Chamblee, Georgia

Chamblee (SHAM-blee) is a city in northern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,892 at the 2010 census.[7]

This article is about the city. For the surname, see Chamblee (surname).

Chamblee, Georgia
City
A welcome to Chamblee sign
Motto(s):  "A City on the Right Track"[1]
Location in DeKalb County and the state of Georgia
Chamblee Chamblee in Metro Atlanta
Coordinates: 33°53′15″N 84°18′19″W
Country	United States
State	Georgia
County	DeKalb
Area [2]
• Total	7.70 sq mi (19.94 km^2)
• Land	7.69 sq mi (19.93 km^2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.02 km^2)
Elevation	1,020 ft (311 m)
Population  (2010)[3]
• Total	9,892
• Estimate  (2019)[4]	30,307
• Density	3,939.56/sq mi (1,521.05/km^2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	30341, 30366
Area code(s)	770
FIPS code	13-15172[5]
GNIS feature ID	0331371[6]
Website	The City of Chamblee, Georgia Website

History

The area that would later become Chamblee was originally dairy farms. During the late nineteenth century, an intersection of two railroads was constructed in Chamblee; one carried passengers from Atlanta to Charlotte, North Carolina, while the other ferried workers and goods back and forth from a factory in Roswell to Atlanta. A settlement known as Roswell Junction emerged at the intersection, and the United States Postal Service decided to establish a post office there. However, feeling the name of the settlement was too similar to nearby Roswell, they randomly selected Chamblee from a list of petitioners for the new post office name.[8] Chamblee was incorporated in 1907.[9]

During World War I and World War II, Chamblee served as the site of U.S. military operations. During World War I, the U.S. operated Camp Gordon, home to 40,000 servicemen. This influx of new people created a building boom in the town. Camp Gordon was closed after the war and then re-opened as Navy Flight Training Center at the advent of World War II.[9]

Immediately after World War II, Chamblee experienced growth in blue-collar industry and residents due to its proximity to the newly opened General Motors plant in neighboring Doraville. Manufacturing plants also located along the newly constructed Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. By the 1980s, much of the city's industrial base had downsized or eroded; in its place sprung multi-ethnic business that catered to the immigrants and refugees moving to Chamblee and Doraville en masse due to the cities' affordable housing. By the time of the 1996 Summer Olympics, Chamblee had emerged as a multi-cultural city inhabited by a large immigrant community.[9]

During the first decade of the 2000s, the city grew as it refined its image, constructing a new city hall in 2002. In 2010, Chamblee annexed an area directly to the northwest that includes Huntley Hills and a resident population of approximately 5,000. It also renamed Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to Peachtree Boulevard, and took steps to revitalize its downtown.

In 2012 the city had an annexation proposal that was voted down by a small margin. In November 2013 the city had another annexation proposal that was passed by voters.[10]

Circa 2014 the city and Brookhaven had a dispute over which city will annex the Century Center development. The courts gave Century Center to Chamblee.[11]

Geography

Chamblee is south of Dunwoody, southwest of Doraville, northeast of Brookhaven, and north of Interstate 85. The city is located at 33°53′15″N 84°18′19″W (33.887552, -84.305326).[12] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.0 km²), all land.

Transportation

Major roads and expressways

• US 23
• I-85
• SR 141

Mass transit

Xpress GA / RTA commuter buses and MARTA heavy rail subway and buses serve the county.

