By Alpharetta Native

April 19, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this

Leave it alone. What is it with the yankees that moved here that always want to “Change” something. Give it a rest, it’s fine!

By Fulton

April 19, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this

The most simplest fix is to synchronize the lights from Glenridge Dr to Abernathy Rd, but I guess maybe that’s too advanced for the bassackward thinkers in GA. It makes absolutely NO SENSE to go 1 block, then red light…then 1 more block, then red light, etc, etc…that’s almost 10 MINS spent waiting to go TWO blocks. Crossing the 285 area is a NIGHTMARE!!! Oh but that’s right, since Sandy Springs wanted OUT of Fulton, let them fix their own probs….

By Lola

April 19, 2007 12:18 PM | Link to this

Tear down 75% of the apartment complexes on Roswell Road and replace them with townhomes and condos for sale, not rent. By removing the rental properties you will remove the undesirable element and transient types, and those who have no vested interest in maintaining property values in the area, and you will replace them with homes for middle-class people who know that hard work and being a productive member of society gives life’s greatest rewards and financial freedom.

By Carlos

April 19, 2007 12:31 PM | Link to this

Right Lola, because those “transient types” don’t know nothing about “hard work and being a productive member of society”. Look around, they work the hardest and for the least amount of pay.

The problem with Roswell Rd. is traffic. Plain and simple. And contruction is not going to fix it. Alpharetta Native is half right. Its not fine but leave it alone.

By Jay

April 19, 2007 12:56 PM | Link to this

If the city council members in Sandy Springs would change the name of the road, it would solve all the problems.

By Alan

April 19, 2007 12:59 PM | Link to this

As a native Atlantan and a resident of Sandy Springs, I know about the problems facing Roswell Road. Traffic light synchronization is a major issue that should have been fixed a long time ago. As “Fulton” mentioned, there is no excuse for one light to be green and then 100 yards down the road another light to be red. Pure ignorance. The Roswell Road - 285 interchange is in need of redevelopment also. The turning lanes are basically non-existent and folks simply have no where to go. Tunnels have been proposed as a good way to eliminate traffic and I think that’s a great idea. As a more cost effective idea, why not build a double decker bridge with northbound and southbound traffic on different levels?

By ah

April 19, 2007 1:04 PM | Link to this

Great, thanks Lola. My boyfriend and I are young fresh college grads making about $50k a year combined income. We live in one one of those “undesirable element” apartments on Roswell Road because we are just starting out and can’t afford much else. It’s a shame people like you are so narrow-minded to think we don’t care about the community, or that people like us are all bums. It’s a very undesirable opinion to have.

By steve-o

April 19, 2007 1:10 PM | Link to this

Yeah right, Lola…the endless number of Lexus SUVs and BMWs that clog Roswell Road are driven by transient types.

By Koz

April 19, 2007 1:18 PM | Link to this

Can we make it into a dirt road? That way only us that have pickups will want to drive on it.

By Lola

April 19, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this

I said tear down 75% of apartments, not all of them. And I lived in apartments on Northridge four years ago. Moved just before a young man was murdered there by a drug deal gone bad in the parking lot. The people below me had about six people living in a one-bedroom apartment. There were nasty kids running around half clothed and cRap blaring out of most of the cars there so loudly it rattled the mirrors and dishes . Don’t try to tell me most of the people in apartments in Sandy Springs are good honest folks. I’ve seen otherwise with my own eyes. There are exceptions, but they are not the rule. They are exceptions. The truth hurts, but it doesn’t make it any less true. If you want to keep apartments there, fine. Make them high-rent and screen applicants with a fine-toothed comb.

By ah

April 19, 2007 2:41 PM | Link to this

Yeah I lived in a different (very large) complex off Roswell on my own about ohh .. 3 years ago. Some poor guy got beaten with a baseball bat in front of his own building .. and the people stole his car but not before running over and killing him with it. I always tried to think things like that could happen anywhere and it’s not particularly the fault of the neighborhood. They followed the guy home. I check out the reports now online and thankfully nothing happens in my complex. As far as traffic on Roswell.. heh .. well that’s another story. They desperately need to do a complete re-paving in some areas .. but what would that do to the traffic already? Tearing down all the empty buildings that have been vacant for 1-2 years and replacing with greenspace might help from a aesthetic standpoint.

