Kennesaw...what's the catch? (Atlanta, Alpharetta: apartment complexes, low crime, townhomes)

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by hautemomma

Kennesaw is not 35-40 minutes away from the City of Atlanta. Even at Kennesaw's farthest exit, it's 16 miles to the "City of Atlanta" and about 20 minutes to midtown and 25- 30 minutes to downtown.

Then you have a lead foot. http://goo.gl/RYtJWr That says 27 miles and 39 minutes. My own experience holds with this. There is no way to get downtown from Kennessaw to downtown in 20 minutes unless you live within a mile of the I-75 on-ramp and drive really fast.

I occasionally have to be "in the city" during work-day drive-time hours. The volume and ridiculousness of traffic in areas like Perimeter or Buckhead or Midtown or Downtown eclipses anything you will find in Kennesaw.

That's a laugh. Cobb Parkway and Barrett Pkwy are every bit as congested as those roads. The main difference is that you can take 3-4 alternate routes to get around Buckhead/Midtown/Downtown. This is not the case with 41 or Barrett Pkwy.

The worst glut of cars in Kennesaw are those coming north this way on I-75 from the city during rush hour.

The only area worse than town center/barrett pkwy in terms of traffic OTP is exits 13 and 14 up GA 400, IMO.

[hautemomma]

Midtown in 20 minutes, downtown in 25-30 - when there is no traffic, of course, which would be on weekends and during non-peak times during the week. That's my reality, and I'm sticking with it.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by hautemomma

when there is no traffic

Key words.

[Danny1234]

If you don't mind being far from downtown Atlanta, Kennesaw is perfect for a family. Depending on where you live in Kennesaw, you will be closer to downtown, but based on your previous information it appears that you won't need to go downtown on a regular basis, so that shouldn't be a factor. I live in the East Cobb area (next door to Kennesaw) and work in Alpharetta. Both are excellent choices. IMO go where you can have more house for your money. Either way, you can't go wrong between those two areas.

[hautemomma]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Key words.

As they are in all of Metro Atlanta.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by hautemomma

As they are in all of Metro Atlanta.

Yep. You even get traffic all times of day and night and days of the week in metro Atlanta. And I wouldn't expect it to improve anytime soon.

[Morgan98]

Originally Posted by hautemomma

Kennesaw is not 35-40 minutes away from the City of Atlanta. Even at Kennesaw's farthest exit, it's 16 miles to the "City of Atlanta" and about 20 minutes to midtown and 25- 30 minutes to downtown. I occasionally have to be "in the city" during work-day drive-time hours. The volume and ridiculousness of traffic in areas like Perimeter or Buckhead or Midtown or Downtown eclipses anything you will find in Kennesaw.

The worst glut of cars in Kennesaw are those coming north this way on I-75 from the city during rush hour.

This is my first post, although I am a long time lurker, so please be kind. It really does depend where you live in Kennesaw. I am in unincorporated Kennesaw, south of Barrett Parkway, off of Old 41. It is 22.1 miles from my garage to my office building in downtown Atlanta. We just moved to Kennesaw after having lived in the DeKalb/Northlake parkway area for 8 years. We moved basically due to crime and the need to get out of the city feeling.

With no traffic, I can be from my garage to the parking garage in 25-26 minutes, without going 80mph.

It seems to me in the three months I have been doing this commute, that I am fortunate as I get on and off 75 at the Canton Road exit instead of having to deal with 575, Barrett Parkway or exits further north. Unless there is some big accident, 75 is heavy, but does move in the morning. However, the traffic on the radio makes it sound like further north is where you would lose more time with the commute.

Personally, we prefer Kennesaw to both East Cobb and Alpharetta (and money was not our only decision). Note we also don't have children, so while a good school district was important it was not our key deciding factor. We live on the national park, so no one can ever build behind us and the natural setting of our home in Kennesaw is like nothing we saw in either Alpharetta or East Cobb. For us, these other areas, while very nice were way too much sterile suburbia feeling.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Cobb is the catch.

Do some searches on this forum and you will find many (including me) are not fans of the direction the county is going.

Of course, even if Cobb is going downhill (an open question, I think), Cobb is still starting from a higher point than many of the other counties in the metro.

I've lived in Cobb for 10 years now, and I've been very happy with the local county government.

[Tarzanman]

Originally Posted by Morgan98

This is my first post, although I am a long time lurker, so please be kind. It really does depend where you live in Kennesaw. I am in unincorporated Kennesaw, south of Barrett Parkway, off of Old 41. It is 22.1 miles from my garage to my office building in downtown Atlanta. We just moved to Kennesaw after having lived in the DeKalb/Northlake parkway area for 8 years. We moved basically due to crime and the need to get out of the city feeling.

With no traffic, I can be from my garage to the parking garage in 25-26 minutes, without going 80mph.

It seems to me in the three months I have been doing this commute, that I am fortunate as I get on and off 75 at the Canton Road exit instead of having to deal with 575, Barrett Parkway or exits further north. Unless there is some big accident, 75 is heavy, but does move in the morning. However, the traffic on the radio makes it sound like further north is where you would lose more time with the commute.

Personally, we prefer Kennesaw to both East Cobb and Alpharetta (and money was not our only decision). Note we also don't have children, so while a good school district was important it was not our key deciding factor. We live on the national park, so no one can ever build behind us and the natural setting of our home in Kennesaw is like nothing we saw in either Alpharetta or East Cobb. For us, these other areas, while very nice were way too much sterile suburbia feeling.

If you're unincorporated and off Old 41, then you're:
1. Definitively south of Kennessaw
2. In a location with less than a mile difference between your proximity to Kennessaw or Marietta.
3. No more than 2.5 miles from I-75

This is very different than living in Kennessaw proper... *especially* since you don't have to deal with Barrett Pkwy or Chastain Rd.

Marietta (most parts, not just the sections near I-75) is very much within a 20-25 minute drive of downtown. Kennessaw is not.

[hautemomma]

Originally Posted by Tarzanman

If you're unincorporated and off Old 41, then you're:
1. Definitively south of Kennessaw
2. In a location with less than a mile difference between your proximity to Kennessaw or Marietta.
3. No more than 2.5 miles from I-75

This is very different than living in Kennessaw proper... *especially* since you don't have to deal with Barrett Pkwy or Chastain Rd.

Marietta (most parts, not just the sections near I-75) is very much within a 20-25 minute drive of downtown. Kennessaw is not.

Funny how you are the expert on other people's real-life experiences. Not only that, you know better than they do where they really live.