Life and appliance collecting in the Atlanta, GA region

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funktionalart

funktionalart

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Hey all,
Just wanted to get some feedback from any of you in the state of Georgia (specifically the surrounding Atlanta area i.e.; Decatur, Kennesaw, Conyers /Lake Capri, Stone Mountain) regarding life there and what the best appliance addiction haunts are!
There is a 60% chance we will be making a move there within the year (and that chance goes up with every approaching Phoenix summer day…!). We are in our 50s…so nightlife and clubbing are not a priority--personally I am fine being 30-45 minutes away from city/culture/life. Don't care to be smack in the centre of a big city ever again. I just want to be around trees, greenery, water and parked on enough property that I don't have to deal with neighbors directly on top of our place. My plan is to NOT leave any of my vintage collection behind. The "you can't take it with you" adage only applies to the dead--I'm bringing my appliance lot along for the move…but curious if the vintage inventory is as plentiful out there as it is in Phoenix? I'm gonna want to buy more when I get there--ideally the new place will have a full basement for me to keep stuff.
People keep telling me to consider a more gay-friendly region of the country instead….dunno. Phoenix isn't, really--and we've been here 12 years hassle-free So….??
Anyway, I put a link below to a Google street view map of an area which is super appealing to me visually. Of course, you never know what is actually there until you visit in person. This is in Decatur--specifically Moonlight Court--I think the whole surrounding area seems pretty "up my alley"….so we'll see! Do you guys have horrendous utility bills out there? Curious.
Input/thoughts most appreciated!

 
Move To Georgia ?

You should also consider, Maryland, Pennsylvania, W Va or even Virginia if you are trying to get away from super hot summers. All of these states have affordable homes with basements and good sized lots and if you like a great change of seasons and lots of trees there no other place like the Chesapeake Bay region. 

 

I have traveled all over this country but would never live anywhere else than Maryland. Maryland is in the top three states nationally in terms of progressive politics and as a Gay friendly place to live overall.

 

Yes there are lots of cool appliances and other cool mid-century stuff up and down the eastern seaboard and slightly west toward Cleveland Ohio.

 

Contact me if you want any more information or ideas where to look for affordable homes.
 
Art,

Atlanta has a rather large gay community. It's a big city, but many live in the suburbs.
Atlanta prices are high, but you do get more for the money the farther out you go.
Decatur, Alpharetta, Lawrenceville, Roswell all have nice areas.
As for tolerance, it's better in most places these days.
Phoenix has many hipsanic catholics, and the south has many conservative Baptists, etc. Guess what, some of them, or their relatives are gay as well.
Some even work at the CDC in Atlanta.
 
Allen

we have a place just at the edge of the city limit and county line of Fulton & DeKalb county. Not far from Decatur.

*Utility bill (all electric) is not onerous. I think it averages out to .11 or .12 per kwh. Summer is quite warm & humid; so a/c is a must. Spring, fall & winter are quite nice so heating is not a constant.

*As far as gay friendly, we've not experienced any bad attitudes or had any unfavorable experiences. Lots of people from everywhere imaginable. BTW, there is health care that is geared toward the community and is easy to find.

*Home prices are going up. Older areas (neighborhoods with large lots) many homes are being torn down and new McMansions going up. Still there are lots of pleasant areas with reasonably priced & well cared for homes. Real estate taxes are not too bad either. Home prices generally are lower outside of the I-285 perimeter

*If you are going to work outside the home, you'll want to take commuting time into account. Traffic can be painful.

*Regarding vintage appliances, they are around, but you'll have to invest time digging.

*Kroger is well represented, so if a familiar place for groceries is important--you are covered.

*Atlanta is quite convenient for car travel to other interesting nearby states/regions. Gulf coast, mid west, eastern seaboard, mid-atlantic, Florida etc.

Hope this helps---L.P.
 
