The noticeable lack of density of purple people in the major job center-area of Buckhead on this map from Decatur’s 2010 Strategic Plan got me thinking.
Who’s got the worst daily commute from Decatur to another part of the Atlanta metro? Does it involve a great distances on the highway? Or is it the shear lack of highways to your destination that leave stuck on overwhelmed, residential streets?
Decatur to Buckhead is generally unpleasant.
Yes, Decatur to Buckhead was AWFUL. I spent the last three years commuting to Peachtree & Piedmont from SE Decatur (Winonna Park) and it occasionally made me either suicidal or homicidal. So glad I don’t have to do that anymore.
I feel your pain. 6 miles takes 30-45 minutes in the morning and up to 1:00 or 1:15 in the evening. I can literally run home faster.
Decatur to Johns Creek is terrible. I’m glad I only do it two days a week. The rest are from my house to Java Monkey… which is much better. 🙂
I was also going to nominate Mr. Cat’s commute to Johns Creek. He does it five days a week. Yes, it’s insane, but we’ve always lived in town and prefer it.
Decatur to John’s Creek is far better than John’s Creek to Decatur, and it’s obviously hands-down where I’d prefer to live !
Nearly all of the jobs in my field – Telecommunications Engineering – are way up north, either in John’s Creek or Lawrenceville.
Decatur to the West Side is a living nightmare.
do you cut through Midtown? I find going Downtown first then swinging up to the Westside on Marietta St/Howell Mill a lot faster than going through Midtown.
Not Decatur but EL to Duluth is not too bad if you leave by 6:30 or so… home is a snap
i do decatur to suwanee. not bad except for the 285 bit.
Sticking to the major job centers, I’d say the commute to the Perimeter area is the worst, but Buckhead can be equally bad though much closer.
I commute up to the Perimeter Mall area and it stinks. In no traffic it is about a 20 min ride on 285.
Could take 285 all the way around, but it is gridlock hell. So, I take loads of surface streets to get to 400 at either Sidney Marcus or Lenox, neither are pleasant. With traffic at best it is 35 mins, sometimes more than an hour, even without an accident in the way.
I also do Decatur to the Perimeter area, and it SUCKS. My office is right next to the Sandy Springs MARTA station, and I use MARTA on occasion, but door-to-door, that’s a minimum of 1:15, so it’s generally not worth it.
Well…the central Perimeter commercial district is the largest office and employment area in the region if you believe the PCID’s website (and I don’t have any real reason to quibble with it). The lack of people commuting from Decatur shouldn’t be shocking due to the commute..except for the fact that Marta actually connects Decatur to the Perimeter area. I assume the trip into downtown and then up the Red line would be about an hour. Question…do you ever consider Marta? If no, why not? Legitimate question…not a pretext for anything else. Is it the length? The station locations? Just curious.
Sorry…don’t want to double up…but I was asking Brad and Sara chimed in before I clicked ‘submit’!
I take the train from Decatur to the Dunwoody station every day. 40 minutes on a good day, 52 minutes average. At least I can sit and read while i’m traveling. But if I didn’t have an employer discount on my monthly fare card, I’d think twice. I sure miss the days when I worked downtown and could bike in. But riding in the north ATL suburbs requires a powerful death wish.
I work in Concourse Office Park (King and Queen buildings) but my daughter goes to daycare in downtown Dunwoody, which is the reason I currently drive. I am considering trying Marta once she starts school at CHELC in August, but if the 1:15 time is accurate, I’m not so sure that’s a desirable alternative. It would definitely lessen stress of sitting in traffic on 285, but I would get home later than I do now.
In response to your Marta question, I did ride daily when I worked off of Lennox Road and was a student at GSU. I was getting a student discounted monthly pass for $45-50, so it was economical. I believe it’s over $80 a month now, it’s not faster, and if the trains don’t show up on time you’re going to get packed into a cart. Aside from carbon footprint, there’s really little benefit to marta.
