Moving to Lawrenceville,Ga from Cali, Bay Area what to expect? (Atlanta: sale, real estate)

[anitalonip]

I'm a native of San Francisco California. I'll be in Georgia next week. Lawrenceville, GA is the area we are considering calling home. I have traveled to Atlanta many times and have contemplated moving for a long time. I'm excited as well scared of such a move with two small children 5 & 3. Base and my limited research, it is my understanding that schools are great in Gwinnett and the overall community is growing and has many of the cultural dynamics I would find in San Francisco. (Happen, some of the best shopping & Food, friendly, health and green conscious, lot of tourist & beautiful HOMES and VIEWS) Is there anything anyone who lives in Lawrenceville or knows the area pretty well can tell me that I would not have been able to ascertain from my internet searches ???
I plan to make Georgia my HOME

Thank You so much!!

[benze]

I was briefly looking at other Lawrenceville posts and some parts of Lawrenceville was not recommended. Not sure which one on top of my head now. check out those areas before you move in.

[Georgia]

What area of Lawrenceville are you looking into?
Lawrenceville covers a large geographic area of Gwinnett.
Home price?

There are many misconceptions about folks coming from high cost areas like SF, NYC, Chicago, Jersey, etc., thinking discounts on homes. Keep in mind, things will be much less than the SF area, then again so is the rest of America, but here in Georgia you will definately get what you pay for so research carefully.

[irvm]

Originally Posted by Georgia

What area of Lawrenceville are you looking into?
Lawrenceville covers a large geographic area of Gwinnett.
Home price?

There are many misconceptions about folks coming from high cost areas like SF, NYC, Chicago, Jersey, etc., thinking discounts on homes. Keep in mind, things will be much less than the SF area, then again so is the rest of America, but here in Georgia you will definately get what you pay for so research carefully.

This is a good point. You can find houses just as nice and quite a bit larger for one half to one fourth the price of something similar in the bay area. But the really cheap houses (in my area that means anything under $160-180k) may have problems. Either poorly built, run down, or in a bad neighborhood. Or it may just be an older home requiring some upkeep. Maybe even a trailer. Like always, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Hire an inspector.

[Billdemartini]

Anyone who doesn't hire an inspector during their due diligence period in a pending real estate sale could be asking for trouble.

But your Realtor should explain all of these things to you. Things like Inspections, Surveys, Termite Letters, Flood Zones, Appraisals, etc. is Real Estate 101.

As far as Lawrenceville, I think it's a great town. We have lived in this area for the past 9 years and have seen it grow and grow and grow. Technically we live in Buford but we are on the Lawrenceville side of I-85 near the Mall of Georgia.

When we moved in there was no mall, hardly any restaurants or shopping etc. Now there is everything you can possibly think of for shopping, dining, etc. There is a HUGE IMAX theater at the mall too.

My whole family is from San Francisco and Sacramento. GO NINERS!!!

I think you will find the housing much more affordable in Georgia, especially in Gwinnett.

Let us know if you have any specific questions.

[OhioNative]

I don't think that you will find Lawrenceville very "health and green conscious." Most of Gwinnett is Republican country.

[sj73]

I think Lawrenceville is a great area to consider. Some great areas are the Collins Hill/120 area, Sugarloaf/Discover Mills and the areas near the historic downtown Lawrenceville area (make sure you stop and walk the new revitalized historic Lawrenceville area...there is fine dining, theatre and shops that you will be impressed by). Big changes are happening there.

I'm also seeing some great communities going up at the edge of Lawrenceville near Dacula and Grayson.

Welcome to Georgia and good luck with your search!

[mochamomnva]

Does anyone have any thoughts of Peachtree City vs. Lawrenceville? We are relocating to Atlanta from the DC metro area. The home price that we are looking at is anywhere between 350K-450K. We were looking at newer subdivisions near Treble Run Park (sp?) or either Peachtree City. The area MUST have diversity, and excellent schools. I heard there was quite a bit of gang activity in the Lawrenceville area. This forum helps a lot, but there is so much conflicting info. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[OhioNative]

Lawrenceville is a large area, and includes areas that are not actually in the city limits, but have a L'ville address. I think that the area around Tribble Mill is supposed to be nice, but I haven't been over that way in a while. The thing to know about metro Atlanta is that there are pocket of bad areas spread all through the metro area, interspersed with nicer areas, so that when you hear things like L'ville having gang activity, you need to ask about the specific area, as there are both good and bad areas in Lawrenceville. One way to research an area is to look at the demographics and % receiving free lunch in the area that you are wanting to move to - it tells you alot about the socio-economic status of the area.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by anitalonip

I'm a native of San Francisco California. Lawrenceville, GA is the area we are considering calling home. Base and my limited research, it is my understanding that schools are great in Gwinnett and the overall community is growing and has many of the cultural dynamics I would find in San Francisco. (Happen, some of the best shopping & Food, friendly, health and green conscious, lot of tourist & beautiful HOMES and VIEWS)

Um.. you're talking about Atlanta, GEORGIA, right?

Ok, Gwinnett is the most culturally diverse area of metro Atlanta overall, and if you don't mind mostly national chain restaurants and shopping stores, then there are a lot of choices (Discover Mills Mall, Gwinnett Place Mall, and the Mall of Georgia, etc). Crime is growing in SOME areas of Gwinnett (including the Lawrenceville area) but your best bet is to really talk to a real estate agent (or two) and a relocation service and ask them to be brutally blunt about the areas you want to avoid.

Friendly - it's relative. People from all over the world are moving to that area, so you're likely to have a down-home friendly BBQ family on one side and a snotty person on the other. It's varied. "Green"? No. Gwinnett is one of the worst traffic areas in metro Atlanta. They will not allow Atlanta's rail system (MARTA) to expand into their county, and they have an extremely limited bus system of their own, so, in terms of "green" - they do have a lot of TREES, but if you mean "eco-green", it's not exactly a poster child for it.

If you don't mind my asking - why leave San Fran for Atlanta of all other choices in the U.S.?