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Druid Hills 30307 (City of Atlanta and unincorporated DeKalb county) Druid Hills is one of Atlanta's most desirable neighborhoods with exceptionally fine homes on huge lots that routinely bring prices well into the millions of dollars. This neighborhood has attracted Atlanta's affluent families since its inception, and features some of the city's best residential architecture along its beautiful, park-like streets. The neighborhood was developed at the turn of the 20th century and later served as the backdrop for the movie Driving Miss Daisy. The Druid Hills Civic Association is a strong community group that has vigorously defended the neighborhood against all threats to the existing quality of life. The group is active and committed, and maintains excellent communication among residents. Frederick Law Olmsted (the father of American landscape architecture and designer of New York's Central Park) laid out the neighborhood around a series of linear parks along Ponce de Leon Avenue. The Olmsted Linear Park Alliance formed in recent years to save and restore this ribbon of greenspace. This parkway connects to The Path, a multi-use urban trail popular with walkers, runners, cyclists and bladers, which extends east to Stone Mountain and west into Downtown Atlanta and beyond. In addition to the linear parks, other recreational amenities in the area include the Druid Hills Golf Club (a private membership club by invitation only) and nearby Candler Park, which is an excellent public park with executive length golf course and swimming pool among other amenities. This area of town is also home to the Fernbank family of institutions, including the magnificent Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the Fernbank Science Center and Planetarium, and the 65-acre old growth Fernbank Forest. This area is also home to the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, which is located on Briarcliff Road in a neo-gothic mansion built by Charles Howard Candler, the eldest son of Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler. Callanwolde features a wide range of programming in visual and performing arts as well as classes. Because the Druid Hills neighborhood wraps around the Emory University campus, residents of the neighborhood greatly benefit from the amenities of the university. Emory has a beautiful campus and offers many activities to the public, including a range of public performances at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts as well as frequent recitals and other events at Glenn Memorial Church; continuing education classes; and access to memberships at its fitness center. The Emory Campus is also home to Emory Hospital, the Emory Clinic, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Egleston campus. Adjacent to the Emory campus is also the campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the headquarters of major non-profit institutions including the American Cancer Society and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Atlanta's VA Hospital is also located just beyond the eastern border of the Emory campus (on Clairmont Road). Emory Village is a small business district outside the front entrance of Emory University. It features a number of restaurants, a drugstore, an excellent meat market, and a couple of gas stations as well as some shops and service businesses. Other nearby business districts include: the Sage Hill Shopping Center and Zonolite Road business district; the Virginia-Highland business district; and Little Five Points. Parts of the Druid Hills neighborhood are located inside the City of Atlanta and parts are in unincorporated DeKalb county. This, of course, affects property taxes as well as government services and school attendance zones. Children who live inside the Atlanta city limits in Druid Hills are generally in the Mary Lin Elementary, Inman Middle, Grady High School attendance zone. Children living in the unincorporated DeKalb county parts of the neighborhood generally attend either Fernbank Elementary (across the street from Fernbank Science Center) or Briar Vista Elementary (a public school that uses Montessori teaching methods). Children at both these elementary schools proceed to Shamrock Middle School and Druid Hills High School. There are also a number of private schools in this area, including Paideia; the Howard School; and the Ben Franklin Academy. Where is it? Google Map Google Satellite Neighborhood Association Druid Hills Civic Association Alliance to Improve Emory Village Nearby Shopping Emory Village Sage Hill Shopping Center Zonolite Road Business District Virginia-Highland Little Five Points Arts & Recreation Callanwolde Fine Arts Center Schwartz Center for Performing Arts (Emory) Carlos Museum (Emory) Fernbank Museum of Natural History Fernbank Forest Fernbank Science Center Druid Hills Golf Club (private) Olmsted Linear Parks The Path Candler Park Emory Student Academic & Activity Center Transportation MARTA bus routes (2, 6, 45) Public Schools City of Atlanta Mary Lin Elementary Inman Middle School Grady High School DeKalb County Briar Vista Elementary (public Montessori) Fernbank Elementary Shamrock Middle Druid Hills High Private Schools Ben Franklin Academy The Howard School The Paideia School |
