ATL based pilots- how's life?

[higney85]

My future wife and I are thinking about moving to ATL since my company has a base there and the job market is prime for what she does. We both live in MEM/are from MEM/families are both in MEM. We want OUT for at least a few years. I am concerned about delays and where some good places are outside ATL. We will be buying a house if we move but I will be on the lower end of the CA list so I am concerned with getting to work with a 90 min callout.


How is ATL from the pilot's perspective?

[flyingmaniac]

Hey man! I'm in ATL in training at ASA. Still living in a hotel though, can't really tell you how ATL is. Just thought I say hi!

[777forever]

Cheap cost of living. I live on the northside, and am loving this town. Traffica can be bad around the city. The first place most people start off with is Peachtree City. Im new to the area though. Surreal would be the perfect person to chime in on this.

[PCL_128]

I responded to you on APC, so I ain't typing it again. What specific info are you looking for? I've lived here most of my life.

[PGT]

just carry around a gun & bulletproof west and you'll be fine...

[777forever]

Originally Posted by PGT

just carry around a gun & bulletproof west and you'll be fine...

When around the airport...or any area mentioned in a rap song. College park, Decatur, Bankhead..

[surreal1221]

If you have a family, and are looking for a good, reasonable priced home. . .the southwest suburbs are a great starting point. Peachtree City, Tyrone, Newnan, Sharpsburg.

All easy access to I-85, and it takes me 20-25 minutes to get to the airport (KATL) from one of those four.

All depends on what you're looking for, a house, an apartment, with or without land, how much land, etc. Country-club, neighborhood pool? etc.

I just highly suggest staying away from the west, north, and east, and southeast suburbs as traffic is absolutely RIDICULOUS from all of those areas. I-20 east coming into town is a mess from the Villa Rica / Douglasville area, I-20 west coming in from Covington takes about an hour to get to the airport. I-85/I-75 anywhere north of I285 will take over an hour to get to the airport, and anywhere on I-75 south of I-285 will take at least 45minutes on a good day, maybe an hour on average. These numbers come from the established "family" areas of the suburbs in each sector of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

It really just depends on what you're looking for. You very well can find a place in each of those sectors of Atlanta, that you might get a travel time of less than what I've said. But at somepoint, you're going to go nuts. Or maybe that's just what I would do.

To drive the commute number home. . .I-85, from one of the four suburbs I mentioned above: 25 minutes.

[ATC RET 2003]

I’m in the same general vicinity as Surreal and can attest to the commute time he mentioned from this area to the airport. Also, as you get more information on this and other areas, here’s some terminology you may encounter:

• I-285 is sometimes also called The Atlanta Bypass… more often, though; it’s called The Perimeter.

• The Downtown Connector is where I-75 and I-85 run concurrently through, of all places, Downtown.

• The interchange between I-85 and I-285 on the northeast side is called Spaghetti Junction. When you see it, you’ll see why.

• Midtown is between Downtown and Buckhead. There ain’t no Uptown that I know of.

• Except for the newscasters, most people here don’t bother pronouncing the first A or either of the t’s.

Good luck with the relocation!

[higney85]

We are just looking for a basic 3bedroom/2bath setup with enough yard for our current Lab and maybe another 1-2 "big" dogs. No kids yet with plans to keep it that way for a bit so schools are not the big concern. We are looking for an area with plenty to do with the ability for me to get to the airport in 30-40 mins. We are just looking at this point so I have some homework to do from the suggestions. Thanks

[PCL_128]

You should take a look around the Peachtree City and Newnan areas. PTC is a little more expensive, but Newnan is priced at right around what you'd be used to in MEM. And if you need help, my father is a Realtor.

[Maximillian_Jenius]

...this is a really good thread, everyone knows I love ATL! I lived there for the summer of 95, too much fun!

[surreal1221]

Originally Posted by higney85

We are just looking for a basic 3bedroom/2bath setup with enough yard for our current Lab and maybe another 1-2 "big" dogs. No kids yet with plans to keep it that way for a bit so schools are not the big concern. We are looking for an area with plenty to do with the ability for me to get to the airport in 30-40 mins. We are just looking at this point so I have some homework to do from the suggestions. Thanks

Excellent. Let us know if you need any other information.

Us as in any of the ATL collective.

It's a buyers market!

[TexasFlyer]

Originally Posted by PGT

just carry around a gun & bulletproof west and you'll be fine...