I just looked up a monthly pass and it’s currently $95.
WAH et al.
I’ve considered taking MARTA numerous times, but just haven’t done it the last 6 mos out of, I guess, sheer laziness and a love of being able to get in the car and head out for lunch. Outside of the environmental benefits, economically, I am sure it has advantages.
I used Marta a few times 10+ years ago when I was making this commute (coincidentally the same building) and it was about an hour IIRC.
@Sara, maybe we should carpool! My office is right next to the Sandy Springs station as well…
@Dan – I don’t envy that at all. Getting from Dunwoody Village back to King & Queen has to make you nuts.
Dunwoody Village back to the office isn’t so bad. Dunwoody Village back to 285 in the evenings is awful.
My husband and I are both Decatur to Perimeter commuters (and no, I don’t ride with him, which I know is terrible… he likes to leave for work at 6:50 and I prefer to sleep until 7:30 and leave at 8:15!). His commute is about 25 mins in the morning and 40-45 in the afternoon. Mine is about 40-45 minutes in the morning and the same in the afternoons.
I did take Marta a few times (we’re walking distance to the East Lake station) when my office was RIGHT nextdoor to the Medical Center stop. Took about 45-50 minutes. Now my office moved by about a mile so I would need to do a shuttle between my office and Marta (comes every 10-15 minutes). Not worth it IMO now.
I drive to Peachstreet street via Ponce, and that’s pretty horrible with school traffic in the mornings and general congestion on the way back. Five miles can take me upwards of 45 minutes.
Currently at Johns Creek/ Norcross, and it’s terrible. Was 50 minutes and three accidents this morning. And no texting or email, because, you know, its against the law.
But anything north on 400 is much worse – Roswell, Alpharetta are god-awful. Unfortunately, there are lots of tech jobs up there.
Why doesn’t my firm (or yours) open a branch office in Decatur?
I second this. I’ve been commuting to 400 at Northridge for a year now and have noticed a substantial decrease in my tolerance for mankind in general. Though my clutch leg is stronger than ever.
PS, if anyone knows any law firms hiring in Decatur…
Do you ever use MARTA? If not, what is/are the obstacle(s)? Several years ago I had a commute to North Point/Haynes Bridge and loved using MARTA to get there. (Train from East Lake to Northridge, then 20-min bus ride to the office.) It took about 75 minutes each way, compared to driving 45-50 minutes on a good day and 90+ minutes on a bad day (record for getting home was 130 minutes). But it was time spent reading, working, listening to news or music, knitting or just zoning out, and I always had more energy & focus when I got off the train or bus than when I stepped out of my car.
I used to take marta to my last job and agree that its generally much more pleasant, but with this job I tend to need my car to get to sundry work-related locations during the day. I’m the lowly associate, so I tend to be the catch-all for…things no one else wants to do.
+1. I am not an attorney, but I would LOVE to manage / support a downtown Decatur law practice.
My hubby works in the Howell Mill/Westside area and he has to take surface streets and I-75 and the morning it takes him about 40 minutes but evening takes an hour or more. 🙁
I commute from the East Lake/Oakhurst area to Windward Parkway and it’s a soul-crushing commute. I’m trying to work from home more, but I like being around other people during the day.
Over the years, my employer has moved offices from Buckhead to Norcross, and now, to Alpharetta. The commute keeps getting worse, but there’s nowhere in the northern suburbs that I really want to live.
The killer for me is the Downtown Connector. Whose idea was it to converge 3 major highways (75, 85, & 400) into one single highway in the busiest part of town?
That 3 way conversion wasn’t planned, I believe it was the default outcome of
1) the envisioned connector between GA 400 and I675 and
2) the extension of Stone Mtn Freewaway and Freedom Parkway
being defeated by the powers that be in Druid Hills and other intown neighborhoods. Fewer roads meant more congestion on existing roads.
