Job in Marietta - where to live? (young, single, male) (Atlanta: condos, school)

[the age]

I'm looking into a good job in Marietta, which sounds like it might be a dream come true in Atlanta - if you are married, have kids, care about school systems, and want peace and quite. Unfortunately, I am young, eclectic, outgoing, and single. From the reading I've done I would definitely love to live near Little Five Points or East Atlanta, but the commute and traffic make that impossible. Are there any hip places in NW Atlanta? Is there a downtown Marietta? I'm not into clubbing - just dive bars with bands.

People familiar with DC - I currently live just outside of Old Town Alexandria, is Marietta similar?

[spacelord75]

There's a square in Marietta with a couple decent bars in it. The best one is Johnny MacCracken's, which has a lot of character, has TONS of beer on tap (ie, you can drink anything from PBR to Chimay or Anchor Steam). All the bartenders are girls with tat's, which I like. Not sure about other bars, but it's pretty cool. Haven't gone out in Marietta very much, but usually just go to this place when I do.

Smyrna/Vinings is another option, and they've got some decent bars there (Marlowe's, Meehan's, Padriac's, Vintage Tavern, etc.). Probably more options there, but basically all cut of the same fabric (ie, kind of yuppie hangouts, but solid places).

[BDevil07]

From what you say about yourself, I think you should try to live inside the perimeter. If you live inside the perimeter, you would have a reverse commute.

My wife currently drives to Marrietta from the smyrna/vinings area every day and says there is virtually no traffic going north on 75. You probably could make it to work in 25-35 minutes or so if you really wanted to live someplace in town. I'm sure someone on this board has made that drive and could tell you better than me though.

[atlantagreg30127]

Stick to the Marietta Square area and you should be fine. There's a lot of development underway in that area and a fair amount to do, without being in the middle of all the junk in places like Little Five Points. You can always "do Atlanta" on the weekends as well.

There are some condos and housing being built within walking distance of the Square but it may be a while before they're move-in ready. Here's a blurb on that via the web: TSW and Associates | Ground Broken on TSW-designed Project in Marietta, GA . I think I've read of a couple more projects about to go underway in that area as well, so there should be plenty of newer housing options soon.

[xxman777]

As a young person I wouldn't recommend living in Marietta. I used to work there and found it pretty dead. Vinings wouldn't be a bad place but intown would really be your best bet. You could live in midtown and still have about a 20-30 minute drive during rush hour to work.

[Atlantasfinest]

Stick with the midtown/inman park/L5points/Old 4th Ward areas. You should be able to find a nice condo/loft in any of those areas for a fairly decent price and also you will be very close to 75/85 to get to Marietta. The developments I recommend are Studioplex & Tribute which are located on the PATH trail which links V'HI, Inman Park & Midtown and is great for jogs, walks and any recreation you want to get into after work.

[the age]

Looks like there's some mixed opinions. Can you REALLY make it from L5P to Marietta in ~30 min during rush hour? I don't want to commute more than that.

I'll have to check Vinings out - I bike to work right now so I'm not too thrilled about moving and having a long commute.

[xxman777]

L5P might be pushing it (you should be able to do it during the morning but afternoon might be a stretch) but Midtown wouldn't. I think Vinings can be really yuppie so if L5P or East Atlanta would fit you better I'm not sure Vinings would work for you.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by the age

Looks like there's some mixed opinions. Can you REALLY make it from L5P to Marietta in ~30 min during rush hour? I don't want to commute more than that.

I'll have to check Vinings out - I bike to work right now so I'm not too thrilled about moving and having a long commute.

Little Five Points to Marietta is going to take you from 45 minutes to an hour (depending on where in Marietta and the number of traffic tie ups, etc) in the mornings... even with "reverse flow" taken into consideration. This is why I recommended Marietta over intown if you will be working in Marietta. Making a living I assume is a priority and partying is secondary (hopefully). Since you'll most likely be working and commuting 5 days a way to work, it makes more sense to move where the commute for work will be less stressful. You can take as much time as you like to commute to party.

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Little Five Points to Marietta is going to take you from 45 minutes to an hour (depending on where in Marietta and the number of traffic tie ups, etc) in the mornings... even with "reverse flow" taken into consideration.

I have to disagree. I used to do I-75 from the Brookwood split (where I-75 and I-85 split) up to the North Loop. It took me 12-13 minutes every day. The only problems were on Friday evenings when the downtown connect (the stretch of highway were I-85 and I-75 come together) backs up to about Howell Mill (adds about 5 minutes to the trip), and watching for cops in Cobb County. Otherwise traffic was free flowing all the way, everyday.

I know a guy who works on the square and lives in Grant Park. It takes him about 30 minutes in the morning, the afternoon is more unpredictable. Coming from Little Five Points, getting to the highway is really easy because of Freedom Pkwy (should take about 5 minutes depending on where you are coming from). The northbound connector isn't bad in the morning so that shouldn't be a problem either. The real problem with L5P is the connector in the evening, it can be brutal and will probably add at least 15 minutes to the commute (of course it isn't bad every day, just most days). I would say the morning commute should take 30 minutes most days in the morning, 45 or so in evening. Midtown would be much less because you wouldn't need to deal with the connector.