So guys, I'm going to be attending SAE (School of Audio Engineering) in October. I'll probably make the move to Atlanta in mid-late Sept. Those from atlanta should know where SAE is (215 peachtree st) so my main ? is where are some good place to live that are close to Marta/not a bad bike ride away from the school? I'm not sure if I'll have a car or not. I'm looking for cheap places but I know what cheap means in Atlanta. I'll be bringing guns with me though so home defense is no problem. Im a 19 year old white male, I'll be coming and living on my own. Just to put it out there, my goal is to get internships at some studios and eventually have a job as a studio engineer down there. I make beats too so I wanna be able to make some good contacts to hopefully one day be a producer in the rap industry/dirty south. Im sure the natives know what im talkin about lol
Sigh... where to begin. Your saying you know what cheap means and following it up with the fact that you have a gun is a good start. If you want cheap in that sense, you have plenty of options. It just depends on how bad you are willing to go. To be honest, the segregation of Atlanta really saddens me. In a lot of parts, you will be singled out incessantly if residing in some parts of town. These parts of town are mostly the upper west side (in relation to downtown) all the way through the south side of Atl, well past I-20. Stay away from places like Bankhead (now known as Donald Lee Halloway). Lee street actually may not be a bad option for you. It's rough but they are a little friendlier in my experience. Living on your own I would be cautious though. If you want to stand a fighting chance I would stay above downtown, although some places immediately around downtown like the Pencil Factory (which is right next to the MLK Marta station are actually pretty nice apartments. The caveat here is that I had a buddy living in there and he was shot and killed over a pot deal, so take your pick. Centennial Olympic Park Apartments are pretty close (well they are a decent bike ride) from your place and are relatively cheap. If you wanted to go even further, you could go up to homepark, off of 10th street (about as cheap and as safe as you'll get on the west side of the connector south of I-75). You'll have to ride over to the 10th street Marta station though if you go that far up. The problem with Marta is that its stops are not very strategic. I'm sorry I wish I could tell you a little bit more about the residential areas on the south and southeast side of downtown (below Underground ATL) but I only know those by passing. There are pockets that would be ok but it's a fuckin' crap shoot. Don't know much about the rap industry other than if you know anyone that's anyone, get your ass in to Patchwerk studios. I use to live right next to it and big time names would roll through there all the time. I'm talkin' Wayne, Rick Ross, Luda, Jeezy, etc. Wish I could help you more but there's a start. Best of luck buddy. Downtown Atlanta is a really cool area, just keep your wits about you and don't go to Underground and bad neighborhoods at night or you will get robbed or worse. If you act dumb it's not a matter of chance, just a matter of when.
Welcome to ATL my friend Apart from that i don't have much advice to give cause i've never lived inside Atlanta. Always suburbs. Goodluck in your endeavors
I don't wanna come off as thinking im hard or a G or anything. I just have a fair amount of street smarts/good common sense and intuition. The last thing I ever wanna have to do is fend for my life with a gun but this music stuff is seriously the only thing I can see myself doing in life. But not to get into how passionate I am about this dream, I just wanna show Im willing to do whatever and get on my grind. If I gotta live a little "low standard" for a while it doesnt bother me. I'll check into Lee St. I just know that a lot of Blacks automatically are gonna think im some racist white kid who's gonna snitch/be an easy target. Im hoping I can get in good with someone and like get shown around/meet some people or whatever. And yeah, Patchwerk is my main goal. I know it's gonna be tough to get in, but Im gonna drop by with beat CD's and my resume or whatever and just basically beg to intern/get in there. I figure I got a whole year to show them how serious I am before the loan for my living expenses run out. And I do have skill, already, so SAE will only help me. Plus man I know this is stupid but Jeezy has always been my favorite artist, as well as Gucci and 2chainz is pretty hype, i fuck with the new dude Trinidad Jame$ n shit, so it's really exciting to me lol to go where all my favorite artists/genre of music come from. Is it likely that people will hate me just cause Im a 'transplant'? What about being white....? I know you're not supposed to talk about yourself lol but Im a pretty cool dude and I can "get along" with anybody...Theres types of people I cant stand but Im a good judge of character/intention and shit. Idk what Im really trying to say other than how bad is it really? How likely is it that if I live in a somewhat "dangerous" area I'll get killed over my shoes? I mean I plan on carrying a .22 pistol on me if I gotta walk/ride the bike thru sketchy parts. I never ever wanna have to kill anyone Im just saying if it was coming down to something very valuable to me or my life I could do what I had to do to make it out ok. Im not a tough guy and I dont like to fight at all but Im not a pussy either basically
and also, whats it like getting pot down there lol. Good shit come around often? I probably wont have much money to be spending on weed at this coming point in my life though. Im really excited. Im sure I'll be fine, the main thing is I wanna move somewhere that being white wont be a problem, but is still cheap lol.
