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I have a job offer in Newnan at Cancer Treatment Centers of America and am trying to decide where to live. I would love to live in Piedmont Heights area but I know the commute will drive me crazy. I visited Newnan, and it didn't do much for me - unless I'm missing something. I've done some research and am now considering Peachtree City (a little pricey) and/or Fayetteville.
1) Will the morning commute from Atlanta to Newnan be THAT bad?
2) Any suggestions as to the more fun city to choose (PTC, newnan, fayeteville) for a 26/F? [Want running trails, farmers markets, Fresh Market/whole foods type grocery store]
3) Other areas I might be missing?
I have a job offer in Newnan at Cancer Treatment Centers of America and am trying to decide where to live. I would love to live in Piedmont Heights area but I know the commute will drive me crazy. I visited Newnan, and it didn't do much for me - unless I'm missing something. I've done some research and am now considering Peachtree City (a little pricey) and/or Fayetteville.
1) Will the morning commute from Atlanta to Newnan be THAT bad?
1) The morning commute from Atlanta to Newnan would be challenging until one got to about I-20. After getting past I-20 your morning commute would be pretty much be smooth sailing as virtually all of the extremely-heavy traffic would be headed in the opposite direction on I-85 northbound towards the city.
You could also increase your chances of encountering less traffic during morning rush hour by taking Cheshire Bridge Road northbound from the Piedmont Heights area to GA State Route 236 Lindbergh Road/LaVista Road and taking GA 236 LaVista Road eastbound to North Druid Hills Road eastbound to US Hwy 78 Stone Mountain Freeway eastbound to I-285 southbound down around the east and south sides of town to I-85 south to Newnan.
It would take you over an hour, but your chances of encountering very heavy traffic would be lessened somewhat significantly as most of the extremely-heavy traffic would be headed in the opposite direction on Cheshire Bridge, GA 236 Lindbergh/LaVista, North Druid Hills roads, and US 78 Stone Mountain Freeway and there would be very-little to no heavy traffic on Interstates 285 and 85 southbound from US 78 down to the Newnan area.
If you did not want to go out of your way to go around I-285 southbound on the east and south sides to get to I-85 south to go against rush hour traffic, you could try, from the intersection with Piedmont Avenue, to go down Monroe Drive southbound (which will turn into Boulevard at the intersection with Ponce De Leon) to Freedom Parkway, turn right on Freedom Parkway westbound, get on I-75/I-85 South Macon/Montgomery and take I-85 southbound to Newnan.
OR, if you did not want to get onto I-75/I-85 Southbound from Freedom Parkway, you could even try continuing south on Boulevard from Freedom Parkway into Southeast Atlanta until Boulevard ends at McDonough Boulevard, turn right on McDonough Boulevard, turn left on Sawtell Avenue, go across Jonesboro Road onto Claire Drive, turn left on Lakewood Avenue, take Lakewood Avenue through the stoplight at Macon Drive onto the on-ramp for GA 166 Langford Parkway westbound (with signage to I-75/I-85) to I-75/I-85 southbound Macon/ATL Airport to I-85 southbound ATL Airport/Columbus/Montgomery to Newnan.
Using Boulevard southbound to Freedom Parkway to I-75/I-85 southbound to I-85 southbound would take you about an hour (slightly less on good days), while using Boulevard through Southeast Atlanta to Lakewood Avenue to Langford Parkway to I-85 south would also take about an hour or so.
Either way, you could expect your rush hour commutes between Piedmont Heights and Newnan to be about an hour so each way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheboygan
2) Any suggestions as to the more fun city to choose (PTC, newnan, fayeteville) for a 26/F? [Want running trails, farmers markets, Fresh Market/whole foods type grocery store]
Peachtree City does not necessarily go down into the category of "fun" for a young female in her mid-late 20's as Peachtree City and all of Fayette County in general (including the county seat of Fayetteville which you are also considering) is pretty much just a nice quiet place to raise a family with very low crime and very good schools.
But Peachtree City (or PTC) is known for its extensive network of paved recreational paths that get heavy use from golf carts, bikes, runners, etc.
PTC also has a Fresh Market location (at 100 N. Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree City, GA 30269) and a farmers' market (Fresh South Market at 215 Northlake Drive, Peachtree City, GA 30269).
The only kicker is that the farmers' market is only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.
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Originally Posted by Sheboygan
3) Other areas I might be missing?
