"The GOAT Black City" The Official: ATL Discussion Thread

[Apollo Creed]

Destroying the projects plus Katrina really did a number on the black suburbs in Atlanta metro. Add in the housing crash of 2009. They was giving out section 8 vouchers in Dekalb county like candy. Most of my time in Georgia has been spent on the east side. It’s crazy because Lithonia used to mean “you made it” stonecrest area had everything. Now you mixing in project families with middle class families (no boule), and now retirees that had 6 figure jobs are staying next to single moms that are paying 18 bucks a month. After Katrina and the projects elimination, Stone Mountain lost damn near every decent restaurant and business. All the big box stores in Lithonia went to Conyers

Early 2000s there was a house warming party in Lithonia every damn weekend it felt now Lithonia is a shyt hole

 

[AVXL]

I came in to say this. Damn bruh, you really know your southside history unlike a lot of folks who are here now.

That Old National stretch used to signify you made it as a black middle class home owner. When they tore down the projects they moved all of those folks to South Fulton county and it completely destroyed College Park, East Point, Fairburn, and Union City as safe middle class areas for black people. College Park was home to good schools both private and public for us.

My family moved out of College Park down to Fairburn during that shift, when Fairburn got bad we moved out to Fayette County. I remember when Shannon Mall was nice!

Any older Hip Hop artist you hear that mentioned growing up in College Park and East Point, they were not in the hood, they were from middle class black families.

Jonesboro and Riverdale was white folks back then. Dont let T.I. fool you.

Yea man I’m an 80s baby and before we moved out to Decatur we stayed in the SWATS on Campbellton Rd, (we used to stay in Heritage Homes) which was also a really nice, desirable area if you were black. You had black owned businesses, thriving shopping plazas, churches, record store, national food chains (we had a Red Lobster across the street from us on Campbellton Rd). The Southside was the same way, I remember that Target used to be right off Old Nat coming off the highway, you had Tara Mall in Union City, Greenbriar at one point was the biggest mall in Metro Atlanta (bigger in revenue than Lenox, Phipps, etc) Southlake in Morrow used to be a bigger deal…it was just a nicer place to live at that time

 

[Belize King]

I see a lot of people responded to you, so not trying to be repetitive. But another way to look at it is old nat is the equivalent of what glenwood is to people on the east side . It’s a long ass road that connects to all the other known roads on those parts of town…with some food spots , clubs, and value malls like some of them said. Mainly both glenwood and old nat just have a lot of rappers that come from them areas. So we all know em.. Usually the raps ain’t about a lot of positive stuff lol. Outside the food and park gatherings. They just both big long roads that most people on those sides of town have to travel down to reach the other main roads when you don’t wanna take the highway exits. Like travel hubs that stay busy

My unit is off Glenwood. I would go to Mrs. Winner's before drill and...

It's wild because we were house hunting in 2020, you couldn't find a house under 300K in 30030.

We looked at two houses off Glenwood and didn't like them. Ended up moving further south. Crazy thing about Glenwood in South Dekalb is there are 600K+ houses a block off the road as well

 

[Sauce and Footwork]

My unit is off Glenwood. I would go to Mrs. Winner's before drill and...

It's wild because we were house hunting in 2020, you couldn't find a house under 300K in 30030.

We looked at two houses off Glenwood and didn't like them. Ended up moving further south. Crazy thing about Glenwood in South Dekalb is there are 600K+ houses a block off the road as well

I literally just moved from Columbia drive and me and my family were considering buying the house because the price offered was so much lower than the appraisal. It was a good financial move for whenever we would be ready to sell it. As we are a young family. But the neighborhood was getting worse despite all the white people moving in. So I e literally just moved from there . Lol. But yea the value of the homes are a lot higher than they use to be and allot of new homes too. But safety is everything. But I know it’s some quality houses around there too. White folks flooding in

 

[AVXL]

Destroying the projects plus Katrina really did a number on the black suburbs in Atlanta metro. Add in the housing crash of 2009. They was giving out section 8 vouchers in Dekalb county like candy. Most of my time in Georgia has been spent on the east side. It’s crazy because Lithonia used to mean “you made it” stonecrest area had everything. Now you mixing in project families with middle class families (no boule), and now retirees that had 6 figure jobs are staying next to single moms that are paying 18 bucks a month. After Katrina and the projects elimination, Stone Mountain lost damn near every decent restaurant and business. All the big box stores in Lithonia went to Conyers

SW Dekalb (Wesley Chapel, Candler Rd, Browns Mill, Snapfinger Rd, etc) when we moved out there in the late 80s/early 90s was this emergence of the black middle class in the suburbs. Black people with good paying jobs in good neighborhoods (we stayed off Flat Shoals & Kelley Chapel near the OG New Birth). I remember when they opened up that Publix on Flakes Mill and Flat Shoals and the Kroger across the street. It was just rapid growth for black people specifically during that era up until the time we left in the early 2000s

 

[Apollo Creed]

SW Dekalb (Wesley Chapel, Candler Rd, Browns Mill, Snapfinger Rd, etc) when we moved out there in the late 80s/early 90s was this emergence of the black middle class in the suburbs. Black people with good paying jobs in good neighborhoods (we stayed off Flat Shoals & Kelley Chapel near the OG New Birth). I remember when they opened up that Publix on Flakes Mill and Flat Shoals and the Kroger across the street. It was just rapid growth for black people specifically during that era up until the time we left in the early 2000s

