This morning, Rusty and I went to look at some houses on the west side of town. Before this we had looked in East Atlanta, Kirkwood, Edgewood, Grant Park, Midway (an area just south of Decatur), and some other parts of unincorporated Dekalb County, such as near where Avondale Mall used to be. We want to see and consider as many parts of town as possible, so that we can make an informed decision about where we want to live. We were interested in particular in Westview after reading this blog, and because a friend of mine from SPARK bought a house there last year.
We drove through Cascade Heights, Adams Park, Adair Park, Westview, and a little bit of West End. And probably some other places too - those are just what I remember from sign toppers. Turns out Westview is very cute, just like the blog had said; sure there are some ramshackle houses and foreclosures ready to be auctioned, but hey, it’s a neighborhood “in transition” (I really hate that term). The little village center reminds me of East Atlanta, and I bet it’s only a matter of time before a coffee shop opens there.
We also liked Adair Park. Initially we planned to go there to see if it was the ghetto, because we’d found what looked like the perfect house, at least from its online ad, and that’s where it is. We had been to Adair Park once before, in December, when we went to photograph the historic and sadly decaying Adair Park Elementary School; but we didn’t see much of the area at that time, as we just went to the school and then straight back home.
It was funny because you always hear people talk so badly about the “west side” and make comments about it being “rough” and, well, the ghetto - which is exactly why we went to check it out! As I mentioned on Twitter, driving around these neighborhoods made us realize (not that it was a surprise; so I guess I should say remember instead of realize) that a lot of the time when people say somewhere is “the ghetto” it’s just not-so-thinly-veiled racism. What I think of as “the ghetto” is an area that doesn’t seem to have a sense of permanence - lots of vacant houses, rental houses with revolving tenants, and people wandering around as if they have nowhere to be, for example. We’ve gotten that feeling from some parts of Grant Park and other “east side” intown neighborhoods. Whereas in Adair Park and Westview, there were active neighborhood organizations (signs everywhere for meetings), not many people just wandering around aimlessly, and it felt like the place was more stable and well-maintained and that a lot of the people living there had been there a while.
I know it’s tough to really make any coherent statements about this at all in Atlanta, because the reality is that a lot of places, one street is fine and the next street is sketchy. But just from this morning and our other driving-around jaunts, this is the impression we’ve gotten so far in general.
As for that “perfect house” I mentioned, I know we need to get over it, because it won’t be on the market when we’re actually ready to buy (early next year). Even if we could talk a seller into buying out our lease right now, realistically we need to save up some more money anyway. But here are a few photos of it, from the online ad:
(Yes, the kitchen is painted a shade strikingly close to Vols orange. So maybe it’s not 100% perfect!)
We need to do more research about all the areas of town we’re considering, but just thought I’d share some of our impressions from this morning. All is not always as it seems!
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12 Responses to "More on houses"
Can I just say that I’m so jealous that you’re at a point in your lives/relationship where buying a house is in the fairly near future? Kudos to you, I’m looking forward to reading your blogging of the process.
The imperfection is that it’s more of a Texas Orange.
Let the record show that Amber said she was ok with me painting any future kitchen Tennessee Orange.
Oh wow, that is a strikingly attractive house. Its got great use of color. I see some design techniques Susan Susanka talks about in some of her books too (Primarily that line a foot or two from the ceiling).
Hopefully it doesn’t have the neighbors from hell.
In today’s housing market it might be on the market when you go to buy. But I agree that its bloody doubtful.
Thanks for saying that, Dacia… I was afraid it might be boring to people! You know, one of those boring “adult” things. Like for example, there’s this guy who works at the same place I do (I don’t really know him, but I know *of* him) and he’s had a blog for years and years, and it used to be all about him going to wild gay circuit parties and having lots of crazy sex and that sort of thing, but a few years ago he got a boyfriend and started “settling down” I guess you could say… and one of my friends was complaining that “now his blog is boring.” Ha.
Also, for the record, per Rusty’s comment - yes, I did say I’m fine w/ him painting the kitchen orange. But it was still the obvious joke to make in light of the photo above.
And finally, if we lived in this house, here’s how we would tell people to get to our house: “Cross over to the wrong side of the tracks and turn right by the rusty Quonset hut w/ a car on top of it.”
That’s a gorgeous looking house. I have no problem admitting that I live in what most people consider to be the ghetto. In our case, it really was the ghetto about fifteen or twenty years ago, but it’s going through a rather massive rehabilitation. We have a fantastic house that was flipped about five years ago, and since moving here, we’ve successfully encouraged about a half dozen friends to do the same.
And, since I know of our shared love of rustic Americana, I’ll tell you that I’ve been able to add a huge number of photographs to my collection (of old wall painted billboards: http://tinyurl.com/6ny6p4), by simply walking through our neighborhood. Not to mention we live within walking distance of downtown.
Oooh, a burnt orange kitchen! What on earth could be better? Unless it’s a doorbell playing “The Eyes of Texas.”
That kitchen is BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Adair Park — why we’d be neighbors! Well, close enough since I’m in adjacent West End/Westview. A lot of people give this part of town a bad rap, and it’s totally undeserved. I went to college down here, and after living in other, less “ghetto” parts of town (Midtown, Buckhead) — I always felt safer and more connected here. Close to MARTA, close to the highway, and we’re coming up! (I hate “in transition” too.) I’m surprised there’s not a coffee house over in the Westview area though — here in the West End we’ve got Grounds Coffeehouse and a great pizza place with free Wi-Fi.
Thanks for your input, Karsh… it’s always good to hear from people who *actually live in* a place.
[...] March. Amber already documented some of the process in a couple of posts on her site. Here’s the most recent one.I’m calling this a house hunt here because dwelling hunt doesn’t have quite the same [...]
That is a very beautiful looking house!! And the interior looks very nice and move-in ready too. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you on your continued search in the area…and perhaps even a little luck that your dream house will still be waiting for you. If not we’ll gladly still take you in Westview. :)
[...] are some photos of houses I like: (as seen here) (as seen [...]
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