I-285 is called the Perimeter, and there’s a bit of a cultural difference between ITP and OTP (inside vs outside the Perimeter), especially in terms of restaurants, bars, and other urban amenities. OTP is all chain restaurants and dreary strip malls, endless traffic and not much to do.  ITP is more like a real city, though not quite, since ‘Atlanta’ is a slogan, not a city; but there are unique restaurants and stores, parks, pedestrian and bike trails, all that stuff.

 

But, if OTP is your thing, the northern suburbs along I-75 and I-85 are traditionally more affluent; the southern suburbs along the same interstates, not so much, with the added disadvantage of being near the airport, which can be noisy.  OTP along I-20 to the east and west is not something I’m familiar with, but those areas are definitely less populous. 

 

If you really want to go out, you could look at some of the old towns like Conyers or Covington to the east, Lawrenceville up I-85, even Kennesaw or Acworth up I-75.  Those places can feel kind of rural, which is good and bad.  Being gay out there might be odd, but I’ve known gay people who have lived in all of those places.  We even looked at a house way down in Newnan a few years ago, and the neighbors were a gay couple who loved it there. 

 

Commuting for more than a few blocks is a nightmare anywhere in Atlanta.  We chose our neighborhood almost entirely based on its location.  We live intown, 6 miles from my office.  The commute takes about 20 minutes, which isn’t too bad. 

 

The biggest obstacle to intown living is the price.  Anything worth having ITP is going to cost you, and then you’ll have ridiculous property taxes on top of that.  Decatur is sort of the best of all worlds in the minds of most people I know.  Home prices are a little lower, property taxes are definitely lower, there’s a great feel to the place, lots of good restaurants, and it’s easy to get to other parts of Atlanta.

 

But, if your choices are wide open, skip Atlanta altogether.  Everything is better up around DC, on both the Virginia and Maryland sides.  Maryland is a better state for a lot of reasons, but the part of Virginia up around DC is great.  I never would have chosen Atlanta if it weren’t for job and family considerations.  If I won the lottery, I would be out of Atlanta the next day.  I wouldn’t even bother to pack!
 
Alan

Atlanta is a nice place to live; not perfect and neither is any other place.  Property taxes are highest in Fulton County and definitely at the max inside the city limits of Atlanta.  Lots of affluence north of Atlanta, i.e., north Fulton County; also, lots of commuting nightmares from the same area.  On the surface Cobb County can look appealing but my advice is to avoid Cobb County in all its forms.  Cobb is a very conservative county and is not known for being gay-friendly.  The county was most-notorious for negative comments and behaviors during the 1996 Olympics.  Cobb just doesn't want gay people, that's their story and they're sticking to it.  DeKalb is a nice county but is going through a lot of transition with a lot of unincorporated areas incorporating in order to distance themselves from the county.  South and east DeKalb is less desirable than areas to the north.  Lots of growth in Gwinnett County, but has been noted above, lots of urban sprawl as well.  ITP is definitely more gay-friendly than OTP (and the rest of the state).  The climate is a nice balance of hot and cold, definitely 4 seasons, not so much snow - winter precipitation is more likely to be in the form of ice and sleet, which has been bad for the pine trees.  Utility rates are average.

 

The single biggest draw back to living there is the traffic.  And that varies on your living/work schedule and where you live vs. where you work.

 

Best of luck with your decision and keep up posted with developments!

 

lawrence
 
Thanks all!

So nice of you each to chime in on this--John: Maryland was a consideration for me personally--however Georgia is on the books as my other 1/2 will be doing a job transfer to the Norcross, GA office…so Maryland/PA/VA are out. We just decided to look at the outskirts of Atlanta (within 30 miles or so) because of the want of a reasonably private/semi-rural and quiet home life without the irritating aspects we have had for 15 years in the middle of Los Angeles and Phoenix. Tired of living in a fishbowl…gets claustrophobic after awhile!

