Home park should be fairly safe. You wouldn't want to leave your windows open at night or anything... there are some homeless people who are very opportunistic and would not pass up the opportunity to steal something from you if you dont secure it. You can refer back to that link I gave you to the Homepark message board. They often discuss crime issues in their neighborhood. It seems they are very proactive about keeping their neighborhood safe. You wouldn't really need to worry aboug gang shootings or anything.. :wink: Home Park and GT are, of course, right in the heart of a major city, so with a bit of city smarts, you will be perfectly fine. Keep your car locked at all times with the windows up, keep your house secure, don't walk alone at night... just the obvious big-city basics will be enough. The area around Home Park is being developed more and more as time goes on, so there should be less and less crime. Georgia Tech just put up new graduate housing units adjacent to Home Park, Turner Broadcasting is doing some construction to enlarge their facilities, and there are new Georgia Tech facilities being built on that side of campus adjacent to Home Park. There has been a big revitalization in Atlanta in the past 5-10 years, so there are lots of new growth that has helped to push crime and run-down areas away from the midtown region.
A bicycle is probably a better option than just walking, although both are doable. The GT campus is pretty big, so if you need to get from one side to the other, you will probably want something faster than just walking.
http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&sll=33.781172,-84.400567&sspn=0.00832,0.013497&q=Landon+Learning+Ctr+atlanta&cid=33748889,-84388056,12243601431545132802&li=lmd&z=14&t=m
Hopefully that URL will not get malformed, but should give you a good idea about the relative distances between Home Park (I just picked that learning center because it seems to be right in the middle of Home Park) and Georgia Tech. The Georgia Tech bus system should also be able to get you from Home Park to campus. Here is a map of the GT bus system. The "green" route encircles the Home Park area at the north side of the map.
http://www.parking.gatech.edu/info/1_maps__schedules/2_stinger_all_routes.php
However, I find the bus to be a bit slow. If I am in a rush, I never take the bus because I can always get their faster by walking. GT is trying to utilize a GPS system to tell you where the buses are at all times.. I think it's operational, so maybe that could help you in timing your departure so you could catch the bus. I would categorize the bus system at Tech as pretty good. For distances less than half of the campus in length, I find that with a brisk walk, you could either beat or tie the bus. You could also use the Trolley system to get between campus and Technology Square (an extension of Georgia Tech on the other side of the interstate that has the bookstore, retail, food, and other facilities). You can read about the transportation system at Tech at the following link:
http://www.parking.gatech.edu/index.php
You can also read about the parking permit situation. The good thing is, as a graduate student, you should have no problem getting a parking permit since you would have priority over undergraduates. Parking isn't so much a hassle as it is expensive. A yearly pass cost, I think, $520 last year. Expect it to be the same if not a bit higher this coming fall. There are other parking options, such as a commuter pass that allows you to pay a daily rate (I think it's about 4$ per day after getting a $25 dollar permit). This is good if you have a car, but only drive it when its raining or cold or dark or something. I never had a problem finding a spot in my parking garage, but parking anywhere in Atlanta is a big deal.
In terms of what I'm doing.. well.. I'm doing MS Aerospace.. I'm actually the same guy that replied in the Meet & Greet board.. I just never bothered to log in when posting in this board so thats why I'm a guest ...