It makes a difference if you come through during the day or at night. I wouldn't go down there at night on a bet, but I regularly drive the Connector and I-20 during the day. I even get off the highway in the West End when I need to stop by the bank. Of course, I know exactly where to go and where not to go.
Coming down I-85, you are pretty much o.k. anywhere down to the Connector (where I-85 merges with I-75 for the trip through town). Once you pass 17th-14th St. exit on the Connector you should not get off or stop your car -- it's dicey in that area, some parts are o.k. but others (east of the Connector) are quite dangerous and you don't want to go there. Once you pass the Grady curve and head west on I-20, you are in a truly rotten part of town and you should drive straight ahead without stopping until you get past Six Flags Road. The jail is immediately on your right as you turn onto I-20, it is nothing but trash and thugs all the way out to Fulton County Airport. Parts of the West End are o.k. but they're islands in a sea of crud.
Going around the Perimeter won't help you because the whole west side below the river is thug territory. Back when MLK was shot, the rioters were heading for the river and the Atlanta police told the Cobb police they couldn't stop them. Certain military veterans of my acquaintance set up a defensive perimeter on the west end of the bridge. They tossed a couple of flares out in the travel lanes and nobody tried to cross . . . which was a good thing because there was some significant (elderly, but significant) firepower focused on the area.
Nice post, and OldPossum, I concur wholeheartedly with all that, except I think AnAmericanMother meant *west* of the Connector along the segment you are traveling is dicey. Really anything beyond GA Tech, Tech is OK (the bad elements from further West sometimes intrude).
And AnAmericanMother, we really need to have lunch some time, or meet at a FR get together. You seem to have some good stories of historical interest to political junkies. In that anecdote, I’m thinking a bunch of aging WWII vets w/ Garands and ‘03 Springfields. Not a group to trifle with.
Wow, I thank you for the exceptionally detailed info on the dos and donts of driving through Atlanta. I printed it out and put ir in my travel file for when I next go through there (this autumn).
What a shame Atlanta has transformed itself into. I can remember back in the early 60s when I was in college over in Alabama and Atlanta was a short drive away. We college kids could go into downtown Atlanta during the day and be dazzled by the homegrown beauties as they came out of their offices for lunch. It seemed that some of the most beautiful women in the world inhabited that city then.
Is it still the same or is it now Holder’s people? If the latter, well, I wouldn’t be interested.