Retirement is closer at hand than we want to admit, so if we do this move then commutes and traffic are pretty minor considerations--just a temporary problem! After years in LA, no traffic anywhere can compare--sometimes it would take me 3-4 hours just to get home on a 15 mile drive. INSANE :p

A drive around trip in GA is definitely in order as I've not been there since at least the very early 90s…things change. I've lived all over the world and can pretty much live anywhere happily provided I've at least 1/2 a clue as to what the vibe of a place is. But most definitely I've had it with 4-6 months of 110 degree/plus heat (yeah…without much of a temp drop during that whole time!). It is just oppressive to me--physically and mentally. Time for greenery, water and something resembling 4 seasons :D I know humidity in GA can be a killer…but it's something I'm prepared for.

So…loads of research in order still. I would very much like to know why it is that the real estate in Stone Mountain is so incredibly inexpensive. It must have a crime reputation or something--you can get a whole lotta place for not much $$ there it seems...
 
Don't think twice.

My guess is that the greater Atlanta region has got to be more gay-friendly and less fanatically conservative than Phoenix and the entire state of Arizona (OK, Tucson gets a pass, but just barely), and you will by all means become familiar with the color green again.

 

One thing I will never forget about the Phoenix area happened when our RV blew a radiator hose on the 17 as we passed through Glendale back in April of 1999 on our way to Sedona.  The repair shop was by a major intersection, and three of the four corners had large, tired strip malls.  The big anchor tenants at each one had long since vacated, and they had all been replaced by bible superstores.  Utility poles throughout this area were plastered with survivalist doomsday Y2K bills.

 

We couldn't get out of there fast enough. 
 
Re Atlanta

Its to hot in the summer, but I would be happy if the temp never got over 40 anyway..LOL, But I LOVE ATLANTA, That is one of our favorite weekend trips, If you go visit, Donot miss MaryMacs Tea Room on Ponce De Leon, the Collonade on Cheshire Bridge Road or Cowtippers, " Cant remember what street its on, We eat at all of them at least once, Great antique and junk stores and down town is beautiful.
 
If Norcross is your destination and you like semi-rural settings, then you might as well look at all the places north of there, along I-85 and even I-985.  Just north of Norcross there is a dreary stretch of abandoned malls, but after that, you are fairly well out of the city. 

 

I mentioned Lawrenceville, which has a cute little downtown.  There are still large farms out there, and we pick strawberries near there every year.  If you go up I-985 instead, you can check out neighborhoods around or near Lake Lanier and even north of that. The area north of Gainesville has some beautiful countryside.  We go to JAEMOR farms several times in late summer for peaches.  But we’re really far from the city by the time we get there.

 

But here’s where you have to take a deep draught of reality.  Ain’t no pansies up in them hills.  I’ve been up there time and again, and people are polite, and all that.  But I have absolutely no idea what it would be like to live there.

 

Also, you really need to be realistic about the commute if you go way out there.

 

Still, I would recommend against the south side, Decatur, or Conyers if you are going to have obligations in Norcross for any length of time.
 
I agree with John's comments, above.  The farther you get from Atlanta, the deeper in Georgia you get.  Pretty land, nice people, different culture.

 

If Norcross is your work destination, you could also consider a residence in either Dunwoody or Chamblee, both in Northeast Atlanta.  A commute to and from Norcross would be somewhat against the traffic.

 

lawrence
 
Just saying....I lived in Atlanta for over 20 years and I am upset that I wasted 20 years of my life dealing with all the traffic, crime, etc.
When I lost my job I left in exactly 1 month from my last day of work! I have no plans to ever go back or even visit...
As far as being gay in Atlanta ....not a fan of the gay community in Atlanta in general....

I had a young lady put her fists through my windshield due the fact she " thought " I had blown my horn at her in rush hour traffic! Which was not the case at all! She lied to the Dekalb police about what happened and covered up her cuts with her sleeves! The police detained me for 4 hours at my car!

