Older woman needing a good secure area to live in.

[Pdog30]

Originally Posted by lorilove

Your options are slim but not NONE - I am not sure if it can be done for less than $1,000

If your mother lives in the Cumberland Mall area -I believe she can walk to the CCT station at Cumberland Mall and take a direct bus to the Marta Arts Station which is right next door to Colony Square (easy walk)

This should all be very doable in under 1 hour. On bad weather days (mostly heavy rain or high heat - only the occasional snow) the walk portion can be miserable. There are some brand new luxury apartments going up Walton at Riverwood or The Heights Stillhouse but I expect they will not be cheap. A little farther walk is Madison Vinings Ridge - these are older but still nice apartments.

If she will need public transportation to visit her sister in Cobb County this is your best choice because CCT is the only option traveling in Cobb

Thank you for your information. I appreciate your time in responding to my question.

[gerrythesnake]

She could move to Canton and take the Express bus into downtown Atlanta and then take Marta to the Midtown train station

[Pdog30]

Gerrythesnake,

Thank you for your reply. This is a great idea.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Pdog30

To answer your question. Public transportation stinks in Southern California. She was hoping to find a change of pace by using public transport. For example she drives about an hour in traffic to get to work in southern California. She was hoping that the ATL area would give her more transport options such as rail so she could enjoy her time by reading or something. IF she must drive I am sure she will.

There's no "IF" to it, if your mother relocates to Atlanta she WILL have to drive, particularly if getting to and from or around almost anyplace outside of the I-285 Perimeter is part of the transportation equation.

Right now the public transportation situation in Metro Atlanta is so (increasingly) disappointing that Atlanta-area public transportation is literally looking up at public transportation in Southern California.

Public transportation in the Atlanta area literally has to improve to get the quality and level of where public transportation in Southern California currently is.

Unless your mother relocates to someplace on the North-South MARTA heavy rail line (preferably around the Dunwoody, Sandy Springs or North Springs stations, like ATLTJL stated...and even then MARTA heavy rail service can sometimes be very-spotty on weekends and after 7 pm on weekdays), if your mother decides to relocate to the Atlanta area, she will likely be even more dependent on her vehicle than she already is in Southern California where the public transportation already "stinks", but is likely better than the public transportation in Metro Atlanta.

If your mother decides to relocate to Cobb County to be close to where your aunt's medical services are located, then she will most likely have absolutely no choice but to drive around Cobb County where the shrinking amount of public transportation that exists is impractical for most uses, and your mother will also likely have to drive the relatively short distance to and from work as many of the locations where the bus can be caught in Cobb County (roadside bus stops, park & ride lots and bus hubs) are not necessarily that convenient to where most people live.

In Metro Atlanta your mother will also have to drive on a road network (both surface roads and even freeways) that is nowhere near as comprehensive (and accommodating to vehicular traffic) as the road network that she may be accustomed to driving on in Southern California.

In addition to having a very-limited public transportation network that is not very comprehensive in reach or very practical to use at times, Metro Atlanta also has kind of a limited road network (surface roads and freeways) that is not necessarily all that easy to use during peak traffic hours (weekdays and even weekends) and that is in most instances both physically and politically limited in how much it can be expanded to better accommodate the very-heavy traffic that it handles (...like our 2-lane roads that struggle because they handle the peak-hour traffic of a 4-6 lane highway or our 4-lane parkways and boulevards that struggle because they handle the peak-hour traffic of an 8-lane freeway).

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

She could move to Canton and take the Express bus into downtown Atlanta and then take Marta to the Midtown train station

Originally Posted by Pdog30

Gerrythesnake,

Thank you for your reply. This is a great idea.

...That's not a bad idea, though if your mother will be working in the area of Colony Square near the intersection of 14th and Peachtree streets, the Arts Center MARTA Station is closer to that intersection and may be closer to where she will be working in Midtown Atlanta.

Here is a link to the page for the GRTA Xpress commuter bus route in question that gerrythesnake is talking about, GRTA Xpress bus Route 490 Canton-Woodstock to Midtown and Downtown Atlanta:
Xpress...commuting made easy. Operated by the GA Regional Transportation Authority

Here is also a link to a page with the different routes and links to the maps and schedules of each route within the GRTA Xpress commuter bus system:
Xpress...commuting made easy. Operated by the GA Regional Transportation Authority

Here is a link to the website for MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) buses and heavy rail trains:
MARTA - Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

And here is a link to the website for Cobb Community Transit (Cobb County's local bus service that has express routes that provide service between Cobb County and Midtown Atlanta):
Cobb Community Transit

[lorilove]

I would not let public transportation drive your housing decision. She can find a nice place in Smyrna/Cumberland/Vinings and with driving it will only be about 1/2 hour drive. The inconvenience of public transportation is going to double any commute.

If she is primarily visiting her sister on weekends, then she can also look in the Perimeter Mall area - where Marta is an option. This would be an easy public transportation commute into Midtown. It is not a bad drive to Cobb County on weekends although I would avoid it if you need to do it regularly on weekdays.

[gerrythesnake]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

...That's not a bad idea, though if your mother will be working in the area of Colony Square near the intersection of 14th and Peachtree streets, the Arts Center MARTA Station is closer to that intersection and may be closer to where she will be working in Midtown Atlanta.

Here is a link to the page for the GRTA Xpress commuter bus route in question that gerrythesnake is talking about, GRTA Xpress bus Route 490 Canton-Woodstock to Midtown and Downtown Atlanta:
Xpress...commuting made easy. Operated by the GA Regional Transportation Authority

Here is also a link to a page with the different routes and links to the maps and schedules of each route within the GRTA Xpress commuter bus system:
Xpress...commuting made easy. Operated by the GA Regional Transportation Authority

Here is a link to the website for MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) buses and heavy rail trains:
MARTA - Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

And here is a link to the website for Cobb Community Transit (Cobb County's local bus service that has express routes that provide service between Cobb County and Midtown Atlanta):
Cobb Community Transit

Yeah she can find plenty of nice houses in that area for the price. I'm not sure how walkable it is but at least it will be cheaper and very safe. Just make sure she doesn't change jobs outside of Midtown or Downtown because that commute would be HELL lol.

BTW we have commuter buses in just about every outer suburb that goes into the city. Here is the map. As long as she lives close to one of these stations she should be ok

http://www.xpressga.com/images/image...p_web_6-13.png

After thinking about this I would try to get her to move to 85 North area in Gwinnett County. It will be easier for you coming to visit her from NC since you will be on 85. You probably will not want to deal with the traffic driving 85 to 285 and then to 75 N to Canton. If she moves to Gwinnett it will decrease your trip back to NC by at least 75 minutes

[lorilove]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

...
After thinking about this I would try to get her to move to 85 North area in Gwinnett County. It will be easier for you coming to visit her from NC since you will be on 85. You probably will not want to deal with the traffic driving 85 to 285 and then to 75 N to Canton. If she moves to Gwinnett it will decrease your trip back to NC by at least 75 minutes

Gwinnett County does not make sense to me at all - the daughter will occasionally be coming to visit in Atlanta but considering her sister is in Cobb County and she will be visiting her much more often (I am guessing weekly) - you will not want to any further east than the Perimeter.

[gerrythesnake]

Originally Posted by lorilove

Gwinnett County does not make sense to me at all - the daughter will occasionally be coming to visit in Atlanta but considering her sister is in Cobb County and she will be visiting her much more often (I am guessing weekly) - you will not want to any further east than the Perimeter.

OK. I read over that part