Gwinnett vs. Douglas vs. Newton County Crime (Atlanta, Smyrna: rent, house)

[Genxor]

We are interested in hearing the local residents, or area opinions, on overall crime in these 3 counties, as we will be moving to 1 of the three in January 2012. Maybe.
Our realtor has all but insisted we should be in Gwinnett. But after expanding our home search and leaving no stone unturned, we added Douglas and Newton for home / price / proximity to retail or restaurants we frequent and nothing else.
Today we were advised that Douglas County is a much higher crime area, Newton lesser so , but that she would gladly show us homes in the two areas only after we had discounted the Gwinnett homes.
But after my brief crime search online ( through crime mapping and other sites ) in the last 7 days Gwinnett had 241 crimes, Douglas 60 crimes, and Newton 41 crimes.
Do the statistics of crimes vs. population steer our realtor , or is it maybe a personal filter - " Oh , you don't want to live there ." ??
She has us concerned about the entire Atlanta area.
Thanks !

[Georgia]

Big question? Are you retired or working in the Atlanta area? This could be a major factor in your decision. As far as the stats, Gwinnett a much larger county with 800,000 + people. A s far as crime, the higher levels of crime are in the south side closer to DeKalb county. Northern, northwest, and northeast Gwinnett is nice and for the most part quiet and a little more rural/surburb.

[SW30303]

Do you know the Atlanta area at all? - Just curious. I would rent first, and decide to buy later if crime is an issue for you. You have a lot of time to decide and there is a ton of inventory. You can also go to these places late at night or some odd time to see if you there are things that make you uncomfortable.

In terms of convenience and location, I would pick Gwinnett over the other 2 counties, but there are many other factors to look at besides crime.

[ericsonga]

Originally Posted by Genxor

We are interested in hearing the local residents, or area opinions, on overall crime in these 3 counties, as we will be moving to 1 of the three in January 2012. Maybe.
Our realtor has all but insisted we should be in Gwinnett. But after expanding our home search and leaving no stone unturned, we added Douglas and Newton for home / price / proximity to retail or restaurants we frequent and nothing else.
Today we were advised that Douglas County is a much higher crime area, Newton lesser so , but that she would gladly show us homes in the two areas only after we had discounted the Gwinnett homes.
But after my brief crime search online ( through crime mapping and other sites ) in the last 7 days Gwinnett had 241 crimes, Douglas 60 crimes, and Newton 41 crimes.
Do the statistics of crimes vs. population steer our realtor , or is it maybe a personal filter - " Oh , you don't want to live there ." ??
She has us concerned about the entire Atlanta area.
Thanks !

You do know that Gwinnett is almost 8 times the size of Douglas and Newton counties, correct? Gwinnett's population tops 800,000, while Douglas and Newton are at 130,000 and 100,000 respectively.

As far as convenience, anything on the north side of metro Atlanta is more convenient in terms of job and retail centers. Also, I would bet that the north side of Atlanta is maturing and aging better than the west and south. You really need to come down and check out the different areas before you put down a wad of cash.

[LivingForTheWeekend]

We moved to the city of Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County about 6 weeks ago and really love it here. We are in walking distance of the downtown which is really cute with some great restaurants. The shopping in this area is really amazing...Only 8 miles to the Mall of Georgia...5 miles to The Avenues in Snellville (which is also a nice town), and I haven't even had a chance to get to The Forum at Peachtree.

I was using the Crime Mapping website to check out the area where we bought a house. Nothing had happened in the neighborhood going back for about 8 months. Since we moved in....life is very quiet here. We found a very nice house in a nice neighborhood for a reasonable price. We are very happy!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by ericsonga

You do know that Gwinnett is almost 8 times the size of Douglas and Newton counties, correct? Gwinnett's population tops 800,000, while Douglas and Newton are at 130,000 and 100,000 respectively.

As far as convenience, anything on the north side of metro Atlanta is more convenient in terms of job and retail centers. Also, I would bet that the north side of Atlanta is maturing and aging better than the west and south. You really need to come down and check out the different areas before you put down a wad of cash.

A lot depends on what you call "west" ... for example, Vinings and Smyrna are west of the City of Atlanta, and they seem to be doing quite well. Douglas County is quite a bit further out, of course.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Genxor

We are interested in hearing the local residents, or area opinions, on overall crime in these 3 counties, as we will be moving to 1 of the three in January 2012. Maybe.
Our realtor has all but insisted we should be in Gwinnett. But after expanding our home search and leaving no stone unturned, we added Douglas and Newton for home / price / proximity to retail or restaurants we frequent and nothing else.
Today we were advised that Douglas County is a much higher crime area, Newton lesser so , but that she would gladly show us homes in the two areas only after we had discounted the Gwinnett homes.
But after my brief crime search online ( through crime mapping and other sites ) in the last 7 days Gwinnett had 241 crimes, Douglas 60 crimes, and Newton 41 crimes.
Do the statistics of crimes vs. population steer our realtor , or is it maybe a personal filter - " Oh , you don't want to live there ." ??
She has us concerned about the entire Atlanta area.
Thanks !

Interesting. Why not consider Cobb, which is one of the more desirable counties in the metro, and which surely has properties at your price point? Your county choices seem a bit odd to me, since they really don't have much in common. Do they?

[jazzcat22]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Interesting. Why not consider Cobb, which is one of the more desirable counties in the metro, and which surely has properties at your price point? Your county choices seem a bit odd to me, since they really don't have much in common. Do they?

What makes Cobb more desirable than Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, or Cherokee?

Welcome to Lawrenceville. LivingfortheWeekend! Wait until you see the great Friday night concerts they have in the summer---and the Fourth of July celebration!

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by jazzcat22

What makes Cobb more desirable than Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, or Cherokee?

I didn't say that it was better than those, but I would place it right in the mix with regard to stores, housing quality, schools, and other factors.

The OP mixing Douglas and Newton with Gwinnett seems strange to me. The counties you cite are more similar.

[JoeP]

County crime would be a useless statistic. Too broad of an area