Georgia has "traffic"? pffft. Try driving in Illinois. (Atlanta: crime, home)

[IllinoiZ]

First of all, let me just state that this is my own personal opinion. I grew up in Conyers, Georgia. We moved to Lake County, Illinois in 1993. Lake County, is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. So, when we decided that we might want to move back to Georgia, everyone down there was telling me how "bad" traffic in Georgia is now. Ha! Try driving in rush hour traffic in Chicago...when you get 8 inches of snow. Heck, forget the snow. Just try driving in Chicago, or any Chicago surrounding suburb. Traffic, is a NIGHTMARE.

So, when I got to Georgia, to visit recently, I rented a car, and drove during rush hour in many areas of Georgia. The traffic was busy, but still does not hold a candle to NE Illinois traffic. As far as all the development down there, welcome to the USA. It is happening EVERYWHERE. Neighborhoods go up overnight up here too.

As far as crime, and "all those darn illegals", guess what, they are everywhere too. Illinois has a huge Mexican population.

I am posting this as a kind of reply to all the negative postings I've seen about Georgia so far. They almost scared me away too...until I visited again recently. Yes, demographics have changed, but they are changing everywhere. There is no 100% "safe" area anymore. Even "nice" neighborhoods have home invasions.

So, before you get scared away from Georgia, go down there and research in person before you move there. For example: Chicago is a great city for jobs, but it has just as much crime as Atlanta.

Oh, and self racial segregation is everywhere too. Up here, black people tend to live in mostly black neighborhoods. Whites, tend to live with whites, and latinos with latinos. Georgia is not unique in that way. Some areas are mixed, but most white folks start to move out when Mexicans and African Americans move in. In other words, racism is still everywhere too, not just The South.


My point is, don't give up on Georgia from what you've seen on internet posts. All states have their problems. All have pros and cons.

[IllinoiZ]

P.S. I LOVED Duluth when I visited recently. LOVED, it. I even loved Conyers. I liked the way it has been built up. Sure, the white folks are moving out to a certain degree, but Conyers is not turning into a giant ghetto. Certain areas do have crime, but the rest are families moving in. So, visit, in person, like I did, before you judge Georgia.

By the way, I'm a white girl who felt completely comfortable driving around Conyers. (maybe because I'm used to the insane traffic up in Illinois)

[clsmith15]

I thought Chicago had mass transit? If so, was it inaccessible?

[pickleswanson]

I lived in Chicago almost 2 years ago and yes traffic is bad during rush hour but I think the rush hour in CHI is more defined than ATL's. This would be my explainantion as to why people think traffic in ATL is so bad. Heavy traffic flow basically all day long in ATL whereas in CHI I only noticed heavy traffic during thier specific traffic hours and the streets were almost empty the rest of the time. My travels there were kind of limited to downtown and N.CHI though so other areas may be different. I really expected traffic to be worse because CHI is much more compact than ATL.

I agree with you about needing to visit before you judge an area. We all have different expectations and needs anyway so one's opinion of an area may dramatically differ from one person to another. Besides it obvisous to me many people talk about wanting change but are never truely happy with the outcomes when they get it.

[IllinoiZ]

In response to the replies this thread has gotten so far, I suppose the one advantage Illinois has over Georgia, is that our public train system (Metra up here, like Marta down there) does go far into the suburbs outside of Chicago, whereas, Marta seems to be mostly contained in Atlanta.

However, even with our public transportation system in Illinois, traffic has steadily gotten worse, and worse out in the suburbs outside of Chicago. The reason being: new development. We have just as much urban sprawl as the suburbs outside of Atlanta.

Let me give you and example. I live north of Chicago in Lake County which is right at the Illinois/Wisconsin border. It used to take me 20 to 25 minutes, to get to work in the morning driving from the city of Fox Lake to Vernon Hills in Lake County ten years ago. Now, it can take me almost an hour to drive that short distance to get to work in the morning. Now, if my job was in the city? Forget it. It would take me two to three hours, one way, every day, to get to work.

