zlacker

On the weekend when there's no traffic, it's easy enough to drive to a park, sure. During the week, when I would want to relax outdoors after work, all the parks you mention are a 30+ minute drive in stressful rush hour traffic.

(it's also worth mentioning that for my first 1.5 years in Atlanta, I couldn't even afford a car, so my options were limited to Piedmont Park and the Georgia Tech campus)

In rush hour traffic from the Atlantic Station area, according to Google Maps:

Grant Park: 26min drive Centennial Olympic Park: 15min drive (I did go there all the time but it's not really a park? plus tons of car noise nearby) Freedom Park: 34min drive Candler Park: 28min drive Chastain Park: 28min drive

I'd occasionally go to the park along Collier Road or to Memorial Park (both 15-20min drive in traffic), but both are surrounded by deadlocked rush hour traffic for most of the afternoon.

I think the lesson is maybe that I should've chosen to live in the Little 5 Points area or somewhere east of Piedmont, but that would mean sacrificing my ~5min bicycle commute to the Georgia Tech campus where I was going to school at the time.

In the end Atlanta's car culture really grated on me, so I left.

That said, I think Atlanta is on a positive trajectory. I'm excited to see how the Microsoft campus impacts the western part of the city. I imagine in 15-20 years it could be a really appealing city.

>>benrbr+(OP)
If you have a requirement to get to a park in rush hour then you’re hosed. Those parks are all 5-15 minutes from the midtown during regular times or on the weekend. Trying to get across the connector is particularly horrible and Atlantic Station/Home Park is bad, but there are parks and greenspace to the west. Memorial Park (3 miles) and Westside Resevoir (3 miles) are close and against traffic (sort of) during rush hour.

Traffic is really horrible in Atlanta but I was able to plan around it so that it didn’t bother me much. But I would never think of distance against rush hour unless I had a specific reason. So while it may suck to drive during rush hour to get to a park, just don’t do that. Traffic is dead at 6am and is fine until 330 or after 7. Even a block from Piedmont park, I don’t think I ever went there except mornings, evenings, and weekends. This is different from other cities where there’s just no getting around traffic.

Living in midtown (or anywhere) without a car is hard, but there’s lots of cities that also require cars but don’t have so many parks and outdoor stuff.

There’s definitely a car culture and that’s a downside, but there are lots of parks.