Location of Georgia District Events

[ttldomination]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

Gainesville is practically north Atlanta.

Eh, not really.

Gainesville is approximately 1 hour north of Atlanta.
Dalton is approximately 1.5 hours north of Atlanta.

If we're getting technical here, I would define North Atlanta as the area formed between I85, I75, and I285.

Inner-Atlanta teams (4468, 1648, etc.) can probably speak more to this, but depending on where you live, I would consider Gainesville a travel event.

- Sunny G.

[kristinweiss]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

Inner-Atlanta teams (4468, 1648, etc.) can probably speak more to this, but depending on where you live, I would consider Gainesville a travel event.

One of the reasons that our team opted not to load in Friday night for GRITS is because Gainesville is easily over a two hour drive in traffic, and to load in on Friday we would have to leave in the middle of rush hour traffic. I would not be suprised if our team opts to get hotel rooms for the Gainesville district event considering it is not necessarily worth making the long drive in each direction every day, especially considering competitions are such long days.

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

Eh, not really.

Gainesville is approximately 1 hour north of Atlanta.
Dalton is approximately 1.5 hours north of Atlanta.

If we're getting technical here, I would define North Atlanta as the area formed between I85, I75, and I285..

When I was of FRC age, I would have agreed with you. But then I285 wasn't a circle, 400 & 985 didn't exist and I-75 had its temporary end in Cobb county, making both Gainesville & Dalton a considerably longer drive. For a lot of the North Atlanta teams, Gainesville is about as close as a rush hour commute to central Atlanta. But now Gainesville is just outside of what passes for the Metro area.

I am not really arguing Kristen's point that it would be nice to locate at least one District in the epicenter of teams. And yes if you are an ITP (inside the perimeter) Gainesville is either a long commute or a travel district.

[TDav540]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

When I was of FRC age, I would have agreed with you. But then I285 wasn't a circle, 400 & 985 didn't exist and I-75 had its temporary end in Cobb county, making both Gainesville & Dalton a considerably longer drive. For a lot of the North Atlanta teams, Gainesville is about as close as a rush hour commute to central Atlanta. But now Gainesville is just outside of what passes for the Metro area.

I am not really arguing Kristen's point that it would be nice to locate at least one District in the epicenter of teams. And yes if you are an ITP (inside the perimeter) Gainesville is either a long commute or a travel district.

As someone who drives two hours basically every weekend between Atlanta and Anderson, SC, I promise you that Gainesville is not "just outside the Metro area". And North Atlanta isn't Marietta, Alpharetta, Roswell, etc. It's North Atlanta. Inside the perimeter. A Midtown Atlanta event would be closer to those teams than a Gainesville event by about 20 minutes, pretty much regardless of traffic.

Dalton has no relevance in the Metro Atlanta discussion. It is not a home event for any team close to Atlanta (that's not in Cobb County).

[FrankJ]

OK I will concede that the city of Atlanta is actually a small but important part of metro Atlanta. (I grew up inside to the city limits for what it is worth) It doesn't even make it to the perimeter except on the NW side. Sandy Springs fought a long battle not to be in Atlanta. But if you look at Kristen's map, Most of the "Atlanta teams" are outside the city limits. I will even concede that most teams will consider Gainesville a travel event.

[TDav540]

Originally Posted by FrankJ

But if you look at Kristen's map, Most of the "Atlanta teams" are outside the city limits. I will even concede that most teams will consider Gainesville a travel event.

"Atlanta teams" might include everyone in the Metro, but everyone inside the city limits generally has a worse time getting in and out of the Metro. A team in Suwanee or nearby has a commutable 40 minute travel to Riverside. When coming from the city, there's a decent chance that your hour quickly turns into an hour and a half.

Regardless, I agree with you. Anyone who isn't near or on I-85 in the North Suburbs is probably not going to commute on Sunday morning.

Frankly, any event (or two) in North Suburbs or in the city would suffice as a local event for all "Atlanta teams".