The Demise of Hidden Hills

[Andrea]

Gee, I remember when Hidden Hills was considered a very elite golf course community.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dek...iddenhills.html

Hidden Hills once was rated one of the top 50 country clubs in Georgia. Built in the 1970s as a planned urban development, it boasted first-rate swim and tennis amenities, a full-service banquet facility that could accommodate 250 people, and the Fairway Bar and Grille. But the premier attraction was the golf course, which hosted the U.S. Open sectional qualifying in 1980.

Now, the course could disappear.

"This has happened quite a number of times in recent years around metro Atlanta, mostly to older courses," said Mike Waldron, executive director of the Georgia State Golf Association.

Longtime homeowner Nancy Samuel has had a view of the golf course for more than a decade.

"This was the most beautiful place in the world when I moved here [in 1993]," she said.

Samuel admits that the Hidden Hills community has had its problems in recent years, but she said, "When [Reed] walked away with no maintenance for those many months, it caused a serious decline in the neighborhood."

Home sales have been slow, and prices are depressed, she said. Samuel and her husband had their four-bedroom, 2.5-bath house on the market for 11 months. They recently accepted an offer of $173,500, below the $200,000 appraised value.

[Pillsbury]

That's unfortunate that such a great golf course closed. Though not familiar with it, the same thing almost happened to East Lake, home course of Bobby Jones. When the Athletic Club moved to the suburbs it left East Lake in the middle of a neighborhood that at the time had gone downhill. If I understand correctly, that course almost closed. With all of the major tournaments it has hosted recently and with its rich history, it's hard to imagine golf in Atlanta without East Lake. I think a lot of golf course communities are going through problems, especially the older ones that are having to compete with new golf courses in newer upscale communities. Though I can't think of any others that have closed, I can think of quite a few that have had to downscale their other activities, like closing pools and restaurants.

[LizellaJacket]

Well this is going to be very politically incorrect, but it rings true here. The demographics simply changed. Lower income people began to move into the area. Theres a nice discussion of this very topic on the Georgia Tech message board and its very informative insight from people who lived in the area.

First hand accounts.

[adelosky]

Well this is going to be very politically incorrect, but it rings true here. The demographics simply changed. Lower income people began to move into the area. Theres a nice discussion of this very topic on the Georgia Tech message board and its very informative insight from people who lived in the area.

First hand accounts.

I grew up in Stone Mountain in the 80's and my swim team - Mountain Shadow, comprised of the Kanawah and Mountain Creek subdivisions - used to swim against the Hidden Hills community. It was a beautiful upper-middle to upper class community back then.

I still live in Tucker and drive by that area all the time on my way to I-20 and have noticed over the last 10+ years how it really has gone downhill. I'm worried about Southland golf course in Stone Mountain as well. It is an 18 hole golf course in a residential community near the mountain and it has been going down hill over the last few years as well. I stopped playing there because of it.

I don't know if there just isn't enough support or maybe not enough advertising. There are a lot of people on that side of town that play golf (heck, Mystery Valley which is a mile down the street from Southland is always packed). If Hidden Hills had taken care of the course and they advertised fairly priced memberships, I might've looked into joining at some point.

[Pillsbury]

Well this is going to be very politically incorrect, but it rings true here. The demographics simply changed. Lower income people began to move into the area. Theres a nice discussion of this very topic on the Georgia Tech message board and its very informative insight from people who lived in the area.

First hand accounts.

Not politically incorrect at all in my opinion. It's very true. The golf course owner, however, should have been able to adapt. A good example is my old neighborhood----at one time probably one of the best golf courses in Augusta, but soon the neighborhood started to slip a little; a lot of people with money fled to farther out suburbs. The golf course went down a little but was able to keep its prestige basically because people liked the course so much they were willing to drive from all over the city to play it. More advertising could be the answer like Adelosky said above. I find it hard to believe that in a golf town such as Atlanta a golf course can't survive--the muni course here which is the biggest junk course in town but is very crowded on the weekends and it's tough to get a tee time on the weekend mornings, even though there is a golf course right across the street which competes with it (and is much nicer IMO).

[WSUSOM]

Lizella Jacket that link is pretty depressing. My family moved from the city of Atlanta to Stone Mountain in the late 80's. I'm also a graduate of Stone Mountain High School(class of 1994). It's amazing to read some of the post on the other link. The people spaek of stn. mtn as if it was such an upper class place to live. When in reality it was no more than a perception of being well off. Alot of these outer suburban communities end up the same way.

