Atlanta is in a state of perpetual travelling ! (Hampton, Morgan: spring break, hotel)

[xcobrastripesx]

Im just curious if its just me or if anyone else notices how traffic seems to clog the city streets more so than other cities. Ive lived in 10 different states and except for rush hour, traffic is relatively light. In atlanta on the other-hand, it seems like traffic is perpetually bad, mainly due to overly lazy drivers .
I was under the assumption that being in the burbs (cobb couty), people would have the ol' fashion 9-5 salaried jobs that wouldnt entail "taking a sunday drive" down canton road. Nope, im stuck behind middle class joes who seem to be sightseeing . Do jobs in atlanta have more travel-related jobs per capita or do you think this is a result of a "part-time job" economy that entails people working "10a-2p ....3-7p like" shifts?

[Rocco Barbosa]

I'll be the first to say, I'm not a resident, yet.

BUT I will say, when I am in Atlanta, I'm generally "running the streets" all day. The only time I head back to my hotel is when I need to change clothes for my evening attire.

Having said that, I've noticed that traffic was very heavy in some areas and very lite in other areas. The areas in which the traffic was not so heavy doesn't mean it was an unpopular area. Traffic IS NOT heavy in all of Atlanta nor is it 24-7. I think the traffic issue in Atlanta, as it relates to this forum, is way over blown. Totally.

Being in Atlanta and being on this forum is night and day.

My conclusion is this forum is used by some very unhappy people and they use Atlanta as their whipping board.

That's unfortunate. Life has much to offer(and so does Atlanta)


"You Are What You Think About"
--Earl Nightingale




Rocco Barbosa-
The Unofficial Mayor Of Atlanta/Knocking Haters Out!

[xcobrastripesx]

Im not putting atlanta down at all just comparing between the different metros. I use to live in phoenix and it seems like the streets were deserted there in the daytime compared to atlanta, where everyone seems to be on the go. I was just curious as to whether or not it occupational differences between the 2 cities or employment conditions that contributes to disparities in getting around in the city during different hours. Hell, maybe people just like to go perusing the city with their families in the evening in certain cites vs others.

Id imagine detroit having more road traffic during the day vs silicon valley due to detroid shuffling auto parts all around vs sitting in a chair writing code. I just havent noticed any industry to explain it in a metro with such a diversified employment base.

[afdinatl]

Originally Posted by xcobrastripesx

Im just curious if its just me or if anyone else notices how traffic seems to clog the city streets more so than other cities. Ive lived in 10 different states and except for rush hour, traffic is relatively light. In atlanta on the other-hand, it seems like traffic is perpetually bad, mainly due to overly lazy drivers .
I was under the assumption that being in the burbs (cobb couty), people would have the ol' fashion 9-5 salaried jobs that wouldnt entail "taking a sunday drive" down canton road. Nope, im stuck behind middle class joes who seem to be sightseeing . Do jobs in atlanta have more travel-related jobs per capita or do you think this is a result of a "part-time job" economy that entails people working "10a-2p ....3-7p like" shifts?

Travel son to other cities. Get off the computer, take that pork chop out your mouth and ride on the 405 in LA, 95 In Northern Virginia or the HRBT in Hampton Roads. Visit any city that has over 6 million people in the metro area and you will see the same traffic.

[Morgan98]

I think the other issue with traffic in Atlanta is that Atlanta is the funnel through which a huge percentage of people have to pass through to get from a good portion of the northern states to Florida. Because of this, traffic through town and on the major interstates is really fairly heavy a good portion of the time.

I commute from Cobb county downtown daily and for some reason the week before and the week after Easter traffic was horrific. Like I mean, I wanted to cry driving to and from work (even earlier and later than normal). This is now what appears to be the second week of what I would call a more "normal" traffic pattern. I am 100% convinced that those two horrible weeks were caused by spring break traffic. There were times I sat in backups barely moving for 60-75 minutes and all the license plates around me were, TN, IN, MI, IL, OH WI, and KY.

[alco89]

Originally Posted by Morgan98

I think the other issue with traffic in Atlanta is that Atlanta is the funnel through which a huge percentage of people have to pass through to get from a good portion of the northern states to Florida. Because of this, traffic through town and on the major interstates is really fairly heavy a good portion of the time.

I commute from Cobb county downtown daily and for some reason the week before and the week after Easter traffic was horrific. Like I mean, I wanted to cry driving to and from work (even earlier and later than normal). This is now what appears to be the second week of what I would call a more "normal" traffic pattern. I am 100% convinced that those two horrible weeks were caused by spring break traffic. There were times I sat in backups barely moving for 60-75 minutes and all the license plates around me were, TN, IN, MI, IL, OH WI, and KY.

You the nail on the head! I've been saying for years that Atlanta traffic is what you get when you sit a heavily car-dependent city of 5+ million on the 2 of the busiest interstates in the country (I-75 and 85) with people streaming through to get to arguably the most popular tourist state (Florida). I even see PLENTY of people driving through from Canada!

We also have a ridiculous amount of freight truck traffic, which I'd always figured:
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freight/...rktraf2007.jpg

The surface streets seem ok to me outside of rush hour or huge events.

[bhammaster]

Originally Posted by afdinatl

Travel son to other cities. Get off the computer, take that pork chop out your mouth and ride on the 405 in LA, 95 In Northern Virginia or the HRBT in Hampton Roads. Visit any city that has over 6 million people in the metro area and you will see the same traffic.

Atlanta doesn't have over 6 million people in the metro....

[Tryska]

Seems like no one has ever driven in Manhattan.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by bhammaster

Atlanta doesn't have over 6 million people in the metro....

5.6 million is probably more accurate. Or maybe 5.7 million.

[Blmonkey]

I've driven in NYC some. Yes someone honked at me, but that driver didn't hold a grudge and aggressively stalk me for the next mile, like someone would here in Atlanta.

Lived in LA for years (where it will take 8 light changes for me to get past the next red light). There is the advantage of a grid traffic system. There are just so many cars.

And just something about Atlanta traffic is worse. Because it shouldn't have to be this awful. Bad design. Wrecks seemed to be cleared from the freeways much faster in LA. When college is in session and parents are driving kids to school, tips the traffic to the big slowdown, ever notice when school lets out for break, traffic conditions noticeably improve?