Question: living midway between Atlanta and Athens (Lawrenceville, Duluth: apartment, to rent)

[Genovapernoi]

Hello everyone, My husband and I do not know the Atlanta area and so appeal to you for your assistance. We're looking into the possibility of moving to the Atlanta area, with the additional intention of mine to return to school to finish a graduate degree at University of Georgia in Athens. His work would have him commuting into downtown Atlanta.

So, out of a quest for sanity (in splitting the 73 mile commute) we would then intend to live very roughly 1/2 way between the two. That, according to Google Maps, would place us in Monroe, Winder, maybe Auburn, or possibly closer in to the city such as Lawrenceville or Snellville.

Can anyone give us an idea of what we would be getting into? Here's what we're hoping for:
--a bearable commute, hopefully with a regional public transport system for my better half into Atlanta.
--an affordable but also low-crime area where we could buy a house. Hoping to spend under 200K for an older, modest home (e.g. 60s era ranch).
--towns with real identities -- not just bedroom communities for the metropolis!

Any comments as well on quality of life, as you personally might construe it, would be most welcome as well.

Thanks so much for your time --

[plessthanpointohfive]

OK, I did this for 3 years and it was no fun. My husband was getting a PhD at UGA while I commuted to Emory. Winder, Monroe, and Auburn are too far for you. He's going to have a commute to a little city where a lot of people don't commute...so the traffic isn't bad there. You, however, will have a hella commute.

Live as close as you can to one of the Gwinnett Park-N-Ride locations where you can get on a Gwinnett Express bus to downtown.

Gwinnett County, GA: Gwinnett County Transit (http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/cgi-bin/gwincty/egov/ep/gcbrowse.do?channelId=-12797&pageTypeId=536880236 - broken link)

I didn't do this because, like you, I didn't know anything about the area. I bought a house about halfway between the Mall of GA and GA-316 and, until I started carpooling, I drove 1.5 hours EACH WAY to get to Emory. Now, part of my problem is that the GCT doesn't go to Emory. It goes downtown. So it wouldn't have been practical for me anyway. But if you're working downtown you should be able to use it.

If not, the Clean Air Campaign has information about finding a carpool or vanpool.

Home - The Clean Air Campaign

You shoudl be able to find something in your price range...but maybe not much of the character you're looking for. Almost all of Gwinnett is a bedroom community. It's slowly urbanizing but it's got a while to go. Now, Winder is a cute little small town with personality but I think that makes your commute completely unbearable.

I'll tell you that we moved into the city of Atlanta for a better quality of life. But that's because for us better quality meant no more commuting. Once my husband graduated he got a job in the city so it didn't make sense to live in the burbs anymore anyway. Especially since the burbs tend to be more socially and politcally conservative and my husband and I are the direct opposite....

[IntownHomes247]

I live in Decatur and spent my last year of graduate school commuting back and forth to Athens (I spent the first 2 years in Athens). That was a while ago and traffic has continued to get worse over the years. My experience from 10-15 years ago may be very different from conditions now, but I'd strongly suggest you live closer to the Atlanta side of the trek than the Athens side. Your husband will, presumably, have to deal with the commute every day and the commute to Atlanta is MUCH worse than the reverse commute to Athens.

I've never lived in any of the communities you're considering so I can't provide real advice on them. From my observations, Snellville doesn't have much personality -- basically looks like a giant strip mall -- although I suspect it might be the most convenient of the places you're considering (but has horrifying rush hour traffic).

You should definitely plan to experience the rush hour commutes from each area before you place any offers on any homes (and before you spend too much time focusing on any community). You should also research alternate routes both to Atlanta and Athens -- locals frequently know back ways that can make for easier commutes and if such routes exist, it might be in your best interest to target your home search to areas closer to them than the conjested main routes. Also, you should visit and thoroughly check out any communities you are considering to make sure they appeal to your personality and lifestyle and are able to offer you any amenities that may be necessary for you (good grocery stores, libraries, parks, or whatever).

Good luck.

[Genovapernoi]

Thanks so much, plessthan and Intown -- very interesting comments and I think one thing I hear strongly is about the ferocity of the commute into Atlanta. And thanks, good to know about GCT. Question: is the MARTA rail system good? I was eyeing the possibility that my husband could drive to Stone Mountain (easternmost terminus of the rail line) and ride in that way.
Plessthan, I hear you about the conservative burbs -- that's certainly another concern we have as well. Where do you live in Atlanta, and do you like it there?

[plessthanpointohfive]

MARTA is not adequate for a city the size of Atlanta. Once you get here you will see ALL kinds of articles in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC.com) about it. It basically has a north/south and east/west line and that's it. Now, there are a decent number of stations on those lines and it seems to run fairly well. Ridership is pretty high. But we need a lot more lines...

Your husband could get on the east most line and take it all the way to several downtown stations. Plenty of people do that.

Right now I live in a neighborhood called Candler Park. It's about 3-4 miles from downtown Atlanta. I work at the CDC now and my husband works at Emory and at Clayton State University (15 miles south of Atlanta - not a long commute because that area isn't as populated). So, now I live 3.5 miles from work and I ride my bike to work every day, rain or shine.