As an intown resident, I’m glad that wasn’t built. But as an intown resident, I sad that wasn’t built. 😉
I moved to Decatur last year, and still have a job off of Mansell in Alpharetta. I’ve found that Freedom then up through downtown in the morning is 40-50 mins, and then in the evening I’ll take 400 to Sidney Marcus and take backroads (Lenox/Rock Springs/N Decatur) past the Druid Hills golf club. This is pretty reliably 45-60 mins, though sometimes more.
Not the best commute in the world, but much better after I finally gave up on I-285.
Now, if only we could get some of the tech companies to relocate to Decatur…
If you leave at the right time in the morning (before 8 or after 9), you can get to the midtown/Fox district via Ponce in 15 minutes. On MLK day (my company does not recognize it) I made every single light and made it in 8 minutes. More reasons to love decatur.
You must drive pretty darn fast.
Apparently not on the road either. Must take the back roads (aka the sidewalk).
Ha! I second that! I occasionally work at Emory Midtown (aka Crawford Long) and at 6:45 I can make every light green on my scooter, in the right lane, going posted (never more than 45mph) speed. But that’s my long commute!
Used to have to drive to Alpharetta…it was really bad if you left after 7:30a or 4:30p. I still felt sorry for the poor saps coming south on 400.
I remember a similar thread last year in which many posters, for lack of a better term, mocked suburbanites with a healthy does on condescension and their long commutes. In essence, we live where we want and they live where they want. We will give up 2k sq ft and a garage for location. They value the space, conformity, new construction, etc. over being intown. If we are all spending 1.5 to 2 hours in a car each day, what is the difference?
I also remember a few posters openly criticizing people who “choose” to live so far from work for a variety of reasons, although many people correctly pointed out the fallacy and oversimplification of that arguement. I guess only OTP’ers with long commutes are bad human beings who are destroying our environment.
The term, IMO would be “commenters”.
Fortunately these days I telecommute, and I’m sure many OTP do the same.
57% of people in Alpharetta commute more than 10 miles to work. Only 34% of people in Decatur commute that far. So we still win.
Ok, but the difference might be pretty slim if you move that threshhold to 8 or 9 miles, which would sweep in every Decaturite who works downtown or in Midtown. And those commutes are easily 25 minutes plus, so you have an awful lot of Decaturites sitting in cars every day. I am sure some folks take Marta to those locations but judging by DeKalb Ave every day, there is no shortage of drivers, to say the least.
Yes, welcome to Atlanta metro area. Atlanta is nowhere near as bicycle/mass-transit friendly as, say, Amsterdam or Portland.
In general, I do not doubt that. But, having bike commuted to downtown then midtown for years, I know it can be done. It’s still not bike friendly in the sense that it is so dang hot, but we can’t change that one by building bike lanes.
You are a little off in your mileage estimates. From the intersection of Clairemont and W. Ponce de Leon, in front of the Old Courthouse, the road distance to 10th and Peachtree (the heart of Midtown) is 6.1 miles and to Decatur St and Peachtree (the heart of Downtown) is 6.3 miles.
Agreed. My commute from driveway to parking garage near Peachtree Center is 7 miles exactly via Dekalb Ave. If I hit the lights the right way I can be there in 20 minutes. If not, 25. Either way, my commute is an hour less each way than most of my coworkers. I don’t take MARTA because of that connection at Five Points. Miss that and you’ve added at least 15 minutes, not to mention the 10 minute walk to get to MARTA and then the wait for your first train. My typical 20-minute drive could turn into more than 45 minutes with MARTA. I wish it weren’t so because I would love to take the train but I don’t want to give up that much of my already very limited time at home with the family.
My time is the same as above – work at GT, live in Decatur. It takes me 45 minutes by bike, which I do about 3 days/week on average. Sure I can drive it in 20 minutes on a good day. But the bike ride in counts as my “exercise” for the day and is a lot more fun than a gym.
