as far west as the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood in Atlanta and as far south Flat Shoals Rd in Gresham Park.  I know absolutely nothing about these areas!  Where would you live if it were you?  What elementary schools are good?  Our girls currently attend a magnet school for honors students, is there anything like that there and how hard is it to get in?  The Old Fourth Ward looks interesting, is it an ok neighborhood?  Are there any up and coming neighborhoods where we might be able to get a cool older house and fix it up (we love doing that!)?  If you live on this side of the city, where do you take your kids for their activities (dance, gymnastics, music lessons etc.)?  We would consider renting, and actually may need to rent for a while anyways while we tried to sell our house, are there some neighborhoods we should look for a rental in where we might not be able to afford to buy?

Please share your wisdom, mamas!

TIA

[pigpokey]

PM'd you.

[southernfriedkarma]

Awesome!  We live in the Decatur area and are very familiar with the whole area.  I even lived in the Old Fourth Ward for a while.  What sort of neighborhood are you looking for?  One with restaurants/shops to walk to or one that's a little quieter?  City of Decatur schools are all pretty good, but houses in that area go for more than $200K (which is why we live just outside the city).  Some Dekalb County schools are also good.  I really recommend Laurel Ridge Elementary which is very close to the city center of Decatur and in a fantastic neighborhood that should be in your price range.  It's probably ten minutes or less to Emory.  There are also magnet schools and charter schools in Dekalb, but I don't know the process for getting into them.  

The Old Fourth Ward is a mostly a hipster neighborhood and is being revitalized with cool shops and restaurants, but the schools aren't great.  East Atlanta (Flat Shoals/Gresham Park area) has a great charter school; some areas in East Atlanta are safe while others are a bit questionable.  The schools in the Briarlake area are also very good, but the houses are a bit more expensive, and it's farther from some of the more fun amenities.  The traffic there is also pretty bad.  

Good luck with the job and house hunt!  Let me know if I can help with answering any questions.  

[AveryATL]

I live in Grant Park, which is adjacent to the Old Fourth Ward area. I have not started doing the school search  just yet (I am pregnant with my first), but there are some charter school options around in the more revitalized neighborhoods. The more revitalized the neighborhood already is, the more expensive the houses will be (obviously!). The closer in to the city centers, the more expensive the houses will be. Druid Hills, from what I know, is pretty expensive, and I think you may have a hard time finding a house within your price range. Some areas of the Old Fourth Ward are nice, and some are still fairly sketchy. There are lots of houses around in this area that are fixer-uppers, which may work for you. The already renovated ones in the better established areas (Grant Park, Candler Park, Edgewood, Druid Hills..etc) will be much more expensive.  As you get outside the perimeter (I-285), the house prices start dropping off as well. The schools in the Atlanta Public School system can be a bit hit or miss, so definitely check into what zone your house is in if public is your only option. The charter schools can be great, but can also be hard to get into, and often have a lottery system for enrollment. Hope this helps!

[mami2f3]

Agree with all above. I live in Candler Park. We have stellar schools, very family friendly neighborhood, can walk to food/shopping/transportation, etc. I think renting is a great way to go because one of the cool things about Atlanta is that every neighborhood has a very distinct personality. I think it's good to spend some time here before committing to buying.

[folkgirl]

I also live in the Laurel Ridge school district. We really like this area. Of all the areas you named, I think it's the best combination of location/affordable homes/decent schools, but I may be a bit biased. :) 4 bedrooms may still be a (slight) challenge in the $200,000 range, but it is still do-able. I recommend renting for a year or so to anyone who moves to Atlanta. We have lived here over 9 years, and it still took us a while to find the area that was best for us. In this housing market I would be hesitant to invest in purchasing a home unless I felt pretty sure I would be there for a long time.