...Not really. Most of the places in the Atlanta region with the type of active social scene that may appeal to someone like you in their mid-late 20's are, with very few exceptions, mostly on the Northside of the Atlanta region above the I-20, with most of the action being concentrated inside of the I-285 Perimeter and a few various spots outside of the I-285 Perimeter throughout selected Northside suburbs.
If you live inside of the I-285 Perimeter in a desirable area close to a lot of the social action like Piedmont Heights, you are going to be looking at a commute of an hour each way to and from Newnan everyday (but at least you will mostly have a "reverse commute" with the heaviest traffic going the other way towards the city).
But if you live closer to where you will be working in Newnan, you are going to have to "hit-the-Interstate" to get to where the social and cultural action is above the I-20 and inside (and just outside) the I-285 Perimeter.
I really appreciate your alternate route options for driving out of Atlanta. Being that I really want to live in an active area, I may give it a shot and see how the commute goes. Any thoughts on College Park and Union City?
Try Vinings/Smyrna area. You will have a reverse commute near 285 but the drive is longer
The distance of the drive between the Vinings/Smyrna area and Newnan might be a little longer than between Piedmont Heights and Newnan, but the time of the drive might actually be slightly (emphasis on SLIGHTLY) shorter at about 45-60 minutes depending on how far from I-285 one may live.
Vinings/Smyrna or Smyrna/Vinings (or Smynings as some areas that straddle the boundary between Smyrna and Vinings might be called) is a really good suggestion if one is looking for urban living in a close-in suburban area (Vinings lies just inside of the I-285 Perimeter in Cobb County while Smyrna in lies just outside of the I-285 Perimeter in Cobb County).
Though, if you are not bothered by a commute of about an hour or so (or slightly more on some days), then one cannot really beat living in an area like Piedmont Heights on the near-Northside of Atlanta that is relatively very-close to much of the Intown action in areas like Piedmont Park, Midtown, Virginia Highland, Buckhead, Brookhaven, etc.
The length of the commute between a near-Northside Intown area like Piedmont Heights and an outlying OTP (Outside-the-Perimeter) outer-suburban area like Newnan may be concerning, both time-wise (at over 40 miles each-way) and lengthwise (an about an hour or so each-way).
But if one desires to live in an appealing Intown area like Piedmont Heights, then one could say that the length of the commute to and from Newnan would be totally worth it, particularly since it seems like living in an active Intown area like Piedmont Heights would be very-enjoyable for you at this stage of your life.
Living in an active near-Northside area relatively very-close to most of the action that goes on Intown seems like it would be much more enjoyable for you than living in a very-quiet outlying suburb like Peachtree City or Fayetteville, which both are great suburbs with an extremely high quality-of-life, it's just that outlying areas like Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Newnan are not necessarily what one could consider to be hotbeds of social and cultural activity on the scale of Intown areas like Midtown, Virginia Highland, Little Five Points, East Atlanta, Decatur, etc .
I really appreciate your alternate route options for driving out of Atlanta. Being that I really want to live in an active area, I may give it a shot and see how the commute goes. Any thoughts on College Park and Union City?
What is your background so we can see which area you would fit in
I really appreciate your alternate route options for driving out of Atlanta. Being that I really want to live in an active area, I may give it a shot and see how the commute goes. Any thoughts on College Park and Union City?
There's a very-slight bit of a cultural scene that is trying to form in College Park, it's just that crime continues to be a significant concern in College Park (armed robberies, home invasions, break-ins, carjackings, etc), which is likely what keeps the area from catching on with young professionals like yourself on a large scale.
College Park is much-closer to where you will be working in Newnan, but with crime being a significant concern, College Park is not for the faint-of-heart but is more for urban pioneers who don't mind moving into an area and working extremely-hard to make an area more appealing and liveable for others to move into on a much-larger scale 15-20 years from now.
Union City has some very-affordable housing and is even closer to where you will be working in Newnan, but otherwise Union City is a declining southside suburb with not much, if any excitement except for the local Wal-Mart Supercenter that is going strong in the midst of the recently-closed and abandoned Shannon Southpark Mall regional shopping center, which never really truly caught on with the public as a regional shopping destination.
If one is going to consider living in Union City, then one might as well consider living in Fayette County (in Peachtree City or Fayetteville) where the schools are much better, the neighborhoods are much more quiet and there is much less crime than in an area like Union City and South Fulton County.
