Quick tour of Midtown/VH/IP/L5P? (Atlanta, Monroe: apartments, condos)

[la_cavalière]

My husband is interviewing for a job in Atlanta one day next week. He will only have a short time between 4-6 p.m. on his way back to the airport to look around.

What would be the best route to give him a flavor for the Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Inman Park & Little 5 Points neighborhoods? I'd at least like him to drive by the restaurant/shopping areas & parks.

He'll be exiting from South I-75 & then getting back on I-75 toward the airport. Here's what I have so far:

I-75 South
Exit 250 for 16th St. toward 14th/10th Streets
Slight right at Techwood Dr. NW
Left on 14th St. NW
Right on Piedmont Rd. NE
Left on 10th St. NE
Right on Monroe Dr. NE
Left on Virginia Ave. NE
Right on N. Highland Ave. NE
Left on Ponce de Leon Ave. NE
Right on Briarcliff Rd. NE to Moreland Ave. NE
Right on DeKalb Ave. NE
Right on Boulevard Dr. SE
Left on Edgewood Ave. NE
South on I-75/85

Is this the best route for a quick tour? Any guesstimate on how long this will take in traffic? I know I am missing a lot of Midtown and Inman Park... if he has time for a loop, what are the best streets to take?

Thank you!

[IntownHomes247]

He's going to be in the heart of rush hour traffic. Being on main streets will subject him to long waits (and possibly keep him from getting to the airport on time).

If his interview is in Midtown, you might want to give him a better sense of the actual residential streets of Midtown. Your main street itinerary will not give him a sense of the real flavor of the neighborhoods (although it would give him a sense of neighborhood amenities).

For Midtown, I'd suggest he get into the residential streets -- especially the streets between Piedmont, 10th, Monroe & Ponce.

Then take North Avenue to North Highland Ave. to explore the Inman Park residential streets (south of N. Highland, north of DeKalb Ave.

Getting a feel for these 2 neighborhoods (which I believe you mentioned were your top 2 in another posting) will probably take as long as he can afford given the amount of traffic he's likely to encounter.

North Avenue is greatly better than Ponce and I'd avoid Briarcliff at all costs at that time of day.

[la_cavalière]

Thanks! His interview is just north of 75 & 285. I'll tell him to take North instead of Ponce.

Will this give a good idea of the restaurants/shopping areas? That is a big deal for us. We will probably look for a townhouse or condo, and these appear to be SFH areas... am I right?

I've added VH to our list, as it seems most like the area where we now live (Central West End in St. Louis)... even though there is no MARTA rail station.

Also, is there any easy way to drive through Piedmont Park?

If he receives a good job offer, we will likely come back for a better look around. I just want him to get a feel for these areas before deciding whether to move forward.

[bizchick86]

Here's a suggested route, and I'll explain at the bullets why I suggest it:

-Exit at 17th St heading South on I-75
-Turn Left at 17th: He can get a view of Atlantic Station exiting here
-Turn R on Peachtree Rd.: Piedmont is a one way street between MLK and 14th, so you wouldn't be able to turn R from 14th, also he can get a taste of the High Museum, the Midtown Mile developments, the Fox, and, well it's Peachtree our most reknowned street! This area has a large number of condos available.
- Continue along Peachtree and turn L at Auburn: view MLK historic site, Sweet Auburn historic district
- Turn R at Krog
- Turn L at Euclid: Will allow you all to see all the unique homes in Inman Park; to me, the best part of the neighborhood and one of the best things about Atlanta.
- Turn L at Moreland: Be right in the heart of Little 5, and will also pass Freedom Park and some nearby condos/townhouses
- Turn L at Vaud Ave: This will take you along a nice greenway
- Turn R at N. Highland: Will take you through the shopping/bar/restaurant district of Va-Hi. The condos here are more historic. They're in what look like SFHS, so look out for these.
- Turn L at Virginia Ave.
- Turn R at Monroe
- Turn L at 10th: Will take you past Piedmont Park and some great restuarants, including Flying Buscuit, an Atlanta hotspot. Will also pass some condos in the area.
- Continue on 10th until you get to 1-75, take I-75 S back to the airport.

You could definitely do this in two hours, unless you get tempted to get out and explore, which is very likely to happen ;-) This route will give you a mix which I think represents Atlanta- new developements, historic homes, and major landmarks.

I wish you'd have time to go through Poncey Highland, and this, of course, doesn't even include downtown, but that's for another trip :-)

Peachtree at 4 pm is not that bad, and you'll only be on it a small amount of time. That is the only main road I'd worry about. By the time rush hour hits, you'd already be on the smaller streets, so getting through them in a timely manner would not be a problem (I've done a similar tour around the same time and fared just fine). Just to make sure, is 4-6 the time to go through the hoods AND get to the airport, or is it just to view the neighborhoods? If so, driving to the airport would knock off a good 30-45 minutes off the time you have since it's rush hour and the 75/85 connector is not a game at 6 pm.!

Originally Posted by la_cavalière

My husband is interviewing for a job in Atlanta one day next week. He will only have a short time between 4-6 p.m. on his way back to the airport to look around.

