Marta Questions for You Atlanteans!

[boomergoodheart.livejournal.com]

Our daughter will be driving to D*C by herself this year, coming in from the west. My question(s) concern several of the long-term parking stations. Of the ones I have listed here, which do you think is the most secure, both for her car and her traveling alone? What are the various neighborhoods like? Do you know if any of these have security? Are there any that you would unequivocally say "whatever you do, don't park there!"?

Thank you so much! This is her very first trip to D*C and we want to make sure it goes well for her. :-)

N6 - Lindbergh Center
N9 - Dunwoody
N10 - Sandy Springs
N11 - North Springs
NE7 - Lenox
NE8 - Brookhaven/Oglethorpe
NE10 - Doraville
S6 - College Park

Comments

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

I don't know about parking, but I DO know about the stations and their neighborhoods - stay away from College Park. The entire south line is kind of shady.

If she's going back and forth daily, then Lindbergh would be the most convenient station at which to park, as it won't matter whether a north or a northeast train comes by first - both go there (whereas all the other ones require a specific train, which is just an extra hassle she doesn't need to deal with!). Also, that area isn't too bad. That's the one I would recommend.

EDIT: Even if she's NOT going back and forth, I'd still recommend Lindbergh. Relatively easy to get to from the interstate, less chance of her getting confused and taking the wrong train and ending up somewhere she didn't mean to be, etc. It just seems like less stress all around.

[xochitl.livejournal.com]

I agree with this!

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I'll third Lindbergh. One of the largest garages, in a reasonably well patrolled neighborhood. I regularly patronize this station at either end of the schedule (1AM, 5AM) and have never seen less than two uniformed officers either on foot or in cars.

South and West are generally worse neighborhoods, with East being average and North being good. And there's the train switching issue if you go any farther north than Lindbergh.

[veracity]

And there's the fact City Center is now at Lindbergh, which means more patrolling because of the extra businesses. (I eat at Chili's and Longhorns at least once a week each. And eat at Longhorn's for dinner tonight in fact.)

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

Yup, definitely. The area has come up a lot with all the new developments there. :)

[veracity]

I actually like it MORE now. The new development there and across the street really seems to help because for awhile Sidney reminded me of "where not to go" for some reason. (I think Home Depot might be my new home since I'm painting the kitchen in my apartment and have to keep going back every day.) I also like that the first 2 hours is free parking and complimentary valet for the restaurants. One day in the next couple weeks, I wanna go exploring. It just feels..more cozy, even with all the tall buildings.

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

My only complaint is that there used to be an absolutely fabulous independent fabric store over in that shopping center, and now it's gone, leaving ITP Atlanta with only one decent fabric store (that I know of). The customer service and prices at that place were unbeatable. I went in to buy a bunch of green felt for a hobbit cape once...then went back a year and a half later, and the woman working there not only remembered seeing me, she remembered what I bought. It was amazing. I miss that fabric store. :( As much as I love Gail K, their service is pretty hit or miss.

[veracity]

See, I know nothing about fabrics. Other than Barbies make awesome visual aids in high school classes. But I like that the area isn't so seedy since it's around the corner and all. I love the Home Depot area because I've got a nice Arby's to eat at - which is a nice inexpensive meal when I'm craving a turkey and bacon sandwich - and Starbucks. I was unimpressed with Taco Mac, though. I'll just get the chili cheese fries and chili from now on.

I do like that the Marta customers have higher levels in the deck, too. It means less people will be running through the bottom levels. Well, plus, I love complimentary valet.

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

Eat at Tin Drum, if you haven't yet! :) I used to work there (not that location, of course)...I've had pretty much everything on the menu and can tell you that 90% of it is totally fabulous. :)

[veracity]

Is that one between Arby's and Starbucks? I love to try new things, especially since I'll be moving in the winter and want to enjoy what I can now.

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's over there. Next to some pizza/Italian/somethingorother place. It's generic Pan-Asian, but it's still pretty delicious. Try the curry chicken spring rolls with honey miso. Yummy. :)

[veracity]

Ooh, that does sound delicious. That pizza/Italian place was meh. I had that when I first moved in and didn't know of the awesomeness that is Zifty. Gonna miss that when I move away. I like the Pan-Asian, generic or not. I might even give chicken a try since I love miso (I blame Cheesecake Factory).

[arseaboutface.livejournal.com]

I agree. We parked long-term at Lindbergh for the entirety of our honeymoon, and our car was fine.

[inperfectpeace.livejournal.com]

I can second the stay away from College Park sentiment.

[alladinsane.livejournal.com]

Would also add Sandy Springs isnt that far away from North Springs and is also cheaper to park at...and with North Springs you can only exit the station going north...if you want to go the other way you're out of luck till you get to the next exit several miles north...

[jarissa.livejournal.com]

Y'know, this'd be a pretty good one for the Dragon*Con Wiki (http://dragon-con.pbworks.com/)'s FAQ pages! I've seen questions about the MARTA parking lots before, but never specifically "do any of them have security" or anything along those lines.