You actually sound ALOTT like me, I personally will definitely sacrifice a having a long commute to a far flung suburb for work as long as I live ITP close to all of the action. One huge suggestion I will make for you, is to live as close to the interstate as possible. Or try Grant Park or the Inman Park area near Moreland Ave and try to at least get as close to I20 so that you won't have to drive on the connector. The connector until you get to I20 is pretty much going to be the spot where you'll run into the most traffic issues. So, I would try the West Midtown area and you'll be close to Buckhead, midtown, and theres plenty to do right in the vicinity, a whole foods not too far over on West Paces Ferry Road, can't think of any running trails though off the top of my head in that area however..but still overall a trendy area, and to get to work, you can hop on Northside Dr and then make that left onto Ralph David Abernathy and then hop on 75 S from there and miss all the traffic on the connector, or do the Inman Park area and then you'll have access to the Beltline and Freedom Park for running, the Whole Foods on Ponce, Little 5 Points, and Midtown at your backdoor. Then you can just take Moreland over to 20, then get on 75 S from there and miss most of that traffic that way, and also Grant Park may work for you as well as that'll put you south of 20. Piedmont Hills is a great area, however, despite it being relatively close to the neighborhoods I just mentioned, can easily add an extra 30 mins to your commute because 85 is horrendous at rush hour, that little Buford Hwy connector road thing is worse than 85, and 75/85 is enough to make one want to scream. If you REALLY want to be in Piedmont Hills, which is definitely understandable because its definitely one of my top areas here in the city, just try to be as close to the interstate as possible.
You actually sound ALOTT like me, I personally will definitely sacrifice a having a long commute to a far flung suburb for work as long as I live ITP close to all of the action. One huge suggestion I will make for you, is to live as close to the interstate as possible. Or try Grant Park or the Inman Park area near Moreland Ave and try to at least get as close to I20 so that you won't have to drive on the connector. The connector until you get to I20 is pretty much going to be the spot where you'll run into the most traffic issues. So, I would try the West Midtown area and you'll be close to Buckhead, midtown, and theres plenty to do right in the vicinity, a whole foods not too far over on West Paces Ferry Road, can't think of any running trails though off the top of my head in that area however..but still overall a trendy area, and to get to work, you can hop on Northside Dr and then make that left onto Ralph David Abernathy and then hop on 75 S from there and miss all the traffic on the connector, or do the Inman Park area and then you'll have access to the Beltline and Freedom Park for running, the Whole Foods on Ponce, Little 5 Points, and Midtown at your backdoor. Then you can just take Moreland over to 20, then get on 75 S from there and miss most of that traffic that way, and also Grant Park may work for you as well as that'll put you south of 20. Piedmont Hills is a great area, however, despite it being relatively close to the neighborhoods I just mentioned, can easily add an extra 30 mins to your commute because 85 is horrendous at rush hour, that little Buford Hwy connector road thing is worse than 85, and 75/85 is enough to make one want to scream. If you REALLY want to be in Piedmont Hills, which is definitely understandable because its definitely one of my top areas here in the city, just try to be as close to the interstate as possible.
The OP would have to totally and completely avoid I-85 (and the Downtown Connector) by way of the Buford-Spring Connector during rush hours as I-85 below the GA 400 merge/split is literally a total and complete parking lot during rush hour, most particularly during every morning rush hour.
If the OP were going to live in Piedmont Heights (which, btw again is a GREAT area to live in regards to Intown activity) and commute to and from work in Newnan, she would have no choice but to work her way down through the eastside of the city on surface streets until she could access the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector below the point where the traffic on that road is the worst (which would be somewhere below the I-20 interchange with I-75/I-85).
College Park is much-closer to where you will be working in Newnan, but with crime being a significant concern, College Park is not for the faint-of-heart but is more for urban pioneers who don't mind moving into an area and working extremely-hard to make an area more appealing and liveable for others to move into on a much-larger scale 15-20 years from now.
This is very far off base, no offense. The neighborhood of "Historic College Park" is well established and plenty safe. I just moved in a few months ago and I by no means consider myself brave or an urban pioneer. My little ranch house is surrounded by stately old houses and large McMansions (don't worry, there's not too many of those). The area has some great food, friendly neighbors, and beautiful homes. If you are interested in living somewhere close to Atlanta but still commutable to PTC, College Park is it.
People suggesting Smyrna apparently like long commutes. I think you would be crazy to go north of College Park, East Point, Hapeville (Tri-Cities), but I prefer my commutes to be 30 mins or less. Your access to 85s from the tri cities area is fantastic and always traffic free the way you would be going.
Also, I grew up in Fayette county and the whole place is great. It is on the quieter side, so if you like that it is fantastic. However, there is a big time traffic bottleneck at Hwys 54 & 74. Thanks to continued development, it will likely get worse. I would want to live west of PTC if my commute was to Newnan.
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