What would be the best route to give him a flavor for the Midtown, Virginia Highlands, Inman Park & Little 5 Points neighborhoods? I'd at least like him to drive by the restaurant/shopping areas & parks.

He'll be exiting from South I-75 & then getting back on I-75 toward the airport. Here's what I have so far:

I-75 South
Exit 250 for 16th St. toward 14th/10th Streets
Slight right at Techwood Dr. NW
Left on 14th St. NW
Right on Piedmont Rd. NE
Left on 10th St. NE
Right on Monroe Dr. NE
Left on Virginia Ave. NE
Right on N. Highland Ave. NE
Left on Ponce de Leon Ave. NE
Right on Briarcliff Rd. NE to Moreland Ave. NE
Right on DeKalb Ave. NE
Right on Boulevard Dr. SE
Left on Edgewood Ave. NE
South on I-75/85

Is this the best route for a quick tour? Any guesstimate on how long this will take in traffic? I know I am missing a lot of Midtown and Inman Park... if he has time for a loop, what are the best streets to take?

Thank you!

[la_cavalière]

Thank you so much!!! I think I'm going to ask him to video the drive.

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by la_cavalière

Thanks! His interview is just north of 75 & 285. I'll tell him to take North instead of Ponce.

Will this give a good idea of the restaurants/shopping areas? That is a big deal for us. We will probably look for a townhouse or condo, and these appear to be SFH areas... am I right?

I've added VH to our list, as it seems most like the area where we now live (Central West End in St. Louis)... even though there is no MARTA rail station.

Also, is there any easy way to drive through Piedmont Park?

If he receives a good job offer, we will likely come back for a better look around. I just want him to get a feel for these areas before deciding whether to move forward.

If you primarily want him to see the restaurants/shopping areas, your original itinerary will do that. The business districts in these areas are clustered along the major roads, but you won't get a sense of how the residential streets are to live on.

There are MARTA bus routes through Va-Hi that will take you to a train station.

No, you cannot drive through Piedmont Park. You can drive around the perimeter (10th Street will give him a good view of the park).

In Midtown, townhomes and older condos tend to be sprinkled in the heart of the SFR neighborhood. Newer condos (big glass towers) are primarily located along Peachtree Street and west toward Georgia Tech. Likewise in Virginia-Highland. The condos, townhomes, apartments, etc. are scattered amongst single family homes. Inman Park has a big new development with townhomes located off Highland Avenue.

A combination of major roads and secondary/tertiary streets will give him the best idea of the neighborhoods, but for this abbreviated visit, perhaps your major streets plan is the best way to get to all the areas you're interested in in the time available. I also highly recommend using the Street View function on Google Maps to give you a sense of the neighborhood.

[la_cavalière]

Thanks again for your advice. Street View on Google Maps is great. However, I'm not sure when the photos for Midtown were taken, but the area north of 10th looks like a total construction mess and not the lively pedestrian area I was expecting. Are most of these projects completed now?

Most of the Google Street View photos of Midtown & IP were taken on a really dreary day... I am sure they do not do these neighborhoods justice!

[noah]

I wouldn't call it a construction mess but it is still being finished, but it is just a block or two like that. A new Lowe's hotel opens in the spring along with a CB2 store. Several new restaurants have also recently opened in that area but more retail should follow next year. Peachtree all the way from the Fox Theatre north is very walker friendly though - big sidewalks and nice trees.

The new hotel can be seen here which is the anchor for this block and condos on across the street: http://www.loewshotels.com/en/Hotels.../Overview.aspx

Originally Posted by la_cavalière

Thanks again for your advice. Street View on Google Maps is great. However, I'm not sure when the photos for Midtown were taken, but the area north of 10th looks like a total construction mess and not the lively pedestrian area I was expecting. Are most of these projects completed now?

Most of the Google Street View photos of Midtown & IP were taken on a really dreary day... I am sure they do not do these neighborhoods justice!

[reet4587]

Originally Posted by la_cavalière

Thanks again for your advice. Street View on Google Maps is great. However, I'm not sure when the photos for Midtown were taken, but the area north of 10th looks like a total construction mess and not the lively pedestrian area I was expecting. Are most of these projects completed now?

Most of the Google Street View photos of Midtown & IP were taken on a really dreary day... I am sure they do not do these neighborhoods justice!

Very true -- I really hope Google retakes the photos of Peachtree St and other places in Midtown. So many beautiful areas look incredibly drab in that gray, drizzly weather.

The construction north of 10th Street on Peachtree is mostly finished and it looks really great. It's called 12th and Midtown. Here's some pics of what it looks like now:
atlantaSKYriseblog.com | atlanta luxury condo information » CB2 Coming to 12th & Midtown (http://www.atlantaskyriseblog.com/index.php/2009/09/29/cb2-coming-to-12th-midtown/ - broken link)

There are already some hoppin' restaurants there: Ri Ra Irish Pub, RA Sushi, and Noon -- a very cool breakfast/lunch place.

In general, you'll find nicer pics of Midtown on Flickr than on Google Street View. Here's the Flickr Midtown Altanta group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/midtownatl/ (broken link)

[Archan]

Here are a couple websites to check out, Midtownalliance.org and Midtownmile.com. They should give you a flavor of the future vision for Midtown.