Where to live now in Atlanta 2018

Riverside

Photograph by Caroline C. Kilgore. Listing agent: Keith Sharp, Keller Williams

Riverside is a little neighborhood with big ambitions. Home to about 600 eclectic residences, it joins neighbors Whittier Mill Village, Bolton, and Hills Park in an effort to rebrand this wedge of Atlanta between Interstate 285 and Buckhead as the “Upper Westside”—intown’s front porch to the Chattahoochee River.

Established in the 1890s, Riverside has roots in Atlanta’s streetcar system. The River Car Line ran up Hollywood Road to the river and, by the 1920s, had helped create a bustling Main Street. Riverside was annexed into Atlanta in 1952, but the community later declined as the river choked on pollution. Recent cleanup efforts have turned the ’Hooch into an asset, and Riverside has begun to thrive.

Homes

For a historic ITP neighborhood with Buckhead schools and easy access to Midtown (roughly five miles east), Riverside offers relative affordability. Renovated older homes, predominantly one-story bungalows, can be had for the low $200,000s. A large selection of pre- and post-Recession, Craftsman-style infill homes currently tops out around $440,000.

Who lives here?

Longstanding residents who rode out the decline as well as newer faces who enjoy proximity to job centers and the North Atlanta school cluster.

Pros

Nationally acclaimed B’s Cracklin’ Barbeque opened in a former house in the heart of Riverside in 2016. It joins another walkable community staple, Busy Bee Grocery and Deli, as well as a yoga studio, a new fire station, and a new 230-apartment complex called Bolton Park that are enlivening Riverside. If a group of motivated locals (with the support of Park Pride) has its way, the community’s 19-acre Spink-Collins Park will one day be joined by a five-mile, riverfront greenway with trails that would link the BeltLine to the Silver Comet Trail.

Con

The most common complaint among neighbors (especially new ones) is the road-clogging, noisy industrial traffic.

Resident review

“People buying in Riverside like the diversity of their neighbors, the housing stock, and having a big yard. One of the attractions, especially for younger families, is that we share the Buckhead schools.”

— 25-year resident Keith Sharp, who lives in a circa-1890s American Foursquare house

Vital stats

Crime (Annual odds of becoming a victim in the Bolton/Chattahoochee neighborhood as defined by NeighborhoodScout.com)
Violent crime: 1 in 131
Property crime: 1 in 30

Georgia School Grade
North Atlanta High School: B

Crime ratings by NeighborhoodScout.com are based on data collected from more than 18,000 local law enforcement agencies and coded by location. NeighborhoodScout.com is the most widely used neighborhood search engine in the world. It is owned by Location Inc., a leading builder and source of location-based data and tools for businesses and consumers nationwide. NeighborhoodScout areas are based on Census tracts and don’t always exactly mirror neighborhood boundaries.

School grades were provided by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. The office’s Georgia School Grades Reports include “A-F letter grades based on school performance and other useful information about the school, such as performance on statewide assessments, the makeup of the school’s student body, the graduation rate, and additional academic information.” schoolgrades.georgia.gov

This article originally appeared in our February 2018 issue.