Exit 5 (abernathy, it's the exit right past marta), Exit 7 (roswell) are both nice places to live and are close to marta, if you have a car, that is. Roswell is cheaper and has a better vibe to it (personally). I go to roswell almost every night and never had problems. Lots of "thugs" depending on where in Atlanta you live. I've had friends get robbed by people at gas stations (why gas stations? who knows), but they where at a shitty part of the city. The more south you are in the city, the worse it's going to be. It's not that bad though, you just got to know your way around. Hang out in Little 5 Points for a while and meet some cool people who will show you around. A lot of the locals there are down to earth and pretty nice; I have a few friends who live there and they love it. Good luck! EDIT: Yep, you'll find some great music opportunities over here. I recommend going to Opera, The Masq., The Quad, or ATL Nightlife clubs (event corp.) and just finding the right people to talk to (which is pretty easy to do). Have fun.
Thats what seems to be the consensus. One second you're ok the next you might be in a bad spot. I know no matter how cool/chill/street savvy I am someone somewhere might try me if Im in the wrong place. The main thing is I don't think I want a car because of the insurance costs. So I'm gonna be walking/biking to Marta stations or to studios or wherever Im trying to go lol. I'm gonna have to do a lot of figuring out when I get down there probably but really I guess the smart thing to do will be to go out and try and meet people. I've like never done that before though....lol ------ Thanks for all the responses though, it's good to hear from people who actually live there. Maybe when I come out we can link up if nothing else just so I can get a little tour of the city/some advice or whatever
If you go out there, meet people and show that you are a cool dude then you will probably be fine. For the most part, it's not the stereotypical you'll get robbed for your shoes or some shit. It's mostly people trying to survive. There are mostly good people. As it comes with the territory of any big city, you have to watch out for the crack heads and stuff. Being out late, you will more than likely have a gun pointed at you for all your shit and that is not a joke. Being a transplant is not that big of a deal. Surprisingly, Atlanta has a very diverse culture and is welcoming to outsiders. This may not be unanimous with all communities though, you just have to snoop around. Do you know any one down there at all? But really, the people usually are pretty nice and if you don't go rollin' around like you got shit to lose you will probably be fine just about where ever. Just be nice and try to make friends but definitely be on guard. You know, usual routine shit. Put on your shoes before you go out the door kind of shit. One real good thing, weed ain't a thing. It's all around and you should have no problem getting any. I never went dry the whole time I was there. Edit: Yeah I didn't think much about going further up the Doraville and North Springs tracks. I'm sure you can find some cheap stuff near those stations that are not too bad at all, especially compared to living close to downtown. I'mma say Homepark again cuz you can get some pretty cheap rent there, maybe $400, it's like a mile from Marta and you can walk to Patchwerk and bug them to let you in lol Plus there will be a lot of people around your age, as it is mostly inhabited by kids from both Ga Tech and GSU. Weed is rampant.