• Chamblee (MARTA station)

Pedestrians and cycling

Currently, there are plans for the construction of a multi-use trail, known as the Peachtree Creek Greenway. The goal of the greenway is to provide residents with close-to-home and close-to-work access to bicycle and pedestrian trails, serve transportation and recreation needs, and help encourage quality of life and sustainable economic growth. The trail will connect the cities of Atlanta, Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1910	129		—
1920	253		96.1%
1930	893		253.0%
1940	1,081		21.1%
1950	3,445		218.7%
1960	6,635		92.6%
1970	9,127		37.6%
1980	7,137		−21.8%
1990	7,668		7.4%
2000	9,552		24.6%
2010	9,892		3.6%
Est. 2019	30,307	[4]	206.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[13]

As of the 2010 Census Chamblee had a population of 9,892. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 45.0% white (19.0% non-Hispanic white), 7.0% black or African American (6.2% non-Hispanic black), 2.1% Native American (0.2% non-Hispanic Native American), 8.0% Asian (1.8% Vietnamese, 1.6% Asian Indian, 4.6% other Asian), 33.5% from some other race (0.2% non-Hispanic from some other race) and 4.1% reporting two or more races. 58.5% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.[14]

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 9,552 people, 2,673 households, and 1,849 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,043.3 people per square mile (1,174.5/km²). There were 2,730 housing units at an average density of 869.8 per square mile (335.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 45.36% White, 3.71% African American, 0.91% Native American, 13.98% Asian, 0.32% Pacific Islander, 31.45% from other races, and 4.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 56.37% of the population.

There were 2,673 households, out of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 15.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.57 and the average family size was 3.65.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.2% under the age of 18, 17.9% from 18 to 24, 41.0% from 25 to 44, 12.8% from 45 to 64, and 5.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 161.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 176.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $45,992. Males had a median income of $22,024 versus $22,368 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,492. About 15.8% of families and 22.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over. In addition, 16.7% of families reported a household income higher than $100,000.

Neighborhoods

City Hall Park in Downtown Chamblee

• Downtown: Downtown Chamblee has been preserved has an early 20th-century railroad community. Many of the buildings are of historic vintage, and the district has architectural similarities to other similar former railroad communities, such as Decatur and Norcross. Much of the downtown businesses are devoted to Chamblee's antique industry, but that has been changing. The district has attracted significant commercial development since 2000, including lofts and townhomes. The Chamblee MARTA Station and City Hall are both located downtown.[15]
• Sexton Woods: Partially in Chamblee and partially in neighboring city Brookhaven, Sexton Woods is mixed neighborhood of 1950's ranch style homes and more recently new craftsman style infill housing. Sexton Woods is bordered by Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, Harts Mill Road, and Ashford Dunwoody Road. Sexton Woods is also the home of Chamblee Middle School, located on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road until 2006.
• Keswick Village: Adjacent to Sexton Woods, Keswick Village, originally built in 1950, is a quaint neighborhood of renovated original homes and craftsman style infill housing. It is adjacent to Keswick Park, the second largest park in the city.
• Clairmont Park: Residential neighborhoods along Clairmont Road, south of Peachtree Boulevard, near Peachtree Dekalb Airport.
• Huntley Hills: Huntley Hills is a neighborhood established in the early 1960s, though the first house was built on Plantation Lane in 1950. Huntley Hills Elementary School is located in the middle of the neighborhood. Huntley Hills Elementary has a Montessori program added during the 2000–2001 school year[16] and was opened on August 21, 1964. Huntley hills also has a wide range of special needs programs for children ranging from high to low disorders.[17]
• Beverly Hills/Beverly Woods: Beverly Hills/Beverly Woods is a neighborhood established in the early 1950s in a portion of Chamblee that annexed into the city in 2013. Many houses in this area were built as housing for the Doraville GM plant employees that worked nearby. This neighborhood borders Chamblee-Tucker Road, Shallowford Road, and Beverly Hills Drive. Mostly Mid Century ranch style and split level houses with minimal infill housing as of 2017.

