North Decatur, Georgia
Encyclopedia
North Decatur is a census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

 (CDP) in DeKalb County
DeKalb County, Georgia
DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population of the county was 691,893 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is the city of Decatur. It is bordered to the west by Fulton County and contains roughly 10% of the city of Atlanta...

, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 16,698 at the 2010 census.

Geography

North Decatur is located at 33°48′11"N 84°17′24"W (33.803054, -84.290123).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the CDP has a total area of 5.0 square miles (12.9 km²), all of it land. The North Decatur CDP's boundaries are:
  • South: the city of Decatur
    Decatur, Georgia
    Decatur is a city in, and county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. With a population of 19,335 in the 2010 census, the city is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple zip codes in unincorporated DeKalb County bear the Decatur name...

  • West: CSX railroad and Clairemont Road, across which are the North Druid Hills
    North Druid Hills, Georgia
    North Druid Hills, known alternatively as Briarcliff, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,947 at the 2010 census. The center of the area is the intersection of Briarcliff and North Druid Hills roads...

     and Druid Hills
    Druid Hills, Georgia
    Druid Hills is a community which includes both a census-designated place in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, as well as a neighborhood of the city of Atlanta. The CDP's population was 14,568 at the 2010 census...

     CDPs
  • North: LaVista Road and Pangborn Road, across which are neighborhoods mostly inside the Tucker
    Tucker, Georgia
    Tucker is a census-designated place in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 27,581 at the 2010 Census. Although central Tucker, also known as "Main Street Tucker", is laid out as a planned "railroad town," it has never been formally incorporated. Municipal services such as...

     CCD
  • East: Lawrenceville Highway and DeKalb Industrial Way, across which is mostly the Scottdale CDP
    Scottdale, Georgia
    Scottdale is a census-designated place in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 10,631 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...

    .


Vista Grove
Vista Grove, Georgia
Vista Grove is an unincorporated residential community in central DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, located north and northeast of the Atlanta suburb of Decatur. It is also referred to as Oak Grove, although Oak Grove more properly refers to the central neighborhood rather than the greater...

, which includes neighborhoods located around the intersection of LaVista Road and Oak Grove Road, is generally considered to be the community north of North Decatur. However, Vista Grove's neighborhoods that are south and southwest of LaVista Road technically lie within the North Decatur CDP.

There is no true center to North Decatur; there are three commercial clusters at corners of the CDP:
  • The student-oriented commercial district at Clairemont Road and North Decatur Road at the southwest corner of the CDP
  • the Toco Hills retail cluster at North Druid Hills Road and Lavista Road at the northwest corner, and
  • North DeKalb Mall and adjacent shopping centers along Lawrenceville Highway at the northeast corner of the district.


Toco Hills, a de facto commercial center for several CDPs north of the city of Decatur, has grown from a country store in 1950, with a single gas pump and a pot-bellied stove, to multiple shopping centers, coffee houses, houses of worship and townhouses.

North Decatur primarily consists of 1950's- and 1960's-era ranch homes, although condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...

s are increasingly being developed in this community. Its close proximity to Atlanta's Midtown and Buckhead districts, as well as Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...

 and Decatur, makes it a desirable "in-town" location for what was originally developed as a suburban community.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 15,270 people, 7,974 households, and 3,333 families residing in the CDP. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 3,054.0 people per square mile (1,179.2/km²). There were 8,387 housing units at an average density of 1,677.4/sq mi (647.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 83.79% White, 8.04% African American, 0.25% Native American, 5.73% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.65% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.81% of the population.

There were 7,974 households out of which 14.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 58.2% were non-families. 45.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.85 and the average family size was 2.61.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 12.6% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 36.2% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 77.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.4 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $50,047, and the median income for a family was $66,073. Males had a median income of $46,753 versus $38,955 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the CDP was $33,739. About 3.6% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

History

An early settler in this part of DeKalb County was Chapman Powell, whose "Medicine House" cabin was built near 1218 Clairmont Road. (It has been preserved and relocated to Stone Mountain Park.) Dr. Powell (1798-1870) owned most of the land in the Candler Lake and South Fork Peachtree Creek
Peachtree Creek
Peachtree Creek is a major stream in Atlanta. It flows for almost due west into the Chattahoochee River just south of Vinings. Like other "Peachtree" names in the area, the name is most likely a corruption of "pitch tree", from the area's many pines and their sticky sap.Peachtree Creek is an...

 area during his lifetime. His land was later purchased by Walter Candler.

