Marietta / East Cobb Rush Hour Commute to Camp Creek Pkwy (Atlanta: renting, houses)

[jsvh]

Don't obsess over school rankings too much. They are more often just correlated to the wealth of an area then anything the teachers are actually doing.

You and your family would benefit much more from living somewhere like Peachtree city. Being able to spend extra time with your children every day instead of stressed out in traffic will have a much more positive impact on their life than any small difference in the school rankings would.

[evannole]

OP, jsvh has some sound advice here... Peachtree City is at least worth exploring. You'll certainly get more for your money there and the commute would be easier. Smyrna and the City of Marietta (closer to I -75) would also provide better commutes. I commute daily from downtown Marietta to the airport area and getting to Camp Creek Marketplace would typically take me around 30-35 minutes. Smyrna would take around 30, depending on where in Smyrna, and Peachtree City would probably be about the same.

[netdragon]

Do West Cobb instead (Powder Springs addresses only). CH James turns into Thornton Rd turns into Camp Creek. Much much closer.

Still great schools. Especially Harrison. Hillgrove is really good too but runs the risk of being overcrowded soon. McEachern is better than decent but not as good as the other two.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by CA_Vol

Good question. We have 1 small child and another on the way, so we are seeking an area with good public schools. Also, we have friends and family in that area that can help with the kids. My wife and I both work, and my schedule can be quite unpredictable.

With the exceptionally high quality of the public schools in the area (along with the many retail/shopping amenities in the area (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target, etc, etc)) and with friends and family in the area that can help with the kids, it is completely understandable why the OP strongly desires to live in the Indian Hills Country Club/Sope Creek Elementary School/Walton High School feeder zone of East Cobb.

The home prices in that area (in East Cobb in the Walton High School feeder zone) may be expensive by Georgia standards, but by Orange County/Southern California/West Coast standards, the home prices in East Cobb probably seem like a steal by comparison, even in the current highly competitive real estate market.

To many, an Indian Hills/East Cobb-Camp Creek Parkway rush hour commute may seem like a challenging commute. But overall, an Indian Hills/East Cobb-Camp Creek Parkway commute is not really all that bad.

Like other posters have stated, the most challenging part of an Indian Hills/East Cobb-Camp Creek Parkway rush hour commute would be getting from East Cobb to the Interstate. After one got south of the I-75/I-285 Northwest (Cobb Cloverleaf) interchange on I-285 southbound, the commute to Camp Creek Parkway would be 'smooth sailing' on most days....That's because most of the traffic on that stretch of I-285 at that time of day is headed in the opposite direction of I-285 northbound towards the employment centers on the booming Northside....This will effectively make a commute towards Camp Creek Parkway a 'reverse-commute' for the OP.

The afternoon/evening commute home from Camp Creek to East Cobb will also be fairly easy on most days until one gets back to the I-75/I-285 Northwest (Cobb Cloverleaf) interchange where daily evening rush hour congestion on I-75 Northbound often causes traffic to back up onto I-285 Northbound. Traffic congestion in the area of the I-75/I-285 NW Cobb Cloverleaf interchange is expected to worsen on some days during baseball season after the new Atlanta Braves stadium and adjoining development opens in 2017....Traffic is particularly expected to worsen in this area on game days when the Braves' first pitch occurs shortly after 7pm on nights during the spring, summer and early fall at the new stadium.

Otherwise, the extremely high quality of the schools, amenities and the suburban lifestyle in the Indian Hills/Walton High School feeder zone of East Cobb, plus the presence of the OP's close family and friends in East Cobb makes the roughly 45 minute commute (each way) to and from the Camp Creek area worth it and likely makes East Cobb the best possible choice for the OP's family to relocate to from Orange County and Southern California.

