Charlotte traffic compared to Atlanta (Huntersville: home, live in, move to)

[AOYAS]

I started thread in another forum, regarding comparisons between Charlotte and Atlanta, where I stated that my hsband and I are favoring Charlotte over Atlanta for our move, because we don't want to deal with Atlanta's (horrendous) traffic everyday.

One person who responded to my question mentioned that he or she had lived in Charlotte and Atlanta, and that Charlotte traffic is "just as bad" as Atlanta's, and is getting worse.

I live in Phoenix, where we have pretty bad traffic on the freeways for a few hours every "rush hour(s)"...it's not great, it's not terrible, but it's decently bad. I lived in Los Angeles for two years a few years back, and I can't even explain the ridiculous traffic there. Let me just say that it took me OVER AN HOUR to drive the 7 (!!!) miles between my home and work everyday...Over two hours a day to go 14 miles total!

I know Atlanta has a very bad traffic problem, but I was under the impression that Charlotte's traffic is a piece of cake, comparitively. I absolutely mean no offense when I say this, but I thought that Charlotte residents who've never lived in *big* cities with *actual* huge traffic problems say that Charlotte has "terrible" traffic, but that relatively speaking, Charlotte's traffic is not bad.

Was I wrong? Does Charlotte have an *actual* traffic problem, and it's not just Charlotteans blowing the rush hour traffic out of proportion, because they've never seen *real* traffic before?

How long does it take to go 7 miles on the freeway at 7:30 in the morning? (It'll be easier for me to judge for myself this way...LOL)

Again, please please please don't take offense..I mean no harm. I just didn't know any other way to word my question. I'm not implying that Charlotte residents are not worldly, or putting myself on a soapbox or anything. Just wanting to clarify whether or not what this person told me is true and correct, because it will have a major impact on my husband's and my decision to move to Charlotte (or not to).

[sheena]

Originally Posted by ICDWTM

I started thread in another forum, regarding comparisons between Charlotte and Atlanta, where I stated that my hsband and I are favoring Charlotte over Atlanta for our move, because we don't want to deal with Atlanta's (horrendous) traffic everyday.

One person who responded to my question mentioned that he or she had lived in Charlotte and Atlanta, and that Charlotte traffic is "just as bad" as Atlanta's, and is getting worse.

I live in Phoenix, where we have pretty bad traffic on the freeways for a few hours every "rush hour(s)"...it's not great, it's not terrible, but it's decently bad. I lived in Los Angeles for two years a few years back, and I can't even explain the ridiculous traffic there. Let me just say that it took me OVER AN HOUR to drive the 7 (!!!) miles between my home and work everyday...Over two hours a day to go 14 miles total!

I know Atlanta has a very bad traffic problem, but I was under the impression that Charlotte's traffic is a piece of cake, comparitively. I absolutely mean no offense when I say this, but I thought that Charlotte residents who've never lived in *big* cities with *actual* huge traffic problems say that Charlotte has "terrible" traffic, but that relatively speaking, Charlotte's traffic is not bad.

Was I wrong? Does Charlotte have an *actual* traffic problem, and it's not just Charlotteans blowing the rush hour traffic out of proportion, because they've never seen *real* traffic before?

How long does it take to go 7 miles on the freeway at 7:30 in the morning? (It'll be easier for me to judge for myself this way...LOL)

Again, please please please don't take offense..I mean no harm. I just didn't know any other way to word my question. I'm not implying that Charlotte residents are not worldly, or putting myself on a soapbox or anything. Just wanting to clarify whether or not what this person told me is true and correct, because it will have a major impact on my husband's and my decision to move to Charlotte (or not to).

I live in Huntersville exit 25 and I leave at 7:20 in the morning heading down to Charlotte. It takes 15 minutes to go about 4 miles. After the 4 miles it breaks up and you can sail into town. We have bottlenecks here like the Durango Curve on the 17. The 77 here is comparable to the 60 when it was a 2 lane and it's a 2 lane after exit 23. I can't help you with the traffic in the south parts of Charlotte just the north.


If you don't mind the traffic in Phoenix you won't notice the traffic here. Some days are worse than others some are better. Sometimes I get annoyed sometimes I don't.

[recruiter]

I always laugh when people here in Charlotte complain about traffic. I lived in NY and Philadelphia before Charlotte and there is no comparison. Also travel to Atlanta on business and I would take NY, PA and Charlotte over Atlanta anyday. Atlanta rush hour starts about 30 miles to the north of the city and about the same from the south.
Charlotte traffic on the main roads consists of sitting through the traffic light changes 2-3 times. Maybe longer if you are making a left turn.
Highway traffic is worse. If you schedule leaving home or the office 15 or 20 minutes earlier or later, you can miss the major part of the traffic.
I commute 8 miles to work and it takes 20 minutes at 8:00am.

[AOYAS]

Thanks! *Traffic* there sounds great! LOL

That's what I figured. I assumed that the Charlotte residents who complain, do so because they have never seen real traffic before, and don't know any better. )

[AOYAS]

Oh good! We got worried for a minute, there. Here we are, thinking we're going to be getting away from the traffic in Phoenix and LA, and then that poster said Charlotte traffic is as bad as Atlanta, which I know is really bad. The previous poster summed it up with:

<<Traffic there sounds great!>>

Ha!!

[ginogambino]

Yes it is funny the way people talk about Charlotte traffic being bad. I have no doubt that it gets jammed up sometime. I have not lived in L.A. or Atlanta but I have lived in Houston a great deal of my life. I highly doubt that Charlotte traffic can be nearly as bad as Houston.

[SunnyKayak]

the thing that will crack you up or annoy you is rain LOL. People tend to drive like there is a foot of snow on the ground.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by SunnyKayak

the thing that will crack you up or annoy you is rain LOL. People tend to drive like there is a foot of snow on the ground.

Yeah I've been doing that for years now I'm not used to rain.

[AOYAS]

Originally Posted by SunnyKayak

the thing that will crack you up or annoy you is rain LOL. People tend to drive like there is a foot of snow on the ground.

I know exactly what you mean! Here in Phoenix, whenever it rains, people drive like they've never seen rain before (although, I guess it makes a little sense, since it only rains like five times a year here....he he). Anyway, it seems that people either drive 40 miles an hour on the freeway because they're afraid of the rain, or they drive like maniacs who don't slow down even a little because it's raining...there's no in between!

[jennaclt]

The traffic here isn't bad unless we have bad weather. North on 85 around 5 ish isn't the greatest though.