I often take the #2 bus home – unlike the train, I can sit there and read for a solid 30 minutes, often work-related reading. So yes, the commute times add up, but I try to find other reasons to make that time useful or productive. The added walk/connect/wait times when riding MARTA are a huge detriment.
And some days, I don’t have the time for all that (like today), and I just drive. For me, it took some time to figure out how to make not driving a productive part of my lifestyle.
I stand corrected. I was sure it was 8 miles, but now I’m not sure where I got that!
We are not “all” spending that much time in the car. I don’t. Neither does my spouse or most of my neighbors. I’m sure there are some folks who live in Dunwoody or Sandy Springs who have a short commute to Perimeter. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that most people living in the suburbs have a longer commute than most intowners. The suburbs are farther away from the business districts where most people work.
Your point would be stronger without the generalizations and broad accusations. Decatur is closer to major job centers than most suburbs and DM’s map proves that. Yet, that doesn’t mean 100% of Decaturites:
A) Have short/near-zero commutes
B) Lump OTP’ers together
I go up 75 to Windy Hill every day and have a pretty decent 35 minute trip. Closer to 50-55 on the way home, but again it’s not too bad. On the occasion that things back up, I exit Howell Mill and head over to Star Provisions to buy cheese while giving traffic a chance to die down. That’s maybe 5 times a year.
My husband commutes to Chicago, I commute to downtown ATL. Neither are very bad. The Chicago commute stinks when there are storms and he is delayed on Thursday evenings, but otherwise, not too bad. He would spend more time driving to and from Alpharetta each week than the flight, so we figure it works.
I thankfully cannot speak to what constitutes the worst commutes, but am fairly certain which are the best: telecommuting, home-based businesses, or employment right here in the good ole 30030.
Apologies for the interruption.
Also Decatur to perimeter/pill hill. Marta is rarely an option because I see patients and they can be scheduled without notice overnight. Morning is fine, but every 5-10 minutes after about 4:20 adds 15-20 mins to commute
Although not a far commute, my husband and I drive Dekalb Ave. to and from work. It is hell on our cars. When we talked to a mechanic about work we need done, he laughed and said he had many clients with that commute.
You touched on a sore point of mine — actually a sore point of my car. Potholes and the increasingly poor condition of our surface streets. My Decatur-to-Midtown commute is slowly beating my car to death … Ponce de Leon and 10th Street are some of the worst. I guess the bottlenecks on those two during rush hour slow me down enough to mitigate some of the damage to my suspension and tires. And most of the potholes are due to utility work “repairs” that are poorly patched.
+1
Funny….I’m on Dekalb Ave every day and have never thought it was too bad. That’s what 20 years of commuting in Chicago has done for me. My expectations for smooth roads is much lower.
I have the best commute in town. Decatur to downtown and back each day via L5P, Candler Park, Inman Park, and the Old Fourth Ward.
I learned the hard way last week that the low sun blinds drivers topping hilltops on McClendon Avenue this time of year but doesn’t prevent them from making left turns into oncoming (bicycle) traffic.
Please be considerate of bicyclists and drive carefully in our neighborhoods. Thanks.
For years, the worst commute I had was afternoon traffic from Decatur High School to GlenLake Park. Some days it took me almost ten minutes to get home. What I now dread is the commute from Decatur to Georgia Gwinett college/university in Lawrenceville. North to 78, west on I285 (how scary is that?), north on I85 and west on some road to Athens. My first trip was a rainy Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago which took thirty five minutes! OMG! Those rude drivers! Whoever let them in Georgia (another Old South film reference).
Sorry. Maybe it’s east on some road to Athens.
I nominate Willowdad, who drives to Vinings/Smyrna every day to corporate HQ. it is almost as far from here on the perimeter as you can get and the through town alternatives aren’t great either. Minimum 45 minutes each way, and that’s on a good day.
I also work in that area. It’s awful. In the morning I take 285 all the way around, and average a 45 minute commute. Coming home, I either take 285 again, or 75 to 85 to Clairmont, which is an hour, easy.
