Fairmont

Four years ago I heard about Peachtree City, Georgia. A year later I moved here. It is, in my opinion, the closest we will get to Utopia, especially if you want to live car-free and bike-full (if that's a real word).


Anyway, Peachtree City, Georgia is a city of 35,000 people who all have one thing in common: Cart paths. The entire city is a network of smooth paved asphalt paths that connect EVERY school, store, neighborhood, business, and these roads are independent of the regular roads that cars use.

Seriously, you can get to every single building in this town using an electric-powered golf cart or bike (or skateboard or scooter or feet). No gas motors are allowed (except on some golf carts--but those are rare), so we have a quiet, environmentally-friendly community with hundreds of miles of bike paths.

I teach, so I park my car (a 30mpg Honda Civic) all summer. This coming school year I plan to ride to work everyday, weather permitting, so that I not only use less gas, help the environment, and enjoy the scenery, but I'll be 40 this year and need to stay healthy. I'm in no mood to have a heart attack.


We have two local bike shops that are kicking butt right now. One is having a difficult time keeping bikes in stock. They're literally flying off the shelves. Okay, rolling off the racks, but you get the idea.

I'm going to sell my low-end Trek and upgrade to a 7500. Good components. I ride a lot and the cart paths are not very popular with the road bike crew because all of the twists and turn (along with the occasional bump in the road from underlying tree roots--hey, nothing's perfect). So I like the hybrids that are mostly street, but a little bouncy for cutting across grass, hopping curbs, etc.


The last time I highlighted my town online, a guy sent me a personal message to let me know his wife literally went out and bought "for sale" signs and banged them into the front yard.

I forgot to mention: We have the lowest crime rate of any city in the United States for our size (under 50,000 people), and when Money Magazine did its 10 top best cities with less than 50k people, it chose us as number 8 in the entire country. We would have scored higher if we had more medical facilities and closer colleges. Sorry, can't have it all. But we have great homes, a larger than average income base, and tons of name-brand shopping for the ladies.

Almost every family owns an electric golf cart. There are tens of thousands of them. Every go boating? Ever notice how all the boaters wave to each other as they pass? THAT is what we do with out golf carts and bikes. It's a friendly city and a joy to be part of.

We have the best schools in the state, and our students consistently score higher than the national average in all areas of the ITBS (1st-8th) and the SATs. I teach here and can verify that the kids are super cool (in terms of ambition, respect, motivation, etc.). They are a true pleasure to teach. The high school teachers don't whine about gang activity, fights, teenage pregnancy, etc. They whine that the teenagers clog the parking lots with their golf carts or that the high school five miles south keeps kicking our football team's butt year after year.


I'm not trying to brag. I just love sharing this wonderful place with others.

I grew up in San Diego (North County), and never thought I would find a place that was just as good. For me, I miss the ocean, but aside from that, this place is amazing. I can't believe how blessed and lucky we are to have found it.


Granted, we're not perfect. The teenagers spray paint the golf cart tunnels occasionally (one kid sprayed the Batman symbol on the cartpath leading into our neighborhood), and we get the occasional stupid thing (like the Ruby Tuesdays got robbed, but nobody was hurt). And we get called snobs a lot by the surrounding communities because we like our town clean and neat.

Our cops are intense, but I've never had a problem. They are like the cops in that film Beverly Hills Cop. Always by the book and polite, but do one little thing wrong and you will get nailed. I like that. Keeps the community safe. Since I don't do drugs, drink and drive, or rob the Ruby Tuesdays, I don't really worry about the police. I'm glad they're on the job.

Our town is divided into five villages, each with its own elementary schools, stores, commercial centers, firehouse, etc.

Most importantly, if you live and work here, you don't need a car. Get a two-thousand dollar golf cart (you can't always ride your bike) and a bike. That's all you need.

I just wanted to share that.

Fairmont

I forgot to mention a couple things: Diversity is good here. In my neighborhood there are Venezuelans, Indians (from India) African-Americans, etc.

