Seeking Info - Atlanta

[heybrad]

So it looks like I might be on the verge of being offered a job in Atlanta that we'd give serious thought to accepting. The office is in the Cumberland area which I believe is to the north of the city (is that right?). Any suggestions as to areas that may be a little more rural but not too horrible a commute? Everything we've been told to this point seems to be to the south which wouldn't make a lot of sense. Bonus for areas with lakes.

Any info is appreciated.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by heybrad

So it looks like I might be on the verge of being offered a job in Atlanta that we'd give serious thought to accepting. The office is in the Cumberland area which I believe is to the north of the city (is that right?). Any suggestions as to areas that may be a little more rural but not too horrible a commute? Everything we've been told to this point seems to be to the south which wouldn't make a lot of sense. Bonus for areas with lakes.

Any info is appreciated.

Yes, Cumberland is north of downtown ATL proper. It's also pretty much where the new Braves stadium is. I'd seriously question the wisdom of living right there tbh.

Suburbs to consider probably depend largely on what you consider "not too horrible". One county north would be Cherokee, with the city of Woodstock or even a little farther north to like Holly Springs would be the obvious answer to me, but you're looking at probably close to an hour each way to cover maybe 20 miles or so.

You could look into what real estate would call "East Cobb" as another option but unless things have changed you'd definitely pay a financial price for that shift. I can't really recommend "West Cobb" historically, was pretty damned sketchy for 2-3 decades. There's also Paulding County (next county over to the west) but unless you have a high tolerance for rednecks with a little money, not sure I'd wanna go that route either.

The suggestions about going south of Cumberland actually can - sometimes - make more sense than they first appear. It gets crazy pricy very quickly as you go toward something like West Paces Ferry (insane, pro athlete kinda pricy) but your commute would be more against traffic than with it, so up to the point of getting into downtown proper, coming out of the city & heading toward Cumberland in the mornings should be the easier commute.

edit to add: Oh, and in the intial bit about going north of Cumberland, I skipped right over Kennesaw. That's basically halfway (distance-wise) between work & the Cherokee County locations I mentioned. Best part about it is that you gain an easy-to-hit option of interstate (I-75) OR surface street (US 41/Cobb Pkwy) as a way to get to work in the event of a supermondo traffic problem.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by heybrad

So it looks like I might be on the verge of being offered a job in Atlanta that we'd give serious thought to accepting. The office is in the Cumberland area which I believe is to the north of the city (is that right?). Any suggestions as to areas that may be a little more rural but not too horrible a commute? Everything we've been told to this point seems to be to the south which wouldn't make a lot of sense. Bonus for areas with lakes.

Any info is appreciated.

Picture Atlanta as surrounded by a circle I-285. Hartsfield airport is in the southern tip of this circle, and downtown is in the middle of the circle I-285.

In the north, there are 3 main arteries, they are I-75 in the NW, GA-400 in the N, and I-85 in the NE. All 3 kinda join/merge in the middle of Atlanta.

Cumberland is in the NW so I-75 is your major interstate.

Speaking from experience re: GA-400 and I-85 (no personal experience with I-75), traffic is really bad outside of the I-285 but it gets better inside I-285 circle until you get into downtown area.

If you live outside of Atlanta, northwest on I-75 you will find plenty of "rural" areas. Woodstock, Acworth (guessing that both are about 20-30 min, no traffic, from Cumberland) and there is Lake Allatoona. I've also checked out a Lake Arrowhead, its further north but a beautiful lake, more of a retirement/vacation community I think.

However, traffic is going to be bad unless you live close to the office. I live North on GA-400 and when I travel to/from the airport, I leave house by 6:10am and try to avoid driving home between 4:00-6:30pm. My guess is if you live in Woodstock or Acworth, you want to leave by 6:30am to avoid major traffic.

My suggestion is get an apartment for 6 months or so and really look around. The majority of "lake subdivisions" are really "pond subdivisions". Never checked out Lake Allatoona but have to believe there are some nice lakefront property there. Allatoona real estate is cheaper than Lake Lanier. Lanier is in the N and NE, further away, so may not be an option for you.

[Edward64]

If you haven't already, use zillow which allows you to look at houses in your general vicinity.

Also, I've used this to look around (and dream) https://www.lakehouse.com/browse_map.php?cat=18

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Cumberland is in the NW so I-75 is your major interstate.

Speaking from experience re: GA-400 and I-85 (no personal experience with I-75), traffic is really bad outside of the I-285 but it gets better inside I-285 circle until you get into downtown area.

Cumberland is also the area where 285 & 75 intersect.

If you live outside of Atlanta, northwest on I-75 you will find plenty of "rural" areas. Woodstock, Acworth (guessing that both are about 20-30 min, no traffic, from Cumberland) and there is Lake Allatoona. I've also checked out a Lake Arrowhead, its further north but a beautiful lake, more of a retirement/vacation community I think.

I totally blew mentioning Allatoona, that's why my brain shifted into Cherokee mode in the first place. And yes, Arrowhead is pretty much retirement area, it's effectively where I grew up (just not near the lake).

[ISiddiqui]

It also depends on what "not too horrible of a commute" and "rural" means to you. Woodstock and Acworth aren't really that rural and during rush hour it'd be like 45 mins, depending. Allatoona (Canton and Rome areas as well) would be more rural, but longer commute as well.

You may also consider Southwest of Cumberland - Austell or Mableton.

Anyways, welcome to the ATL.

[heybrad]

Thanks for the feedback. It's all helpful. As far as commutes go, I've lived in the two major metropolitans that have arguably the worst traffic on the planet (LA and DC). LA traffic is consistently bad, day or night, and I was used to a daily 1 to 1.5 hour drive. DC traffic is mostly relegated to a rush hour but it's bad and even worse, unpredictable. It can vary widely. A good day is only an hour and it's typical to go between 1-2 hours and I've even had god awful days go 2+ hours. I can do an hour commute with absolutely no problems. I even look at it as a relaxing break at this point where I get to decompress.

[VPI97]

As someone who lives in the Kennesaw/Acworth area and has worked in the Cumberland area, it's not too bad of a commute. I'd rather live around here (or perhaps in the Cherokee county/Woodstock area) before any of the other ones mentioned.