Job in Midtown, need a bike-friendly commute from a suburb (Atlanta: low crime, chapel)

[TopCityRy]

Hi everyone,

Newbie here.

My wife and I are considering relocating to Atlanta from the SF Bay Area in California. Our jobs would both be in Midtown, near the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

We're avid cyclists and are used to cycling 20 miles one way to get to the office from our place in California, so we'd be comfortable (understanding that weather can be brutal) cycling a decent distance in Atlanta as well.

We plan to have kids soon and so a safe and family-friendly neighborhood would be ideal for us. Safety is one of our big considerations.

Here are some other things to know:

- We rarely eat out
- We rarely go out for nightlife and things like that
- Green space and the ability to have a yard is important
- We'd like to buy a home, for less than $1mil
- Proximity to a small regional airport is a plus
- Living north of midtown seems more ideal for us from a commuting perspective
- We prefer suburbs to city living
- Cycling paths/trails in the area are a big plus

Any ideas of which nearby cities/neighborhoods we should look into?

Thank you!

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by TopCityRy

Hi everyone,

Newbie here.

My wife and I are considering relocating to Atlanta from the SF Bay Area in California. Our jobs would both be in Midtown, near the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

We're avid cyclists and are used to cycling 20 miles one way to get to the office from our place in California, so we'd be comfortable (understanding that weather can be brutal) cycling a decent distance in Atlanta as well.

We plan to have kids soon and so a safe and family-friendly neighborhood would be ideal for us. Safety is one of our big considerations.

Here are some other things to know:

- We rarely eat out
- We rarely go out for nightlife and things like that
- Green space and the ability to have a yard is important
- We'd like to buy a home, for less than $1mil
- Proximity to a small regional airport is a plus
- Living north of midtown seems more ideal for us from a commuting perspective
- We prefer suburbs to city living
- Cycling paths/trails in the area are a big plus

Any ideas of which nearby cities/neighborhoods we should look into?

Thank you!

For a situation like yours, where you plan to start a family soon and want to be north of Midtown Atlanta in a safe, family-friendly suburban area, a suburban community like East Cobb (East Cobb County) likely would be your best starting point because of its top-rated public schools (in the Walton HS, Lassiter HS and Pope HS feeder zones and at the Wheeler HS STEM magnet program) and very low crime rates (particularly in the aforementioned Walton HS, Lassiter HS and Pope HS feeder zones).

East Cobb is a relatively short commute to Midtown (by metro Atlanta standards), and East Cobb borders the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area which has many biking trails and connects to a very popular bike lane along Columns Drive which parallels the Chattahoochee River for 2.5 miles.

And while the schools are not rated as highly as the schools are in East Cobb, Smyrna would be a good choice as a suburban community because of the access to the very popular Silver Comet Trail and the relatively very short commute (by metro Atlanta standards) to a major business district like Midtown Atlanta from Smyrna’s close-in OTP suburban location.

Cobb County also is home to Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Park and a small regional airport (Cobb County International Airport/McCollum Field in Kennesaw).

[Datdudebrah]

Keep in mind most of Atlanta is suburban. Even in the city. I'd recommend considering neighborhoods like druid hills, Virginia highland, Morningside, Buckhead (Garden Hills, Pine Hills, Peachtree Battle), and close in suburbs like Brookhaven, Chamblee, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs. Look into the plans for the Beltline, Path 400, silver comet trail, and the Peachtree creek greenway. Also Marta access would be helpful for the rainy days in my opinion. Good luck!

[midgeorgiaman]

Originally Posted by Datdudebrah

Keep in mind most of Atlanta is suburban. Even in the city. I'd recommend considering neighborhoods like druid hills, Virginia highland, Morningside, Buckhead (Garden Hills, Pine Hills, Peachtree Battle), and close in suburbs like Brookhaven, Chamblee, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs. Look into the plans for the Beltline, Path 400, silver comet trail, and the Peachtree creek greenway. Also Marta access would be helpful for the rainy days in my opinion. Good luck!

This! With a 1M budget you can find a neighborhood type tree lined street intown with reasonable school options. Atlanta, while making strides has a LONG way to go before the suburbs are a bike friendly commute to the city. However, if you are sold on a true suburb and open to a hybrid commute, MARTA is bike friendly and will get you to midtown with no issue if you find a suburban home commutable to a MARTA line.

[testa50]

Commuting on bike from OTP to Midtown would just be brutality. I live in Midtown and bike to my work near the airport a few times a year just for the adventure—covering miles of gritty southwest Atlanta in full traffic is a physical and mental challenge that keeps me on my game. Coming in from the north suburbs would be a lot more hair raising than that.

With that said, $1MM is still a decent budget as long as you don’t need a wildly lavish house. Tons of areas in the northeast quadrant of the perimeter should meet your needs.

[DoubleZ OTP]

Originally Posted by TopCityRy

Hi everyone,

Newbie here.

