padams421: Thank you so much for the info. I was curious, is there much of an issue with flooding in the Vinings area with the river and so many creeks and tributories running through it? Any areas to avoid for flooding? What about being too close to the train tracks ... is there much of an issue with train noise?

Underground Atlanta: It's like, dangerous. Two people were shot there within 12 days. New Year's Eve a celebrant blocks away fired a gunshot into the air. Darned if the bullet didn't drop. A week and one-half later another guest dropped his pistol while greeting (high-fiving) a friend. The gun must have been heavy. The bullet grazed a visitor.

Underground is also the oldest white elephant in Atlanta. Kept afloat for decades to reward favored individuals with a piece of the action. Could never make it without subsidies and favors. No local, other than the downtown neighbors, ever goes more than once a decade. It's a tourist trap.

The train runs through the downtown area of Vinings, but it's rather charming. If you want to avoid floods buy away from the river. Far away. Given prevailing real estate prices, that's not a problem for middle-class buyers. Much of Vinings is elevated and convenient to Buckhead, I-285 and I-75, and of course, Smyrna. Vinings is considered toney.

Great that you have a Jenny Pruitt agent!
I'm an agent there too!
I love Vinings. You will too.

The Underground is OK, but I agree with the other posters that V. Highlands is a better way to spend and afternoon. Go to Piedmont Park and have a picnic.

As long as you are in Vinings, go to Canoe for brunch and get a table outside. So pretty and the food is excellent.
Allie

If the remnants of a hurricane move through Atlanta, then the Chattahoochee River will overflow in the Vinings area. In the 10 years, I have lived in Vinings, it has happened 3 times. Only the houses right on the river flood. The streets that fllod are Cochise Drive (just the lower half, part of the street is way up a hill), Farmington Drive (again, just the part along the river), and Paces Ferry Place. We are talking about 30-40 homes. The rest of Vinings is elevated. If it floods at my house, Noah had better be building the second ark because most of Atlanta would be underwater.

I have a creek (runs from Paces Lake to the 'Hootch) at the bottom of the hill behind my house. When we had the successive hurricanes come through last summer, the creek rose 10 feet. The previous owner said the creek had never been that high so that means it was a 20 year record. The hilly terrain is such that the creek doesn't flood any homes. It is only where Vinings flattens out at the river does it flood.

As for the train, the CSX line runs through Vinings. The closer youlive to the tracks, the more train noise you will here. I never notice the train whistles during the day. Most Vinings residents will say that they don't really notice the train noise after they have been here a little while. I have heard the train the most when my children were babies, and I would be upin the middle of the night with them, when it would otherwise be very quiet. I personally would not live with the tracks in my backyard because I have young children but some people do.

BTW, Vinings attracts all ages. There are a lot of families like us. In Cobb County, you don't pay the school portion of the property taxes after a certain age (I think it is 62) so we have a lot of empty nesters and retirees. Many of my neighbors are in the real estate business. They live here because they know it's a great deal (relatively speaking as compared to Buckhead and the city of Atlanta).

Dine at Canoe. Another local dining favorite is the Old Vinings Inn.

Thanks for all the great information. We're going to try to focus our home search initially in the Vinings/Smyrna area. I really like the village feel and it will be good for commuting to my job in Smyrna. We did eat at both Canoes and Vinings Inn when we visited (great meals), as well as the Mexican restaurant (can't recall the name).

LaPaz is the mexican restaurant. Next time, try the River Room on Northside Parkway in the Post Riverside complex and Blue Ridge Grill at West Paces Ferry Rd. and Northside Parkway (both are 3 minutes from Vinings).

Since moving to Atlanta, I have lived in Sandy Springs, Midtown, Highlands and now Marietta (East Cobb County just outside Vinings). Sandy Springs traffic is not horrible. I actually find my area of Cobb to be worse than Sandy Springs. I also miss the amenities that Sandy Springs has to offer that Vinings nor Marietta has. Vings offers more than Marietta but comes at a higher price for housing and less land. However I have 3 dogs and I wanted a larger yard and a larger house so I moved just a bit further out (Post Oak Tritt Rd area).

You can not go wrong with any of these areas but if you look to live in Fulton County, you will pay greatly in taxes. I know my condo in Sandy Springs costs me far more than my house in Cobb and my house is more expensive (go figure).

