Northern Suburbs (Atlanta, Mableton, Lawrenceville: sale, crime, credit)

[UGAgrad]

I have researched this question but still have not had a satisfied answer. My family is preparing to move to the Atlanta area and all I know of it is random trips during my Athens years. We want to live in the northern suburbs but do not understand the differences between Cobb or Gwinnett counties. Both school systems seem to have their pros and cons, but what is making the Cobb prices so much more expensive? I checked out the 2007 home sale report in the AJC and 6 of the most expensive new home zip codes are in Cobb with Gwinnett having only one. The median price in Cobb is nearly 300k and rising, yet in Gwinnett it is hovering around 235k. What makes Cobb worth the extra money? I would like to get the most home for my dollar, but at the end of the day I would also like to live in an area where I know I am making a sound investment. Will I make a better investment in Cobb or Gwinnett in terms of home appreciation? If anyone could throw in their two cents that might know more about the area it would be greatly appreciative.

['thaDOME']

One thing about Cobb, some of the worst storms always seem to hit that area.

[jxu66]

The difference is East Cobb, which has some of best schools and most sought after areas in Atlanta metro. That area is compared more favorable with Johns Creek if you view GA400 as middle point. The most expensive area in Gwinnett is 30097 (which covers city of Duluth and Sugarloaf area) which just happened next to Johns Creek.

In general, the area within "V" are most sought after and has best schools in Atlanta area ("I-75" and "I-85" formed the "V") with some exceptions. In gwinnett, that area is called "West Gwinnett", which is pretty small area compared to much larger "East Gwinnnett" area. Forget about zipcode for a moment since it covers too large area. Along West Gwinnett area line, historic Norcross, West Norcross (or Peachtree Cornor), berkeley lake, Duluth/Sugarloaf area, Suwanee are very sought after area. However, lately, Hamiliton Mill and Tribble Mill park areas are increasingly popular within East Gwinnett area but those areas are relative new.

So to compare apple to apple, you need compare West Cobb (west of I-75) and East Gwinnett (east of I-85). So which area will appreciate more? I don't know. Also you could look at South Forsyth area. That's area within the "V" but it is north of North Fulton area so it is going to be long commute.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by UGAgrad

I have researched this question but still have not had a satisfied answer. My family is preparing to move to the Atlanta area and all I know of it is random trips during my Athens years. We want to live in the northern suburbs but do not understand the differences between Cobb or Gwinnett counties. Both school systems seem to have their pros and cons, but what is making the Cobb prices so much more expensive? I checked out the 2007 home sale report in the AJC and 6 of the most expensive new home zip codes are in Cobb with Gwinnett having only one. The median price in Cobb is nearly 300k and rising, yet in Gwinnett it is hovering around 235k. What makes Cobb worth the extra money? I would like to get the most home for my dollar, but at the end of the day I would also like to live in an area where I know I am making a sound investment. Will I make a better investment in Cobb or Gwinnett in terms of home appreciation? If anyone could throw in their two cents that might know more about the area it would be greatly appreciative.

Both Cobb and Gwinnett counties are large geographic areas, each containing a number of different regions (probably dozens of different areas in each county), and I suspect that it's some characteristic of those specific regions (cities, subdivisions, etc.) inside each county that is impacting local home values, not the county itself.

Its hard to answer such a general question. Some areas of Cobb are not very nice for various reasons, for example, while other areas are extremely nice for a number of reasons. I'm sure the same is true for Gwinnett county.

What exactly are you looking for in a community? What types of services or people do you wish to be close to (or avoid)? Where will you be working?

[OhioNative]

Suwanee, in northwest Gwinnett, was just voted by Money Magazine to be the #10 Best Place to Live in the US. Sounds like a good investment.

[nrgpill]

Suwanee is a good short term investment (family member recently sold his house there in less than a week) but I would not feel comfortable sitting on it long term. There aren't enough positive variables minus overall newness and above average schools to convince me otherwise. For long term, I suggest more established neighborhoods with strict zoning and active resident participation. Duluth and Suwanee are sometimes negatively affected by the county leaders giving into development of the worst kind (mega strip malls anchored by Wal-Marts of the world).

