Secret's out: N. Druid Hills great place for singles

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Secret's out: N. Druid Hills great place for singles
Magazine's pronouncement has many scratching their heads

By PAUL DONSKY, TY TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/18/08

The list of top places for singles, according to CNNMoney.com, includes some of the most exciting, trendy spots in America: Cambridge, Mass.; Berkeley, Calif.; Boulder, Colo.

Sitting at No. 9: North Druid Hills.

Joey Ivansco/jivansco@ajc.com

(ENLARGE)

A portion of North Druid Hills contains Emory University.

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That's right, the editors at the New York-based magazine crunched the numbers and determined that the traffic-clogged DeKalb County crossroads area, best known for the sprawling Toco Hill shopping center and 1960s-era ranch homes, is a haven for swingin' singles.

The Web site even refers to "North Druid Hills, Ga." as a "bike-friendly town" with a view of the Atlanta skyline.

Atlanta is home to plenty of hot spots for the unattached – think trendy Midtown, grungy Little Five Points or crunchy Decatur. Atlanta itself ranks 13th on this list.

But family-friendly North Druid Hills? And just what is North Druid Hills, anyway?

Metro Atlantans rarely, if ever, refer to the area by that name. It's really a no-man's land that's close to identifiable places like Emory University, Decatur and Buckhead. Most often, residents just call it Toco Hill.

Money clearly had a problem identifying the area as well. The story posted Friday included a brief description and photo for each of the top 25 places. Glamor shots included funky downtown Hoboken, N.J., just across the river from Manhattan, and the scenic Charles River in Cambridge.

For North Druid Hills, the editors threw up a Google map with a pointer at the intersection of North Druid Hills and LaVista roads, about where the Dunkin' Donuts is located.

Flo Wolf, who lives near the pinpointed spot, paused a moment to weigh the news.

"Uh huh. Well, somebody's been doing some major PR work out there," Wolf said. The former president of the Merry Hills Homeowners Association said her neighborhood is defined by its proximity to a popular synagogue that has been a draw for Orthodox Jewish families.

"Where I live is a very strong, family-oriented community," said Wolf, whose own two sons grew up and moved away.

Alex Garvin, a city planner based in New York, scoffed at the notion that North Druid Hills should rank high for singles.

"There's no street life," said Garvin, who played a key role in the design of Atlanta's Beltline. "There's nowhere for anybody to be."

Garvin studied the North Druid Hills Road corridor as part of a re-imagining of the area for future development — after developer Sembler Co. proposed a massive redevelopment nearby.

He said the area is anything but bike friendly. The only bike lane he found was a 1/3-mile long stretch on Briarcliff Road about a mile to the west. Mostly, what you see is drivers.

"What you see are people in cars going somewhere else," he said. "They don't stay."

North Druid Hills may not rank among the sexiest of places, but it does offer some advantages for singles. Housing is plentiful and affordable, and the area is close to major job centers like Emory University, Midtown and Buckhead.

According to the Web site, of North Druid Hills 20,607 residents, 47.6 percent are single.

Architect Tyrone Higginbottom, 36, said a lot of the single family homes are rentals that attract students from nearby Emory University. But singles like him don't hang out there at night, he said. With Decatur and Buckhead a short drive away, they go elsewhere.

"If they're saying it's like the hot place to be, I can't think of any places at that intersection that I would go to to hang out," Higginbottom said, "but a lot of people in this neighborhood are single."

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Comments

By Elizabeth

Jul 21, 2008 2:16 PM | Link to this

It is possible that they were referring to Druid Hills, one of the lovelier sections of Atlanta, with parks and bike paths on Ponce, and bordered by fabulous Decatur on one end and Poncey-Highlands, with its coffee shops, new Urban Outfitters, Plaza Theater, and restaurants on the other. It IS a great part of town for singles and families alike.

By Elizabeth

Jul 21, 2008 2:16 PM | Link to this

It is possible that they were referring to Druid Hills, one of the lovelier sections of Atlanta, with parks and bike paths on Ponce, and bordered by fabulous Decatur on one end and Poncey-Highlands, with its coffee shops, new Urban Outfitters, Plaza Theater, and restaurants. It IS a great part of town for singles and families alike.

By Elizabeth

Jul 21, 2008 2:15 PM | Link to this

It is possible that they were referring to Druid Hills, one of the lovelier sections of Atlanta, with parks and bike paths on Ponce, and bordered by fabulous Decatur on one end and Poncey-Highlands, with its coffee shops, new Urban Outfitters, Plaza Theater, and restaurants. It IS a great part of town for singles and families alike.

By Elizabeth

Jul 21, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this

It is possible that they were referring to Druid Hills, one of the lovelier sections of Atlanta, with parks and bike paths on Ponce, and bordered by fabulous Decatur on one end and Poncey-Highlands, with its coffee shops, new Urban Outfitters, Plaza Theater, and restaurants. It IS a great part of town for singles and families alike.

By sane jane

Jul 19, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this

Nobody's confusing VaHi with Toco Hills or any other neighborhood, and if you'd actually read the thread you would have seen that Cynic and I were just discussing our favorite neighborhoods & happened to agree on those two. Sheesh.

And I have much love for Oxford kids - I transferred to Emory & thank god I found them. The closest thing to normal, southern college kids (I'm from another part of Georgia) that I was expecting more of.

Wow, pay attention much?

Or do you just presume everybody's always attacking you?

By Grace

Jul 19, 2008 12:16 PM | Link to this

Who cares?

By tex

Jul 19, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this

I lived at Lavista and Briarcliff for a while. I'd concur that overall it's not an ultra hip swinging area, but I did do a lot of good bike riding all around the area, and the 'logistics' of the area are excellent--it's very quick and easy to get to 400,I85, Stone Mtn, VaHi, midtown, etc.

I found Toco, as Jewish single, to be a great place to live. For the rest, I don't know, but our singles tend to live within a 3 -4 mile radius of that area to a good extent.

By yeahright

Jul 18, 2008 11:45 PM | Link to this

The word must be out about that jiggy place down at clairmont and 85- the PURE nightclub. With people like Paris Hilton hangin' and now them kicking out the old folks at willimasburg then must be tryin to run the old folks off and say this is for the singles. spinin it somewhere

By martha

Jul 18, 2008 11:31 PM | Link to this

well living here forever there is the "druid hills area" down the road the "toco hills area" on the other side of 85 "lenox area" one direction on briarcliff the "emory area" in the other direction "the northlake area" blah blah blah -- but "druid hills area" for singles!! HA! bike riding friendly!! HA! too funny -- i have a feeling whoever made up this list scanned something somewhere to come to this conclusion because they certainly didn't come here to look around or ask anyone!!!!

By molly

Jul 18, 2008 9:48 PM | Link to this

I live in the neighborhood and am a single mom. It has great schools, close to Emory (where I work) and VERY affordable in-town living. No we aren't in Va. Highlands, Midtown or Buckhead but only a short drive to all. So we can access all we want and have affordable living. It is actually a community neighborhood, I know almost everyone on my street. People are out and about riding bikes and walking in the neighborhoods, not the main roads. I think it is based on location and ease of getting places, not the bars.

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