Driving time to downtown from Decatur, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Southern East Cobb (Atlanta: townhome, neighborhoods)

[applejuice]

Ok, I may be getting a job in downtown and I live in Woodstock

I don't know much about neighborhoods close to downtown but I have been doing some research here. Looking for a home no more then $300,000 (I will consider a townhome) close to downtown. I prefer a 3/2 and a garage. Would love a basement...but I think I may be asking for too much.

I also would prefer to be near a couple of good private Christian schools.

So please could someone tell me how long it would take:

Decatur to downtown?
Dunwoody to downtown"
Sandy Springs to downtown"
Southern part of East Cobb (I believe that is Lassiter?)not sure to downtown?


TIA

[spacelord75]

I live in Dunwoody (right on the border with Fulton) and it took me 26 minutes to get to my job on North Ave. this morning. Usual it is between 25-30 minutes as long as I leave by 7am.

[cmtiger]

Decatur to downtown is about 15-20 minutes if you go via DeKalb Ave.

[gumboula]

And that downtown to Decatur estimate is any time of the morning (with the exception of this past Tuesday when the sanitation department decided that 8:30 a.m. was a good time collect trash on Dekalb Ave.!).

[applejuice]

Thank you so much!!!

Sounds like Decatur would be the quickes way to get to downtown.

Any info on Chrisitan Private School


TIA

[atlmetrogroup]

Hello. In Decatur, you have St. Thomas Moore School on W. Ponce de Leon Ave.

[GF72]

Hi, I drive between Atlanta and every single one of those places on a regular basis, so I can tell you what you need to know.

--- Decatur to Atlanta
From Decatur to midtown Atlanta you would want to head west on Ponce and to downtown Atlanta you'd head southwest on College/Dekalb Ave. Both trips would take about 15 to 20 minutes during most times of the day but it can take 30 minutes when traffic is bad.

--- Dunwoody to Atlanta
Dunwoody's main roads are mostly single-lane each way so the closer you are to 285 or 400 the quicker it is. From most places in Dunwoody it would take around 25 to 30 minutes to midtown and 30 to 35 minutes to downtown, but this could easily become 45+ minutes if you get trapped in the worst part of rush hour.

--- Sandy Springs to Atlanta
Sandy Springs is very weirdly shaped (it's like a mini fulton county) so it depends on where you are starting. From southwest Sandy Springs (between Buckhead and 285) it takes 10 to 20 minutes to midtown and 15 to 25 minutes to downtown. From central Sandy Springs (between 285 and the Chattahoochee) it takes around 20 to 25 minutes to midtown and 25 to 30 minutes to downtown but can get worse in the middle of rush hour. From northeast Sandy Springs (the panhandle between Dunwoody and the Chattahoochee) it generally takes around 30 minutes to midtown and 35 to downtown. [note about Sandy Springs - avoid the Roswell Road corrider and the triangle around Mt. Vernon/Johnson Ferry/Roswell intersections - congestion + nonsensical traffic light patterns + retarded road system in that area will drive you nuts]

--- East Cobb to Atlanta
Lassiter area is actually the northernmost part of East Cobb. Commute from northern parts is very bad due to distance from highways. Southern East Cobb is Walton High area (area between the Chattahoochee and GA-120 ; look on a map for Johnson Ferry/Columns Dr/Paper Mill/Lower Roswell Rd). From southern East Cobb to midtown is 20 - 30 minutes and to downtown is 25-35 minutes.


The reason i differentiate between midtown and downtown is that if you work in midtown you will exit the highway by North Ave at the latest, and possibly as early as Howell Mill. But if you work in downtown you will probably get off at North Ave at the earliest and traffic gets very bad after 75 and 85 merge and especially after North Ave exit, not to mention navigating the downtown streets is annoying. So it generally takes 10 and maybe 15 more minutes to get to downtown from the north than it does to midtown.

The commutes in terms of easiness (I have made each of these commutes dozens of times, hundreds for some of them):

1. south Sandy Springs to ATL - avg. 20 minutes
2. Decatur to ATL - avg. 20 minutes
3. central Sandy Springs - avg. 20-25 minutes
4. south E.Cobb/Dunwoody - avg. 25-30 minutes
5. northeast Sandy Springs - avg. 30-35 minutes

These times are to midtown/north ave/ga tech areas. Downtown takes longer.

Decatur - not familiar with the private Christian schools there, there's probably some in nearby Druid Hills, at least i'll assume so from all the churches and Christian-ness in Druid Hills.

Dunwoody - there are some private Christian schools in the area

Sandy Springs - there are a lot of private Christian schools in the area, especially the southern parts of the city and also in nearby Buckhead and East Cobb. Westminster Schools is a noted and prestigious one. But, these are expensive, and Sandy Springs is expensive; houses within 300k in Sandy Springs is rare, especially in the southern parts.

East Cobb - there are some private Christian schools in East Cobb, plus all the nearby ones in Sandy Springs and Buckhead. But.... in East Cobb you should send your kids to public school. The private schools simply don't compare in any way to the public schools in this area.

[atlantamoi]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

Decatur to downtown is about 15-20 minutes if you go via DeKalb Ave.

Shhhhhh! The great thing about this drive is that it's almost the same time no matter when you go (actually, that can suck if you drive in at 6am with no traffic and lights stop you all the way).

I don't know much about private Christian schools, but if you are looking for protestant, another one would be Intown Community Church near the intersection of N. Druid Hills and LaVista.

[applejuice]

GF72,

Wow! Thanks for all the information that has been so helpful!!!

Also thanks to everyone else who responded.

[Parsec]

I used to commute from Sandy Springs (right off GA400 exit 6) to downtown (off JW Dobbs around GSU) and it took me 22 min every morning if I left before 7:15am. If I left a few minutes later, traffic would start to back up on the 400 merge onto 85.