[kimberworld.livejournal.com]

Is she riding the train to and from the con or is she just parking at a lot and staying on-site?

If she's riding the trains back and forth, they stop running at 1am M-F and 12:30am on the weekends.

If she's using one of the lots for long-term parking (dropping off her stuff at the hotel and then parking for the weekend), I would suggest Lindbergh or Dunwoody.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

The 1AM thing is a popular misconception. They stop *starting* at those times. That is, the last northbound train leaves the Airport at 1AM. That means the last northbound train from Peachtree Center is around 1:20. You can sit in any station around 12:50 and hear announcements to this effect, with exact times and current locations of every remaining train.

[kimberworld.livejournal.com]

True, but if someone was relying on trains to get them to their car, they need to know the trains stop about 1am-ish. :)

[nyssa.livejournal.com]

It's still a very good idea, if you're relying on MARTA, to be at the station at one so as not to accidentally miss the last train. After all, if you miss it, you're stuck...and things happen, you know? So it's better to build in the extra leeway just in case. :)

[neovenom.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this would be a factor for you, but some of the stations charge $4 a day and some cost $7 a day for long term parking.

[boomergoodheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you one and all for the replies! In answer to some of the queries:

1) She's staying with us at the hotel, she's just getting into Atlanta too late for valet parking.
2) Cost doesn't really matter for us. I mean....WE are paying the damn $28/day at the Marriott. $7/day seems like a steal for her.
3) The less train changing, the better.

Seems like Lindbergh is the way to go! *hugs all around* :-)

[kimberworld.livejournal.com]

If she needs any last minute costume accessories, there's a mall at the Dunwoody one. :) Just in case she forgets something.

[veracity]

Definitely rec the Lindbergh one. There's a lot of development around it, though. So depending on how she's coming in, I'd get ways to the station. Not to say it's too difficult but even I get turned around on occasion because there's a couple one-way streets.

[nightwing22dg.livejournal.com]

I have to rely on MARTA daily. I will say that unfortunately, this city is not as safe as it used to be. I can attest to that from personal experience. It had always been relatively safe getting around and taking MARTA late at night and walking home if it stopped running. Not so much this year. What everyone says about Limbergh is right. It is the most convenient and they do actually have a parking deck and usually have police nearby. Though things can happen there too. After I was robbed in Buckhead one night this year, I looked at crime statistics a lot. Things happen in all the Atlanta neighborhoods. The mayor had put a lot of police officers on furlough here though she claimed crime didn't get worse. This was despite many unfortunate newspaper headlines to the contrary this year. The good news is the furloughs have ended and we can only hope that crime is less of a problem here because of it. I used to stay out after midnight and look at costumes then take MARTA to Arts Center and then walk home. This year I will take a cab home from the con each night. There is no question for me. Also, it is important to keep in mind that MARTA will be changing many things in mid August. I know they want to raise parking fees either in August or October when they raise fares. I also understand we will get slower service next month on most train and bus routes when the new schedules come out in August.

[boomergoodheart.livejournal.com]

Yes, the fares are changing in October. Slow trains won't really matter, either, as she's only taking them twice (once in, once out). :-)

[positive-pat.livejournal.com]

I was wondering, if your daughter is driving to the DC, does she happen to be staying in a hotel close to the Con that has parking she can do? I actually live outside of Atlanta and last year was not able to get one of the Con hotels, they were full but I did get a hotel a couple blcoks away very short walk. The hotel had parking so I just left me car in the parking lot there for the entire Con. There were 5 of us but I was the only local person all the others had driven to my house and parked or flown in.

I was just thinking it might be easier for her if she could just park her car at the hotel she is staying at and not worry about it.

Just a thought.

[positive-pat.livejournal.com]

Okay never mind I just saw your post above with the info. :)

[twinklebat.livejournal.com]

Well, you've gotten a lot of info already but I live in Dunwoody and use that station to MARTA down to GSU. Its got a fair amount of parking and is right by the mall which is kind of nice. My only issue I have with it is that the platform is upstairs outside so if its cold or windy its not as pleasant as an indoor platform could be.

[lady-kathana.livejournal.com]

We live in Roswell, and we always park at Sandy Springs when we need long term parking. Its the cheapest of the northern stations.

[genixbear.livejournal.com]

I vote Lindburgh, since the long term parking actually uses the BellSouth Corporate parking garage, so you have marta as well as bell south security present.

BellSouth Security HA HA

[philliephil.livejournal.com]

There is no BellSouth or BellSouth security. The big advantage of Lindbergh is MARTA has both the City Center PD at this location and the HQ precinct of the Marta PD at this station.

low flight costs

[caddie-von.livejournal.com]

Hi! I am looking at flying to atlanta from Wichita, KS. There are round-trip tickets now for around $149. Not sure how far west your daughter is, but with low cost flights right now might be cheaper, quicker, and safer to fly. Then she will not need parking and can take marta from airport to and from hotel.