Here's where it's located in the city: Candler Park, atlanta - Google Maps

Here's a walking tour I did of a small section of my neighborhood for the benefit of people looking to live in the area:

//www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...er-park-2.html

Here's an interactive map that IntownHomes has: Candler Park Atlanta Map - interactive map of Candler Park with neighborhood information, schools, business, parks, and churches

It's a very liberal part of town. Home prices are around 400K for a modest bungalow but you can get a 2 bedroom condo right across the street from the actual park named Candler Park for under 200K. You can see a picture of those condos in my walking tour towards the end...they used to be apartment but were converted into condos some time ago. They're not fancy but you can't beat the value for the location.

However, I think this location, while a place you would likely enjoy, is too far away for a commute to Athens. It takes almost 20 minutes just to get to I-285 (the loop) from my house. Put it on your list of places to visit and to move to after you graduate and get a job in the city.

You asked if I liked it here...you can probably tell I very much like it here.

A regular here named George Chong might come along and sing the praises of Inman Park. That's the neighborhood directly west of Candler Park. It's almost identical in vibe but the architecture of the homes is much grander, and also more expensive.

Another regular, LovinDecatur, might come along and tell you all about Decatur, which is the little city directly east of Candler Park. It's a little more post-war in architecture but it's a really great vibey place.

Still, all three of these places are just too far away from Athens, in my opinion. When my husband was commuting from Lawrenceville to Athens it would take him about 45 minutes.

Here's what that looks like on a map (I used my actual old address):

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=17...5&ie=UTF8&z=11

If you zoom that map out a bit you'll see that the Lawrenceville location is about half way between Atlanta and Athens and THAT was 45 minutes.

Imagine how long it would take from Decatur:

from: Decatur, Ga to: Athens, GA - Google Maps


There's almost no good location for you. That sounds depressing. I think you can find something somewhere like IntownHomes said where you can find a faster local route. And you can also find something close to GCT. Or your idea of living a reasonable way from the east most MARTA station. All those things can make it more bearable.

However, when it comes to the social and political "climate" I don't there there are any pockets of liberalness along the route between the two cities.

My recommendation would be to rent until you're finished school and then move to a location of your preferance nearer to or in Atlanta once you've landed a job. What is it that you will do when you finish school?

[Genovapernoi]

Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive

My recommendation would be to rent until you're finished school and then move to a location of your preferance nearer to or in Atlanta once you've landed a job. What is it that you will do when you finish school?

Well, I'll have to say I don't know exactly what we'll do! This is something of a mid-career thing for me. My field is anthropology, and I stopped post-two-master's degrees and just before the long-term fieldwork stage. I then went into higher ed assessment/institutional research. I want to complete my PhD, and I'm considering both anthropology and sociology at this point.

An important aspect of all of this is that we have to fit returning to school around other important bits in life at this later point! This means that my husband's job (he's an academic librarian) will be our financial anchor, and I'll be looking for work in higher ed. again as well, but with the plan to go from PT grad student to FT grad student.

I have read up on Georgia State's Sociology PhD program, and it looks interesting -- but was still holding onto my loyalties in anthropology and thus looking towards UG (no anthro PhD at GSU)-- but with this idea that in-town living could release us from slavery to car commuting and allow us to settle into a characterful and politically liberal neighborhood, GSU/Sociology is starting to appeal even more!

[Genovapernoi]

And thanks for the links to photos of your neighborhood, pless, I appreciate the greenery (which I read on this forum to be a significant plus in the city) and the varied architecture!

[CMMom]

A friend of mine commuted from the Pleasant Hill Rd. area (Duluth) to Athens for a year. I think that it was doable, but became tedious pretty quickly. I really wouldn't want to do it.

If GSU is an option for you, you guys would be set because you'd both be intown. Is it possible to do any of the UGA Ph.D. work online? Online courses are up and coming, even at "legit" universities. It might be work looking into. If you only had to do the commute to Athens about twice a week, it might be OK (I would try to avoid Mondays and Fridays if possible!).

[Genovapernoi]

Hi CMMom, that rings true to me that the commute would be quickly tiring. Good to know it can be done, in case we want to keep that option open, but in the balance of things, GSU is looking better and better....Thanks for your comments. I think I'll have to do a considerable amount of research on in-town neighborhoods, should this become a sure thing. Cheers ---

[plessthanpointohfive]

Yes, it sounds like you'd be happier living intown and if you can cut out the commute you would definitely have a better time of it.

I'm glad you liked the pictures. It was in February so it's rather leafless but right now it's very shady.

If you lived in Candler Park you'd be right on the east/west MARTA so a ride to GSU is quick. There's a Georgia State station.

Also, look at Emory's anthropology department: Emory University Anthropology

I know...Emory's tuition. But the wonderful thing about Emory is almost all PhD students go there for free: Emory Anthropology Graduate Application (http://www.anthropology.emory.edu/GRADUATE/FINANCE.HTM - broken link)

And get a stipend. I used to be on the faculty (I have a masters and was an instructor) at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory. All PhD students attended free and got a stipend. From the above link it looks like anthropology does the same.

I think you and your husband will enjoy living here if you move into the city.