Vol Fans in Georgia?

#1
KnoxVillain

KnoxVillain

Big Orange Faithless
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
11,640
Likes
1,195
#1
Fellow Vol Fans,

It appears I will be moving to Georgia for a job in the coming weeks. The job will be in Winder, GA. Which as you may or may not know is about half way between Atlanta and Athens. Here is the dilemma I am in.

I graduated in May from UT so I am still of "college" age. I can live in Athens or Atlanta and commute about 20-30 minutes or live in the middle of nowhere GA closer to the facility. I really don't want to live in the middle of nowhere.

What would you recommend for a college age guy moving down there? Athens or East-ish Atlanta? Somewhere in between that I'm not considering at the moment? My salary will be very reasonable and I could spend anywhere from $450-900ish per month on rent.

Thanks for any help or insight ahead of time.
 
#2
#2
This is easy. You don't want any part of north or east metro Atlanta commute if you don't have to. You definitely want to live in Athens. It's a great town.

So, to summarize, west of Winder is traffic and stress. East of Winder is less traffic and a college town filled with cool bars, restaurants and women. The choice is yours
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#3
#3
If you don't mind the commute and traffic I would suggest east atlanta. I'm not a big fan of Athens, too many fratastic dudes for me. It is a nice town with good restaurants though so you may enjoy it.
 
#4
#4
GAVol said:
This is easy. You don't want any part of north or east metro Atlanta commute if you don't have to. You definitely want to live in Athens. It's a great town.

So, to summarize, west of Winder is traffic and stress. East of Winder is less traffic and a college town filled with cool bars, restaurants and women. The choice is yours
Click to expand...

Thank you. I was already leaning that way but I appreciate the reassurance. Can you give me any info specific to Athens? I do have a woman though so "art gallery" rules apply to that category.
 
Last edited:
#5
#5
wcm100690 said:
If you don't mind the commute and traffic I would suggest east atlanta. I'm not a big fan of Athens, too many fratastic dudes for me. It is a nice town with good restaurants though so you may enjoy it.
Click to expand...

I've dealt with frat daddies for 4 years at UT. I'm pretty accustomed to it. They might be a little more pretentious down there - not to mention Dawg fans - but I can manage that. Why would you suggest East ATL beyond that reason?
 
#6
#6
KnoxVillain said:
I've dealt with frat daddies for 4 years at UT. I'm pretty accustomed to it. They might be a little more pretentious down there - not to mention Dawg fans - but I can manage that. Why would you suggest East ATL beyond that reason?
Click to expand...

I haven't lived there myself but my sister has lived in grant park and the surrounding area for several years now so I'm out there quite a bit. I enjoy the night life, restaurants and things to do more. It's also a relatively safe area but of course that changes from block to block around atl.
 
#7
#7
I had to look up Winder. Never heard of it. I'm by Sandy Springs. Judging by the map, id live in Athens just b/c it's closer and the bar scene would be better vs a Stone Mountain/Lawrenceville. Id say living in Buckhead would be out if the question due to distance but you'd be going against traffic.

For $900 you could get a nice place
 
#8
#8
Athens is a one trick pony (great bar scene with beautiful women). After that, it is boring as hell.

I would advise looking at the Lawrenceville, Dacula, Duluth areas. You will be driving opposite of traffic for work and will be closer to Atlanta (much more to do) but still be 30-45 minutes from Athens. Kinda gives you the best of both worlds.
 
#9
#9
You should really look in .... Winder. It's not the Podunk town you think it is. I'll bet the population is 60,000+. Barrow County is one of the fastest growing counties in Georgia and it's halfway between the college scene in Athens and Atlanta. I'm through there fairly frequently for business.
 
#10
#10
wcm100690 said:
I haven't lived there myself but my sister has lived in grant park and the surrounding area for several years now so I'm out there quite a bit. I enjoy the night life, restaurants and things to do more. It's also a relatively safe area but of course that changes from block to block around atl.
Click to expand...

Problem is that's all the way down on I-20 though and is probably over an hour to Winder.
 
#11
#11
GAVol said:
You should really look in .... Winder. It's not the Podunk town you think it is. I'll bet the population is 60,000+. Barrow County is one of the fastest growing counties in Georgia and it's halfway between the college scene in Athens and Atlanta. I'm through there fairly frequently for business.
Click to expand...

According to Wiki the city population is 14,000. The Barrow County population is 69,000. Athens is about double that, and appears to offer a bit more of a city feel.
 
#12
#12
PKT_VOL said:
Athens is a one trick pony (great bar scene with beautiful women). After that, it is boring as hell.

I would advise looking at the Lawrenceville, Dacula, Duluth areas. You will be driving opposite of traffic for work and will be closer to Atlanta (much more to do) but still be 30-45 minutes from Athens. Kinda gives you the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

Lawrenceville, Dacula, and Duluth are all smaller than I really am interested in. I don't really care for that small town kinda feel. It makes me kinda depressed to be honest. I'm more interested in living closer to a city where more is going on.
 
#13
#13
One other area you might want to consider (don't think I saw it listed) is the Mall of Georgia area in Buford. It's probably only about 25 minutes from Winder, but also very close to Lake Lanier for some nice summer activities, and also very easy access to the interstate which makes it easy to get to Atlanta if you need/want to go. If you enjoy baseball the Gwinnett Braves also play nearby.