Considering the circumstances (especially with the presence of close family and friends of the OP in East Cobb), East Cobb just seems to be the best fit for the OP.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

(along with the many retail/shopping amenities in the area (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target, etc, etc))

fyi, for one thing there's no Sprouts in East Cobb. It's in Smyrna, within reach of West Cobb, and another is coming to West Cobb next to Avenues. A bunch of California-esque natural and organic shops follow if Smyrna is any indication. There's also a Whole Foods going into Smyrna (technically Spring Hill "Vinings") within reach. The Avenues of West Cobb is very similar to the Avenues of East Cobb. It even has Justice for kids. The rest of East Cobb is a bunch of strip malls without much of anything but chains you can find everywhere else. There's much better stuff along I-285 in the Vinings area, again closer to West Cobb, since at least half of it is unique restaurants, not chains. The best hairdresser outside of Buckhead is Yoly'z Salon on Atlanta Rd near Paces Ferry, from my wife's experience (and she's been almost everywhere). Main Event is again in the Smyrna/Vinings area, closer to West Cobb. There's a Stars and Strikes in Paulding close to West Cobb, along with a JC Penny and practically any store you can imagine all along Wendy Bagwell Parkway. 120 in East Cobb doesn't come close to matching the combination of Wendy Bagwell and 120 in West Cobb. West Cobb is also a close jump to the Barrett Parkway shopping.

West Cobb also has larger house lots for the money, which is great for kids. Perhaps people from Cali are tired of small lots :-)

Considering the circumstances (especially with the presence of close family and friends of the OP in East Cobb), East Cobb just seems to be the best fit for the OP.

You meant to say in your traffic description: "Until they get to the cloverleaf after which they'll sit in traffic for 45 min". Plus, I-285 sometimes backs up all the way to Atlanta Rd from the cloverleaf. There's no way I'd advocate commuting from East Cobb. It's only going to get worse, too. The OP was VERY clear that they needed to get back-and-forth to Camp Creek Pkwy quickly.

If they are going to do something closer to East Cobb, they should do Smyrna, save a bit on the house (compared to Walton district in E.Cobb) and use that money to send their kids to private school. The commute would still not be as good as West Cobb, but much better than East Cobb. It'd be night and day.

For the public school route: West Cobb has the money savings (even compared to Smyrna) and competitive public schools, plus is closer to Camp Creek.

Personally, steering them anywhere but West Cobb is just plain steering them wrong.

Furthermore, being close to their friends is all relative. West Cobb is just down 120 from their friends and any time but rush-hour would be fine. However, rush-hour is exactly when they probably need to get to Camp Creek Parkway quickly. Which would they be doing on a daily basis? :-)

[evannole]

netdragon,


Good to see you back on here. I admire your passion for your neighborhood and, as you may remember, often agree with you that Cobb sometimes unjustifiably gets a bad rap from some on here. As you also know, I'm not an East Cobb booster (I like the City of Marietta and areas in and around Smyrna and Vinings) and have nothing against West Cobb, but quite honestly, there are some things in your post that need correction.

Originally Posted by netdragon

fyi, for one thing there's no Sprouts in East Cobb.

Incorrect - there's a brand new Sprouts on Roswell Road at Red Fox, in the Home Depot/TJMaxx/Homegoods shopping center.

Originally Posted by netdragon

There's also a Whole Foods going into Smyrna (technically Spring Hill "Vinings") within reach.

Last I heard, this was planned to be a Fresh Market (which I'd actually prefer) - I'd be interested to know if you've heard anything definitive otherwise.

Originally Posted by netdragon

The rest of East Cobb is a bunch of strip malls without much of anything but chains you can find everywhere else. There's much better stuff along I-285 in the Vinings area, again closer to West Cobb, since at least half of it is unique restaurants, not chains. Main Event is again in the Smyrna/Vinings area, closer to West Cobb.