Biggar Antiques on Antique Row

Atlanta Chinatown

According to Biz Journal, the Atlanta metropolitan area is home to an "... estimated 50,000 Chinese-Americans...." This suburb of Atlanta, Georgia is home to a Chinatown (Chinese: 亚特兰大唐人街; pinyin: Yàtélándà tángrénjiē) that was built in 1988,[18][19] and is one of the first of the "New Chinatowns" according to the World Journal. Although the city of Atlanta itself does not have a "Chinatown", Chamblee's Chinatown mall is referred to as "Atlanta Chinatown." The neighborhood is part of the Buford Highway international market area and is located near the Chamblee MARTA station and New Peachtree Road.[20] According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), refers to this "Chinatown Mall" as "... Atlanta's place for Chinese culture." [21] According to the official website, "Atlanta Chinatown" is located at 5379 New Peachtree Road.[22] According to the Huffington Post, this Chinatown is an example of a "modern Chinatown", with Albany,[23] Las Vegas, Dallas-Richardson, and North Miami Beach, Florida referenced as similar examples, with regard to the quality of Chinese food.[24] There is an annual Chinese New Year event that is held to celebrate the festival.[25] The author further states that Atlanta's Chinatown is "... unlike many older cities" which exists in an urban setting. Atlanta's Chinatown according to her is "... in a strip mall" setting.[26] Bonnie Tsui further states in her book that the new Chinatowns rely on the Chinatown being built before the Chinese population comes as she quoted about Las Vegas' Chinatown.[23]

The Atlanta Chinatown market open August 8, 1988, and was further expanded in 1996 with fresh immigrants from Beijing. [27] According to the previous source, Atlanta's Chinatown has bakeries, restaurants, cosmetics, bookstores, newspaper →and many other Chinese stores. The Chinatown is currently managed by Rochelle Anthony, who is an African American.

According to Biz Journal, Atlanta Chinatown was completely redone in the year 2000 by developer Peter Chang, who purchased the old "Chinatown Square Mall". The plans call for "...the 65,000-square-foot mall [to include] a Chinese food court which contains 7 vendors, two dine-in restaurants, several offices, a Dinho Supermarket, gift shops, a bookstore, jewelers, a video rental store, a beauty salon and other retailers. It will be part of the International Village project, a 375-acre live and work community with a global theme that is being developed by local business leaders, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, DeKalb County and the city of Chamblee."[28] According to this article, the plans are to make Atlanta Chinatown a tourist destination rather than it just being another shopping mall.

Government and infrastructure

Former FBI Atlanta Field Office

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Atlanta Field Office was previously located in Chamblee.[29][30] Its current location, on the grounds of Mercer University Atlanta Campus, elsewhere in DeKalb County, opened in 2017.[31]

Education

Chamblee Charter High School

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

The DeKalb County School System serves Chamblee.[32]

Elementary[33]

• Huntley Hills Elementary School, a public Montessori school (Chamblee)
• Dresden Elementary School (Chamblee)
• Ashford Park Elementary School (Brookhaven)
• Montclair Elementary School (Brookhaven)
• Montgomery Elementary School (Brookhaven)

Kittredge Magnet School for High Achievers is in Brookhaven.

Middle schools[34]

• Chamblee Middle School
• Sequoyah Middle School (Doraville, serves a section of southern Chamblee)

High schools[35]

• Chamblee Charter High School
• Cross Keys High School (Brookhaven, serves a section of southern Chamblee)

Henderson High School served residents of Chamblee until closed in mid-1990s.

Private schools

• St. Pius X High School

In the 2005-2006 school year the administration of Sophia Academy, previously in Sandy Springs, sought to establish a new campus and did a capital campaign. Construction began circa 2007.[36] The new campus, in DeKalb County, was annexed into Chamblee.[37][38] Sophia merged into Notre Dame Academy in Duluth, Georgia effective August 2017.[39]

Public libraries

DeKalb County Public Library operates the Chamblee Branch. Embry Hills Library is located in Chamblee.[40]

In historical popular culture

Chamblee has been referred to as "Chambodia" with racist connotations due to its high Asian population and the concentration of Asian restaurants along Buford Highway. A chapter of Tom Wolfe's novel A Man in Full is titled "Chambodia".[41][42]

