Home to lauded schools, a thriving dining and drinking scene, a volcanic housing market, and even artful stoplight infrastructure, Decatur might be the last ITP place that truly needs another accolade.
Too late.
Municipal rankings website Niche recently weighed a number of metrics pertaining to 452 neighborhoods and cities across the Peach State for its 2018 list of “Best Places to Live in Georgia.”
Decatur landed at—you guessed it—No. 1.
So what’s working in the DeKalb County seat of 21,000 (besides faucets, thankfully)?
Decatur (the incorporated city, that is) scored a sterling A+ for schools and “Good for Families” along with A ratings for nightlife and diversity. For general housing, a B; crime and safety saw the lowest mark (B-), but Decatur’s overall grade was nonetheless A+.
Decatur home values are well above Atlanta’s median at nearly $385,000, Niche noted.
Niche analyzed data from the FBI, U.S. Census, and departments of education, among other sources, to weigh factors such as cost of cost of living, public schools, safety, jobs, local amenities, and more.
Researchers also took into account millions of resident reviews, such as this missive from a current Decatur resident: “Having lived in [metro] Atlanta for 20 years, including stints in Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, and DeKalb counties, I believe the City of Decatur is the most ‘complete’ city in Atlanta.”
Rounding out Niche’s top five are Sherwood Forest; Johns Creek; Alpharetta, and Buckhead Forest, respectively.
In fact, eight of the top 10 best places are Atlanta neighborhoods (including the sovereign ITP city of Decatur, that is). Midtown and Ansley Park ranked No. 8 and 9, respectively.
All of the top 50 are in metro Atlanta.
Could it be that abhorrent traffic isn’t the quality-of-life killer we’d all thought, all things considered?
Source: Curbed Atlanta