If Buford/Dacula are exurbs... (Atlanta, Griffin: top school, zoned, zip code)

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by noah

Sure do but aren't they usually called exburbs if its 40 miles out.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, whether one says "outer suburb" or "exurb" is really two sides of the same coin.


An area could be called a suburb (outer). An area could be called an exurb.


Canton is a suburb of Atlanta. Canton is an exurb of Atlanta.


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[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

I just moved to the Atlanta area from Michigan, but wow. Atlanta is by far the most sprawling area I've ever been to, including Chicago. Canton is 41 miles away from Atlanta, but it's still considered a suburb? That's like calling Kalamazoo a suburb of Grand Rapids, or Ann Arbor a suburb of Detroit (anyone from Michigan will know what I'm talking about). In Michigan, exurbs are no more that 30 miles from the central city (except Metro Detroit, and only on the northwest side towards Flint and Lansing), and suburbs are usually within 10-15 miles (except Detroit). I couldn't imagine commuting 40 miles to work each way, especially in Atlanta traffic.

I have a little bit of factual news for you...

1. The Chicago CSA is 8,489 square miles - just a little larger than Metro Atlanta. So Chicago is just as sprawling, and even a little moreso.

2. Most U.S. city metropolitan areas are a similar size to Atlanta...some are larger, some are smaller. Detroit is a little smaller than Atlanta, but not a significant amount.

3. Most people in Atlanta couldn't imagine commuting 40 miles to work either. Most don't.

[FLgirl367]

Originally Posted by noah

Sure do but aren't they usually called exburbs if its 40 miles out.

My uncle lives 50 miles outside of Chicago and calls it a suburb. Then again, I've never heard of the term exburb until this thread today. My point was that for flyingwriter to say that Atlanta is rare for having sprawl is inaccurate. I don't care what you call it; if people are commuting 50 miles it is sprawl.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

I have a little bit of factual news for you...

1. The Chicago CSA is 8,489 square miles - just a little larger than Metro Atlanta. So Chicago is just as sprawling, and even a little moreso.

2. Most U.S. city metropolitan areas are a similar size to Atlanta...some are larger, some are smaller. Detroit is a little smaller than Atlanta, but not a significant amount.

3. Most people in Atlanta couldn't imagine commuting 40 miles to work either. Most don't.

...And the Canton Metro Atlantans would more than likely commute to the core metro areas of Cumberland/Vinings, Marietta, or Town Center/Barrett for work. Not Downtown Atlanta.

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by aries4118

...And the Canton Metro Atlantans would more than likely commute to the core metro areas of Cumberland/Vinings, Marietta, or Town Center/Barrett for work. Not Downtown Atlanta.

Good point.

[Georgia]

Originally Posted by FromGA

I would say Buford and Dacula are far out suburbs of the city of Atlanta. They are both over 35 miles from city center. On the Buford/Dacula side of Atlanta metro -- Lawerenceville, Duluth, Alpharetta, Marietta, Snellville are closer suburbs. However Buford and Dacula are probably self sufficient areas.

Close, actually Buford is 34 miles from the main exit off 985 from center city Atlanta. So sayth' the road sign! So sayth' the odometer!

Are they self sufficient. Yes, very much. Granted your not on a city block like Buckhead or downtown, but you still have everything close. Outside of Atlanta City, Gwinnett is the largest business center in Georgia. Restaurants? Pick one. Shopping? Mall of Georgia (2nd largest in the SE) Discovery Mills, Avenues of Webb Gin, etc., etc., and downtowns with identity like Lawrenceville, Buford, and as tiny as it is, don't blink, Dacula.
So yes, easy to say self sufficient and easier to say suburb of Atlanta.

[Georgia]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

I have a little bit of factual news for you...

1. The Chicago CSA is 8,489 square miles - just a little larger than Metro Atlanta. So Chicago is just as sprawling, and even a little moreso.

2. Most U.S. city metropolitan areas are a similar size to Atlanta...some are larger, some are smaller. Detroit is a little smaller than Atlanta, but not a significant amount.