By Lola

April 19, 2007 2:49 PM | Link to this

@ ah -

I lived in Windridge Apartments too, and what you described IS the drug deal gone bad I was referring to. His name was Will and he was a big time drug dealer at the ripe old age of 19. He got beaten with the bat and run over by the guys to whom he was dealing his drugs. I know what I’m talking about here, folks. I’m sorry if it makes me elitist to point out that the apartments on Roswell Road are swarming with scum bags and low lifes, but that’s the fact. Cry all you want about how what I’m saying isn’t fair or isn’t true. The facts speak for themselves.

By ah

April 19, 2007 3:00 PM | Link to this

chuckle I guess what makes it worse was I lived in Morgan Falls Station! 2 baseball bat murders - yeesh! :D

By Jason

April 19, 2007 6:46 PM | Link to this

Lola are you a commie? You sure sound like it. If I own a townhouse, who are you to tell me if I can rent it out or not? If I buy into a condo complex and freely enter into a condo agreement with restrictions on rental rights, then fine, that’s between myself and the other members of the association but we don’t need or want your interference in our affairs. How about we pass a law that states that you must rent out one of the bedrooms in your house. Would you like that? Why not? it is the same lack of respect for your property rights that you’re giving the rest of us. Using the power of government to force your social experiments on the rest of us belongs in Cuba and not in Sandy Springs.

And what on earth is the city doing with a “hospitality director”. It sounds like a made up position for someone’s relative. While I certainly can see the wisdom in investing in marketing our community to the rest of the world, it seems like our elected officials are focusing on the icing on the cake without first bothering the even buy flour, much less bake the cake. Get the basics done and then you can start looking at extras like a hospitality director.

By Carlos

April 20, 2007 12:39 PM | Link to this

I think we have digress from the issue. Crime and bad housing complexes do not contribute to terrible traffic. Which is I think the major issue facing Roswell Rd.

One quick note, just by raising rent and building expensive condos does not mean people will buy. More than likely, they will be half empyty. I feel people who think this way do have an elitist mind set in seperating themselves from others.

By Jenny

April 20, 2007 6:18 PM | Link to this

My husband & I bought a house not far from Roswell, inside 285, about a year ago. Housing prices have risen so quickly that we couldn’t afford to buy here now. I don’t see tearing down the apartments as a fix. How about renovating them? We need all levels of residents here, from new grads to retirees. If we only have $500k condos available, we very much limit the folks you get. Also, the townhouse/condo market is saturated. The last thing we need in the Atlanta area is more townhomes that will never appreciate. How about building some starter homes for folks like ah to buy as their incomes go up. Keep people here as they move through their life and you’ll build a community. But if all we do is tear down and build McMansions or condos, we’re not going to have that.

By SS Resident

April 23, 2007 5:05 PM | Link to this

Well, whether we like it or not Sandy Springs is growing. So, we need to do whatever we can to help with traffic congestion. I agree that the traffic lights should be synchronized, but Roswell Roads main probelm is that there are alot of vehicles on it everyday at all times of the day and this is not because of the apartments and undesirable element in Sandy Springs. Roswell road needs to be widen…PERIOD!!! Sandy Springs is going to continue to grow and the roadway need to grow with it.

By Alan

April 24, 2007 12:22 PM | Link to this

**SS Resident: Widening Roswell Road would help alleviate some of the traffic but there are less drastic measures that can and SHOULD be taken first. We, as residents of an already sprawling city, must not allow our government to keep building roads bigger, longer, and wider. Without proper building restrictions on businesses and builders, traffic on Roswell Road will most certainly re-fill on any newly widened road.

In other words, let’s first look at the problem not a quick-fix solution. The problem is obviously too many cars because of too many people. The solution? That’s not my area of expertise, but it certainly CAN NOT be fixed by simply adding more asphalt. We need restrictions on how many homes and businesses can be built. Look at the new town homes at the corner of Abernathy and Roswell. Look at the new town homes at the corner of Abernathy and Barfield next to GA 400. Do we really need all these new residences? Think of all the extra traffic these developments will cause! In my opinion, it’s simply ignorance by the local government.**

By Lewis

April 27, 2007 6:43 PM | Link to this

Lola is correct. The 75% have 10 to 30 people in 2-bedroom apartments in many cases. Check with the SS Police Department. Replacing with condos will greatly reduce the number of vehicles coming from the same piece of propery. The number of current residents in apartments represent 10 to 15% of the population in SS, but 60% of the police calls concern apartments.