If there's one thing I've learned living in the South is that you should never judge someone by the color of his skin. That's an excuse by the lazy, inconsiderate (and usually uneducated) populace to continue degrading stereotypes.

What I learned is that poverty is what causes these problems in the various ethnic (and white) communities across this nation. Race has nothing to do with it.

The Iranians, Venezuelans, African-Americans, Mexicans, Indians, Koreans and others who I interact with in my community are businessmen, doctors, teachers, pilots, etc. They won't fit into any lame stereotype someone wants to throw at them.

The only things missing from this community (and we really need them) are a Trader Joes and a good Indian restaurant.

facial

A good read. Perhaps I should visit this city sometime.

Lamplight

Sounds nearly perfect except for one, huge issue: Southern summers. I live just north of you (TN) and the thing I absolutely despise more than anything about this place is the horrible summer weather. I'm completely miserable from the end of May through September, so any place I move will have to be considerably cooler.

Dahon.Steve

You live in a very nice community. I looked at Peachtree City on Google and it's the type of town I think were're going to see more in the near future. The type of town where one can live car free and work at the same time. I didn't see many cars on the sidwalk so I suspect they are parked behind homes.

I think you should stay small because a larger city with 60K will create problems that trouble cities in the north east.

I envy you.

mtnroads

thanks for sharing - great info. I've been to Atlanta but never Peachtree City. That is pretty country. Do most people work there also or do some commute into Atlanta?

justintime8425

I am from atlanta, and always heard of this phenomenon of peachtree city. If i'm not mistaken isn't the temp. always a little bit cooler in P. City compared to atlanta? I just remember seeing the news and couldn't figure out why its farther south but cooler than downtown. Anyways that does sound like utopia, but your just missing the mtns. and the blue ridge parkway.

MnHillBilly

Sounds great - except one has to wonder - are there jobs to keep the people employed to pay for these wonderful things in this town? That's the biggest problem just about everywhere. My family's originally from SE Tn, the communities are utopias there, too, except for one huge problem - the jobs available in town can't support the utopian lifestyle. The kids have to move away to find work when they graduate. Same problem up here in the burbs of the midwest - lots of recreation paths and restaurants and big-box stores - but no jobs that pay beyond minimum wage - everyone has to commute to downtown metropolis in order to afford to live in these spots and pay for the upkeep on the bike trails, the great schools, and the hefty mortgages.
True utopia will be when a town can find a happy medium between those two scenarios, and when people can be satisfied with utopia meaning sustainable vs. 'big and comfortable.'

As for weather - much easier to get along in a warm TN/north GA summer than to be grounded inside for months at a time during the winter up north. Heat is a nuisance, but cold hurts. I'll take a TN summer any day, and the ability to bike year-round.

ModoVincere

Yes there are. The biggest employers are by far the airlines and the airport. Peachtree city is maybe 20 miles (if that far) from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the busiest airport in the world. It alone employs a huge base of workers. So, as long as people are flying Peachtree City should be fine. Now, this may be threatend by high oil prices, but I have not seen much of a slowdown there yet.

cyclezealot

It might be a well planned city, but if it is in the lowlands ; its hot way too much of the year for this cyclists. No thanks. I'd not be cycling for probably at least three months of the year. Its San Diego's climate for me thank you.

MnHillBilly

Modo - not arguing that there aren't jobs near Atlanta. My point is that there aren't any jobs within the town of Peachtree itself Maybe there are - I'm just curious. But pointing to the airport as being the job center for a town that's 20+ minutes away isn't what I was talking about.

People have to drive fair distances to get to the more-than-minimum-wage jobs - it sort of negates the benefit of coming home to a utopia, when you have to spend an hour or more each day in a car to earn the money to come home to utopia. The traffic alone into Jackson-Hartfield is bad enough from the downtown area from what I've experienced just passing through. When business sees a benefit to building in small towns, this might change. That's all I'm interjecting.

