Possibly moving to the Gwinett County area (Atlanta, Duluth: lease, home)

[Mr Horne]

my family and i currently live in NC and will be moving to GA before the end of the year to start a new job. I have done hours of research on where to move because i know nothing about GA and we have found multiple good reviews of cities in the Gwinett County area but honestly im just not sure if we will be able to afford living there because i know nothing about the cost of living. Im expected to earn at least 55,000 yearly and would like to know if we wouldnt be over our heads moving there

[brook2ga]

Need more info. Housing costs are pretty low, but everything is about the same as most other places. Gwinnett county is huge. Where are you working?

[Born 2 Roll]

Because (as brookdaleresident stated) Gwinnett County is very-large (with a population that is larger than the City of Charlotte, NC with almost 850,000 people in an area of over 430 square miles), there are an overwhelming amount of affordable housing options available in some areas with some very-good schools for someone in your income level.

Finding a nice home to rent, lease or own in a good area with good schools will not be a problem in Gwinnett County.

What could potentially be a problem for you is your rush-hour commute, which is why you should know where in Metro Atlanta you will be working before you commit to moving there so that you can attempt to minimize your rush hour commute as much as possible in a metro area where rush hour commutes can sometimes be notoriously-long.

Remember, when it comes to deciding where to live in Metro Atlanta, know where you will be working before you decide where to live.

[mhans123]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Because (as brookdaleresident stated) Gwinnett County is very-large (with a population that is larger than the City of Charlotte, NC with almost 850,000 people in an area of over 430 square miles), there are an overwhelming amount of affordable housing options available in some areas with some very-good schools for someone in your income level.

Finding a nice home to rent, lease or own in a good area with good schools will not be a problem in Gwinnett County.

What could potentially be a problem for you is your rush-hour commute, which is why you should know where in Metro Atlanta you will be working before you commit to moving there so that you can attempt to minimize your rush hour commute as much as possible in a metro area where rush hour commutes can sometimes be notoriously-long.

Remember, when it comes to deciding where to live in Metro Atlanta, know where you will be working before you decide where to live.

Agreed. Gwinnett county has plenty of a affordable options but I couldn't suggest a place without knowing the area you'll be working in. Trust me, you don't want a commute over 20 miles into Atlanta.

[Mr Horne]

Originally Posted by brookdaleresident

Need more info. Housing costs are pretty low, but everything is about the same as most other places. Gwinnett county is huge. Where are you working?

Ill be working for Georgia Power as a lineman assistant, traveling job so commuting is no issue

[jsvh]

My opinion: I would recommend renting before buying. You should try to know an area before making a big investment into owning a house.

[WmMeeker]

Gwinnett is a very large county. Some of it, like Suwanee is good (rule of thumb- the farther from Atlanta, the better) and some of it like Snellville and Norcross are going down really fast. Be careful about where you buy there.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by WmMeeker

Gwinnett is a very large county. Some of it, like Suwanee is good (rule of thumb- the farther from Atlanta, the better) and some of it like Snellville and Norcross are going down really fast. Be careful about where you buy there.

Not all of Snellville and Norcross "are going down really fast".

...In Snellville the problem areas are SOUTH of US Hwy 78/Main Street/Stone Mountain Highway in the feeder zones for South Gwinnett and Shiloh high schools.

NORTH of US Hwy 78, there are some pretty nice areas in the feeder zone for the highly-rated and highly-regarded Brookwood High School.

There is also a HUMONGOUS shopping area along GA Hwy 124 (Scenic Highway) that is amongst one of the largest shopping areas in the entire Atlanta region.

...In Norcross, the problem areas are mostly EAST of Buford Hwy in the 30093 zip code (in the ultra-transient feeder zone area for the struggling Meadowbrook High School) and in the eastern half of the 30071 zip code that is closest to I-85.

There are also some very-nice areas in Peachtree Corners (which is the area with a Norcross 30092 address closest to the Chattahoochee River NORTH of Spalding Drive in the feeder zone for the highly-rated, highly-regarded and ultra-diverse Norcross High School...most particularly in the feeder zones for Simpson Elementary School and Pinckneyville Middle School, which are two of the most highly-rated and highly-regarded elementary and middle schools in the entire state of Georgia).

Originally Posted by Mr Horne

Ill be working for Georgia Power as a lineman assistant, traveling job so commuting is no issue

...In that case, the best places to look in Gwinnett County are in the feeder zones for the aforementioned Brookwood and Norcross high schools, as well as in the feeder zones for Duluth, Peachtree Ridge, North Gwinnett, Lanier, Collins Hill, Mountain View, Mill Creek, Archer, Grayson, Parkview and Dacula high schools which are all areas with high-quality schools.

Inside of the award-winning caliber independent small city school district Buford City Schools is a good place to look also as that small independent school district has come to be known as one of the best small city school districts in the entire Southeastern U.S. and maybe even the country as a whole.

Inside the feeder zone for Flowery Branch High School just north across the county line in Southern Hall County is also a good place to look as it is an outer-suburban/semi-rural area with a very-nice stock of affordable housing in an area of high-quality schools.

Unfortunately, the feeder zones for Berkmar and Central Gwinnett high schools as well as for the aforementioned South Gwinnett, Shiloh and Meadowcreek high schools might be areas to avoid, not necessarily because of the quality of the education in the schools in those areas, which is still very-good, but because of the increasingly high and rising amount of lower-income transient students and families in those feeder zones.