Possible relocation (Houston suburbs to Atlanta area)

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by recluse415

OK, everything is off my potential list except for Marietta. My wife found quite a few homes in Douglasville that she liked, but I don't like them 2-hours-each-way worth. A 1.5 hour commute is fine, especially if it doesn't happen every day.

The rush hour commutes from/to areas like Douglasville, Lithia Springs and even Cartersville will not necessarily be bad everyday, particularly on some days during the summer when school is out and the weather is perfect and during parts of extended holiday and vacation periods when many commuters are off from work.

But the rush hour commutes between those areas and Perimeter Center will be challenging on many days, especially when school is in session and/or when there is inclement weather of any kind (even just a light mist) and around holiday and vacation periods when Atlanta-area Interstates fill with additional traffic from travelers headed to (and from) resort areas to the south along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and in Florida.

Interstate 75 through the metro area (including through Cobb County) and Interstate 85 northeast of Downtown/Midtown can especially become extremely heavy with additional traffic during these heavy Interstate travel times around holidays (particularly before Thanksgiving, before Christmas and around Spring Break).

Originally Posted by recluse415

I checked the NE and E as suggested, for both crime + prices, and inventory in my range looks thin in Tucker and Norcross, and nonexistent for Peachtree Corners and Duluth, but it looks like there are two "tendrils" of low-crime/affordability:

1. The Smoke Rise + Mountain Park "areas" (not sure what they are called locally) through Snellville and into Grayson
2. Northern Lawrenceville out to Auburn and Winder

Each of the East/Northeast areas you named are good places to look for the combination of affordability and low crime.

Though the commutes between those areas and Perimeter Center will be challenging on many days.

Originally Posted by recluse415

Would it be fair to assume that the closer areas (say up to Snellville) are a reasonable (1.5 hours or less) commute into Perimeter Center? Realtor.com has commute times, but I have learned from y'all here that their estimates are EXTREMELY optimistic.

The one-way morning rush hour commute times between Snellville and Perimeter Center will push towards the 2-hour mark on many days (the worst days).

Areas beyond Snellville (like Grayson and Loganville) will provide one-way morning rush hour commute times that will be even longer on many days (the worst days).

Originally Posted by recluse415

I wasn't able to find anything on this forum on Auburn, and very little on Winder, so I imagine they may suffer from the three-hour commute problem?

The one-way commutes from Winder to Perimeter Center (and vice-versa) would push 2.5 hours on many days, mainly because of I-85 and I-285 portions of the commute.

I-85 southbound is extremely heavy and can at times be accident prone on many days during morning rush hour, especially south of the Georgia 316 interchange.

The already extremely heavy morning rush hour traffic flows along I-285 eastbound will be slowed by major (massive) construction at the I-285/GA 400 interchange during the next 3 years or so.

I-285 eastbound during afternoon/evening rush hours can often be slowed between Perimeter Center and Spaghetti Junction (the I-285/I-85 Northeast interchange) by accidents on the flyover ramp from I-285 eastbound to I-85 northbound caused by motorists (including 18-wheelers) driving way too fast through the curves on the flyover ramp.

HOT (High-Occupancy Toll) lanes on I-85 from I-285 out to Old Peachtree Road can cut down somewhat on the rush hour commute times along I-85 outside of I-285... But the toll lanes charge rates of about $0.90 per-mile and can clog up where motorists have to change lanes to the right across extremely heavy traffic in the untolled general purpose lanes to exit the I-85 roadway.

[fieldm]

Asking about homes that will have a 2 hour commute when Smyrna/ Vinings is right there is the dumbest thing I ever heard

[AtlJan]

Originally Posted by fieldm

Asking about homes that will have a 2 hour commute when Smyrna/ Vinings is right there is the dumbest thing I ever heard

Yes, or Tucker, Norcross, Chamblee. . .He can stay within his budget for a decent ranch on a good lot in a quiet neighborhood. . .No need to live in his car and never see his wife.

[bu2]

Vinings is beyond his price range. He looked at Tucker and Norcross and didn't see much.

Chamblee in his price range is probably below his acceptable range, much like the other poster said about Doraville.

But with schools not an issue, maybe he should check out Doraville. There are some relatively quiet neighborhoods off Chamblee-Tucker.