Lamplight

I'm the opposite. Cold weather doesn't bother me at all, but hot weather makes me feel terrible. In the summer I'm very, very slow and make lots of mistakes at work due to the heat (I work in a warehouse). Heat is more than a nuisance to me, it depresses me and makes me feel sick all the time. Also, I would not be grounded inside in the winter unless I physically couldn't get out of the house for some reason. I've lived here all my life, and I still can't get used to the heat we have.

Platy

I have a question. How do you lay out the streets and trails to minimize the number of intersections between the car streets and the bike/cart trails? Are there lots of underpasses?

Fairmont

I'll try to answer the questions I can remember (and I'll scroll a bit to look at them as well).

It is hot here in the summer. I can't deny that, but one benefit of Peachtree City (and someone else mentioned it as well) is that we are usually much cooler than the surrounding areas for a couple reasons: First, we have old growth trees that provide a ton of shade and lock in moisture. Secondly, the center of town is on Line Creek, which links two small lakes. It's a lowland that doesn't flood, but collects cool air. So it can be 96 (like it was today), but about 80 down in the bottom part of the city.

I have to ride early in the morning when it's in the 70s (during the summer). But in the winter our averages are 55 for a high and 45 for a low. That's not bad for cycling at all.

Personally, I'm a heat guy. I like it more than cold. I too grew up in San Diego, and will be the first to admit that it has the very best climate in the entire nation. I miss it and would prefer to live there, but financially this place makes more sense. I own a nice home (nice for me at least) on a modest salary and my wife stays at home. In CA we both had to work, put kids in daycare, etc. I didn't ride then. I surfed several times per week. I'll never love cycling as much as surfing, but it's still fun (and saves me money).

JOBS: There are some jobs here. World Airways is headquartered here. We have Panasonic, That new tankless waterheater company (forget the name) that is doing exceptionally well, and of course there are a gazillion pilots, mostly working for Delta. I teach, so that's not an issue for me (employment), but it's fair to say that most executive-type jobs are in Atlanta 35 miles away. That's a long commute, and so far electric rail isn't here. But you can catch electric rail about fifteen miles north (which isn't too bad of a commute).

Finally, someone asked about the layout of the town to minimize intersections. We have several bridges and tunnels for the pathways. Most people call them cartpaths because the majority of people use golfcarts. We use ours everyday. But bikes, joggers and skateboarders are common. The small residential streets are not much of an issue. You just cross them or drive on them. The busy streets in town you have to cross, but the crossings are clearly marked and have stop signs for cars. The bigger roads (with two lanes in each direction) have tunnels or bridges. I crossed the main highway (Georgia State Highway 74) twice today while riding to my workplace and back. The first time I crossed over a bridge, and the second time crossed under the road through a tunnel (which always has super cold air in it....very refreshing.

But, like I also said: for you Armstrong types, you wouldn't necessarily like it. Rarely do I see roadbikes. The South is not very friendly to road bikes. The roads are not wide, but the trucks are. Cars don't respect them enough. Where I grew up in CA there was a lot more respect for and awareness of cyclists, although my dad recently got doored big time. He nailed it. He was fine, but was really shaken up. But my dad is a really nice guy and just walked away from it. He didn't even chew out the driver who opened the door.

Anyway, we have paths. Most are really smooth, and a few still need to be repaved (tree roots make bumps), so you really need the upright handlebars to have more control, and a little wider tire. The Trek FX, 7000 series, and all manner of cruisers and comfort bikes work well, but road bikes are not the norm. Too many opportunities to wipe out if you don't have quick reflexes.

I wasn't trying to say this town is better than yours. It's just great for us, and I love to share good things. I'm not the kind who believes in keeping good things a secret.

Platy

The cartpath idea is a fascinating concept. What's most interesting about it is that people there seem to be clamoring for more cartpaths and demanding that their subdivisions be connected in with the system.

An American Prototopia [pdf]

That paper says two key enabling factors are (1) legislation allowing golf carts to operate on streets, and (2) requiring utility easements to permit cartpaths to be built on them.

