Places to live in ATL
 

Looking for any good recs for ATL area. Prob going to start with a nice apartment in Alpharetta and start looking in that area. Single and no kiddos. Liked and lived in The Woodlands, TX for 12 years. Looking for something similar for anyone familiar with both areas. No clue on ATL area but tired of my current commute. Thanks in advance.

Alpharetta is lovely but depending on the time of day the traffic on 400 to get to the airport can be rough. Great area though as are the surrounding cities of Roswell and John's Creek. Dunwoody/Sandy Springs and Brookhaven are also great neighborhoods with a shorter distance to drive but a bit more expensive. I personally love the west side of town and recommend looking into it as well. Vinings/Smyrna is very conveniently located to ATL and easy to get into town while still being quiet and safe neighborhoods. Marietta as well a little bit further up. Or West Midtown (i guess it's called Westside these days) if you want a more urban feel. If you're into investing and want to gamble on property values in up and coming areas that aren't quite as nice yet, the Chamblee/Doraville area has lots of opportunities and two routes to drive to ATL giving you some options with traffic. A few of the downtown neighborhoods are getting redeveloped quickly too but i personally wouldn't be willing to put up with it during the process.

Then there's always PTC and Newnan if you're into that but I like being closer to town.

I moved to ATL about 5 years ago and rented for a year in the city near Virginia Highlands/Piedmont Park. Ive since bought a townhouse near Grant Park and love it. Shoot me a DM if you want more details. I am also single with no kids so there are lots of choices out there for you.

Yeah I’m wondering the same thing. I currently am divorced, but my 1yr old son would come stay with me during the summers or any time I have off. Wondering which area would be good for a single dad. Lol

If you liked the Woodlands, then you will definitely want to stay outside of the loop. If you do move to Alpharetta to rent for a while, I will make this prediction. You will NEVER leave. The Alpharetta/Roswell/Milton area north of Atlanta is some of the best living you can do anywhere in the Delta basing system. Clean, safe, nice people, great schools, huge variety of entertainment and dining, beautiful homes. The area has become very upmarket. You'll be 30 minutes away from lake life, and an hour away from mountain life. Dealing with traffic once a week is a small price to pay.

I was pleasantly surprised with the Northwest ATL area. Within an hour and a half of the mountains. Plenty of hiking, mountain biking and you got the lakes nearby if you're outdoorsy. And the traffic is a little better than Roswell/Alpharetta directly north of the city.

If you like the Woodlands, don't rule out Peachtree City. The Northside of Atlanta has better food, activities, and overall quality of people. Traffic is horrible on the northside. On the Southside, Peachtree City or Brooks. Stay away from Newnan, it's going downhill fast.

we love the south side of the airport near Senoia (Pike County area)

Really, really depends on what kind of experience you want. Hipster/Boho? Little Five Points or Inman Park. Upwardly mobile yuppie urban? Midtown/Buckhead. Wife + 2.3 kids with access to hills and lakes, a clean vector out of town, and no real budget? Northside suburbs (watch out for traffic). Same but with a budget and don't want to deal with as much traffic? PTC or Sonoia. College town? Auburn or Athens. Small town life? Rome. Want to drive to work, drive home, forget about Delta on your days off and be on semi-budget? Macon.

Truth is that after COVID, a lot of people left ATL proper, but the real estate market still went nuts. People cashed out their million dollars of equity in town and drew a circle about 90 minutes around ATL, and drove all the prices up in the towns inside that circle. Prices in town never really dropped. Point is, just about everywhere within 120 miles of ATL is over priced for what it is, you just need to decide how over priced you want to pay, and how much traffic you want to deal with. This is softening somewhat as businesses are tightening their belts somewhat, and calling people back into the office. Whether they go or not is still up for debate.

If your only stipulation is “no commuting”, and especially if there are no family issues, there are better Delta bases than ATL.

One pilot’s opinion, your experience may vary.

Otherwise, PTC with kids, Alpharetta solo (but expect traffic).