Moving to Atlanta

I don't know much about Atlanta. I was only there once (for a week last July). I absolutely loved it there. I'm a Philly Suburbs person. Been in them my whole life. I go into the city a dozen or so times a year, but I never really enjoyed it. My wife, daughter and I LOVED Atlanta. We walked all over downtown. We stayed at the downtown Hilton, and walked to both little and big 5 points. So much walking that trip. It's a beautiful area. You can walk almost everywhere in a relatively short amount of time. I know this doesn't help you at all, or answer any of your questions. I just wanted to praise the city. I plan on going back at some point in the next few years.

Slight north and slightly west where? You'll have to just decide straight out what you want your commute to be. The nice places to live aren't always close to work and traffic is srs business in the city.

nate_sl said:

I'm working just north of where I75 and the 285 loop intersect. Google map says 9.4 miles from Buckhead, 17 minutes without traffic.

If I live in Buckhead and commute north on I75 will I miss the heaviest traffic?

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Yeah, getting to the highway will be your biggest concern if you are heading north. Out of the city is opposite of Rush hour unless there are downtown happenings in the evening. Midtown is a little more happening these days as far as things to do go.

nate_sl said:

I'm working just north of where I75 and the 285 loop intersect. Google map says 9.4 miles from Buckhead, 17 minutes without traffic.

If I live in Buckhead and commute north on I75 will I miss the heaviest traffic?

Click to expand...

Sounds like you'll be working in Cumberland. You'll probably want to be south along 75 or east along 285 in the morning in regards to traffic. But for night life within walking distance, yeah Midtown or Buckhead, but once you get deep inside, traffic will be a pain getting to/from the expressway. Buckhead probably along Peachtree Rd and Roswell Rd? Midtown maybe around W Peachtree St and 10th, plenty of bars and restaurants around there as well. Also Piedmont park would be close. There's some other areas, but again, you'd be getting in really deep in the city and you'll hate the traffic.

nate_sl said:

I'm working just north of where I75 and the 285 loop intersect. Google map says 9.4 miles from Buckhead, 17 minutes without traffic.

If I live in Buckhead and commute north on I75 will I miss the heaviest traffic?

Click to expand...

Yes. Live in Marietta. That's basically where you are working. If you don't care for the city scene, look further north towards Kennesaw or Acworth. Those are easy commutes. If you live downtown, you'll be going against traffic most times of the day.

Also keep in mind, the I75/285 interchange is where the Braves just decided to squat and shit out a new stadium development for 2017. You couldn't pay me to live close to that area at this point. Taxes are very likely to be higher, and the traffic is about to go from the current nightmare to something approaching D.C. levels.

For what it's worth, I grew up in Kennesaw (up 75), lived downtown during college, in Vinings and Sandy Springs during grad school, and then moved back to Kennesaw when I bought my home. I currently commute to downtown for work ~1 hour each way. I've lived all over the city, but for my money you don't ever want to be east of GA 400 or south of I20. Anything near 285 on the south side of I75 kinda sucks too.

Vinings is a great area at your age, and relatively affordable. You should easily find an apartment in your price range. Back in 06 I think I paid $1100 a month for a 3 bedroom that I split with roommates. Given the market now, I'm sure that place would be more, but you should find a pretty nice place for $1500 or less. Atlanta housing is dramatically cheaper than most of the other urban centers in the country. One of the big perks of Vinings is that it is well built in terms of traffic (still heavy, but doable), close to Cumberland Mall and all that stuff, and you're ten minutes from downtown and about 10 minutes from your probably job location. The major drawback is the new stadium development that will be going directly across from the mall.

There's still an awesome bar out there I used to frequent called Laseter's Tavern just down the hill from Parkway Point AMC Theater. Best pub grub in the city, if you ask me.

Oh, one last thing. Get over the walking to nightlife thing. Atlanta is a motor city. There are maybe two or three decent walking communities in the entire city, and none of them are outside of the city center. Buckhead is the most expensive by far (and also the douchiest). If the hipster/counterculture style is more your thing, downtown has Virginia Highlands and Little 5 Points. You CAN walk to things, but the walk is a bit sketchy sometimes. Still, they're downtown neighborhoods with great bar/restaurant locations nearby. In all cases, you will need a car. You don't get anywhere in Atlanta on foot. Learn to keep a cabby's # in your wallet.

I agree with Heylel, if you don't mind being a bit outside the city (and not by much), I would definitely check out Vinings. As for the stadium, I think that's not even something to consider right now. He's young and renting and its several years away. By then if he's still in Atlanta he will have spent enough time to figure out things. Plus from Vinings, depending on where he's at he could probably avoid 285/75. As for the car, Atlanta is sprawled, so driving is a way of life here. After your first year or so you should figure out what areas you like to be near and then make a move if you want. When I first moved up here I lived right next to I75 in Kennesaw just because I wanted to be really close to the expressway, but after the first year I found myself going across to Roswell and Alpharetta on a regular basis, so when I bought a house I picked an area that is basically in between I75 and GA 400, but I'm still <10 mins from I75 and I can get to Dunwoody/Sandy Springs relatively easy without having to get on I75 or GA 400 either and I pay Cobb taxes, not Fulton

You must be over along 120 somewhere. I have to travel that corridor a ton. My family is in Kennesaw/Marietta, and my fiance's is in Roswell.

I also go play MTG over at a little cafe out that way a couple times a week.

I'm in between 120 and 92, a bit closer to 92. When we were house shopping a few years ago we tried being closer to 120, but just couldn't find anything we really liked. Man, I haven't played MTG in years, and by years I mean like 10+ years. I still have my cards. I took them out the other day and man, I was completely lost hehe.

Yeah, you're over by my fiancee's family.

You ever want to sell a collection, let me know.

Yeah, that's like Phase 4 (the shit I had back in High School). I gave all of my cards away years ago, but they're worth a lot more now. Phase 4 is like... the Alpha/Beta of my childhood to modern players.

I have a friend in Atlanta that's been having trouble finding a job. Is the job market down there shitty or is my friend just too lazy?