Oh, and this traffic does not let up much even after rush hour. It stays busy in Lake County pretty much all day long no matter where you drive.

Here's the other reason traffic has gotten so bad in Illinois, and I notice Georgia has the same problem. They are not widening roads up here to accommodate the extra traffic. They have widened a few sections, here and there, but not nearly enough. I notice roads are getting widened in Georgia too, but not nearly at a fast enough pace to keep up with traffic. We have that same problem up here.

My point is, Georgia and Illinois are very much the same as far as the growing traffic problem that is hitting all suburbs outside of larger cities. Urban sprawl is everywhere. That can be a good thing, because it brings more jobs, but it also brings more traffic, more crime, more problems, etc. The problems that cities have been dealing with for years, are now hitting the suburbs.

If you want to get away from traffic these days, you will literally have to live in the middle of nowhere. Otherwise, get ready for bad traffic no matter where you move, if you want to be closer to jobs.

But the nice thing about Georgia is, you don't have to drive in 8 inches of snow. That is one of the reasons I'm considering moving back to Georgia. Since I'm already used to hellish traffic up here, driving down there, with no snow in the winter, will be a piece of cake for me.

[starzfalldown]

Originally Posted by IllinoiZ

First of all, let me just state that this is my own personal opinion. I grew up in Conyers, Georgia. We moved to Lake County, Illinois in 1993. Lake County, is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. So, when we decided that we might want to move back to Georgia, everyone down there was telling me how "bad" traffic in Georgia is now. Ha! Try driving in rush hour traffic in Chicago...when you get 8 inches of snow. Heck, forget the snow. Just try driving in Chicago, or any Chicago surrounding suburb. Traffic, is a NIGHTMARE.

So, when I got to Georgia, to visit recently, I rented a car, and drove during rush hour in many areas of Georgia. The traffic was busy, but still does not hold a candle to NE Illinois traffic. As far as all the development down there, welcome to the USA. It is happening EVERYWHERE. Neighborhoods go up overnight up here too.

As far as crime, and "all those darn illegals", guess what, they are everywhere too. Illinois has a huge Mexican population.

I am posting this as a kind of reply to all the negative postings I've seen about Georgia so far. They almost scared me away too...until I visited again recently. Yes, demographics have changed, but they are changing everywhere. There is no 100% "safe" area anymore. Even "nice" neighborhoods have home invasions.

So, before you get scared away from Georgia, go down there and research in person before you move there. For example: Chicago is a great city for jobs, but it has just as much crime as Atlanta.

Oh, and self racial segregation is everywhere too. Up here, black people tend to live in mostly black neighborhoods. Whites, tend to live with whites, and latinos with latinos. Georgia is not unique in that way. Some areas are mixed, but most white folks start to move out when Mexicans and African Americans move in. In other words, racism is still everywhere too, not just The South.


My point is, don't give up on Georgia from what you've seen on internet posts. All states have their problems. All have pros and cons.

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.

[bgnzsavnh]

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

[M TYPE X]

Chicagoland is the third largest metro area in the country. You're comparing Hotlanta to it, but it's like apples and smaller apples.

[MayorOfMacon2019]

I doubt Chicago is seeing the urban spwarl like Atlanta. The metro area grew by a million people in like 5 years if im not mistaking. Thats the largest growth in this country ever. If Atlanta keeps growing at this rate, it could top rank with cities like Tokyo, in about 20 years. Surpassing New York, Chicago, and Los Angelos in no time.

[pickleswanson]

Well I'm not going to be as dramatic about ATL's growth as the Mayor but yes ATL is growing as a tremendous rate and is often compared to such cities as CHI, LA and NY. The metro ATL area covers the northern half of GA and while it continues to grow faster than the rest of the state; GA is one of the fastest growing states in general. I remember seeing it somewhere but can't remember where. GA, NC, FL, CA and TX are tops for growth. NC is surprising everyone and quickly surpassing them all with growth.