I don't know how well bikes and golf carts can share such paths in practice, but I do like the idea, especially if it results in such enthusiastic public support for a non-car road network.

razorbackrider

Try Reston, Va a suburb of DC lots of jobs plenty of paved trails. Main problem is cold winters. You can easily live and work in the same area and commute by bike!

Elkhound

Now, if there were a good bus or light rail service from PTC to the airport, that would be another matter.

Fairmont

That was actually on the ballot when I voted in the primary last week.

I think most people here aren't ready for that yet.

It's a very controversial issue. When gasoline was cheap (as low as 79 cents in the year 2000---can you believe that?!?!), most of the suburban areas that were heavily white didn't want rail from the city.

We have, in Atlanta, a situation called "white flight." You've probably heard of it.

When a typically white area has African Americans move into it, nobody really cares. But at some number it becomes a tipping point, and people flee. It's a shame, really, because there's no reason for it other than centuries-old racism.

Anyway, some of the affluent whites always shot down the idea of rail coming this far south of the city because they thought it was too urban.

Now that they're paying 4.00 or more to fill up their Chevy Suburbans they might think differently.

Can you imagine living in the South (where it's CHEAP), riding a few miles to the station, and then hopping a train to the city, getting off, and then riding a few blocks to work?

That would be SWEET.

Gustavo

I have seen pictures from Peachtree and it looks incredibly stupid to be riding around in golf carts! As a vehicle it is incredibly inefficient, slow and goofy looking. It's like the Mad magazine parody where they imagined all americans in the future riding around on scooters, only even more stupid. Use a bike, or walk for crying out loud! If it's within golf cart distance, it's within biking distance!

PS Only Americans use golf carts even on the golf course, go figure.

Lamplight

My employer bought a golf cart to travel between our two warehouses. They're about 150 feet apart.

Elkhound

I would amend this to say, "Unless you have a physical disability that makes biking impossible."

Gustavo

Exactly, so using a golf cart to go half a mile to the food store makes you look disabled. Why not introduce electric wheelchairs for the able bodied but incurably lazy? Oh wait, that's a golf cart cabriolet...

I guess I should be saying that at least it's better than using a car, but I somehow can't bring myself to say that...

gwd

But, last time I cycled out there the trails didn't go directly between destinations but seemed designed to be slow recreational amentities. I asked someone at the town center how to get to the Reston information center by bike and the woman said there wasn't a way to do it I had to drive. She was wrong of course I just rode on the streets. I tried the trails but they just went around the lakes and stuff. Have they changed in the past 5 years? At the information center they told us that living in Reston we'd have all the culture of Manhattan with all the peace of suburbia. What a load of crap. The original design didn't even include a built up area like the town center. Maybe they're trying to retro fit public transit and straighten the trails to make them more transportationally useful? Last time I was there I just went to meet some people at a hotel in the town center. The connection between the W&OD trail and the hotel was so poor that I took photos. Have they fixed it or is is still an unmarked crossing of a 4 lane high speed road? On Sunday morning the SUVs were moving so fast it was scary to make the crossing.

Elkhound

Another thing about Peachtree City---for much of the year it is too dang hot. I spent a summer in Athens, GA, and half the time I thought I was going to die. Too hot, too humid, and too many creepy-crawleys.

Fairmont

Golf carts inefficient?

That's 100% inaccurate. They are incredibly efficient, using pennies per day to charge. They go a safe twenty miles per hour, can hold four to six people, and are much safer than cars. In Peachtree City we have our own paths (as mentioned), and we can go out to dinner, go shopping, go to the doctor's office, etc.

I don't know about you, but when I go to the doctor I don't ride my bike. I don't ride my bike to pick up 100 dollars worth of groceries.

When my parents are in town and my wife and kids and I want to go out to a nice dinner we don't all hop on bikes to get there.

We use our golf carts.

Or should be bring an SUV instead?


Clearly some of you haven't been here and have no idea what you're talking about. Peachtree City is a model city for conservation, and friendliness.


How often do drivers in cars wave to each other and say good morning? That happens almost everytime you pass someone else in a golf cart.