Commute to Buckhead/Vinings from Newnan or Woodstock? (Atlanta, Marietta: house, where to live)

[bcschaefer]

My husband and I recently moved to the area from Illinois to be near family. He just accepted a job offer in the Buckhead/Vinings area(Northside Pkwy NW) and we are trying to determine where to live now. My parents live near Newnan (south of ATL) and my sister lives in Woodstock/Canton (north). He is prepared for a 40-50 minute commute, but would like as little traffic as possible. I mapped the commute from both areas and it looks like it would be about 10 minutes shorter from Woodstock, but I've been told that the traffic is a lot worse. Does anyone have any experience with the drive from either location during rush hour? Any advice? Thanks!

[GF72]

I-75 through Cobb County (which is the Woodstock path) has some very, very bad traffic during rush hour. During free traffic it would be a 20 to 30 minute drive, but in rush hour it would be 40 minutes to an hour.

Newnan on the other hand, would be 40 to 50 minutes in completely free traffic, and well over an hour in rush hour, though the congestion wouldn't hit until you got pretty close.

[Saintmarks]

If the job is closer to Vinings, you should consider that coming up from Newnan, he could take 285 around the westside of Atlanta and not have to go through downtown. It has been a few years since I have done the Atlanta commute thing, but my mom still lives in Hogansville (south of Newnan) and we lived in Marietta and for all my years of driving that stretch of 285 from 85 to 75 up the west side was always pretty free flowing (for Atlanta standards mind you) until you got close to 75. He could learn some back ways to work at Atlanta Road or Paces Ferry and all in all that would probably be less time than coming down 575 and 75 from Woodstock.

[wxjay]

Why don't you just live in the Smyrna/Vinings area and that way you can be between both members of your family?

[BobKovacs]

I commute from Holly Springs to downtown, so I'm starting slightly north of Woodstock and ending a few miles south of your proposed destination. Leaving my house at 6am it's around a 40 minute commute (including around 10 minutes getting to the interstate)- leaving at 7am it's about an hour. Coming home if I leave by 4pm it's around a 45 minute commute on some days, an hour on others. If I leave at 5pm it's an hour to 1:15.

I can't imagine your commute from Newnan would be much better- less traffic, perhaps once you get through downtown, but more miles, and the afternoon traffic heading south through downtown is pretty nasty (worse than northbound).

[Tdiddy0027]

but he would be using the perimeter