Working for Coca Cola (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: apartments, rent, townhomes)

[Kingcobra]

Hello

I've been reading this forum for the last two weeks and can't say enough about all the great information I've found.

So here is the scenario, my wife and I are going to be moving from Seattle to Atlanta. My wife will be working for Coke at their HQ in the downtown area. I will hopefully be working at or near Hartsfield airport (KATL) for DL.

Looking for a good suburban area, safe, community pool, etc... We have a 2 year old and we are looking to live in an area with other similar professional families. I don't mind a little diversity but we basically are white Yuppies

So far, people are have mentioned to us Dunwoody, Sandy Springs as good places to live but not sure about the commute for 9-5 type jobs. Through my research, Vinings and parts of Smyrna (Vinings Estates) seem to be a good middle ground for commuting to both work locations.

Any help is appreciated.

Matt

[futureATLien]

Well if your job is Marta accesible you could live in Dunwoody or Sandy Springs and just take Marta down. Otherwise, Smyrna is a decent option.

[ATLTJL]

Coke HQ is not MARTA accessible, at least not without getting on a bus or having quite a long walk.

[netsirk]

I believe Coca-Cola runs vans from MARTA to the Atlanta office complex. I'm a Coke employee, but I'm up in their Sandy Springs-area complex...and when I need to be downtown, I'm just a couple of minutes away by car.

I just moved here for the job in August, and I lived at first in Buckhead. On the mornings I had to go downtown to the office, I usually waited to go until 9 a.m. or so, and would make it in ten to fifteen minutes. I'm not sure what it's like from there in the morning prior to that (if you were to consider Buckhead).

I can tell you that as I make the 18-to-22 minute drive up 75 in the morning, there is a significant amount of traffic coming south, so your commute would be more than the 20-ish minutes it takes me to do the reverse commute up to the 30339 zip code. (I'm in Inman Park...not sure if you're familiar with the geography; if not, definitely get familiar with the map. I learned very quickly how to get around here because I would go out driving and then come back and pull up a map and understand where I was and what my other options were. Then again, I'm sort of a nerd with a love of maps.)

Depending on your budget, you may want to look in the Inman Park area. It's close to the downtown office and closer to the airport, for you (when there's no traffic, it takes me about 15 minutes to get to the airport with light to moderate traffic). It's an expensive area, and I don't know how big a yard you want; the homes here are older, as this was Atlanta's original suburb. But it's a fabulous area that's full of parks and open space. You should at least take a look.

[lorilove]

Yes, Smyrna and Vinings would be a great option and reasonable commute for both of you. Coke HQ is actually just north of Downtown and West of Midtown near the Ga Tech campus

[netsirk]

And it involves coming down 75 in the morning and getting off at North Ave. (If you're taking the most direct highway route.) It's got to be at least a 45-minute commute in the morning, depending on the time one leaves. He also has to go down to the airport. That's lengthy.

[berkeleylake]

I would rent something in Vinings or elsewhere ITP (somewhat close to work) and then decide later about schools since your kid is quite young.

[lorilove]

Originally Posted by netsirk

And it involves coming down 75 in the morning and getting off at North Ave. (If you're taking the most direct highway route.) It's got to be at least a 45-minute commute in the morning, depending on the time one leaves. He also has to go down to the airport. That's lengthy.

There are lots of alternative routes to from Smyrna to Coke HQ other than I-75. Typical traffic should be about 1/2 hour - when traffic is a nightmare there are lots of options such as Northside Drive and Marietta/Atlanta Road

I drive to the airport every Monday from Smyrna leaving at 8 am and make it to the airport in 1/2 hour. The worse part of my commute is the 2-3 miles it takes me to get to I-285 so definitely keep that in mind.

Yes, when traffic breaksdown in Atlanta (typically in the rain) these commutes can be a nightmare (over 1 1/2 hours) but that would be true of almost anywhere you choose to live in Atlanta.

[Kingcobra]

Great info everyone . Is is it safe to assume there are plenty of gated communities with pools /clubhouses in Smyrna and Vinings? Just thinking that would be a great feature given we won't know anyone in Atlanta ..

[lorilove]

In Smyrna/Vinings, most class A apartments are gated communities - most SFR subdivisions are not. Newer subdivisions generally have swim and tennis. As for Townhome communities - you get a combination of both with newer townhomes. The older townhomes generally are not gated.