East Chastain Park

This tiny slice of north Atlanta delivers pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a strip of streetscape sandwiched between Chastain Park and North Buckhead. So go ahead and read the SA reviews for its neighboring neighborhoods (you can get a pretty complete portrait of this oddly defined pocket ‘hood that way), but read on for a few specifically East Chastain highlights that, I assume, are responsible for the codification of this less than two-mile long, less than one-mile wide tract as a distinct Atlanta address.

For one, housing appears to be slightly more affordable here than across the Roswell Rd and certainly the Powers Ferry Rd borders - especially if you’re not opposed to posting up in a Post apartment (one of Atlanta’s most ubiquitous multi-family housing builders). The Post Chastain apartments are roughly in the center of East Chastain, across the street from the lovely Blue Heron Nature Preserve and complete with pool, fitness center, blah blah blah for those who dig the whole “all-inclusive amenities" thing. East Chastain is also more commercial than either of its neighbors, which prefer to dedicate their real estate to million-plus dollar homes, private schools, and property-value-enhancing green spaces. Roswell Rd in particular constitutes a major thoroughfare for the area, with traffic getting pretty ugly around rush hour and pick-up/drop-off-the-kids-at-school time. Family-friendly restaurants are plentiful (I highly recommend Taxco – pronounced TAH-sko, please – for authentic Mexican; a gift from the significant Hispanic population here), while a few reasonably well-patronized strip malls provide shopping/dining destinations for those who don’t feel like driving into ‘town’ or OTP.

All in all, I’d say East Chastain is best viewed as a budget alternative for people who really want to live in “real” Chastain or N. Buckhead, but just can’t quite make the mortgage payments – possibly because they are already paying way too much for that private school tuition. Cheers!