If there were any way I could take public transit, I absolutely would. Even if it added time to my commute. Books on tape from the Decatur library help save my sanity!
I’m in pain just reading about some of these commutes. I’ve always worked downtown. When I lived in Smyrna I loved the quick drive down 75 (I don’t work 9-5 hours). When we moved to the Avondale area 10 years ago I really didn’t like all the traffic lights down Dekalb Ave, but I quickly discovered it’s a very low stress drive. It wouldn’t be w/out that reversible lane, though. When we contemplated moving to a better school district we definitely looked way out in the burbs (I am happy pretty much anywhere… always felt like one foot OTP and one foot ITP). No way I’m taking up a drive to Suwanee downtown and back even outside 9-5 hours.
I know there are many challenges to carpooling, but reading the number of comments from folks in Decatur that share work destinations makes me wonder if a ride share mechanism that would help.
If we ran a thread for “Decatur/Perimeter Center commutes” for example, and everyone posted their morning/evening drive times, might people be able to coordinate car pools from that?
This may be naive on my part. Now that Spring is here, my commute is most often on two wheels, and my main complaint is the incline in front of Ruby Tuesdays.
Try riding up Vickers in Druid Hills everyday! It will get your heart beating.
I’ll admit it ain’t much of a complaint, but it’s all I got.
recommend we also do a best commute. i’ll start:
riding my scooter from Oakhurst to Inman Park via McClendon and Euclid.
when the weather’s nice, it’s actually fun
when the weather’s bad, the commute to my Stickley chair in the sleeping porch ain’t bad.
Yep. I envy my wife’s commute. While mine’s a solid 45 steps from my bed to my office, hers is only 15. Plus, my office is near the kitchen and, often, the dog’s dash to be fed creates some very unpleasant congestion.
Mine. It’s about 20 feet from the kitchen to my desk.
I don’t even have to get out of my pajamas. Any commute where pants are optional is the best.
I love my one-mile walk from home to the square, then my 20 minute shuttle ride to my office building. I listen to NPR news or audiobooks while I’m walking and riding, and I knit while I’m on the bus. And then I do it again in reverse at the end of the day. Even when the weather is bad I love it–having the right shoes and a good umbrella helps!
Did the Decatur to Sandy Springs run for a few years – miserable! Now walk within Decatur – hooray! For those who want to consider a carpool but need a match, try http://www.cleanaircampaign.org/ – they have a matching service already. If you are already carpooling or biking or walking, sign up with them to win gas cards, VISA gift cards, etc. – they give away stuff every month. I’ve “won” over $100 in the last couple of years just by logging my walks to work.
Our government at work! Giving people money (that was taken from others) for doing something they were already doing.
I just think of it as getting back some of what I myself put in.
At least that’s better than giving people money to do nothing at all, which our government does to an even greater extent.
The commuter rewards I have received have been provided by businesses that support an active lifestyle, including REI, Starbucks, Target, Amazon, and Sweet Auburn Curb Market.
Damn socialist businesses.
Whoa! The edit function is back?!?
And I’m still moderated 🙁 Just damn…
Starbucks? What’s the active part, the pastry bar or the 500 calorie frozen coffees with whipped cream on top?
It’s the constant moving and fidgeting trying to capture the “free wifi”.
Downtown Decatur to Arts Center-ish Midtown. 50 minutes from door to door whether driven or MARTA’d. I prefer MARTA so that those 100 minutes per day are spent reading or powerwalking instead of idling in traffic and cursing.
I did the commute to Clarkston during the evening from the WP area, not too bad at all. I then moved to telecommuting, which is easy except for the little people who are underfoot. In August, I’ll be heading to Kennesaw twice a week. That won’t be pretty!
But a decade ago, I had a 2hr door to door commute to my job in midtown-Manhattan (via car, bus, and walking). I can handle Kennesaw, I think.