My wife and I are considering relocating to Atlanta from the SF Bay Area in California. Our jobs would both be in Midtown, near the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

We're avid cyclists and are used to cycling 20 miles one way to get to the office from our place in California, so we'd be comfortable (understanding that weather can be brutal) cycling a decent distance in Atlanta as well.

We plan to have kids soon and so a safe and family-friendly neighborhood would be ideal for us. Safety is one of our big considerations.

Here are some other things to know:

- We rarely eat out
- We rarely go out for nightlife and things like that
- Green space and the ability to have a yard is important
- We'd like to buy a home, for less than $1mil
- Proximity to a small regional airport is a plus
- Living north of midtown seems more ideal for us from a commuting perspective
- We prefer suburbs to city living
- Cycling paths/trails in the area are a big plus

Any ideas of which nearby cities/neighborhoods we should look into?

Thank you!

I am an occasional bike commuter living in Midtown, and I think I can help.



I should warn you about a few things before you proceed:

- Metro Atlanta is on the less bike-friendly side of things, though certain neighborhoods (primarily intown) are decent. The Bay Area is much more bike-friendly from my understanding; if you go to Google Maps and toggle the "Biking" layer on and compare Metro Atlanta and the Bay Area, you'll see that there are a lot more green lines (bike paths/bike lanes/safe streets) in the Bay than in Metro Atlanta.

- The bike paths that Metro Atlanta has, while nice, are disconnected from one another. You're about a decade or two too early for a robust, interconnected network of trails (though the PATH Foundation does great work and is trying to accelerate that timeline to the best of their abilities). This means that while Atlanta and some of the surrounding suburbs each have their own bike infrastructure, there are impassable gaps between the city and most of the suburbs. You can expect that most arterial streets and roads will be unsafe for cyclists, so there typically isn't a good way to close those gaps without a car, bus, or train.

- Metro Atlanta is quite hilly, though some of the trails which follow creeks (Big Creek Greenway, Peachtree Creek Greenway, etc.) or old railroad corridors (The Beltline, The Silver Comet Trail, etc.) are relatively flat; you may be used to this already as much of the Bay Area is hilly/mountainous, though some places (San Jose, Alameda, etc.) are extremely flat. My point is that I would strongly suggest an e-bike with pedal assist to tackle some of the hills, especially since you plan to commute from a longer distance. If you do end up relocating to Atlanta, I might suggest an Edison Bike: yes, an Edison isn't cheap, but it's a quality product, and Edison is based in Atlanta (in the Kirkwood neighborhood) so you would be supporting a small business and the local economy; I plan on purchasing one once I've saved a bit more money.

- I've found that cycling in the hot and muggy summer months actually isn't terrible if you wear breathable clothing. This is especially true in the older, leafier neighborhoods with lots of trees (and shade). The thunderstorms should be a bigger concern for cycling, IMO (more of a problem in the summertime, just like the heat).

- You requested a small regional airport, but there really isn't one near Atlanta. Instead, we have one very large Airport -- the world's busiest. I hope that works instead of a small regional airport (I think that would work for you). If you have a private jet or something, we do have the Peachtree-DeKalb Airport in Chamblee which is popular with celebrities and executive types.



Now that I've mentioned those things... I'll present a few options (in no particular order) which may work for you, though I'm not sure that there's any place in Metro Atlanta which meets all of your stated criteria.



Option 1: City of Decatur

City of Decatur Pros:

- The City of Decatur is among the most bike-friendly areas of Metro Atlanta. You could definitely safely commute between Decatur and GT on bike; it would be about 1 hour each way and would look something like this. If you're wondering why that route looks odd, it's because I modified it a bit to be more safe/bike friendly (don't take Google Maps verbatim as a cyclist; I'm sure you already know that). Most of that route between Decatur and GT is on protected bike paths (Stone Mountain Trail, Freedom Park Trail, the Beltline, the 10th Street cycle track); the rest is on safe residential streets or in bike lanes. E-bike strongly recommended (hills).

- If the weather is uncooperative, or if you simply don't feel up to cycling to work... rest assured that you can get there rather easily using MARTA trains as well (Decatur has a MARTA rail station, and GT is within walking distance of the Midtown MARTA station; MARTA's 12 bus or GT's Stinger shuttle will get you even closer to the GT Research Institute from Midtown MARTA).

- The City of Decatur is generally a very safe community.

- The City of Decatur is relatively close to the Airport; you have direct access to the Airport via MARTA rail as well (1 transfer at Five Points station).

- Plan on having kids? Rest assured that the City of Decatur schools are some of the top-rated in Georgia.

- The City of Decatur is not too far away from some recreational bike trails, such as the Stone Mountain trail, the South River Trail, and the Arabia Mountain/Rockdale River trail (you would have to drive to the latter two).

- Plan on eating in instead of out? There are lots of grocery stores in the area, including the massive Your DeKalb Farmers Market (where you can find just about any ingredient you will ever want or need).

City of Decatur Cons:

- The City of Decatur is quite expensive (click on "City of Decatur" above)... you would be near the top of your budget. The City of Decatur is small, so inventory is limited. Some of those properties may not have decent yards, though most do.