While I agree with all the other suggestions posted, I tend to give more credence to the poster that said Athens is a one trick pony. I really enjoy it as a college town and taking in an occasional football game, but other than that it's mostly bars which can become a bit boring if that's all there is to do.
 
#14
#14
KnoxVillain said:
Lawrenceville, Dacula, and Duluth are all smaller than I really am interested in. I don't really care for that small town kinda feel. It makes me kinda depressed to be honest. I'm more interested in living closer to a city where more is going on.
Click to expand...

Dacula is, but so is Winder and Athens.

Lawrenceville/Duluth are firmly in the greater metro area. Neither have a small town feel. Great, great food in Duluth too.
 
#15
#15
IBlvNTmWrk said:
One other area you might want to consider (don't think I saw it listed) is the Mall of Georgia area in Buford. It's probably only about 25 minutes from Winder, but also very close to Lake Lanier for some nice summer activities, and also very easy access to the interstate which makes it easy to get to Atlanta if you need/want to go. If you enjoy baseball the Gwinnett Braves also play nearby.

While I agree with all the other suggestions posted, I tend to give more credence to the poster that said Athens is a one trick pony. I really enjoy it as a college town and taking in an occasional football game, but other than that it's mostly bars which can become a bit boring if that's all there is to do.
Click to expand...

I would agree but Buford is unnecessarily expensive. If he lives towards the Lawrenceville side of 20, he will be right there on 316 (to get to Winder, Athens, or Atlanta).

I agree about things to do in Buford. I honestly consider Lawrenceville, Duluth, and Buford to all be about the same area. Lots to do, similar drive to Atlanta or Athens, easy drive to the Mall, G-Braves, Lanier, etc.
 
#16
#16
I guess I like the idea of Athens because of the fact that there will be a lot of people my age living there. I will have to make friends since I know zero people living down there and it seems like living in Athens would make it an easier transition.
 
#17
#17
KnoxVillain said:
I guess I like the idea of Athens because of the fact that there will be a lot of people my age living there. I will have to make friends since I know zero people living down there and it seems like living in Athens would make it an easier transition.
Click to expand...

If you're in the Lawrenceville/Atlanta area, let me know. We are roughly the same age.
 
#18
#18
PKT_VOL said:
Dacula is, but so is Winder and Athens.

Lawrenceville/Duluth are firmly in the greater metro area. Neither have a small town feel. Great, great food in Duluth too.
Click to expand...

Haha. Yeah. Definitely nothing small town about Lawrenceville. And Duluth is basically just the sprawl of Atlanta. He's getting info off wiki and not considering the fact that city limits mean very little in the north metro area. You can drive from Atlanta to Roswell to Duluth to Lawrenceville and it never feels like you left the same city.
 
#19
#19
KnoxVillain said:
According to Wiki the city population is 14,000. The Barrow County population is 69,000. Athens is about double that, and appears to offer a bit more of a city feel.
Click to expand...

Have you ever actually been to these places?
 
#20
#20
GAVol said:
Have you ever actually been to these places?
Click to expand...

I went down there twice for interviews. I did not go to Duluth or Lawrenceville. I did have time to kill and drove around Dacula, Auburn, and Winder. None of them got me very excited...
 
#21
#21
KnoxVillain said:
I went down there twice for interviews. I did not go to Duluth or Lawrenceville. I did have time to kill and drove around Dacula, Auburn, and Winder. None of them got me very excited...
Click to expand...

I like the Dacula/Buford area but you're not alone on Winder. I don't know too many people that get all giddy about it. I'm about 20-25 minutes from Winder, but it's sounding like Athens may suit you the best.
 
#22
#22
Dacula or Lawrenceville don't have that small town feel unless you get on the outskirts of town. I would rather live in either of those two, than Athens. I live in Covington Ga (Newton County, about 30 min east of Atlanta on I20.) It's more of a small town. I like it though. I can be most anywhere from Atlanta to Athens in about 45 min.
 
#23
#23
jhen713 said:
Dacula or Lawrenceville don't have that small town feel unless you get on the outskirts of town. I would rather live in either of those two, than Athens. I live in Covington Ga (Newton County, about 30 min east of Atlanta on I20.) It's more of a small town. I like it though. I can be most anywhere from Atlanta to Athens in about 45 min.
Click to expand...

Covington is the perfect distance from Atlanta and has just enough stuff to do. If my in-laws didn't live there, I might even live up there. :)
 
#24
#24
One piece of advice from someone that moved to Atlanta from Chattanooga, and about your age, stay away from the interstates, don't ever consider it part of your drive if you coming from Atlanta. I would suggest Athens based on being farther from Atlanta traffic and the fact anywhere you would probably end up in atlanta is going to be the burbs, as someone said you drive from one 'town' to the next without noticing, so many freaking houses its disgusting.
 
#25
#25
Dacula! Hah, I remember when that was just a residual dam from an old mill.

If I was in your shoes I would definitely live in Athens but don't dis the small towns. some of my best adventures have been in places like Cornelia, Jefferson, Gainesville and Helen. And Athens has a Varsity, so you have all the comforts of home.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top