So I bought a new house so I live in a new spot. New spot. New Commute. Now when I was looking at houses the location was a huge deal for me. Not so much for Priscilla, but she considered it. I had to make sure where we were made sense for both of us now and in the long term. Obviously location in Atlanta effected the price significantly so when looking I limited our search to only the convenient locations.
Atlanta is a big city. There are a lot of choices on neighborhoods and communities to live in. But not all of them made sense for us. Before we bought our house we rented in a condo in Vinings. We love Vinings and the area around it. We didn’t want to go far so Smyrna was an obvious choice. Smyrna is located just outside of Vinings and just outside the perimeter of Atlanta. Yep OTP. Though Smyrna is not the hippest neighborhood in Altanta, it is close to the city and it is reasonably priced. Because of this, there are a ton of young families that call Smyrna home. It may not have the party atmosphere of Brookhaven, but it does have new houses that are affordable.
Our new house is located on the corner of Atlanta Road and Spring Road. It is the heart of Smyrna and is located just a block from the Smyrna Market Village. My office is in midtown off Northside Drive right across from Six Feet Under. My commute from Vinnings, even though it was only three miles from our new house, was a lot better and quicker. It was more convenient because it was located so close to the freeway which made it a quick 10 minutes to work. Now with living in Smyrna, I am a good ten minutes from the freeway and the same 10 minutes from there. Because of this, I take the back roads.
A straight shot down Atlanta road takes you to Chattahoochee Road which then hits Howell Mill. My office is on 11th Street which is right off of Howell Mill. It clocks in at about 15 to 20 minutes but with no freeways. The trip is painless on most days. Some are worse than others, but there is very little traffic and never any cops or accidents. This mostly just means that the commute is mostly the same day to day.
The only thing I would have to say is a deciding factor is the bridge that crosses the Chattahoochee on Atlanta road next to the Water plant. From what I have heard, the bridge has always been two lanes. It has always taken Atlanta road from 4 lanes to 2. Who planned this city anyway? The traffic is pretty much the same everyday. Easier in the afternoons, but it still sucks. The light has five roads coming together which makes the light extremely long anyway, then add that it’s backed up a half mile. It takes me at least ten minutes just to get through the light. When it is done, my commute will improve immensely.
Overall I love my new commute. It is quick and safe and isn’t through a ghetto. My new commute is only one of the great new things I get with living in our new house. Now lets just hope that Indigo doesn’t move to Kennesaw.