References

1. "The City of Chamblee, Georgia". The City of Chamblee, Georgia. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
2. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2013-05-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
5. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
6. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
7. "Race, Hispanic or Latino, Age, and Housing Occupancy: 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File (QT-PL), Chamblee city, Georgia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
8. Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 38. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-12-27. Retrieved 2012-01-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "Chamblee Grows With, Gears Up for Annexation". The Signal. The City of Chamblee. January 2014. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
11. Kinch, Dionne (2014-10-27). "Chamblee officially claims Century Center". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
12. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
13. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
14. 2010 general profile of population and housing characteristics of Chamblee from the US Census]
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-04-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
16. Huntley Hills Montessori program http://schools.dekalb.k12.ga.us/huntleyhills/about/montessori.html Archived 2010-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
17. Special needs programs http://www.redfin.com/school/29842/GA/Chamblee/Huntley-Hills-Elementary-School
18. Unrelated kin: race and gender in women's personal narratives.
19. Jianli Zhao. Strangers in the City: The Atlanta Chinese, Their Community, and Stories of.
20. "中國城頂好超級市場 ("Chinatown top good supermarkets")". Archived from the original on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2015-06-05.
21. "Chinese culture in Atlanta".
22. "Atlanta Chinatown". Archived from the original on 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2015-06-05.
23. Bonnie Tsui. American Chinatown: A People's History of Five Neighborhoods.
24. "The Best Chinese Probably Isn't In Chinatown". Huffington Post. 4 December 2012.
25. "Chinese New Year Celebration at Atlanta Chinatown 2013". Archived from the original on 2014-04-27. Retrieved 2015-06-05.
26. Jennifer B. Lee. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food.
27. "洋經理和她的中國城 ("Yang manager and her Chinatown")". Archived from the original on 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2015-06-05.
28. "New look for Chinatown".
29. "Atlanta Division." Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on June 9, 2015. "2635 Century Parkway N.E., Suite 400 Atlanta, GA 30345"
30. "City of Chamblee Street Map" (Archive). City of Chamblee. Retrieved on June 9, 2015.
31. "FBI Atlanta Hosts Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Its New Mercer Atlanta Location". Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2017-10-12. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
32. "City of Chamblee Street Map Archived 2015-06-19 at the Wayback Machine" (Archive). City of Chamblee. Retrieved on June 9, 2015.
33. "Elementary School Attendance Areas 2016 - 2017 School Year." DeKalb County School System. Retrieved on June 1, 2017.
34. "Middle School Attendance Areas 2016 - 2017 School Year." DeKalb County School System. Retrieved on June 1, 2017.
35. "High School Attendance Areas 2016 - 2017 School Year." DeKalb County School System. Retrieved on June 1, 2017.
36. "History". Sophia Academy. Archived from the original on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
37. "Home". Sophia Academy. 2016-06-16. Archived from the original on 2016-06-16. Retrieved 2020-05-12. 2880 Dresden Drive Atlanta GA 30341
38. Map as of 2016: "City Map". Chamblee, Georgia. 2013-12-11. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2020-05-12. - The 2010 U.S. Census map at the time shows that the school was not yet in Chamblee: "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Chamblee city, GA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
39. Farner, Keith (2017-01-04). "Sophia Academy merges with Notre Dame Academy on Duluth campus". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
40. "Library Locations & Hours." DeKalb County Public Library. Retrieved on February 24, 2010.
41. Neal Becton, "Atlanta's 'Chambodia,' a 'Burb With a Global Flavor", Washington Post, April 18, 1999
42. Cliff Bostock, We heart Chambodia", Creative Loafing, January 8, 2004

External links

• City of Chamblee official website Portal style website, Government, Business, Library, Recreation and more
• Official Income Data for Chamblee as reported by the 2000 US Govt. Census
• City-Data.com Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Chamblee