Underground is a rip. Revitalized or not, it is a rip. Maybe go one day but that will be enough for you. It is not anymore dangerous than any other place in a large city. People got shot leaving the Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome as well. You move to a city, you should expect crime. It kind of goes with the territory.

Don't mean to be disagreeable, but Underground IS more dangerous than many areas of Atlanta. It's deep downtown and a magnet for young people who like to drink and, in some cases, carry guns to prove their mettle. It's south of the prime hotel and business district and the immediate vicinity is not as well policed as the prime area, even though there's a mini police precinct in Underground. Matter of fact, the high-fiving gun dropper escaped after discharging his gun. And, no one was reported shot leaving the Peach Bowl New Year's eve. Instead, a young lady was shot in her seat in the Dome as she watched the game-another bullet that, when fired into the air, magically fell.
Second padams recommendation to try Blue Ridge Grill. High end cabin theme done right. And, down the street (N'Side Pkwy) try Panos and Paul's. An Atlanta institution and the cornerstone of a culinary dynasty-Buckhead Life Restaurants.
Last, we attended an outdoor party on Farmington, Vinings in late October weeks after 2 hurricanes. The high water mark at this house on the river, w/ an acre backyard, was marked in the treetops 12 feet above the normal backyard ground. Impressive.

Wrong. I girl was shot in her seat and someone else was shot leaving the game. Also there was a person shot leaving a Falcon's game not to long ago either. Again I disagree with you about it being dangerous, however we will have to agree to disagree.

Beachdreams. Curious reply of yours. The January 5, 2005 Atlanta Journal/Constitution features an article on page B. 2 by Saheed Ahmed (available from AJC.com stacks). He describes the shooting I described above, which took place during the 12-31-04 game, and writes that it was the second shooting at Peachbowls, the first being three years earlier. Perhaps your victim was straggling out of the New Year's eve game a week later, or it was not reported. Curious also that you would inject a shooting at a Falcon game, same stadium, to support your feeling that the area is safer than I described. Dream on.

You know, since it IS Underground Atlanta it's worth a trip, but go in the daytime.

Underground was a very hip and happening place -- in the early 70s -- but the last time I was there (about 4 years ago) it was more or less an underground shopping mall.

It's a pity they can't come up with to do with the place -- it's a part of history in a city which is not usually very kind to their history.

Gosh, all this talk of underground Atlanta...it has me waxing and waning for Lester Maddox ax handles and Danté's Down the Hatch. Thems were the daze.

TD: Dante's left for Buckhead, surviving (along w/ the crocodiles) a fire in 2001. Lester Maddox left us in 2004. Don't know whether he felt more heat as a governor or now. Did I meet you at Ruby Red's?

It is amazing thing what one learns on the internet. I actually met Lester one night. But I still passed on that ax handle. Danté's still kicking? The boat and all?

I don't believe I went to Ruby Red's. One should go to Underground (with a bullet-proof vest, of course) just to remember when Americans actually had original tourist traps, not all this phony stuff. Disney could never have invented or imagined Underground. Teehehehehe.

Dante's is in Buckhead for the moment. I read recently in the Atlanta Business Chronicle that he is trying to sell the property to developers. It sounded like he will retire when the property sells.

Dante's is a fondue restaurant that has been in Atlanta for many years. First at Underground and then later in Buckhead. The inside of the restaurant looks like a ship in the pirate era. There are "moats" in the restaurant with real alligators in them.

beachdreams: You mentioned that you thought Sandy Springs offered more than Vinings or Marietta. Can you be a bit more specific? How would the commute into Smyrna be (to near Windy Hill and Cobb Pkwy)? Thanks.

Cher:
I live and maintain my office in Sandy Springs. It's much, much bigger than Vinings. Parts are on the same river, the Chattahoochee. It features a commercial corridor, principally along Roswell Road, on which one can find every type of commercial establishment, some very, very good. Houses principally range from $200,000 older ranches to 40 times that.
We currently pay taxes as residents of "unincorporated" Fulton County, and, they are very high, compared to the level of services we receive and those levied against residents of surrounding counties. That all may change, as Sandy Springs likely will become an incorporated municipality in the next few years.
It's only a 5-10 minute drive from Roswell Road along I-285 and I-75 to your office if there is no traffic. In traffic-significantly longer. And, Roswell Road is very congested during rush periods. We love our neighborhood, but, if I worked in Smyrna, I'd live in Vinings. Welcome to Atlanta.

Thanks to everyone for the information!