School me on ATL (possibly moving there)

5 bedroom house in an area you'd actually want to live in? $500k plus easy. You'll want to be making well North of 100k per year to enjoy ATL

 

We live in Fayette county for the exact reasons everyone is talking about. Little traffic even on a bad day. When we lived in Park City, UT. We made six trips to ATL looking at all areas. Sorry but the traffic blows on the North side. We are currently looking at farms in Cowetta, Fayette and Spaulding counties. No traffic but much less choices as far as restaraunts, shopping and night life. For my wife and me, it works. Your mileage may vary.

 

Traffic blows everywhere in Atlanta, if one tiny accident occurs anywhere on 75/85/400 285 gets effed, then everyone takes alternative routes and then my commute gets effed.

My advice for Atlanta, live as close as possible to work and avoid the highways. I live on the Mableton/Smyrna border, about 3 miles outside 285, and work by Howell Mill/Collier Rd. My commute is 8 miles, and consists of the East west connector and Atlanta rd, 15 minutes without traffic, but if something happens on 75/285, that 15 min turns into an hour easy.

When I retire, I'm moving to the middle of nowhere, with empty roads!

 

I have friends that live in a nice neighborhood right behind Chamblee Middle School,off of Chamblee Dunwoody Rd, would be a quick commute to PDK, might check that neighborhood out.

 

If you want a subdivision then you're going OTP, and your commute is going to have challenges. If you want 5 beds near work then your price range is $350-$500K on the Chamblee side, and $500K to $1M if you go Brookhaven/Dunwoody/Sandy Springs. That is assuming newer construction, good schools, etc.

As far as traffic - Atlanta is a big city. It has traffic like all cities since nowhere in the US actually plans for their growth. They react. And they react slowly, badly, and in ways that don't really help the worker - just the people building the stuff. If there is a city in the US with similar numbers to Atlanta (6mil in the metro, etc) that has better traffic I want to see it.

As far as place to live? It is tough to beat. Weather is decent. Lots of activities if you want them - outdoors, museums, theater, concerts, entertainment, dining. Is it the best in the country? Absolutely not. Is it the worst? Absolutely not. As far as cost of living, it really can't be beat. To get what you want (big house, good schools, etc) then you and your wife need to be making $200-$250K / yr. I am assuming you have a couple of kids, plus hobbies, interests, etc. To live that way just about anywhere else in the country you better bring a much bigger check book. My boss is based 75 miles north of LAX. His house is the same footage as mine, on a postage stamp lot, and cost 4X what my house did. And his commute is a minimum of an hour a day each way - and it's only 20 miles.

Good luck with your looking and planning. My offer still stands to be a tour guide for you.

 

I work in Buckhead, live in Grant Park; my commute is usually 20-30 minutes.

 

I just like the town name of Cumming..carry on

 

I'd look at Hamilton Mill too. A friend of mine just bought a 6bed ~4500 sqft home with nice pool and finished basement for around 400k. The schools are good and the area is pretty well developed (not too far from the mall of GA but not too far from the boonies that is 316 out to Athens). PDK would be a straight shot down 85 which isnt that great, but if you get the peachpass(toll rd access) then it wont be as bad.

 

Wow...it amazes me the price of real estate outside the the TriState...that house would easily be in the million+ range

 

In all of my experiences with Atlanta traffic, that commute is the worst, yours may differ though.

 

Oh I know. I go from Canton to Dunwoody everyday, but I leave the house before 6 and leave the office around 4 so my commute is usually less than an hour each way.

W/o knowing the OP's work schedule its hard to say. For all we know he works nights and weekends so traffic is a moot point.

 

Lived in Marietta then Acworth since 64 till 06. Atlanta area to me, is THE most miserable place to live..ever ever ever(cept cities up north lol). If it wasn't for my grandsons living there, I'd never go back again.

I now live in the NC mtns at the end of dead end road up in a high hollow, backed up to the AT trail. 8k pop for the entire county. 1 school. 80% of the cnty is Forest Service wilderness. Dogs run free. Shooting range in the back yard. Can burn chit whenever we want. No stupid neighbors. Zero traffic.. hiking and biking trails.. whitewater kayaking.. motorcycling roads.. cheap housing/land.. =Heaven. The end.

 

It's funny how people who live near state borders thing that their tri-state area is "the" tri-state area and that there is no need for further information.

 

Everybody knows that the tri-state area is GA, AL, and TN.

 

well it's NY...so yeah..ours is the only one that matters

 

They were actually thinking about changing the name of Atlanta to Throbbing.... Because its that close to Cumming...

 

If schools are a top priority Dunwoody is going to be hard to beat. Don't listen to anybody who tells you that Cumming or any place else up I-85 is a good idea, that commute is a nightmare.

 

It sucks horribly. The traffic is terrible. I-75 either direction any time of day is backed up 20 miles outside of the city. Crime is bad,the city looks dirty and did I mention the traffic?

 

I'll just one more thing, Atlanta has the worst drivers in all of creation! Most likely the very main reason traffic here sucks donkey balls. Impatient people need not move here, it will drive you over the edge.

 

Seriously, we're full.


To all the people bitching about commutes. Mine is 12 minutes... 15 on a bad day. Try not living in BFE.