This is a difficult question to answer, because so much depends on where you live and work. As a rule of thumb, I usually tell clients to estimate that the rush hour commute will take two or three times the estimate that mapquest gives. I also suggest that they try the commute during rush hour before we make an offer on a home that they like. That's why it's so important to live close to your job, and why so many companies have moved out to the suburbs.

Patricia, Traffic is an issue in the Atlanta area but not an insurmountable one. There are a few areas in the city where trafiic during peak hours, is really bad and there is no way around it. These areas should not be make a part of your daily commute if traffic avoids you. Most areas experience bad traffic during peak hours because of the tendency people to crowd onto the major arteries because they are unfamiliar with the alternative routes. A decent GPS device on the setting "avoid expressways" will in most cases reveal routes that even during peak hours have little traffic. So people who have lived in Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles will often respond to Atlanta traffic with the a quizzical "What Traffic?"

Clifton Gerring
Broker Associate
Jenny Pruitt & Associates
678-428-7986
cliftongerring@jennypruitt.com

I have lived in Fort Lauderdale/Miami area most my life and it is a comparable headache to driving on I95 or even I75 during rush hours. However, Atlanta has a few different highways to take in case one is backed up more than the other. Hope this helps..We'd love for you to relocate. :)

Patricia. Atlanta is a city with 4+ million people. There is traffic! If you husband is working from home and getting around the city at odd times, he will find it reasonable. If you commute on GA 400 everyday at drive time that is a different matter.

I have found in my 20+ years in Atlanta there are many ways to get from A to B and it important to know the roads. In my opinion, all the things Atlanta has to offer far outways the traffic.

Kathy Seger
PS: Many improvements have been in Atlanta traffic over the last few years.

Alpharetta Traffic

Hi Patricia,
Traffic is bad during peak traffic hours in almost every thriving area in metro Atlanta. I guess it is also relative to what you are used to in your area. Being a Realtor, I am able to schedule most of my appts around peak traffic times. During off peak times in Alpharetta I can get around very easily. There are a couple of major intersections and roads that are definitely worse than others...but most of this area has a great layer of secondary roads that can move you around the worst part of traffic.

Sandy Springs has a dense retail corridor around Roswell Rd and I-285 that can be one of the worst traffic areas to travel through in rush hour so I would have to agree with your friend on that point. I often travel from Buckhead or Downtown back up GA 400 during afternoon rush hour and although there is definitely heavy traffic it moves at a pace much faster than we experienced several years ago before the widening of 400 was complete.

We are also on the last leg of completing an access road ( Westside Pkwy ) that runs parallel to GA 400 on the west side that will provide a great alternative to our existing north /south travel routes in Alpharetta.

How about it other agents. What's traffic like specifically in your metro Atlanta area? Best and worst travel routes and intersections?
Deryk