[jxu66]

"Duluth and Suwanee are sometimes negatively affected by the county leaders giving into development of the worst kind (mega strip malls anchored by Wal-Marts of the world)."

City of Duluth and City of Suwanee are governed by city governments, not county commissioners. City of Duluth and City of Suwanee have their own polices and their own mayors. Their destinations are based on their own city zone boards. The cities themselvies have much tighter zoning rules than county zoning rules.

Also historic Norcross or city of Berkeley Lake didn't exact suffer even though Gwinnett village area (Unincorporate portion of Norcross) is not the most desirable place.

[nrgpill]

Lets give both Duluth and Suwanee benefit of the doubt and suppose the leaders do a good job of housekeeping. That still does not negate the fact that those areas are still littered with mega strip malls waiting to die of slow death in exchange for another shinier strip mall down the road. The point I am making is that a decent school cluster alone is not a strong enough of a variable to bank on Suwanee's long term future. If Duluth and Suwanee can do well while the schools are declining, maybe there are other variables people are attracted to. Using history as an indicator, the county as a whole has not proven that its leadership can prevent people from fleeing to seemingly greener pastures.

On the other hand, the historic Norcross has proven that they can do well without a top-notch school cluster. I work in that area and I can see that the residents there are feverish to the point of being a bit annoying.

Originally Posted by jxu66

City of Duluth and City of Suwanee are governed by city governments, not county commissioners. City of Duluth and City of Suwanee have their own polices and their own mayors. Their destinations are based on their own city zone boards. The cities themselvies have much tighter zoning rules than county zoning rules.

Also historic Norcross or city of Berkeley Lake didn't exact suffer even though Gwinnett village area (Unincorporate portion of Norcross) is not the most desirable place.

[GF72]

Like the others said, you shouldn't just compare county by county.

Cobb home prices are higher because Cobb County includes two of the priciest locations in the metro area - Vinings and East Cobb.

Gwinnett is bigger than Cobb and on top of that the only place in Gwinnett that rivals Vinings and East Cobb in terms of home prices is Sugarloaf Country Club in Duluth and a few other areas in West Gwinnett... not nearly enough to bring up Gwinnett's average that high (East Cobb is very large). The western half of Duluth (aka Johns Creek, Fulton County) is basically the northeast version of East Cobb and if it was included Gwinnett and Cobb might even out, however that's all Fulton County.

Either way, both Cobb and Gwinnett have everything from poor to middle class to rich areas, the best thing to do is focus on specific suburbs within those counties (cobb also contains a commercial edge city, Cumberland). Don't bother with zip codes either, they are drawn in such a way that they usually also span multiple areas.

[sj73]

One of the things I find totally false about Cobb is it's claim that it's better than Gwinnett. The "Vinings" area where prices are marked up so high it's ridiculous is really a false front to me. First, the areas that are getting the credit for being Vinings are not really Vinings. They are Mableton. Second, this area of Mableton was once considered Bankhead and was ridden with crime before John Weiland stepped in and started naming his subdivisions in MABLETON, "Vinings Estates," etc.

Third, this area of Mableton is now on a highway that was once Bankhead Highway, but has been RENAMED Hollowell Highway to make people think they are no longer in Bankhead, but in another area. This renaming is only fooling those from out of state. Everyone here in Atlanta know that this area is only being priced based on the renaming of the highway and false representation of an area.

Gwinnett has some great areas that are not in the Duluth/Sugarloaf area. Consider the newly revitalized downtown Lawrenceville area. They have a new mayor that is cleaning up that city and making it an attraction for fine dining and entertainment. A new theatre that was once in West Gwinnett, left that area for downtown Lawrenceville. There is also great communities in Grayson and Loganville, but those areas are too far out compared to downtown Lawrenceville. Every Gwinnett highway intersects at the center or Lawrenceville (20, 120, 124, 29, 316 and 85). I think this area is a great investment.