[adelosky]

Lizella Jacket that link is pretty depressing. My family moved from the city of Atlanta to Stone Mountain in the late 80's. I'm also a graduate of Stone Mountain High School(class of 1994). It's amazing to read some of the post on the other link. The people spaek of stn. mtn as if it was such an upper class place to live. When in reality it was no more than a perception of being well off. Alot of these outer suburban communities end up the same way.

I'd have to disagree that living in Stone Mountain was a perception rather than reality of living well. I grew up in the Mountain Creek subdivision off of Hugh Howell Road, went to Smoke Rise elementary, and graduated Tucker High School in 1992. My sister graduated from Tucker in 1987. It was a great neighborhood with beautiful homes and a wonderful sense of community when I was growing up there. I also had a lot of friends from Stone Mountain High School and Lakeside (I actually dated a girl from Stone Mountain for a while). I would agree that it might not have been upper class, but it was definitely on the cusp between upper-middle and upper.

Have you ever seen some of the homes in the Kanawha subdivision off of Hugh Howell? If you haven't, you should go by there sometime. I'd say a $1,000,000+ home in the suburbs is upper class. Back in the early 90's, they were going to expand the mansion row of Kanawha, but were unable to because of developers backing out worried they wouldn't be able to sell the homes. They are just now starting to build new homes on the vacant street and cul-de-sac there - over a decade and a half later.

[Andrea]

Have you ever seen some of the homes in the Kanawha subdivision off of Hugh Howell?

I had some friends who lived over there in the 80's. It was de luxe.

[WSUSOM]

I'd have to disagree that living in Stone Mountain was a perception rather than reality of living well. I grew up in the Mountain Creek subdivision off of Hugh Howell Road, went to Smoke Rise elementary, and graduated Tucker High School in 1992. My sister graduated from Tucker in 1987. It was a great neighborhood with beautiful homes and a wonderful sense of community when I was growing up there. I also had a lot of friends from Stone Mountain High School and Lakeside (I actually dated a girl from Stone Mountain for a while). I would agree that it might not have been upper class, but it was definitely on the cusp between upper-middle and upper.

Have you ever seen some of the homes in the Kanawha subdivision off of Hugh Howell? If you haven't, you should go by there sometime. I'd say a $1,000,000+ home in the suburbs is upper class. Back in the early 90's, they were going to expand the mansion row of Kanawha, but were unable to because of developers backing out worried they wouldn't be able to sell the homes. They are just now starting to build new homes on the vacant street and cul-de-sac there - over a decade and a half later.

I'm familiar with the smoke Rise area and you are correct with your perception of this area but on a hold nothing else in the stone mountain area was even close to the beautiful homes in Kanawha. I just can't see what was so special about the rest of Stone Mountain. If the area was so established it would have never declined.Other older neighborhoods such as the Virginia Highlands,Cascade, Buckhead, and Druid hills have maintained there exclusiveness over decades of population migrations. Areas like Stone Mountain, Snellville, and Grayson are what I call " In the moment communities". Once the feel of being new wears off there is nothing left to maintain the community.

[adelosky]

I'm familiar with the smoke Rise area and you are correct with your perception of this area but on a hold nothing else in the stone mountain area was even close to the beautiful homes in Kanawha. I just can't see what was so special about the rest of Stone Mountain. If the area was so established it would have never declined.Other older neighborhoods such as the Virginia Highlands,Cascade, Buckhead, and Druid hills have maintained there exclusiveness over decades of population migrations. Areas like Stone Mountain, Snellville, and Grayson are what I call " In the moment communities". Once the feel of being new wears off there is nothing left to maintain the community.

Yeah, but isn't that the case with 99% of most communities OTP? I don't go there often, but I know Marietta isn't as plush as it was 15 years ago. At least with Hidden Hills, there was a golf course, tennis, and swimming (although tennis isn't the draw it was in the 80's). The village of Stone Mountain isn't that far away and is still quite nice. From the Sycamore Grill to the German bakery, it is still a really nice place to go and walk around on a Saturday afternoon.

[WSUSOM]

Yeah, but isn't that the case with 99% of most communities OTP? I don't go there often, but I know Marietta isn't as plush as it was 15 years ago. At least with Hidden Hills, there was a golf course, tennis, and swimming (although tennis isn't the draw it was in the 80's). The village of Stone Mountain isn't that far away and is still quite nice. From the Sycamore Grill to the German bakery, it is still a really nice place to go and walk around on a Saturday afternoon.

You make some very good points. After the comments I made earlier I decided to take a tour of the Memorial Dr. corridor. Although not as pleasant looking of times past ,I found it to be more natural looking because a lot of the chain stores and restaurants weren't present but there where number of mom and pop stores along with several types of ethnic eateries. Sorry for the run on sentence I'm to tired to re-write the post lol