Atlanta, GA

[cjtpilot]

So fellow Supra owners I have been blessed with a job offer in Atlanta, GA. Obviously I need to take care of what is important first and get information from any locals on where to ski, lakes in the area to start looking at housing etc..... I will be working at the airport so please keep that in mind when making suggestions. Thank you in advance for all the help.

[Mischief IV]

So fellow Supra owners I have been blessed with a job offer in Atlanta, GA. Obviously I need to take care of what is important first and get information from any locals on where to ski, lakes in the area to start looking at housing etc..... I will be working at the airport so please keep that in mind when making suggestions. Thank you in advance for all the help.

I'm born and raised in the ATL. The airport isn't close to any lakes so at that point you have to decide if a short commute to work is important to you vs. a short commute to the lake.
The two main lakes in Atlanta are Allatoona Lake and Lake Lanier and are on the north side. Both reside in some of the fastest growing counties in the SE. Allatoona is a third of the size of Lanier. If the Comp is your boat, you may not get much use out of it on Lanier during the peak hours as it will be flooded by the 60 footers passing by.
I quit going to Lanier in the early 90's due to the rough water. I'm partial to the north side of the city as that is where my bread and butter is with the large Buckhead mansions for business but frequently travel to all areas of the city.
The highways are crowded and congested no matter where you live. Atlanta is not limited by any natural landscape or water boundaries so people tend to commute for hours in every direction. With Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS, Delta, AT&T, Chick-Fil-A, Georgia-Pacific, Waffle House, SunTrust and many more headquartered here, including Mercedes-Benz coming down, there are many people continuing to migrate south and home construction has once again picked up. There is always plenty of inventory and you can find a good large home for a really fair price. It really comes down to quality of life with the commute and if you have kids, the school system.

I've done a lot of work for pilots as well in the area and generally there are larger numbers that live on the south side in Peachtree City. There are quite a few still that that tend to live in the NE corridor where the commute can be 35 -50 min without traffic. I have several neighbors that fly for Delta.
I live in Marietta (14 miles north of ATL) and can make it to the airport in 35 min on average to the park and fly. Allatoona is 20 min north.

There is a lake called West Point Lake SW of Peachtree City. I've been there only once for a client and haven't been able to explore it by boat.
It may be a 50 min commute or so from PTC.

You may want to PM forum member InAir. He is a pilot and lives in PTC. He may offer you more insight from a pilot's perspective. I have his cell number if you want to take it a step further and call him personally.

[cjtpilot]

I don't mind a 45min -1hr commute to work, I do that now. My main concern with Atlanta is the 3-4 hour commute I have heard about from my sister that lived down there. However working nights hopefully the drive might be better.

[cjtpilot]

oh, yeah schools is gonna be another big thing to consider.

[cjtpilot]

@MischieflV do you know anything about Lake Tara / Treasure Lake?

[Mischief IV]

I don't mind a 45min -1hr commute to work, I do that now. My main concern with Atlanta is the 3-4 hour commute I have heard about from my sister that lived down there. However working nights hopefully the drive might be better.

3 -4 hour commute? Where does she live? South Carolina? Traffic is bad...anywhere, any big city. I can be across town near Michael Hunter's pad on a bad Friday summer afternoon and it will only take me an hour to hour and half. I have one co-worker that lives on the west side of the city and it takes him on average one hour every morning and one hour every evening to do the 28 mile ride. My brother lives 35 miles north and he usually spends just over an hour to ride south. There are the exceptions depending on rain. And we get a lot of rain.
My wife works 11 miles from home and her average commute is 25 min for her afternoon ride. The highways aren't all created equal here and that tends to be a big problem. I have 8 lanes to choose from on my commute.
They are currently doing a $780 million dollar highway renovation on the NW side with new HOV lanes and that is supposed to alleviate issues (says our trusted gov't.) but then they go construct a new ball stadium for the Braves at the same location which is supposed to wreak havoc on traffic, but if it turns into 3 - 4 hours, I will definitely pack my bags and move to the lake house.
And yes, schools play a big part here. City of Atlanta schools are corrupt along with Clayton County. Do not move to Clayton County.

[cjtpilot]

They lived in Powder Springs and worked downtown, usually 2 hour drive but a few times it was 3+ she said. I live in Chicago now so a drive isn't a big deal I just don't want to be in traffic hell! lol

[Mischief IV]

They lived in Powder Springs and worked downtown, usually 2 hour drive but a few times it was 3+ she said. I live in Chicago now so a drive isn't a big deal I just don't want to be in traffic hell! lol

Well, Powder Springs has no access to any major highway and no straight line to get there. She may have to do back roads with lots of traffic lights, then highway. Maybe she is the only person in ATL that obeys the speed limit.

No, on Lake Tara or Treasure. Not a fan of that area.

[MJHKnox]

I lived in Roswell for 8 years. Next door to Mr Mischief IV.

My life was driving from home to the airport.

Boated mainly on Allatoona. Too many damn people and cars for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Wulphie]

It is a couple hours from Atlanta, but I vacationed on Lake Hiwasee in North Carolina and it sure was nice. That was about 15 yrs ago so I am not sure what it is like now but you could live 1/2 way between the two and that might be good.