3. Most people in Atlanta couldn't imagine commuting 40 miles to work either. Most don't.

True, granted my rule is live within 20 miles of where you work. The benefit that Atlanta brings over Chi'town is affordability. In Chicago, even in the burbs like Schaumburg, Naperville, Arlington Heights, Des Plains, etc., you can work, but can many afford to live? And downtown, live around the loop or Lincoln Park is as costly as Buckhead. Gold Coast? Well, Buckhead is a discount.

When I lived in the Chicago area I moved out 25 miles from work. Had half the house I have here and even in todays depressed market the Chicago burb home is about 150% more in cost than the one here. Taxes? How does $8,000 per year sound?

I loved Chicago and the burbs there, but WOW! It made my 10 years in Jersey look cheap!

[Saintmarks]

A good example of a current Atlanta exurb? My home county of Meriwether. Since the 2000 census, Meriwether County is officially (by US Census standards) part of Metropolitan Atlanta. However, if you go there, you won't find one suburban thing about it. The reason it is now Metro Atlanta? A certain percentage travel into the metro area (primarily Coweta and Fayette) to their place of work.

Meriwether does not have a Chili's, a Target or any big box. Unless one has sprung up in Manchester (which is closer to Columbus than Atlanta) there isn't even a Wal Mart. However it has been 10 years since I've been thru Manchester, at the far southern end of Meriwether, so I could be wrong.

My unofficial definition of when an area becomes a suburb: When said area gets more swim/tennis cul-de-sac strewn neighborhoods than the locals can keep count of and when you get a big box center the next level up from a Wal-Mart. Throw in a 10 plex and national sit down restaurants like TGI Fridays, Olive Garden and Red Lobster, and VOILA! You are now an official suburb!

Another unofficial reason an area gets labeled as an exurb: The closest area to a built up suburban area where one can get a decent sized piece of land, have the "rural" feel, but be near enough to travel to a more suburban area. Many moved from East Point/College Park/North Clayton to Coweta/Fayette in the 70's and 80's so they could have this lifestyle. In the last decade these people saw the areas around them grow too crowded and then sold out to a developer at a nice price and moved further out for what they used to have before said area became suburban. This describes Meriwether to a tee.

In my years of growing up in Hogansville in the 70's/80's, Coweta was not a suburb. Now, Coweta is Gwinnett junior.

[Iconographer]

Exurbs IMO:
McDonough
Covington
Winder
Braselton
Ball Ground
Waleska
Cartersville
Dallas
Villa Rica
Carrollton

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by Saintmarks

A good example of a current Atlanta exurb? My home county of Meriwether. Since the 2000 census, Meriwether County is officially (by US Census standards) part of Metropolitan Atlanta. However, if you go there, you won't find one suburban thing about it. The reason it is now Metro Atlanta? A certain percentage travel into the metro area (primarily Coweta and Fayette) to their place of work.

Meriwether does not have a Chili's, a Target or any big box. Unless one has sprung up in Manchester (which is closer to Columbus than Atlanta) there isn't even a Wal Mart. However it has been 10 years since I've been thru Manchester, at the far southern end of Meriwether, so I could be wrong.

My unofficial definition of when an area becomes a suburb: When said area gets more swim/tennis cul-de-sac strewn neighborhoods than the locals can keep count of and when you get a big box center the next level up from a Wal-Mart. Throw in a 10 plex and national sit down restaurants like TGI Fridays, Olive Garden and Red Lobster, and VOILA! You are now an official suburb!

Another unofficial reason an area gets labeled as an exurb: The closest area to a built up suburban area where one can get a decent sized piece of land, have the "rural" feel, but be near enough to travel to a more suburban area. Many moved from East Point/College Park/North Clayton to Coweta/Fayette in the 70's and 80's so they could have this lifestyle. In the last decade these people saw the areas around them grow too crowded and then sold out to a developer at a nice price and moved further out for what they used to have before said area became suburban. This describes Meriwether to a tee.

In my years of growing up in Hogansville in the 70's/80's, Coweta was not a suburb. Now, Coweta is Gwinnett junior.

Again, great minds think alike...


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