Moving: Somewhere midway between Madison, GA and Lawrenceville/Suwanee area (Atlanta: apartments, rental)

[TickledPinkGA]

Hi. So my fiancé and I will be moving in together in a few months. We are trying to figure out what areas to start looking for places. I would need to commute to Lawrenceville/Suwanee area while he will be commuting to Madison, GA. So we will basically be going in opposite directions. Ideally we would like our commutes to be no longer than around 45mins. I was thinking maybe parts of Snellville would work, but would be more of a 45-50 minute commute for him. Loganville could also work and would be around 45mins for both of us. Are there any other cities/areas to check out? Lithonia would also work distance-wise but I've heard so many negative things about Lithonia that I'm hesitant to add it to the list.

Additionally, we're both under 30 with no kids. Ideally we'd like to rent a townhouse, like a 2br/2bath. A smaller detached house would also be fine, something like a 3br home but no bigger. We're ok with apartments also and would like to spend no more than 1200/month, but honestly the lower the better. I prefer Snellville because Loganville seems to have less things to do around but I honestly don't know much about either places. Any input on Snellville and Loganville plus suggestions on other places that could work would be great. THANKS!

[cwkimbro]

I would choose Loganville and position yourself near Route 81.

The commute to Suwanee will face far more traffic, despite being shorter.

Whether you are in Snelleville or Loganville, you will likely do most your major shopping along GA 124 north of Snelleville and will find most of your groceries/restaurants/Drug Stores locally in either location.

Neither place is particularly great for nightlife to be honest, so I don't think that matters. Most of Gwinnett's large event centers are near I-85.


One option to consider... Winder. It seems counter-intuitive, but it is actually a shorter commute to Madison and about the same to Suwanee.

New businesses are popping up along GA316 and there are many new, fairly affordable exurban homes popping up too.

From there I would consider the occasional weekend trip into Athens, as much as Atlanta.

[Need4Camaro]

During peak hours, SR124 is a nightmare (its one of my least favorite roads in the metro due to all the heavy development with no alternative routes.) If commuting during rush hour it can possibly take up to an hour and a small amount of change to get to Madison. I know this because I used to commute from there to Covington. MOST of the time will likely be spent on SR124 between Sugarloaf and U.S. 78, after that its not too bad. There's also backroads that take you in the general direction of Covington from there that will allow you to skip much of SR124, but not sure how they are during commute hours.

Loganville would probably be a better choice, Winder surprisingly isn't a bad commute either. There's also Monroe but I'm not familiar with the quality of living out that way, but it is much closer than any of the alternatives and leaves you pretty much equal distance between Lawrenceville and Madison.

[TickledPinkGA]

I haven't seen very many listings for townhomes in Snellville and even less in Loganville. I'm not sure if that may change when summer rolls around or if there just aren't very many in that area. Are single family homes easier to find as rental properties in these areas vs townhomes? Anyways, thanks for the replies! I'll have to look into Winder and Monroe.

[cwkimbro]

Yes.... the area is overwhelmingly single family homes.

It is at the edge of the suburban borders of Atlanta, so the zoning is purposefully less dense. There is also a great deal of school protectionism that keeps zoning to single family homes.

But there are some....

(These are on US78 between Loganville and Snelleville https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sn...!4d-84.0199108 )

Also, look at the single family homes... you will often find older '60s-'70s era ranch house or cheaper SFH with cheaper siding on smaller lots close to the same price as a town home in the area.

You will see neighborhoods that looks like this to comply with zoning, but meet the same price point/market as a townhome community: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sn...!4d-84.0199108

The only difference between that and a townhome community is 7 feet of land and a tiny bit of additional vinyl siding for each unit.

You will also find things are cheaper going south of US78. The South Gwinnett High School area is weaker than its northern counterparts, Brookwood & Grayson.

[TickledPinkGA]

Alright you've given me a good deal to work with. Thank you!!!

[hilltop180]

I work in NW Atlanta but if I had a chance I would really like to live in outskirts of metro ATL on the Eastside. I have some family that live in Covington and Monroe and really like both areas. I you want to be get more of a slow-paced country life, Monroe can offer this. It may be a bit far out but Athens is a great city. Loganville or Winder sound like good options as people say. I really like that area of Georgia, but my job keeps me on the west side of Atlanta.