Georgia has "traffic"? pffft. Try driving in Illinois.

[pickleswanson]

I think it may have to do with the fact that many suggested road improvment projects for the area have been shot down quickly by nay sayers in the area. Not Metro Savannah itself persay but many areas around it fight quite diligently to keep growth by roadway out of their area. The last time I went into the area with the DOT the locals outside of Savannah wanted Savannah to keep its growth more contained and not end up like ATL, being in everyones back yard. I can't quote them directly but it was basically said that Savannah needs to clean up its interior and stop moving into my back yard. As much as I hate to repeat that cause I love Savannah it does have many many problems it just doesn't seem to know how to handle. I'll still come to visit as much as possible though. Especially during St. Patty's Day!

Originally Posted by bgnzsavnh

I always wonder how GDOT officials keep a straight face, when confronted by the Savannah-Fingham-Bryan officials about our traffic problems

[IllinoiZ]

Originally Posted by starzfalldown

How can you compare traffic in Covington, which is rural, and in 1993 at that to that of any major city?

Atlanta today is just about the worst traffic America has to offer. Just try riding 285 or 400 at 7:00 am.

I didn't grow up in Covington. I grew up in Conyers. And because I know Georgia has changed a lot, that's why I visited Georgia recently and drove around a lot of areas during rush hour. The traffic in Georgia, did not faze me at all.

You want to see bumper to bumper traffic in a suburb up here? Try driving through the Arlington Heights area of Illinois on any given day. Or Libertyville during rush hour on Route 21. Or the I-94 tollway when it snows up here. Oh, and god help you if it rains anywhere in Cook or Lake County, Illinois if you're trying to get somewhere quickly. Ha! Stop lights go out all the time when it rains and then it's backed up forever. And if there's a car accident on a main road somewhere? Forget it. Did I mention the snow???

My point is, the traffic out in the suburbs outside of Chicago, has gotten pretty bad. It's not just Georgia that is experiencing the traffic increase. The only advantage Illinois has over Georgia is that our public rail system (Metra) is pretty good compared to Marta in Atlanta. That does help. If Atlanta could improve it's Marta system, that would probably ease more congestion around and in the city.

All I know is, since I'm used to an hour commute that used to only take me 25 minutes up here, it will not be hard for me to get used to the longer commutes in Georgia. At least I won't have to deal with driving through blinding snow storms in Georgia like we get up here sometimes. That alone, is worth the move.

[Southern by birth]

If you are a good driver you will love Georgia. Georgians love their cars and love to go places. If you are a bad driver you might want to go somewhere very small town where the natives will learn to keep out of your way. If you want to avoid the interstates then move someplace in Georgia where you can drive on surface streets.

Though we don't get stopped by snow, ice storms will shut the upper third part of the state down. No one can drive on ice.

If you have a teenaged driver Atlanta is a challenge to drive in like any other metro area. Please consider sending them to one of the safe driving schools at Road Atlanta (race track) where kids and adults can be trained in a safe environment to face driving hazards.

Atlanta and Georgia are fabulous places to live. Welcome!

[Fortoggie]

It's been 6 years since the above posts and the rate of growth has slowed somewhat for the Atlanta area but even so something like a new small city is added every month. At it's peak the area added 500 people per day. Think of the growth and profits for, Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart and all the Chains.
Think also of the tremendous burden on the local, state and federal governments. Even if all the new people pay their fair share taxes, their payments will be on average 6 years behind. That's why governments at whatever level will always be in debt. In general thats not a bad thing. But it makes it tougher on officials if the voter is without understanding and is constantly blaming the politicians for the problem.

[OptimusPrime69]

Why do people use traffic as an indicator of how cosmopolitan a city is?

Like to say --- "traffic in chicago is so bad! wow!! A lot of people want to live there, look at the traffic! wowow!!!" lol, please...

Traffic in Chicago is nothing compared to NYC o LA.....so take that, Chicago! and Atlanta! lolz.

[MattCW]

All of these cities have robust enough transit systems that you can say with a straight face to someone complaining about traffic: "don't like it? Take the train." Can't do that here in Georgia, we're stuck!

[cwkimbro]

Generally speaking this is the silliest line or arguments I've ever heard. I don't really understand why people are putting this much effort in it.

However, I do see one fatal flaw. Conyers and the I-20 corridor in Atlanta is nowhere near as built up as 75, 85, and 400 North.

Chicago and Atlanta both grow in some directions more, especially for white collar workers that take on long commutes.

You're comparing a very popular direction of Chicago, to a medium popular direction in Atlanta.

I've seen some pretty bad traffic in Chicago personally. I've seen some pretty back traffic in Atlanta. I don't buy your rosy colored picture of Atlanta, though.

Originally Posted by IllinoiZ

I didn't grow up in Covington. I grew up in Conyers. And because I know Georgia has changed a lot, that's why I visited Georgia recently and drove around a lot of areas during rush hour. The traffic in Georgia, did not faze me at all.

You want to see bumper to bumper traffic in a suburb up here? Try driving through the Arlington Heights area of Illinois on any given day. Or Libertyville during rush hour on Route 21. Or the I-94 tollway when it snows up here. Oh, and god help you if it rains anywhere in Cook or Lake County, Illinois if you're trying to get somewhere quickly. Ha! Stop lights go out all the time when it rains and then it's backed up forever. And if there's a car accident on a main road somewhere? Forget it. Did I mention the snow???

My point is, the traffic out in the suburbs outside of Chicago, has gotten pretty bad. It's not just Georgia that is experiencing the traffic increase. The only advantage Illinois has over Georgia is that our public rail system (Metra) is pretty good compared to Marta in Atlanta. That does help. If Atlanta could improve it's Marta system, that would probably ease more congestion around and in the city.

All I know is, since I'm used to an hour commute that used to only take me 25 minutes up here, it will not be hard for me to get used to the longer commutes in Georgia. At least I won't have to deal with driving through blinding snow storms in Georgia like we get up here sometimes. That alone, is worth the move.