From personal experience,

I lived in the majority of cities in this country moving around every 2-4 years as a business executive. And Atlanta is one of the worst I ever been when it comes to lack of hospitality/ common courtesy, corrupt politics, and especially the highest crime out of any city I ever lived.

Of course, I'm here now because I will go where aviation takes me. But I would never live here by choice after knowing what other cities have to offer. I just refer to this place as Gotham City (just no Batman here to save the day yet).


On a positive note. If I wanted to feel as safe as possible, Newnan is okay along with the 'burbs down south there. At least they are okay for now as far as being safe goes. Not to mention, you can purchase a nice place pretty cheap down there. So if you don't need to be in a big city, I'd move there. It is a nice area. I'd still lock your doors and keep the cars in a locked garage though. And be very careful where you use your credit card since restaurants and bars like to heist your number and go on California shopping sprees. Now that's mostly a Peachtree City Crime but may carry over to Newnan and other places down there eventually, but has not from what I experienced so far. On that note, I would advise against Peachtree City since the crime there is worse than published. It's a lot of petty crime along with high end white collar and drug crimes there (so don't be fooled by the golf carts and cleanness of the town... looks are deceiving).

That said, stick to Newnan, Shaprsburg, Turin, and Senoia areas. Those are nice, affordable, and overall safe choices.

[Goodspeed]

Citi-data is a pretty good website.
http://www.city-data.com/

I would use it as a starting point to find an area that you might be interested in, along with the areas that our fellow JCers mentioned, and then go there for a few days to check it out for yourself.

Also, Google Earth is good to use to find out what kind of stores, resturants, and things to do are nearby.

[surreal1221]

Holy cow Joe. . . I remember you telling me about your garage there at the apartments in PTC, but had no idea you had some issues at the bars/establishments in PTC.

Ridiculous. Mind PM'ing what specific places they were so I know to stay the hell out of them?

[mastermags]

Originally Posted by 777forever

When around the airport...or any area mentioned in a rap song. College park, Decatur, Bankhead..

Decatur is actually a pretty high-end part of town... at least it is north of the tracks.

[TexasFlyer]

Originally Posted by surreal1221

Holy cow Joe. . . I remember you telling me about your garage there at the apartments in PTC, but had no idea you had some issues at the bars/establishments in PTC.

I can't mention the specific place, but there is a police investigation (federal level now) on two food establishments down there for ID theft. Pretty much, it's been narrowed to two places and points to a substantial ID theft ring in PTC. I will say this though. Use cash at any food place that also has alcohol sales in the immediate area of The Avenues, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. It is one of those food/drink places right in that area (oh, and it's not Tedd's so go there since they do have a decent steak). So that leaves you about 30 other places I'd say use cash only to be safe. Oh, and don't use any ATMs in that area either based on what been disclosed to me so far. That's all I should say about that situation.

As far as PTC living. Don't move into Camdem Apartments in Peachtree City since they have a lot of issues with petty theft from all the kids there (that is if breaking in and stealing TVs and Stereos is petty; not to mention one nice dress shirt... I want my black dress shirt back darn it!). Oh, and living there with all the free time I had to be around in the day, it seems smoking a joint is more common than cigs. And cocaine is a huge issue down there (as it is with Atlanta). And Meph and X (spelling?) is everywhere in PTC (have not even come across that in downtown ATL).

Needless to say. I have less than a good impression of this area. But, I do know people in Newnan and those more country areas I mentioned seem to have good safe places to live. And other than excessive smoking of the wacky weed in those areas, those do seem to be decent places to live.

Maybe I just lived a sheltered life in San Antonio and Austin Texas too long with my buddy ------->

[GalaxyIFE]

Interesting TXFlyer, I feel the need to share (being from ATL and living in San Antonio)... I hate San Antonio...these are some of the rudest people I have ever run into. Corruption?!? Not even going to get into that. Road rage? Bad...real bad. Now, I am from Atlanta (NW side) and miss all that it had to offer. Of course, there are WAY too many people there now, but I feel much safer in the burbs of Atlanta than here. 5 people (including myself now) have had their cars broken into down here...one guy it happened to him TWICE!!! One guy even caught some guy in his garage stealing stuff. In all my previous assignments, I have never known more that 1 or 2 guys that were directly affected by crime. When I talk to the peeps back in the ATL...no one I can think of has had their car broken into or really been affected by crime. I live in NW San Antonio....it's considered a nicer area, but within the last couple of months 4 different stores within about 3 miles have been robbed...IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY!!!

