<p>I'm going to transfer as a sophomore spring 2013, so I have the choice to bring a car with the addition of a parking permit fee. I'm just confused how someone would get/go anywhere outside of the university & have space to carry purchased items home if they're not driving a car. If not bringing a car is easier, then I would most certainly forget the car idea, as I'm not financially strong, but if I can't even get stuff at a local walmart because I'd have to take a bus... That sounds horrible. I don't want to feel stuck without a car :/ What is the norm? I've read their website, but it isn't helpful. An in depth explanation of how different transportation needs would be filled would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>I’m a senior in high school, but from growing up in and around Atlanta, I’m inclined to tell you to bring a car.</p>
<p>@Triny511 did you sign up for housing?</p>
<p>I haven’t yet, I wanted to know if i should sign up for housing where I need a place to park my car, if i need to bring a car that is. I was thinking Clifton Tower apartment if I need one. That’s why i was trying to figure out whether they’re necessary. How about you?</p>
<p>Now that I have time to elaborate… Atlanta isn’t like other cities – I guess you could compare it to New York in the whole “5 boroughs” idea, but in Atlanta, the “boroughs” are actually their own cities… If you fly over Atlanta, you’ll see that there are little clumps of skyscrapers in different areas. This is why when you see cities measured by population, Atlanta is usually nowhere near the top (because Downtown, Midtown, Uptown, and the surrounding areas are really the only areas included) with 500,000, but when metros are factored in, Atlanta’s usually near the top, with 5,000,000. A quick read of this page [Atlanta</a> metropolitan area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_metropolitan_area]Atlanta”>Atlanta metropolitan area - Wikipedia) would likely be helpful, if you aren’t too familiar with Atlanta and metro Atlanta. Anyway, MARTA (Atlanta’s public transit system) is awful, compared to that of other cities… It’s not like in DC where there’s a stop every once in a while… Once you get off of MARTA, you can’t walk wherever you want to go – you either have to take a cab (and there will be a few cabs at each station, you can be sure) or a MARTA bus. Marta buses stop fairly often, but you’d end up paying the fee to ride on MARTA (not that high) <em>and</em> the fee to ride on the MARTA bus. While the fees aren’t that high, I definitely wouldn’t want to be waiting on a bus in the middle of the night… Especially in somewhere seedy. =P They do have pretty much everything you’d ever need on campus, but if you want to go off campus (and you probably will, there are neat things to do scattered throughout Atlanta), then having your own car would beat MARTA and a MARTA bus pretty much any day… Whether or not paying for parking would end up being cheaper than MARTA/Emory’s bus system really depends on how often you go off campus. I don’t know, I have a friend who goes to Emory, and she says it’s a lifesaver that her boyfriend has a car.</p>