Decatur, Atlanta: neighborhood guide

Decatur is a city of about 20,000 people and the seat of DeKalb County, founded in 1823 — before Atlanta. It sits just east of Atlanta's Midtown and is hemmed in by the city of Atlanta on its south and west sides, which is why it reads like an in-town neighbourhood rather than a separate town.

The centre is the old courthouse and Decatur Square, ringed by restaurants, bars and mid-rise condos. Around it are historic residential streets, several colleges, and a population that is more mixed than the metro average: a long-standing African-American community, a Greek-American area to the north, and an Indian commercial cluster northeast around Church Street, Scott Boulevard and DeKalb Industrial Boulevard.

The tone is deliberate. Decatur turned down a chance to become the region's rail hub in the 1800s, which is part of why Atlanta grew to the west instead. It still feels like a small city with its own politics and a walkable core.

Stay if you want to park the car once and walk to dinner, and if you are happy to use the MARTA Blue Line for Atlanta's downtown sights. Decatur Station sits under the square, directly behind the courthouse, with an east exit on Church Street for pedestrians and taxis and a west exit on Commerce for buses. Two more stations, East Lake and Avondale, fall inside the city limits.

Skip it if your trip is centred on Midtown, Buckhead or the airport, or if you plan late nights in Atlanta — you will be adding a rail leg each way and watching the last-train time. Skip it too if you want to walk out of your hotel into big-city density; Decatur is quiet after the restaurants close.

A middle option: base in Decatur for two or three nights for food and the square, then move to Midtown or Downtown for the rest of the trip.

Decatur's reputation rests on its restaurants, most of them within a few blocks of the square. Expect Southern cooking, Ethiopian, Indian, Greek and pub food, plus coffee shops that fill with students and remote workers during the day. The square itself is a filming location — it appeared in HBO's Watchmen — so it is busy on weekend evenings.

One practical stop is Your DeKalb Farmers Market at 3000 Ponce de Leon Avenue, a large international grocery with staff from many countries and a cafeteria that closed in 2020 and has since reopened. It is open seven days a week and is worth the trip even if you are not cooking. Check current hours before you go.

For a cheaper meal, look along the edges of downtown and near the colleges rather than on the square itself. Reservations matter on Friday and Saturday nights.

By rail: MARTA's Blue Line runs east–west through Decatur. Decatur Station is under Decatur Square; East Lake and Avondale stations also serve the city. Decatur Station to Five Points takes about 13 minutes. Buses connect from all three stations to points around DeKalb County.

By car: Ponce de Leon Avenue is the direct route from Atlanta but is a slow surface street with many lights. I-285 and I-20 are alternatives. Downtown parking is limited; the city lists off-street lots on its website. Street parking is free after 18:00 Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday — read the signs, since some blocks differ.

By bike: the PATH trail runs from Atlanta through Decatur to Stone Mountain, which makes a car-free day trip possible. Zipcar operates in the downtown area for hourly rentals. Once you leave the square, a car is usually the easier option.