My dude, thats the type of stuff I was looking for!! MUCH appreciated. And yeah that was a really good answer that I was hoping to hear. I'm definitely smart enough to pick up the vibes on when someone is plotting on me. But nah, I don't know a soul. I'm leaving everything behind me here in MD. Not that there's much to leave, just my parents. I live at home. If there's one thing I was put on this earth to do though it's music. So the fact that I have a BURNING passion for this stuff should really help me out, and like everyone is saying I shouldnt have a problem meeting the right people. Like I said I plan on getting internships, but if NO where out of all the studios will let me in (seems unlikely to me lol) then I plan on getting a job somewhere on my off days. Even if it's one day a week under the table sweep up do bullshit type stuff, just so I can save money. I'll have loans paying for the first year but idk...really I dont have a huge giant plan. Other than go down, dominate in my classes so I can get good grades/recommendations from my teachers, and persistently try to meet people/drop by studios and just network my ass off. I'm pretty confident in my abilities so I can really only get better as far as I see it. And if everything backfires on me after the year I can move back home and think up a new plan but I dont see that happening. Im scared a little cause I've never lived on my own but plenty of kids my age move out and go to school far away so I know it can be done. And I know I'm a really smart and basically good person, so I just have trust that shit will work out for me. Im def gonna look into homepark
what are some names of some complexs in homepark? I just found a site called homeparkrentals I think it was but for a 1br it was like 1k a month. Im seriously getting so excited though lol. I think I always had like an itch to go "down south" somewhere...and idk like I said I know its corny but a lot of my favorite artists come from the A. I mean hey, everyone's gotta have a dream right. Im 19 I gotta take these giant risks while I still can! If I didn't try this i think I'd beat myself up forever lol
East Atlanta (Moreland & Flat Shoals, just south of I20 on the east side, south of Little 5 Points) is where all the hipsters live
Maybe look around East Point then. It's not that bad. I mean some parts are but not really that bad compared to the rest of the city. And I'm sure you could find something near the East Point Marta station, like a small house or something.
Ah, that's the thing I forgot to mention about Homepark. It's, well, homes. Houses, ya know. They rent rooms out and shit as it accommodates college students pretty well but doing it on your own may be a bit tougher since you'd probably need to find at least a roommate or two to live with. There are always people lookin' for roommates though. If you are tryin' to live on your own in an apartment though, good luck finding a place less than like $850. I mean I know places but it just starts getting further and further away from school and any Marta stations. That being said, I got some mad respect for you man. You seem like you really got your heart set and that's what its going to take if you wanna get anywhere. Good luck and I'll try to help you any more if I can.
Right now a place called "Hartford Place" looks like somewhere to keep in mind. I really like that Homepark area cause Standish said its close to Patchwerk lol. I'll look more into east point too. It's a ways off, but it's really only about 8 months so I gotta start getting on my stuff. Yes, my heart is set. This is definitely my heart's desire, my purpose in life if you will. I really kinda wanna live alone, just cause I like to make beats and shit and other people really get annoyed at hearing the same loops/unfinished snippets over and over. Plus I kinda am up and asleep at odd hours, somewhat of a night owl. I'll have school from I think 10-6 or something like that but still, probably will be a night owl lol. I mean, I'm not TOTALLY opposed to having a room mate, I just dont wanna get stuck with some douche lol. Like I said, Im taking out loans for living expenses for the first year too, so its a matter of staying as low debt as I cant
Hartford Place would be great! So would Townview Station Apartments, as they are close to Hartford and I have a few buddies living in that complex. The funny thing, my account name Standish and Deering (under my name) is the name of an intersection (Standish and Deering) that is right fuckin there lol I'm sure you've seen how close that is to Patchwerk on Google Maps. I used to live on Hampton Street if you see that.
Word, if that's where I go we can link up or something lol. Like I said it's a ways off so I cant even really contact any places yet since availability/prices are so subject to change. What about East Point? Any places come to mind off bat. Im about to google and see what I can find myself
I don't know much about the South side other than the airport is right next to there. I have not heard bad things about that area, I'll put it that way.
East Point will be mostly older, 1940s/1950s style working class houses that are usually 2-3 bedrooms and around 1000 sq ft Try craigslist though. And padmapper
I went there once, it was hot as fuckkkkkkk and there is crazy traffic. Maybe not ATL but GA is a little to Jesus-y for my liking..