High gas prices? Too much traffic? One solution would be to start
scootin' around Atlanta. I highly recommend it. Parking is a breeze,
you can carefully zip around traffic, and you can fill up your gas tank
for around $4.00 - 8.00 depending on the size scooter and gas tank you have (64 - 80 miles per gallon baby!). My husband
and I have two - a 200cc Vespa, and a 125cc Vino. We do have a car,
but we try to avoid driving it as much as possible. Granted, our
lifestyle is well suited for owning scooters and using them as our main
mode of transportation -- we live in Midtown, I work in Downtown, my
husband is self-employed and can scoot to most of his clients, and we
spend all of our weekend ITP (inside the Perimeter).
I see more and more scooters popping up in all of Atlanta's neighborhoods, and scooter stores closely behind. We bought our Vespa at Moto Bravo, now called the Scooter Superstore 741 Monroe Drive NE. There's also ATL Scooters on Ponce De Leon Ave, Twist-n-Scoot on Piedmont Rd, and Scooter-Steve in Decatur.
Atlanta is a great city to scoot in. Staying on the main roads like
Peachtree Street and Ponce De Leon Ave, taking back roads through neighborhoods, and if you
are attentive and always cautious as you should be when riding a
scooter, you can safely zip around. Each neighborhood pretty much has
a grocery store, restaurants, bars, shopping, live entertainment, so
you don't have to travel far to get where you're going. And did I
mention the parking? With a car, I stay far from Virginia Highland and
Little Five Points because I find parking a nightmare there...but with
a scooter it's a different story altogether! Also, with moderate to high temperatures for 7-8 months out of the year, the ride is very comfortable. **A side note for us ladies....With all the positive aspects of owning and riding a scooter, I quickly got over the possibility of messing up my hair with the helmet. For work days, I have a spare brush, hair dryer, and bottle of hair spray in my desk in case of emergencies....yet I rarely ever need it.
There are many sunny weekends in our future this Spring and Summer, so
stop by your local scooter store and take a test drive. I know you'll
be hooked instantly!
Safe and happy scooting!!
Click on image to see our Vespa and Vino, as well as other scooters we saw around Atlanta while scootin' this weekend.