[ale] Heya folks! Any suggestions for a geek moving to/near Atlanta?

[Jim Popovitch]

On Sat, 2007-06-09 at 22:57 -0400, James P. Kinney III wrote:
> On Sat, 2007-06-09 at 19:26 -0700, Brian Schenken wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > Moving my family from California to somewhere near north Atlanta
> > (where my new job is)...  We've never been to Atlanta - we are
> > shipping our stuff (in a pod) and starting the drive on Monday - Woot!
> > 
> > I'm wondering if you locals might recommend areas that a geeky family
> > should (or shouldn't) consider settling down in.  Proximity to a Fry's
> > is a consideration - so Duluth sounds kewl.  My wife and I are gamers
> > (kids aren't old enough yet), so an area with an active LAN community
> > would be awesome....  Of course good schools and activities for the
> > kids are important.
> 
> Hmm. Good schools _and_ Georgia are nearly an oxymoron. NE Atlanta is
> being bulldozed (trees anyway) and replaced with expensive but poorly
> built houses as fast as they can get the permit rubber stamped. Too bad
> the school systems don't have a clue about the building rate. Currently
> if I drive up I-85 north and go past the Frys exit, I can see commercial
> development that has never been leased next door to another swatch of
> bare dirt getting converted as well.
> > 
> > I keep hearing about Atlanta traffic - is it really that bad?
> 
> Yes. Rush hour(s) is(are) 6am-9am and again 3pm-7pm. The interstate
> roads are horrid (think parking lots with circling cars at the only mall
> known to still have THE TOY of the year on December 23). The best part
> of driving in Atlanta is when you realize that common sense is water
> soluble. When it starts to rain the yahoo's drive even faster (I guess
> to get home quicker?). It's realy funny when we do get some snow/ice. Up
> and down the interstate will be littered with 4-wheel drive pickups as
> the rednecks try to still do 60+ on ice "'cause they got 'em a 4 wheel
> an' it'n go anywhare". 
> 
> But the climate is nice (air conditioning required now) and for the most
> part, the people are nice too. People will look at you on the street and
> smile.

Ditto what James said... but with one caveat...  Georgia Navigator,
http://www.georgia-navigator.com/maps/atlanta, is a pretty handy tool
(also available via Weather.com on mobile handsets for a subscription
fee) for navigating Atlanta traffic.  If your commute is flexible, check
it before you hit the main arteries. 

Since you are starting your drive on Monday, take a break around 5pm EDT
and check that site out to see what traffic looks like.  On that site
you can enable cameras and signs (check boxes at the top of the map),
and then you can get some good visuals of what the roads are like in
various parts of the city.

Best wishes, safe travels,

-Jim P.