Need I say more? Be cautious and I wish you the best in the future...

Doug
 
Allen-

 

 

 

All I can say is, I'm excited for you and hubby.  

 

And from my long distance shopping, I've found that there are "appliance opportunities" in that region.  
 
Go NW

Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Woodstock are all great little towns. Traffic is much less onerous on the NY I-75 corridor than I-85. Everything you need will be local, so you really won't get caught up too badly in rush hour. And when you want to go to "the city" it can be a real treat. I love it hear, hot, sticky summers and all... But anyplace with (almost) no snow and low taxes is fine with me!
 
I can tell you exactly why property around Stone Mountain is so cheap. It's because the formerly white neighborhoods of the 1950s and 60s have gone minority. They are not peaceful nor are they safe. Loud music playing outside and dogs tied up in yards barking all day and night are standard operating procedure. DeKalb County used to have the best schools in the state in the 50s and 60s. Dunaire Elementary School where my sister went in the late 60s and early 70s is where an 11 year old boy was driven to suicide in April, 2009 by harassment from fellow students because some perceived him as being gay. The staff did nothing to help when his mother repeatedly went to them. The Memorial Drive corridor might as well be called Heartbreak Ridge. Nothing of value or beauty from my childhood remains with the exception of the enclave of Avondale Estates which is insanely expensive for where it is except for its proximity to the MARTA station. The city closed access to the city from Memorial Drive to cut down on crime. One of the things the MARTA system did best was distribute crime to formerly safe neighborhoods. In the late 70s, friends in Avondale were working in their back yard and came in to find the house burglarized. When you Google an address, you can find reports about how many criminal offenders are living on the block and how many per house. If you had a hand in making a home and yard there beautiful, it is heartbreaking.

Wherever you move, have a security system installed when you move in. Use it and keep it in "alarmed--stay" mode when you are in the house.
 
Yes, there are, but they are not on the Memorial Drive strip and it is more of a class thing than a racial thing. The homes around Stone Mountain really had problems with foreclosures. People who bought from the original owners often could barely afford them then had tragedies happen like job loss or something and they lost them. The houses of the second or third owners were not maintained well. Most of the homes were built in the 50s and 60s out that way so it was older housing stock that needed major reworking like roofing and furnaces; not a problem for the original owners with higher incomes, but problems for new owners who could barely afford the mortgage. After the oil shock of the early 70s, a lot of rental properties were built in the area and the homes that were built after that terrible economic shock were not as nice. It is interesting the changes in rental properties that happen when the class of the area changes. I lived in a very adequate, middle class, but certainly not fancy apartment my last half year or so in Atlanta. My other neighbors in the 4 unit building were young married grad student couples. It was a one bedroom and I had connections for my washer and dryer. It was not that far from my parents' house. I noticed years ago when I went home, that the rear access which was near my building was closed to cut down on crime by people slipping in and out. Crime was not a consideration in the mid 70s when I lived there. Retail suffered, too. Shopping centers lost original stores and the businesses that replaced them were not the same. None of the major retailers at the time ever built stores out that way, but we were not far from them if we drove a bit and in the late 60s and early 70s we did a lot of driving with cheap gas. The Chinese restaurants were replaced by Korean Barbecue places and then even they closed. When the biggest thing in a shopping center is a thrift store, it is not a good sign nor a sign that property values are high. There became little you saw, as you drove down the road, to make you want to consider living there compared to other parts of the Atlanta area. The police reports scared people away also. DeKalb County built a huge, very tall and very ugly jail almost right on the curb at the I-285 and Memorial Drive intersection so that was another lovely addition to the area. It is just a sad decline and it is going to take a lot of improvement in the economy to bring any hope of improvement to the area. It is a very sad situation. I think that the hit the economy took with the oil shock hit the area very hard and sort of stopped upward growth, but it is a complex pathology analysis.
 

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