Downtown commute...Roswell vs Kennesaw (Atlanta, Smyrna: renting, house, public schools)

[Kat12]

Hi everyone.
We are moving to Atlanta sooon and my husband will be working in downtown Atlanta. We are looking at renting in either the Roswell and Kennesaw areas for the schools but wondered if there is a big difference between the commute time from downtown to these two areas. His hours would be generally 8-5.
Does anyone have experience with both or if you commute to either, could you give me an idea on your commute time? Or if you had to, would you pick 75 or the 400? I realize it's not the same every day, but just some generalities would be great!
As a third option, we looked at Peachtree City/Fayetteville, but also unsure of the commute time to these areas along with wondering about having things to do on the weekends.
Thanks for any suggestions/advice.

[BobKovacs]

Depends greatly on how far you are from the highway. I'd wager that the 75 and 400 commutes are about the same, but if you get very far off the highway, you can kill 20 minutes just getting between the highway and the house.

[clsmith15]

They're about the same. I live off of 75 past Kennesaw but have family in Roswell and sometimes go there from work in downtown Atlanta. They live about 5 miles from 400 and it takes me an hour leaving from downtown at 5pm.

[Kat12]

Thank you for your responses! I appreciate the info.

[wxjay]

Honestly, if you want to live that far out, choose Kennesaw. Cheaper homes and lower taxes than Roswell (at least, the city of Roswell in Fulton County).

[LeavingSeattle]

We live in Roswell/Alpharetta near North Point mall (so relatively close to 400)... great schools... my commute down 400 to dowtown Atlanta in the morning is great - usually 35 minutes if I leave the house before 7. The commute home varies greatly, some nights it will be 45 minutes and some nights it has taken 2 hours (which has happened twice in 3 months). There is a bus station at Mansell or you could drive to North Springs station in order to use transit...

It is very true that you want to be close to the highway... we're considering a move down the street about 2 miles that should save 10 minutes off my commute at night. The in town roads are very congested at rush hour.

[go falcons]

The traffic on the commute to downtown from Fayetteville/ Peachtree City on the south side is way less than that on the Northside of Atlanta. Though it isn't exactly a walk in the park , we don't have anywhere near the volume of cars commuting downtown the northside does.

[2mr41h]

The commute from Kennesaw to Atlanta on I-75 can range from 40 minutes on a light traffic day to 1.5-2 hours on the worst days. Consider Smyrna and Dunwoody, which are both closer to the city, yet have affordable housing.

[DJ0104]

I live in Kennesaw, and the commute can be very overwhelming. Dunwoody is a great alternative area, and fairly close.

[roxyrn]

We have looked at both Kennesaw and Roswell (commute to GaTech), and although both have pretty good public schools, Roswell has much more to offer in way of town, charm, restaurants and activities.