[dkelly4819]

I live on the north end of Powder Springs, near Acworth, in west Cobb county and work in Buckhead. It's about an hour in the a.m. and about 1.5 hours going home. I'm only 25 minutes from where I dock my boat on Allatoona and that's always an easy drive. Carters lake is maybe an hour north of me. I've not been there, but heard it is pretty quiet, although they are advertising it alot, so that may change.

[onebadgt]

Depending on how far you want to be off water Canton Ga may be a good fit. Your are about 1 hour north of the airport (traffic dependant). 30 min to Altoona lake, 45 minutes from Lake Lanier, 45 minutes to Carters lake and 45 minutes from my personal favorite Lake Blue Ridge. I personally love in Ellijay so I normally get out a couple times a month to Carters and spend nearly every weekend plus some on Blue Ridge.

[michael hunter]

The choice is close to work or close to play . I used to live in the country on 11 acres and worked in Chicago I had to be on the road at 4:10 am for a 6:00 am start every day was a 12 hour day but when I got home I was in paradise. I live on the south side of lake Lanier give me a call if you want to know about Lanier.

Mike Hunter 678-227-8833

[Mischief IV]

I live on the north end of Powder Springs, near Acworth, in west Cobb county and work in Buckhead. It's about an hour in the a.m. and about 1.5 hours going home. I'm only 25 minutes from where I dock my boat on Allatoona and that's always an easy drive. Carters lake is maybe an hour north of me. I've not been there, but heard it is pretty quiet, although they are advertising it alot, so that may change.

You need to visit Carters Lake. The deepest lake in GA at just over 200 ft. deep. and crystal clear most days. There are no home sites on Carters which means no docks, so the landscape is uninterrupted. Worth the trip.


Depending on how far you want to be off water Canton Ga may be a good fit. Your are about 1 hour north of the airport (traffic dependant). 30 min to Altoona lake, 45 minutes from Lake Lanier, 45 minutes to Carters lake and 45 minutes from my personal favorite Lake Blue Ridge. I personally love in Ellijay so I normally get out a couple times a month to Carters and spend nearly every weekend plus some on Blue Ridge.

I love lake Blue Ridge also but could not afford the homes there so I bought on Lake Nottely. If you don't mind slumming it and want to switch it up one weekend, I'm only 22 miles away. Will have an "after party" there in July after the Southern Supra Reunion. A few members are getting together for the week following.

[onebadgt]

You need to visit Carters Lake. The deepest lake in GA at just over 200 ft. deep. and crystal clear most days. There are no home sites on Carters which means no docks, so the landscape is uninterrupted. Worth the trip.



I love lake Blue Ridge also but could not afford the homes there so I bought on Lake Nottely. If you don't mind slumming it and want to switch it up one weekend, I'm only 22 miles away. Will have an "after party" there in July after the Southern Supra Reunion. A few members are getting together for the week following.

I would love to join you guys, I'm always up for new water and new company. I like to hit different lakes each year. I like to hit carters, Nottley, and Chatuge at least once per year. Any typical weekend you can find me on blue ridge, I made the blue ridge boaters group on Facebook last year you should check it out.

[wolfeman131]

I'd suggest Lake Jackson which is on the South side of Atlanta, but you would want to check on the schools. It's about an hour from the airport and is a GA Power lake vs Allatoona or Lanier which are controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. A few yrs back, the area went through a drought and the Corps lakes were drawn down so much that it was difficult to get on the water without fear of damaging your boat (if you could even find an open ramp). The GA Power lakes were not under the same restrictions and stayed close to full pool.

[michael hunter]

Lanier is over 100 feet deep the lower water level you are referring to had no effect on most of the lake and ramps the smaller coves were affected. Still plenty of water to use.

[wolfeman131]

Not sure you lived here in 2007 . . .

http://youtu.be/4BX7zDEyzPw

[ngavchris]

Yes, the ramps were all closed because the water wasn't touching them. Rough year on Lanier and Allatoona. Even Carters Lake had issues that year and it is the deepest lake east of the Mississippi at over 450' at its deepest point.

[Mischief IV]

The drought was in 2007 and some of 2008. Let's put it in perspective though. With an average annual rainfall of 50.03 inches, the state of Georgia gets 10.9 more inches of rain than the national average of 39.17 inches.
2007 had 31.85" of rain in Atlanta and 2008 had 41.50" of rain in Atlanta for the year. Atlanta has had an average rainfall of 49.71 inches over the last 30 years, which is 27% more than the average nationwide, and about average in Georgia.
The following year in 2009, we had a catastrophic flood and received nearly 70 inches of rain that year. Last year alone, we had over 68 inches of rain.

With that being said, the record low water levels had more to do with the Corp of Engineers than Mother Nature. The State of GA and the Corp have been sued by AL and FL for the past 25 years over the usage of Lake Lanier as a water supply source for most households in the Atlanta area. Not to mention, Georgia also sued the Corps for wrongfully prohibiting Lake Lanier to be used for water consumption for metropolitan Atlanta. The Corp was letting huge amounts of water out to save the oysters downstream. I believe the Supreme Court is going to take this case and decide.