lindbergh center
Lindbergh Center is a neighborhood located halfway between Midtown Atlanta and Buckhead and is one of the first true transit oriented developments in the Atlanta region. Atlanta is in no way a city you can live car free, but Lindbergh is definitely somewhere you can get by with very little driving.
What makes car-lite living in Lindbergh possible is the proximity to MARTA. Both the red and orange lines stop at Lindbergh Center, providing seamless access to locations such as Midtown, Downtown, and the airport. Heading southbound you will not have to wait more than a few minutes for a train. Travel times are roughly 6 minutes to Midtown, 11 minutes to Five Points, and 28 minutes to the airport. This makes commuting to Midtown and Downtown a breeze, especially in conjunction with a micromobility device. Georgia Tech is located about a half mile from the Midtown MARTA while Georgia State is located right along MARTA. Thus, taking MARTA to Lindbergh you will see a diverse group of people including students, young professionals, and travelers heading to the airport. As a bonus, between Arts Center and Lindbergh, you will get a great view of drivers stuck in traffic on I85.
Lindbergh is surrounded by numerous low-midrise apartment buildings and a few townhomes. Prices are a bit higher than average for the Atlanta region but much lower than TODs in the northeast and west coast. Prices range from about $1150-$1500 for a studio/1 bedroom and $1500-$2000 for a 2 bedroom. Even though prices are slightly higher than average for the region, you do get a lot of value for your money, especially considering how apartments are generally larger than similar priced ones in Midtown.
Lindbergh has a decent amount of green space that is heavily used by the neighborhood. Station soccer is located adjacent to the MARTA station and is frequently full of both younger kids and adults, even later into the evening. There is also a playground near station soccer along with a large lawn. The lawn at uptown is another public green space that that also includes some art and picnic tables. Even though it does get quite hot in Atlanta, the tree lined streets all across Lindbergh make the heat quite bearable.
Within a walkable distance around the Lindbergh Center MARTA station is an assortment of fast and sit-down food options. It is absolutely possible to walk between them; however, it is not the most relaxing walk because the majority of food places are situated inside strip malls or large parking lots. There is also a giant stroad (Piedmont Rd) in the middle of the neighborhood which creates more hassle walking/biking than you would expect. Crosswalk signals seem to take an eternity to change, assuming the push buttons work, not to mention how walking along Piedmont Rd is extremely loud and uninviting. There is a Target that you can walk to, which does satisfy most everyday shopping needs, however you don’t have a proper grocery store you can get to without biking or taking MARTA.
Lindbergh Center is a nice neighborhood you can live without much driving on an everyday basis, but there are still some gaps that a car would be nice to fill. Obviously, you can find better urbanism in other regions such as Washington DC or San Francisco, but that would come at double or triple the cost of an apartment in Lindbergh. To put it simply, living in Lindbergh gives you access to everything Atlanta has to offer but without the headache of sitting in traffic every day.