commute times to CDC-Emory? Lilburn vs. intown

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by jeoff

Thanks, I'd prefer the short commute also.

Sorry for being late... I have been out of town for work the past month.

I grew up in Lilburn and I feel it is being undersold a little bit. It is a go to Gwinnett Co./suburban bedroom community spot for people working in the CDC area for a reason.

The right spots of South Lilburn, which are districted to Parkview, has some relatively traffic-free rush hour connections to the Stn. Mtn. Freeway in the morning. (any area south of Killian Hill Rd. that doesn't rely on Five Forks Trickum Rd and can get you to the exit at Hugh Howell works well) However, this is also a pricier part of the Parkview district, unless its a smaller 60s-70s era ranch via small square footage.

The Stn. Mtn Freeway doesn't backup much, because it is an unfinished freeway spur.

Traffic does backup where the freeway ends on both sides and getting on 285, especially going north.

The estimates of 45min to an hour seem a bit high, as if someone is just looking at a map and estimating based on length alone. 45 Minutes to an hour can get me to North Ave. between Midtown and Downtown from Lilburn. Non rush hour that trip can be made in 20-25 minutes not 30. I frequently made the non-rush hour drive into downtown Decatur within 20 minutes in the past.

I'd say 30-45 min is more obtainable.

In any case, no matter what you choose truth be told the bad traffic will be in the CDC area. There are too few roads in the area and no direct premium transit or freeway connections to alleviate it. They clog/bottleneck fairly bad. You will have to choose this no matter what. I'd say being in Lilburn is a 15-20 min premium on the commute.
And you -would- want to take Scott Blvd/N Decatur and not N. Druid Hills Rd.

Other than that the description of local traffic near Emory/CDC is spot on. I think it is an issue of house for the money and school quality (I still give a premium to Parkview) vs. commute, as well as closer to intown lifestyle vs. bedroom community lifestyle.

I recommend visiting and doing a test commute, while house hunting. Specific door-to-door locations will matter.

[jeoff]

"The pricier part of the Parkview district" seems downright cheap after looking at neighborhoods with good schools near Emory/CDC! So, do you currently commute from Lilburn? Thanks

[jeoff]

...actually I am a little worried that housing prices have dropped so much in the Parkview area that people are going to be more attracted to the area for cheap housing than good schools. --there are a lot of homes in the 100K and under range.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by jeoff

...actually I am a little worried that housing prices have dropped so much in the Parkview area that people are going to be more attracted to the area for cheap housing than good schools. --there are a lot of homes in the 100K and under range.

Yea the Housing bubble really hurt most of Atlanta, except for some areas where overall demand was high and existing stock is really low via low-density neighborhoods.

Go to one of those mapping real estate websites and make sure to zoom in on the areas I previously mentioned. There are some distressed properties still on the market, but the typical home is a bit more... closer to $200k depending on the age and size, but there is a wide variety of house types largely based on when it was built.

[jeoff]

Thanks, everyone!
(if anyone else knows anything else about this topic please continue to add what you know; it will probably be a few months before we make a final decision--and we have not made up our minds yet!)