- The City of Decatur may be slightly too urban for your tastes, though the residential neighborhoods are definitely suburban-feeling for the most part. I'd call Decatur "a dense small town plopped in the middle of a major metropolitan area". YMMV; I would encourage you to use Google Maps Street View to determine if it's suburban enough for you and your wife.



Option 2: Smyrna

Smyrna Pros:

- You can kind of, sort of commute to work by bike... but you'll need the help of a bus too. Unfortunately, Smyrna's network of bike paths is disconnected from Atlanta's (though the folks at Connect the Comet are trying to make that connection happen). Your commute would look something like this, then this, then this. You would first ride to one of the bike trails in Smyrna (I used the Silver Comet Connector as an example). You would then ride your bike down the trail to the Cumberland Transfer Center; this would take about half an hour, maybe longer. Then, at the Cumberland Transfer Center, you would catch CobbLinc bus 10 (departs every 30 minutes) and ride the bus until you get to the Atlantic Station neighborhood (20 to 25 minute ride). Note that there are bike racks on CobbLinc buses; you can bring your bike with you. From Atlantic Station, you would ride your bike down State St until you reach the GT Research Institute (7 minute ride). Your bike + bus + bike commute would be between 1 hour and 2 hours... I would just consider driving a car instead (30 minutes).

- You should rather easily be able to afford a nice house with a yard without breaking the bank. Optimally, I would try to pick a house within a short distance of one of Smyrna's bike paths (especially one which leads you to the Cumberland Transfer Center); look for the solid green lines on the Google Maps "Biking" layer.

- Smyrna is very much suburban (as opposed to urban).

- Smyrna is generally a very safe community.

- Smyrna is relatively close to the Airport (via I-285 and Camp Creek Pkwy).

- Plan on eating in instead of out? Smyrna has a good variety of grocery stores to choose from, including Nam Dae Mun and Austell International Farmers Market for international ingredients.

- The schools are rated decently (though not exceptionally). I would stick to the Teasley, Nickajack, and King Springs Elementary School zones.

- There is a very robust network of recreational bike trails in the Smyrna area. The most popular is the Silver Comet Trail, which leads cyclists all the way to Alabama. There are several others as well (mostly along -- but separated from -- arterial roadways).

Smryna Cons:

- You cannot commute to work exclusively on bike, unless you have a death wish. You'll have to rely on buses too.

- Smyrna is a bit far from work... about 30 minutes by car and 1 to 2 hours by bike + bus.



Option 3: Kirkwood and East Lake

Kirkwood/East Lake Pros:

- Kirkwood and East Lake are among the most bike-friendly places in Metro Atlanta. You could definitely safely commute between Decatur and GT on bike; it would be between 45 minutes and 1 hour each way, and your commute would look something like this. Most of that route between Kirkwood and GT is on bike lanes and protected bike paths (Trolley Line Trail, the Beltline, the 10th Street cycle track); the rest is on safe residential streets or in bike lanes. E-bike strongly recommended (hills).

- You should be able to afford a nice house with a yard without breaking the bank. While it's less expensive than neighboring Decatur, it's more expensive than Smyrna.

- Kirkwood and East Lake are rather safe neighborhoods, though not extremely so (they are fairly close to some neighborhoods with more violent crime (southeast of the East Lake Golf Club). The safety situation will continue to improve, IMO.

- Kirkwood and East Lake are relatively close to the Airport. These neighborhoods are quite close to the East Lake MARTA rail station, which provides another way to the Airport (MARTA rail goes to the Airport with 1 transfer at Five Points station).

- Plan on eating in instead of out? Kirkwood and East Lake are not too far away from the many grocery stores located in the North Decatur area.

- Kirkwood and East Lake are not too far away from some recreational bike trails, such as the Stone Mountain trail, the South River Trail, and the Arabia Mountain/Rockdale River trail (you would have to drive to the latter two).

Kirkwood and East Lake Cons:

- The schools are not rated very well if you plan on having kids. However, the schools in that area continue to improve at a rather rapid rate, and residents of Kirkwood and East Lake get priority enrollment at the highly-regarded Drew Charter school.

- Kirkwood and East Lake may be slightly too urban for your tastes -- after all, Kirkwood and East Lake are neighborhoods within the City of Atlanta boundaries -- though both are residential neighborhoods with suburban/small town vibes for the most part. Kirkwood and East Lake are quite similar to the City of Decatur in this regard (Decatur is nextdoor). YMMV; I would encourage you to use Google Maps Street View to determine if it's suburban enough for you and your wife.



One final thought: if you and your wife are open to a rather similar southern metropolis with a similar cost of living, but with a more suburban feel overall and -- importantly -- a better network of bike paths and bike trails... consider the Research Triangle of North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). If you have the opportunity to do similar work at UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, or NC State... I would look into those before Atlanta and GT given your wants and needs.

[arjay57]

Sounds like Brookhaven or Morningside would be a good fit for you.

I'd also look at some of the Buckhead neighborhoods.