Commute times to Downtown ATL (Atlanta, Smyrna: real estate market, to rent, new house)

[nielsonjen]

I will be moving to ATL area in a few months, my office is right dowtown near Olympic Park. we are looking at the Woodstock and Canton areas...can anyone advise the commute time, ball park of course. I would also be will to use public transit as well if that was an option.

Second area we are looking at is Dallas, can anyone tell me about that area?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by nielsonjen

I will be moving to ATL area in a few months, my office is right dowtown near Olympic Park. we are looking at the Woodstock and Canton areas...can anyone advise the commute time, ball park of course. I would also be will to use public transit as well if that was an option.

Second area we are looking at is Dallas, can anyone tell me about that area?

Express bus service from I-575 corridor and Hiram to downtown. Xpress...commuting made easy. Operated by the GA Regional Transportation Authority

[BobKovacs]

I live in Holly Springs (between Woodstock and Canton), and work downtown near Centennial Park. I work 6am-4pm, so I leave the house about 5:15am and I'm in my seat before 6. Leaving at 4pm, I'm home by 5pm or earlier 95% of the time.

If you're working 9-5ish hours, you're looking at a typical commute of about 1:15 on most days.

I have a coworker who lives in Woodstock and takes the Xpress bus mentioned above. It really doesn't save any time, since the HOV lanes don't start until you get inside 285 (which isn't where the traffic is), but at least you can sleep/read/relax/work on the bus. The bus doesn't work for me because I often have to leave the office during the day for site visits/meetings and need access to my car. I'm also not a big fan of sitting on a bus with a bunch of people I don't know, so I probably wouldn't use it anyway.

My suggestion would be to stay as close to 575 as you can, and the further south on 575 you are, the better. Traffic usually starts slowing around Exit 7 (Hwy 92), and gets progressively slower until the 575/75 merge.

Otherwise, we love living in Cherokee County, and I'd recommend it over Dallas. The commute from Dallas wouldn't be any better, and the schools in Cherokee County are excellent. You're also closer to the mountains, whereas all Dallas is closer to is Alabama....lol

[nielsonjen]

LOL thanks, my husband keeps joking that we will be vacationing in Alabama....would it cut the time considerably if we moved more toward Smyrna or Kennesaw?

Or for the schools should I stick to looking in Cherokee County?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by nielsonjen

LOL thanks, my husband keeps joking that we will be vacationing in Alabama....would it cut the time considerably if we moved more toward Smyrna or Kennesaw?

Or for the schools should I stick to looking in Cherokee County?

Why would you want to vacation in Alabama? I lived there and couldn't wait to escape.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by nielsonjen

LOL thanks, my husband keeps joking that we will be vacationing in Alabama....would it cut the time considerably if we moved more toward Smyrna or Kennesaw?

Or for the schools should I stick to looking in Cherokee County?

The closer you get, the shorter your commute will be in general.

"Kennesaw" covers a large area, so there are parts of Kennesaw that are very far from the highway- what you save in highway miles will be more than eaten up by sitting on feeder roads that are one stoplight after another. You've also got to look closely at their schools- some are very good, some not so good.

Smyrna is definitely closer, but also has some schools that aren't so great, as well as some areas that aren't so great. The better areas of Smyrna tend to be pretty pricey.

Where are you coming from, and what are you used to for a commute? I moved from NJ, where my commute was half the distance I have now, but was as long time-wise on most days, and was up to 2 hours in the summer when everyone was heading to the Jersey Shore, so I chuckle when everyone talks about the "horrible Atlanta traffic".

[nielsonjen]

Moving from Connecticut, used to a 30-45 minute commute...I can handle more if it means better schools for my girls, the neighborhood I guess is most important...we are not used to communities or neighbors being so close, also I would LOVE a town with a walkable town center, not just a strip mall

[BobKovacs]

Woodstock has a great walkable downtown that's growing rapidly, with a decent selection of homes within walking distance. Better hurry up though- here's an article from the local paper that talks about the hot real estate market up here:

Sudden turnaround - The Cherokee Ledger-News: Business

[nielsonjen]

We want to rent for a bit to assure ourselves its the right spot. I will keep looking in Woo
dstock, thanks....although just found a great house in Canton...do you know anything about that town?

[BobKovacs]

There's the actual City of Canton, and then there's a large area of unincorporated Cherokee County that has Canton mailing addresses. Even the whole City of Holly Springs has Canton mailing addresses, since the Holly Springs post office is only PO boxes- they don't have delivery (both my house in Holly Springs, which we just rented out, and our new house in unincorporated Cherokee County, have Canton addresses- confusing, I know.....lol). So, that said, it depends on where in "Canton" the house is.

If you have a link to the listing, I can tell you a bit about the area.