Atlanta's traffic/pace/atmosphere? (how much, employment, purchasing)

[testa50]

Having the job in McDonough is good news for you. The south side is a whole lot less developed than the north side. You could live in Jackson or Locust Grove and have a more or less country lifestyle with a <20mi commute. Locust Grove is probably close enough that houses on several acres are less affordable now, but Jackson is a lot less affected by suburbanization.

From this standpoint, how Atlanta 'is' probably wouldn't mean very much to you. Just come to the city every so often for a museum or play or shopping or something, and spend most of your time out in the exurbs.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by NY_Esquire

Thanks for this post. People were scaring the living daylights out of me with stories about Atlanta's traffic lol. Your post put me a little more at ease.

People here on this board will try and scare the crap out of you with regard to traffic. Some just don't know what really bad traffic is, or some only experience the bad spots in Atlanta.

I don't want to minimize the bad spots either. If you live in Cumming (Forsyth County) and you commute to downtown during nornal rush hour times, you will most likely sit in terrible traffic. Same for living in north Gwinnett and taking I-85 south.

Having said that, even that traffic isn't really any worse than a bad day on the LIE or at the GWB coming into NYC, or Rte 128 in the Boston area coming down from the north shore. Atlanta is a big city.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by neil0311

...Unlike cities like NY or LA, you won't run into long waits at tunnels or bridges or traffic at night or on weekends.

... I find that many folks in Atlanta judge traffic by how Atlanta was 20 years ago, or by how traffic was in another small city. When you look at it by that yardstick, traffic is bad, but when you look at traffic in comparison to other large cities, it's not all that special.

Yes...and very accurate.

Good post.

[stewarthaas]

Testa50 - that sounds pretty good. I looked on google maps and can see the growth in the immediate Mcdonough area and a little to the south and alot to the north...So Jackson and to the southeast of Jackson would probably be the area I really look into.

What kind of commute would it be like from Jackson to Mcdonough?

Thanks for the help.

[jsimms3]

Things vary by region, but generally cities and towns have different sets of pros and cons. Atlanta being a bigger city might offer better pay and better job opportunities (then again maybe not because GA has been hit hard by the recession and pay is not as good in the south). What you will get in Atlanta is worse traffic, a slight uptick in pace of life, possibly higher COL (though it is the south so maybe not), and a hodge podge of people, some rude. The payoff is like I said, higher pay, better opportunity, better cultural amenities like museums and professional sports, tons of F500 companies, great medical care, great universities all over the metro, bla bla bla. Because Atl is in the south, the weather is undoubtedly better here (still a distinct change of seasons here, though

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by neil0311

People here on this board will try and scare the crap out of you with regard to traffic. Some just don't know what really bad traffic is, or some only experience the bad spots in Atlanta.

I don't want to minimize the bad spots either. If you live in Cumming (Forsyth County) and you commute to downtown during nornal rush hour times, you will most likely sit in terrible traffic. Same for living in north Gwinnett and taking I-85 south.

Having said that, even that traffic isn't really any worse than a bad day on the LIE or at the GWB coming into NYC, or Rte 128 in the Boston area coming down from the north shore. Atlanta is a big city.

Even in this terrible economy with so many people out of work, the traffic is still terrible ? You would think that with so many people not working, that would at least help ease traffic.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by matt8325

Even in this terrible economy with so many people out of work, the traffic is still terrible ? You would think that with so many people not working, that would at least help ease traffic.

Its still bad but not as bad in 07 or 08 imho...I-20 west is way easier in the morning. In the evening, it used to be gridlock to come back to the Eastside, most of times, its just heavy and slow but not a parking lot as years passed.

I've noticed even with the unemployment up that the backup start earlier these days. Probably due to the population growth so it shall be interesting in couple years when more people are back at work...

[samiwas1]

In my opinion, it's not the volume of Atlanta traffic that is the problem. It's the drivers themselves. Atlanta drivers seem plagued by three things: an overwhelming sense of entitlement, a general lack of knowledge of most traffic laws/customs, and an obliviousness of the road outside of their 3' bubble. Driving in this city tests my patience as a human being every day....and I rarely even make it onto the interstate!

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

In my opinion, it's not the volume of Atlanta traffic that is the problem. It's the drivers themselves. Atlanta drivers seem plagued by three things: an overwhelming sense of entitlement, a general lack of knowledge of most traffic laws/customs, and an obliviousness of the road outside of their 3' bubble. Driving in this city tests my patience as a human being every day....and I rarely even make it onto the interstate!

We have many transplants. No one has ever been certain how things got to this point. I can verify that several decades ago for whatever reasons driving was easier.

'Cell Phones'--gratified that a local TV station has launched a campaign to 'help' us understand that it is best to focus on driving--eliminate distractions. Be Safe.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by matt8325

Even in this terrible economy with so many people out of work, the traffic is still terrible ? You would think that with so many people not working, that would at least help ease traffic.

C'mon- unemployment is +/- 10%, and "normal unemployment" is around 5%, so we're talking about a +/- 5% change in the number of people who are working. While it's not a good thing for the folks who are out of work, it's a blip on the radar sceen when it comes to the number of cars on the road.

Also, at least for my commute, it's not the cars that cause the problems as much as the trucks, which create all kinds of mess as they try to get onto 75 north from 285.