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What are some of the safest (for family and kids) communities inside 285


sanka

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Just wondering if this is information easily obtainable somewhere... :)

Sanka, you can look at the Atlanta Police Department website for detailed crime statistics and information.

From a "boots on the ground" standpoint, I can tell you that I've grown up and raised kids in the city limits, and have grandchildren growing up here now. In my opinion, many intown neighborhoods are absolutely as safe or safer than their suburban counterparts. Ansley, Cascade, Morningside, Underwood Hills, Emory, all the Buckhead neighborhoods from Brookwood to Brookhaven, Decatur, Whittier Mill, Virginia-Highland (and many other areas) are thriving family communities, where the schools are superb and the parks, museums, rec centers and backyards are filled with kids.

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Sanka, you can look at the Atlanta Police Department website for detailed crime statistics and information.

From a "boots on the ground" standpoint, I can tell you that I've grown up and raised kids in the city limits, and have grandchildren growing up here now. In my opinion, many intown neighborhoods are absolutely as safe or safer than their suburban counterparts. Ansley, Cascade, Morningside, Underwood Hills, Emory, all the Buckhead neighborhoods from Brookwood to Brookhaven, Decatur, Whittier Mill, Virginia-Highland (and many other areas) are thriving family communities, where the schools are superb and the parks, museums, rec centers and backyards are filled with kids.

I certainly agree with that... intown is more communal with lots of neighborhoods and neighbors that are politically active... and it certainly helps if you are to the left of the political spectrum--- the more liberal attitudes in-town are one reason that folks move here (myself included)... So if you enjoy diversity and are accepting of all walks of life, and lifestyles... come on--- if not, think twice... Cobb may be the place for you--though that's also changing...

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I find this question a little cuious. It implies that single or childless couples place a lower importance on safety...either that or the person asking the question isn't actually concerned about safety as much as they are concerned about shielding their children from the realities of our society (homelessness, poverty, prostitution). I don't want to issue a blanket indictment of Sanka without knowing his/her true motivations of asking this question, but this is one of the issues I have with Suburbia, parents are so concerned about providing a wholesome and hemongenous lifestyle that children grow up to be ignorant about some of the real problems facing society. Just because parents are able to move their kids to the plastic bubble of suburbia, doesn't mean that all of the social problems inherant in the city just go away.

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I find this question a little cuious. It implies that single or childless couples place a lower importance on safety...either that or the person asking the question isn't actually concerned about safety as much as they are concerned about shielding their children from the realities of our society (homelessness, poverty, prostitution). I don't want to issue a blanket indictment of Sanka without knowing his/her true motivations of asking this question, but this is one of the issues I have with Suburbia, parents are so concerned about providing a wholesome and hemongenous lifestyle that children grow up to be ignorant about some of the real problems facing society. Just because parents are able to move their kids to the plastic bubble of suburbia, doesn't mean that all of the social problems inherant in the city just go away.

Many of those parents were raised in the suburbs themselves so their views of society as a whole are likely to be as limited as those of the children they are raising. Just speak to the average (I realize much of this will be a generalization which is why I say average instead of all) suburbanite about MARTA and you'll hear that it is a corrupt money pit that is sucking up all their tax dollars, even though most of them live in counties that don't pay anything into MARTA and are totally unaware that MARTA is actually has the most cost effective heavy rail system in the country. Or ask them about the airport and you'll once again hear about terrible corruption and waste of "their money" even though a study released just a few weeks ago places Hartsfield-Jackson as the most effiecent large airport in the country.

So much of suburbia is built on perception that has been reinforced in their brains over and over again by being exposed to only what's in their general area. While those perception often had their start in reality (the city in the 70s and 80s was indeed a dangerous place), they become so rooted in the suburban collective mindset that they don't get updated when things change.

I had an argument at a suburban cookout a few years ago with some guy who didn't realize that I live in the city (afterall, I'm not poor or a thug so there is no way I'd choose to live in the city) and tried to convince me that a flasher exposed himself to his wife and children the previous week when they drove through the Techwood housing project. What he didn't realize is that Techwood had been torn down almost a decade ago. Even though I told him I live in that area he refused to budge on his story about what happened and he was 100% sure it was the infamous Techwood projects next to Georgia Tech (no surprise he threw that in, being a UGA fan) and not some other housing project. Most likely it was a story he heard from someone else who also heard it from someone else, etc and he took it as his own and had told it so many times that he couldn't handle needing to change the story when confronted with someone who saw holes in it.

Part of the culture in many social circles out there is the cult of Atlanta bashing. The more bad things you say about Atlanta, the cooler and more accepted you are. It's almost as much of a conversation filler as "um" or "like". Which isn't to say that there aren't similar social circles in the city that do the exact same thing with the suburbs but at least many of those people grew up in suburbia so they at least know what they are talking about.