Ezekiel Mason built a mill on the east side of Clairmont Road on Burnt Fork Creek. DeKalb County's Mason Mill Park is named after Ezekiel Mason.

Education

DeKalb County Schools
DeKalb County School System
DeKalb County School System is a school district headquartered at 1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States...

 serves the CDP. Some residents are zoned to Laurel Ridge Elementary School, while other residents are zoned to Medlock Elementary School; both are in the North Decatur CDP. Residents zoned to Laurel Ridge and Medlock are also zoned to Shamrock Middle School (in the North Decatur CDP) and Druid Hills High School
Druid Hills High School
Druid Hills High School is a high school operated by the DeKalb County School System. It is located at 1798 Haygood Drive, in the Druid Hills CDP in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States...

 (in the Druid Hills CDP
Druid Hills, Georgia
Druid Hills is a community which includes both a census-designated place in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, as well as a neighborhood of the city of Atlanta. The CDP's population was 14,568 at the 2010 census...

).

Neighborhoods

  • Clairmont Heights. Located roughly between North Decatur Rd, Clairmont Rd, Mason Mill Park, and Willivee Dr.
  • Country Squire Court. Located off of Pangborn Rd., SE of the railroad tracks.
  • Druid Lake. New upscale neighborhood off North Druid Hills Rd., surrounded by North Druid Valley.
  • Leafmore-Creek Park Hills. Neighborhood located between North Druid Hills Rd., Clairmont Rd., LaVista Rd. & the railroad tracks
  • Medlock Park. The neighborhood located north of North Druid Hills and east of Scott Blvd., around the DeKalb County park of the same name.
  • North Druid Valley. Small neighborhood centered on Homewood Court, south of North Druid Hills Rd.
  • North Druid Woods. Large neighborhood NW of the intersection of North Druid Hills Rds. & Lawrenceville Hwy.
  • Ridgeland Park. Located between North Decatur Rd. and Decatur’s city limits.
  • Springdale Heights. Located off of Sycamore Heights in the Decatur Heights community.
  • University Heights. Neighborhood located north of North Decatur Rd. around Willivee.
  • Valley Brook Estates. Neighborhood between Lawrenceville Highway & Stone Mountain Freeway, near East Ponce de Leon, & off McLendon.
  • Winston Place. A condo complex off of LaVista.

Parks

  • Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve, 2580 Pine Bluff Dr. A nature preserve between Medlock Park, University Heights and the Medlock neighborhood.
  • Mason Mill Park, 1340 McConnell Dr. 111 acre (0.44920146 km²) DeKalb County park with tennis courts, recreation center, picnic area and trails. Also view the ruins of the 1906 Decatur Water Works, used by the City of Decatur as a drinking water source until the 1940s.
  • Medlock Park, 874 Gaylemont Cir. 39 acres (157,827.5 m²) Dekalb County park with baseball & softball fields, multi-use field, multi-use court, playground, swimming pool and picnic area.

Transportation

  • LaVista Road. Northern boundary of North Decatur CDP.
  • Lawrenceville Highway. Primary access from Interstate 285, and the eastern boundary of the North Decatur CDP.
  • North Decatur Rd. Primary E-W road providing access from Emory University.
  • North Druid Hills Rd. Primary NW-SE road that provides access from Interstate 85 and Stone Mountain Freeway, respectively.

Churches

  • Clairmont Hills Baptist Church (SBC), 1995 Clairmont Rd.
  • North Decatur United Methodist Church (UMC), 1523 Church St.
  • North Decatur Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 611 Medlock Rd.
  • Scott Boulevard Baptist Church (CBF), 2532 N Decatur Rd.
  • St. Paul Baptist Church, 1396 Nelms Dr.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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