Suwanee or Peachtree City (Atlanta, Newnan: chapel, house prices, neighborhood)

[MantaRay]

Ok, here's the deal. I'm interested in being NEAR the amenities of Atlanta without being smack dab in the middle of the worst of Atlanta traffic and Atlanta home prices. I'd commute to Atlanta maybe 2 times a week. What I REALLY want is a place with good bike trails where I could hop on my bike and go. I've read Suwanee has something like 9 miles of bike trails connecting to its new Town Center, and Peachtree City is the grandaddy of trails with MANY miles of them (and the possible danger of getting run over by a golf cart).

The problem is that Peachtree City seems really removed from the amenities I could enjoy like lots of restaurants, lots of outdoor shopping, and lake access. Suwanee seems to be as many miles away, but there's lots of "stuff" happening on the north side of Atlanta so that I wouldn't have to drive all the way TO downtown Atlanta to get the benefits of those amenities. Like restaurants, outdoor shopping, and lake access.

Since I'm speaking from having never lived in either place and from having only visited Peachtree City once and Suwanee never, what do you folks who are familiar with each think? What other benefits am I missing that each place has, and if I want bike trails AND proximity to amenities, which should I pick. (BTW, I really like the trails near the Carter center and Freedom Park in Atlanta, and wouldn't have to worry about traffic as I could take MARTA, but no WAY I could afford the house prices in that area). So it seems to really come down to Suwanee vs. Peachtree City. Any ideas? Thanks.

[DeaconJ]

Those are two of Atlanta's nicest suburbs IMO...both seem to be great places to live. Peachtree City is about 3 times the size of Suwanee (40,000 residents) so it has more restaurants/amenitites and a ton of outdoor shopping...and is much closer to Freedom Park - Suwanee is twice as far from Atlanta as PTC. Here's a link to restaurants in PTC: City of Peachtree City

The Avenue, Peachtree City

Fountain on Flickr - Photo Sharing!



Talbots on Flickr - Photo Sharing!



Walkway on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


There is one recreational lake in Peachtree City - Lake Peachtree

Picture 1114 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


lake peachtree wave on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[thedudewiththeplan]

Having lived in Peachtree City for 18 years, I would recommend Suwanee. Peachtree City homes are fairly expensive (300,000 for a resale, 400,000 for a new home on average). There are far fewer shops and restaurants than Suwanee, and I tended to get board really fast when I lived there (did not even have a movie theater).

[DeaconJ]

There isn't very much shopping in Suwanee, and nothing comparable to Peachtree City. Mall of Georgia and Gwinnett Place are both 15-20 minutes away.

[greg_atlanta]

Originally Posted by MantaRay

I'm interested in being NEAR the amenities of Atlanta without being smack dab in the middle of the worst of Atlanta traffic

Traffic is worse in the suburbs, esp. on weekends.

[MantaRay]

Thanks for all the info. Those are some really nice pics of Peachtree City. $300k-$400k is awful steep for home prices though. Looking at the map, it looks like Suwanee is 7 miles from the Mall of Georgia and 13 miles from The Avenue Forsyth in Cumming. The map shows Suwanee as 34 miles from Atlanta and Peachtree City as 31 miles from Atlanta, not really much difference. Maybe it's just that there's a lot more developed between Suwaneed and Atlanta than between Peachtree City and Atlanta which makes me think Peachtree City is more remote.

But the point about traffic on the weekends does lead me to believe the highways surrounding Suwannee are going to have more traffic than the highways surrounding Peachtree City. But then again at least it won't be like traffic from all suburbs converging on Atlanta during the week.

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward Suwannee because of the house prices and Mall of Georgia and Avenue Forsyth and the Lake. I'd be sacrificing the amount of bike trails, but I think that's a trade-off I could live with. Of course I could get around the house prices by living in one of the new subdivisions in East Newnan, which is a stone's throw from Peachtree City and 35 miles from Atlanta. I don't know. I just can't shake this feeling that even the vicinity of Newnan would feel more rural but the vicinity of Suwanee feel more urban. Maybe I just need to spend more time in each and get a good feel for them instead of making it a mental exercise.

Thanks again.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by MantaRay

Thanks for all the info. Those are some really nice pics of Peachtree City. $300k-$400k is awful steep for home prices though. Looking at the map, it looks like Suwanee is 7 miles from the Mall of Georgia and 13 miles from The Avenue Forsyth in Cumming. The map shows Suwanee as 34 miles from Atlanta and Peachtree City as 31 miles from Atlanta, not really much difference. Maybe it's just that there's a lot more developed between Suwaneed and Atlanta than between Peachtree City and Atlanta which makes me think Peachtree City is more remote.

But the point about traffic on the weekends does lead me to believe the highways surrounding Suwannee are going to have more traffic than the highways surrounding Peachtree City. But then again at least it won't be like traffic from all suburbs converging on Atlanta during the week.

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward Suwannee because of the house prices and Mall of Georgia and Avenue Forsyth and the Lake. I'd be sacrificing the amount of bike trails, but I think that's a trade-off I could live with. Of course I could get around the house prices by living in one of the new subdivisions in East Newnan, which is a stone's throw from Peachtree City and 35 miles from Atlanta. I don't know. I just can't shake this feeling that even the vicinity of Newnan would feel more rural but the vicinity of Suwanee feel more urban. Maybe I just need to spend more time in each and get a good feel for them instead of making it a mental exercise.

Thanks again.

Peachtree City and the areas between it and Atlanta are FAR from rural...but it sounds like you made up your mind.

The differences in Suwanee and PTC are huge...the shopping in PTC is IN PTC, but in Suwanee shopping requires traveling to somwhere else in some of the worst traffic you can find. Suwanee is a cute town, but nowhere near the size and quality of PTC.

[MantaRay]

What about Newnan, which is next toor to PTC but with lower home prices?

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by MantaRay

What about Newnan, which is next toor to PTC but with lower home prices?

I guess Newnan is considered "next door" to Peachtree City...but it's about 10 miles further south, going away from Atlanta, so it feels much further out. I've never really been to Newnan, but I've worked with people who lived there and commuted to Midtown - it sounded hellish to me, but didn't seem to bother them.

Have you looked at Fayetteville? It's about 10 miles from Peachtree City but toward Atlanta, and in the same county (Fayette) as PTC. FAYETTEVILLE, GEORGIA --

Fayetteville








How about Fairburn? It's located in South Fulton County, about 10-15 miles north of Peachtree City. It is home to the Georgia Renaissance Festival and is a nice little suburban town. Fairburn is about 20 minutes from Atlanta. The City of Fairburn Georgia

Fairburn

Historic Fairburn on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


Fairburn Train Depot on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


Renaissance Festival

A shot of the grounds on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


The Chapel type shop on Flickr - Photo Sharing!


Street scene on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[MantaRay]

I might consider Fayetteville. I like a neighborhood I see that's actually connected to the amphitheater you provided a picture for. Although it doesn't have much in the way of nearby trails I could bike, Peactree City is 10 miles away and that probably wouldn't be too bad a drive to get to its ample trails 4 days a week. Shopping at PTC and I guess Southlake Mall would be nearby. There looks like something at Pavillion Pkwy too. It is closer to the Farmer's Market too. I'd have to see what the drive is like along Hwy85 going into Atlanta. Fairburn isn't anywhere near a bike trail that I can tell, so it's definitely out. Thanks. Fayetteville give me something to consider.