OK, I am done with the rant. I really had a point...it's all about perspective. I like Atlanta and would take it over San Antonio ANYDAY....so remember, it's all opinion. Surreal did a good job describing the traffic...and I have no idea what life is like on the SW side of town. Not bad from some of the folks I know down there though.

City-Data has great info on the specific areas (crime, income, housing all that good stuff).

As for carrying a gun...since there are lots of pilot types based in ATL on this board...realize that even if you are licensed to carry (CHL) if you have a gun on AIRPORT PROPERTY (including parking lots) it is a felony...not just any felony, but attempted hijacking. SO....just be cautious if you have thought about or do carry to the airport...

[surreal1221]

The employee parking lots count as airport property?

(Honest question)

[TexasFlyer]

Galaxy, I'd gladly trade you locations

I'm sure someday we may be back in the cities we prefer.

And maybe some day I'll forgive the person who stole my credit cards twice in PTC, broke in my apartment in PTC, sat on my bike and stabbed me in the arm where I have a nice scare now in Little 5, tried to steal my Harley on Lucky Street, and so much more that happened directly to me and a couple others I know who lived here for quite a few years. But then, probably not.

Now have you, I left PTC to live in Midtown for social reasons (I was bored outside of the city since I'm a city person, not a suburb person). And it's clear, maybe a better choice would have been Decatur (it's pretty much close enough to Atlanta in my book) or on the North side of Atlanta (like Buckhead or something) where I could still enjoy the city, but crime would maybe be less. I was happy in Olmos Park area of San Antonio, but I was off Hildebrand in a pretty high end area that was very secluded (tough to find if you did not know where you were going), although in the city itself. Maybe I just got lucky in San Antonio and picked the right place to live from the start for my 4 years there.

I won't buy out of another lease (which is what I did in PTC to move to ATL), but once my lease is up in Midtown I'll be looking for a safer area within the city of Atlanta. And I'm thinking Decatur (not exactly the city itself, but I can handle 10 minutes away) may be the place to try next. I have not researched or experienced the northern Atlanta city limits quite yet since I not been here too long, but I may also look into that area since I have heard it may be better up there (although opinions seem mixed on that verdict). Fingers crossed either Decatur or a northern part of the city proves to be better. I'm leaning toward Decatur since I heard nothing bad about there yet.

[Nick]

I'm not in the mood to be subtle right now.

If you really like to live someplace really nice, then life is too short to live in Atlanta.

I've been there enough times and my cousins live there and it is nothing compared to NorCal, or SoCal, or Washington or Oregon or I'd almost even rather live in the outskirts of Boston than Atlanta.

But it is cheap.

[PCL_128]

TexasFlyer, I've lived in ATL, mostly in PTC and Newnan, for most of my life. Your comments are completely out of left field, and don't come close to the reality of living in PTC. I really don't know where that stuff is coming from. There's a reason that PTC consistently makes the list of the top 10 cities to live in in America.

[TexasFlyer]

Just speaking from personal experience of things that have happened to me since I been here over the last several months. And what I seen from an outsiders point of view who just moved here and can compare this place to other places I lived (Bethlehem, Cincinnati, Boston, San Diego, Tempe, San Antonio, and Austin). To compare, Atlanta is most like Cincinatti from my experience so far.

Anyway, someone wanted advice on living here. So I'm just stating facts of things that happened to me and where they happened to me. And heck. Given the fact that a tornado just tore off my balcony, shattered one of my windows, left me without electric for a couple days, and dented up my truck in the parking garage (and knowing this is a city first on top of all else), maybe I am just one unlucky person right now.

But, I also listed out where I had positive experiences around here. Those positive experiences also coincide with where a few people I know live and seem to have overall positive experiences too. And although these are not places I would not chose to live for myself since I am a late night person that enjoys the club, bar, and nightlife cities have to offer, these are what appear to be good places to live. Those places are Newnan, Shaprsburg, Turin, and Senoia. Those are nice, affordable, and overall safe choices from what I seen and experienced.

I'll let someone else chime in here that knows Atlanta. Just gave my 2 cents worth, which unfortunately became a twenty five cents worth.

[Fly4Pay]

Originally Posted by surreal1221

The employee parking lots count as airport property?

(Honest question)

Yup. Gotta have a SIDA badge to get onto ours....

[surreal1221]

Originally Posted by Fly4Pay

Yup. Gotta have a SIDA badge to get onto ours....

Hmm, so what are those who carry a firearm in their to do?