The problem for them is that reality doesn't care about perception. Many refuse to believe that their neighborhoods are declining or that the city is rebounding. As I posted on a seperate thread, the top ranked high school in Georgia is part of the City of Atlanta school system. How many people in the 'burbs would believe that to be true? Their school in the suburbs "just must be superior" to every school in town, despite the fact that all school systems have good and bad schools. It borders on being a religious belief sometimes. The same goes for crime. Atlanta's crime rate is the lowest in over thirty years while it is climbing in the suburbs (and even nationwide the decline of recent decades has started to turn around into an increase) but for the average suburbanite, especially those who haven't gone into the city for decades for anything other than a Braves game and to get to the airport, the city is the place where there is a very good chance that you're going to get gunned down in the street while any crime in the suburbs is the result of criminals taking MARTA (even if it doesn't go to their county) out there to cause trouble. While I will agree that the overall crime rate averaged over all of suburbia is lower than that of the city, the difference certainly isn't what it is perceived to be in the suburban mindset.

As I mentioned earlier in my rant, this is all a generalization and doesn't apply to each and every person in suburbia. There are scores of folks out there who do understand what's going on and don't have their heads buried in the sand. I think Lady Celeste on here is a perfect example of this type of person. But sadly, most do not have the depth of knowledge and experience that she has, so she is the exception, not the rule.

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It would be interesting to know what would be the safest areas (for singles, gays, DINKS, and empty nesters) both ITP and OTP.

Actually, though I posted this as a joke, I know that for gays, there could be a appreciable safety difference between intown and some of the more conservative burbs.

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It would be interesting to know what would be the safest areas (for singles, gays, DINKS, and empty nesters) both ITP and OTP.

Actually, though I posted this as a joke, I know that for gays, there could be a appreciable safety difference between intown and some of the more conservative burbs.

Yeah, what Aubie said.

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Regarding gays OTP - I honestly don't think it's that much 'worse' anymore from what I can tell. I've known a handful (not many) that live as far out as Dacula & they report no real problem. Considering especially in the northern suburbs are relatively cosmopolitan regarding income & mobility - I seriously doubt gays are worried about New Yorker stock brokers or Virginia lawyers.

Regarding child safe communities ITP - my top pick would be Decatur followed by Morningside / Druid Hills / Virginia Highlands (north side) & most of Buckhead / Brookhaven as well as LaVista Rd corridor. In Decatur there is even a nearly cultish environment that parents have about children - from the bumper stickers to the large number of parents parading their offspring on the streets & in the parks.

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Regarding gays OTP - I honestly don't think it's that much 'worse' anymore from what I can tell. I've known a handful (not many) that live as far out as Dacula & they report no real problem.

I've talked to gay friends who live out in the burbs, and apparently the difference is kind of a subtle thing. While they're not likely to have bricks thrown through their window (although that did happen to one couple I know), there isn't the same sense of being welcome, of being part of the community or the feeling that it's okay to be open.

And you're right about Decatur. They ought to have a sign at the city limits that says "Kids come first."

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I've talked to gay friends who live out in the burbs, and apparently the difference is kind of a subtle thing. While they're not likely to have bricks thrown through their window (although that did happen to one couple I know), there isn't the same sense of being welcome, of being part of the community or the feeling that it's okay to be open.

And you're right about Decatur. They ought to have a sign at the city limits that says "Kids come first."

True - subtlety is the name of the game in the south, regarding everything socially, such as racism. Though on one hand gay couples won't likely be met with mutual respect, as my mother is testemant - some gays are coddled in the suburbs like they are a pet. My mother used to go on & on about her 'gay friend' & how much she adores him.

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  • 1 month later...

Wow...I think some people were reading into this a little too much...kinda just a simple question.

Not thinking about safety would be like arguing against wearing seatbelts. Do you not strap you kids in so they can see the real danger of not wearing one?

I really don

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sanka - Not sure what area you work in, but for DeKalb the entire area fanning out north from Decatur along the Briarcliff & LaVasita corridors to out around Northlake/Tucker are great. Also, the area from above Buckhead out to Dunwoody - encompassing parts of Chamblee, are also very nice. Overall good schools, nice amenities, access to transit, etc. can be found. It's gettng pricey, but there are still some affordable pockets if you really search.

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  • 2 months later...

Wow...I think some people were reading into this a little too much...kinda just a simple question.

Not thinking about safety would be like arguing against wearing seatbelts. Do you not strap you kids in so they can see the real danger of not wearing one?

I really don

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Wow...I think some people were reading into this a little too much...kinda just a simple question.

Not thinking about safety would be like arguing against wearing seatbelts. Do you not strap you kids in so they can see the real danger of not wearing one?

I really don

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