Decatur

My take

Decatur isn’t a neighborhood. It’s its own city of about four square miles, older than Atlanta, with its own government and a school system it has run since 1901. The first thing I check is the city line: tens of thousands of homes have a Decatur mailing address but sit in unincorporated DeKalb, with different schools and different taxes. Inside the line, the square is the center of town.

On foot

Built for walking. Two MARTA stations are inside the city, Decatur (on the square) and Avondale, and East Lake sits right on the Atlanta line. The PATH Stone Mountain Trail runs through town, west toward Atlanta and east toward Stone Mountain.

1. The squareRenovated for the 2026 World Cup: a performance stage where the old gazebo stood, new turf, a playground and public restrooms, in front of the Old Courthouse (built in 1898 and rebuilt inside its granite walls after a 1916 fire).
2. MAK Historic DistrictDecatur’s first local historic district: Craftsman homes on McDonough, Adams and Kings Highway, built after developers bought the land in 1907. Many were designed by Leila Ross Wilburn, Georgia’s second registered woman architect.
3. OakhurstBriefly its own town before Decatur annexed it in the 1910s. Walk the bungalow streets to Oakhurst Village at East Lake Drive and Oakview Road, and come back in October for Porchfest.
4. Decatur CemeteryDating to the city’s founding in 1823, it’s the oldest known publicly owned burial ground in metro Atlanta, a few blocks northeast of the square on Bell Street.

What I’d walk to

Dinner & drinks

Kimball House (in the 1891 rail depot), Brick Store Pub, The Iberian Pig, Chai Pani, Leon’s Full Service, and Fawn, a wine and amaro bar.

Books & music

Little Shop of Stories, the children’s bookstore on the square, and Eddie’s Attic, the songwriter listening room.

Getting around

Decatur station is on the square, about 14 minutes by train to Five Points.

Every year

The free Decatur Book Festival and Oakhurst Porchfest, both in early October.

What it’s like

Housing stock

Craftsman bungalows and early-1900s houses in MAK and Oakhurst, condos near the square, and newer infill.

Prices

Online “Decatur” numbers often mix in homes outside the city, so ask me for recent sales inside city limits.

Commute

About 6 miles to Downtown or Midtown, 3 to Emory and 16 to the airport. Or take the train: about 14 minutes to Five Points.

Schools

City Schools of Decatur, only for homes inside city limits: College Heights for early childhood, five K-2 schools, Fifth Avenue and Talley Street for grades 3 to 5, Beacon Hill Middle and Decatur High.

Worth knowing

• Decatur was incorporated in 1823 and named for Stephen Decatur, the naval hero of the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812.
• The Eastern Continental Divide runs through town along the railroad tracks. Rain on one side heads for the Atlantic, on the other for the Gulf.
• The story that Decatur turned away the railroad, and so created Atlanta, is probably a myth. The terrain likely decided the route.

What to watch for

Check the city line before anything else; the tax bill shows whether a house is in the City of Decatur. You pay DeKalb County and City of Decatur taxes, and your school tax goes to City Schools of Decatur. File the homestead exemption with the city separately, by April 1, even if you already filed with DeKalb. MAK, Clairemont, Ponce de Leon Court, Old Decatur and Parkwood have historic design review. And since 2022 you can’t take down a healthy tree at will; a diseased or hazardous tree needs a city permit backed by a certified arborist’s report.

Homes for sale here

Live listings for Decatur land here once the listings page is up. See what I have listed in the meantime.