Virginia-Highland Neighborhood Tour - the most WALKABLE community in ATLANTA!!
The Virginia-Highland neighborhood is inside the perimeter of I-285 in the Northeast quadrant of Atlanta. That means it's north of I-20 that runs east and west through Georgia and east of the I-75 / I-85 connector that runs north and south through Georgia. I-75 and I-85 merge or "connect" inside the City of Atlanta and is commonly referred to as the Downtown Connector.
The neighborhood gets its name from the main intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Highland Avenue. It was founded in the early 20th Century as a streetcar suburb. The Atlanta Downtown Central Business district is just down Highland Avenue about 2 miles while Virginia Avenue takes you to Midtown and Piedmont Park. The neighborhood has 3 smaller neighborhood parks within its boundary.
It's a front porch, neighborhood festival community. The neighborhood association hosts one of the City's oldest festivals every summer, Summerfest along with Tour of Homes in the fall.
Virginia-Highland borders the Atlanta Beltline Eastside Trail to the west which is one of the largest inner city redevelopments in the country. Ponce de Leon to the south, the Morningside neighborhood on the north and Briarcliff Road to the East.
There is a thriving commercial district made up of bars, restaurants and retail shops. Highland Tap is a locally owned steakhouse that serves martini's with a side car. There is also Fontaine's Oyster House, Moe's and Joe's (home of the PBR tall boy) and many other main stay restaurants. Dakota J's is a locally owned clothing boutique. Highland Woodworking gets shoppers from all over the region. You can rent a bike at Atlanta Pro Bikes and tour the neighborhood and get to the Eastside Trail very easy.
The oldest operating fire station in the City (Station #19) built in 1924 sits in the heart of the neighborhood. Recently the community rallied to fund the refurbishing of the building when the City wanted to demo the entire footprint and build some modern non-conforming structure.
Homes here were built around 1920 and are mostly bungalow style with front porches. Recent years have seen roofs popped off those bungalows to make room for growing families. The real estate market is HOT! There is low inventory. Prices start around $550,000 for single family homes. There are townhomes and condos starting around $250,000. A couple of new condo developments are in the planning stage. If you're looking to live in a walkable intown community with lots of outdoor activity then this is one neighborhood you should a close look at.