Sorry, but the center of East Cobb is much closer to Vinings than the center of West Cobb. For the sake of argument, let's say that the center of West Cobb is at your recommended high school, Harrison (admittedly a very good school), and the center of East Cobb is the Indian Hills Country Club, where the OP was initially looking. Per Google Maps, here are the distances and average travel times from those two potential residential areas to various points, starting out at noon on Saturday, which seems a likely time for going to these places:


To Vinings:
-Harrison: 19 miles, 30-45 minutes
-Indian Hills: 10 miles, 18-28 minutes


To Main Event/Cumberland:
-Harrison: 17-19 miles, 26-40 minutes
-Indian Hills: 10 miles, 14-22 minutes


To Zucca Pizza, in "downtown" Smyrna:
-Harrison: 14 miles, 24-40 minutes
-Indian Hills: 10 miles, 18-28 minutes


Moreover, the typical weekday morning commutes (7:30 AM departure) to Camp Creek Marketplace, per Google Maps, are as follows:


-Harrison: 30-33 miles, 45-65 minutes (even McEachern, which is the closest, would take between 35 and 55 minutes)
-Indian Hills: 25 miles, 35-50 minutes

Originally Posted by netdragon

120 in East Cobb doesn't come close to matching the combination of Wendy Bagwell and 120 in West Cobb. West Cobb is also a close jump to the Barrett Parkway shopping.

I don't know anything about shopping on Wendy Bagwell, but East Cobb is pretty convenient to Perimeter Mall, which has my two favorite department stores (Dillard's and Von Maur, plus a Nordstrom, which I can rarely justify), and just about anything else you could want. After nearly 20 years in Cobb, I've never once set foot in Town Center Mall, and frankly, avoid Barrett Parkway like the plague, unless I want something from Total Wine.

Originally Posted by netdragon

West Cobb also has larger house lots for the money, which is great for kids. Perhaps people from Cali are tired of small lots :-)

This is certainly true.

Originally Posted by netdragon

You meant to say in your traffic description: "Until they get to the cloverleaf after which they'll sit in traffic for 45 min". Plus, I-285 sometimes backs up all the way to Atlanta Rd from the cloverleaf.

I come up the West Side of I-285 and through the Cobb Cloverleaf every day during the afternoon rush hour. It's almost never backed up to Atlanta Road - maybe once a month, and it's a construction zone right now. The Cloverleaf can get a bit congested but I'm usually through it and off I-75 at Delk Road in well less than 10 minutes, usually 5 or 6. If you're going farther north, yes, it's a mess, but if you're living in East Cobb, you can easily get off at Delk, take it over to Terrell Mill and then go up Lower Roswell or any number of back roads to get into East Cobb fairly quickly.

Originally Posted by netdragon

If they are going to do something closer to East Cobb, they should do Smyrna, save a bit on the house (compared to Walton district in E.Cobb) and use that money to send their kids to private school. The commute would still not be as good as West Cobb, but much better than East Cobb. It'd be night and day.

I agree that Smyrna would provide a better commute than East Cobb. However, as demonstrated above, West Cobb is the longest commute of the three.

Originally Posted by netdragon

Personally, steering them anywhere but West Cobb is just plain steering them wrong.

For all of the above reasons, I respectfully disagree.

[brownhornet]

That's gonna suck. If I were you i'd consider Powder Springs or Vinings. Also the school thing generally amuses me. I mean I get it, everyone wants to be near the highest ranked schools but I mean, it's not as if your kid not attending a top 10 high school is going to restrict them from going to college if you're good at parenting anyways.

[back2atl]

On top of the tactful corrections above, I think it's also worth calling out how close East Cobb is to all the local restaurants in historic Roswell, and to Buckhead. And unique places like the ice skating rink, the chatahoochee nature center and parks and trails along the river.

I also always have to laugh when people talk about using the savings from buying in a less expensive area to pay for private school. Ummm...its $20k+ per kid per year for most good private schools round here.

To the OP, I usually take that route at off peak times, but in general think you can trust the other time estimates you've heard and google maps. And agree that traffic is all relative to expectations, Atlanta isn't that bad most days compared to other top 10 largest metros.

[demonta4]

You wouldn't need private school in Powder Springs. It's the same school district, the schools are just as good. Move to West Cobb, it's a shorter commute, and more time to spend with your family
Not to mention that it doesn't break the bank either.

[CA_Vol]

Thank you all for your insights! This is some great info. I really appreciate. The wife and i are going to rent for a period of time in order to get a better feel for what is realistic and get a feel for what my schedule will allow. I am in law enforcement, so my schedule is chaotic anyway.

I really appreciate the info!