SWD was like the first predom black school in dekalb I wanna say. If you look at year books pre 1994 from schools.like Columbia it's hella white kids in it

 

[keond]

I literally just moved from Columbia drive and me and my family were considering buying the house because the price offered was so much lower than the appraisal. It was a good financial move for whenever we would be ready to sell it. As we are a young family. But the neighborhood was getting worse despite all the white people moving in. So I e literally just moved from there . Lol. But yea the value of the homes are a lot higher than they use to be and allot of new homes too. But safety is everything. But I know it’s some quality houses around there too. White folks flooding in

What area did you move to

 

[keond]

SW Dekalb (Wesley Chapel, Candler Rd, Browns Mill, Snapfinger Rd, etc) when we moved out there in the late 80s/early 90s was this emergence of the black middle class in the suburbs. Black people with good paying jobs in good neighborhoods (we stayed off Flat Shoals & Kelley Chapel near the OG New Birth). I remember when they opened up that Publix on Flakes Mill and Flat Shoals and the Kroger across the street. It was just rapid growth for black people specifically during that era up until the time we left in the early 2000s

When I first moved here, mid to late 90s it was the first time in my life I saw so many middle class black people doing well that wasn’t just in one tiny area. Like in Boston we had neighborhoods that were middle class black people but nothing like a whole town or city like here. That went from sugar to shyt quickly and I will always believe it was on purpose

 

[AVXL]

When I first moved here, mid to late 90s it was the first time in my life I saw so many middle class black people doing well that wasn’t just in one tiny area. Like in Boston we had neighborhoods that were middle class black people but nothing like a whole town or city like here. That went from sugar to shyt quickly and I will always believe it was on purpose

I grew up kinda taking it for granted…because it was so prevalent to see scales of educated, successful black families in Southwest Dekalb. My family was lower middle class and we lived in a good neighborhood but I had friends of families where their parents were earning well over 6 figures, had nice cars, could put kids in private school, etc. it didn’t feel uncommon to know black families that were upwardly mobile (economically) in that era and in that part of town. When I left it felt like it fell off something serious

 

[AVXL]

@Motife43 the Eastside Chevy rider, talk to us about the Eastside growing up breh

 

[Belize King]

SW Dekalb (Wesley Chapel, Candler Rd, Browns Mill, Snapfinger Rd, etc) when we moved out there in the late 80s/early 90s was this emergence of the black middle class in the suburbs. Black people with good paying jobs in good neighborhoods (we stayed off Flat Shoals & Kelley Chapel near the OG New Birth). I remember when they opened up that Publix on Flakes Mill and Flat Shoals and the Kroger across the street. It was just rapid growth for black people specifically during that era up until the time we left in the early 2000s

It's wild. I bought my house out here in 2020 for 250K. 3400SF.

Big houses out here everywhere. I didn't realize how "hood" it was until the murders. I see pistols in Publix, Kroger, and the gas station almost everyday.

Dudes got me carrying every time I go out.

But you can tell the neighborhoods were middle class. My whole HOA are retirees who bought in 2002.

 

[Pegasus Jackson]

There’s no real importance lol. The importance of it is nikka shyt. Robberies, drug deals, murders, prostitution & everything else associated with a low income, high crime area.

Fairburn is cool tho. Lot of black wealth there & south Fulton

Gonna have to disagree with this. There are a lot of huge houses off Ol' Nat that have been in the hands of black families for years. It's just that their children want to live a thug lifestyle for unknown reasons. I know a few.

 

[Apollo Creed]

Gonna have to disagree with this. There are a lot of huge houses off Ol' Nat that have been in the hands of black families for years. It's just that their children want to live a thug lifestyle for unknown reasons. I know a few.

.this was the common thing on the east side lol. we the kids of hard working middle class and lower middle class blacks and at worse you the kid of a dope boy who got y'all out the slums. It blew my mind hearing about nikkas at rich schools like Stephenson starting to claim blood/form gangs or lame ass Lithomia nikkas making clicks.

Stonecrest became a gang warzone lol

 

[Motife43]

@Motife43 the Eastside Chevy rider, talk to us about the Eastside growing up breh

Black excellence dawg! Two parent households, business owners, college educated (HBCU) people, safe and solid working middle class area

My parents bought a crib in Decatur in 88 right off Boring Rd from a white couple. To our relatives from around the country we were the aspiration. And my mama was a teacher, pops worked in IT. They weren’t rich at all

@Apollo Creed made a good point on how white South Dekalb County was up until the flight in the late 80s

I was born in 1990 and spent my whole childhood in Decatur and Lithonia. I remember the Publix opening like AV mentioned, I grew up going to Golden Glide, having parties at South Dekalb Mall, church league at Kelley Chapel and all that. I remember when Stonecrest opened and we thought it was the best mall ever lol

 

[Pegasus Jackson]

.this was the common thing on the east side lol. we the kids of hard working middle class and lower middle class blacks and at worse you the kid of a dope boy who got y'all out the slums. It blew my mind hearing about nikkas at rich schools like Stephenson starting to claim blood/form gangs or lame ass Lithomia nikkas making clicks.

Stonecrest became a gang warzone lol

shyt makes me sick. One of my boys is in the joint for trafikking cocaine and he grew up in a 3 story house bigger way bigger than the one I grew up in and had a step father who loved him like he was his biological.