Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The city is close to being “built out,” leaders say, and that has the town of 35,000 pushing plans to annex into Fayette County to keep growth from sputtering. It’s also helped spur conversations about constructing mixed-used developments that feature houses with smaller footprints like condos in a way that might not have happened in the past.
“We’re at the beginning stage of some of this,” Peachtree City Mayor Vanessa Fleisch said of the new plan to possibly redevelop parts of the city with mixed-use projects. “We’re being very intentional about the annexations. You do it for a reason, not just because you want to get big.”
PTC's full build out, combined with unincorporated Fayette County's ridiculously large minimum lot sizes and its lack of interstate highway conectivity, has been a boon for neighboring Coweta Couny.
The 2,600 home Summergrove community in Newnan, built by the original developers of PTC, came about because there was no room for it in PTC's limits.
Same goes for all of the car dealerships, warehouse clubs, movie theatres and department stores at Fischer Crossing and around the Exit 47 interchange (Bullsboro Drive) on I-85. All of that sales and property tax revenue that PTC would otherwise get (as these businesses were all intended to serve PTC residents) is instead going to Newnan and Coweta County.
Speaking of Fischer Crossing, that's also an option for PTC annexation. It was just reported yesterday that the new Costco there, intended to serve PTC, is set to open in August 2019. It was also reported that Kaiser Permenanteis going to open a large facility there, which means that could also become a healthcare cluster.
PTC's full build out, combined with unincorporated Fayette County's ridiculously large minimum lot sizes and its lack of interstate highway conectivity, has been a boon for neighboring Coweta Couny.
The 2,600 home Summergrove community in Newnan, built by the original developers of PTC, came about because there was no room for it in PTC's limits.
Same goes for all of the car dealerships, warehouse clubs, movie theatres and department stores at Fischer Crossing and around the Exit 47 interchange (Bullsboro Drive) on I-85. All of that sales and property tax revenue that PTC would otherwise get (as these businesses were all intended to serve PTC residents) is instead going to Newnan and Coweta County.
Speaking of Fischer Crossing, that's also an option for PTC annexation. It was just reported yesterday that the new Costco there, intended to serve PTC, is set to open in August 2019. It was also reported that Kaiser Permenanteis going to open a large facility there, which means that could also become a healthcare cluster.
The obvious question is why do they need to grow? They are what they are and annexation may change their character.
The obvious question is why do they need to grow? They are what they are and annexation may change their character.
South Atlanta communities as a whole are suffering from a demographic problem, as all of the young/educated residents in the region are primarily migrating to areas north of I-20 and the northern suburbs, in close proximity to all of the high-paying tech/finance jobs. These are residents that will be contributing to the tax rolls as the older baby boomer generation retires and businesses look for when deciding on where to expand/invest.
But this is especially a big problem in PTC. While PTC does offer a niche quality of life with its golf cart paths and great schools, it is in a awkward position where it doesn't really offer anything else of redeeming quality (walkable town square, affordable housing, jobs, etc.) to the aforementioned young/educated demographic for them to justify living in PTC that would sustain said quality of life in the long term.
The below article by former mayoral candidate, Dar Thompsom, goes into more detail...
The obvious question is why do they need to grow? They are what they are and annexation may change their character.
The short answer is they have a market to keep expanding their unique mostly upper-middle income brand and they don't want to lose that momentum. They have a vested interest in promoting neighboring areas to grow into their identity, brand, and wealth to better insulate what they already are in their current borders.
This is especially important since Fayette Co. won't perform certain services at the county level and a large part of their strategy is to create and amenity-rich city (ie. Golf Cart Paths, lakes, gold courses, and protection of tree buffers between developments).
So if they want to areas immediately around them to continue developing in the same fashion, they need to help build that infrastructure. Doing so will help the wealth in that area to grow overall.
In a large sense, I think it is character protection of what they already have, so adjacent areas keep developing accordingly. Otherwise, they loose the ability to control what is built right outside their borders and other cities my grow and dictate how parts of unincorporated Fayette grows, most notably Fayetteville annexing down 54 and Redwine towards Peacthree City.
Peachtree City will hopefully remain a move-up community. It's great to have Coweta next to Peachtree City. Young couples can afford to start a family in Coweta, but can move to Peachtree City when they become more affluent.
We lived in Coweta in our early 30's when we had young kids, but like several of our neighbors, decided to move to Peachtree City for better schools and amenities.
There are many Millenials moving to Peachtree City as they hit their 30's. They are moving here for the schools, golf cart paths, and high quality of life. Many of the original owners in our neighborhood are starting to downsize after their kids graduate. They are being replaced by Millenial or young Gen-X couples with young kids. We've had 5 houses on our street of 20 homes turnover in the past year with young couples.
I do think some redevelopment of the oldest commercial and residential areas will be good as long as they maintain the same standards. I don't think there is much support or need for multifamily housing.
I’ve been saying for years that the future of PTC will depend on redevelopment of existing parts of town that are really starting to show their age. There are a surprising number of residential streets in both Aberdeen and Glenloch villages that were built in the 1960s and 70s that are to be kind, quite dumpy. Despite its reputation for being a wealthy community of large houses on lakes and golf courses, PTC remains the only place in all of Fayette County that has HUD-subsidized housing. I think many people who drive down the main roads of PTC miss this fact because the older, cheaper neighborhoods are kinda off the beaten path.
And while there is some nostalgia at play in keeping some of the early cedar-siding and pitched roof commercial buildings that evoke ski lodges, some of those are also really showing their age and not desirable in a modern retail environment. That being said, I hate to see PTC’s redevelopment effort modeled on what’s going on in Alpharetta, etc. Those dense mixed-use projects are good fits for much of metro Atlanta (including nearby Fayetteville) but I think it would be a mistake to just duplicate that same concept in PTC. It’s always been an Uber-suburban city without a central town core, and trying to create one now would destroy much of what makes it unique and special.
PTC's full build out, combined with unincorporated Fayette County's ridiculously large minimum lot sizes and its lack of interstate highway conectivity, has been a boon for neighboring Coweta Couny.
The 2,600 home Summergrove community in Newnan, built by the original developers of PTC, came about because there was no room for it in PTC's limits.
Same goes for all of the car dealerships, warehouse clubs, movie theatres and department stores at Fischer Crossing and around the Exit 47 interchange (Bullsboro Drive) on I-85. All of that sales and property tax revenue that PTC would otherwise get (as these businesses were all intended to serve PTC residents) is instead going to Newnan and Coweta County.
Speaking of Fischer Crossing, that's also an option for PTC annexation. It was just reported yesterday that the new Costco there, intended to serve PTC, is set to open in August 2019. It was also reported that Kaiser Permenanteis going to open a large facility there, which means that could also become a healthcare cluster.
That is an excellent point that Peachtree City's full build-out, combined with unincorporated Fayette County's very large minimum lot sizes and lack of direct Interstate highway connectivity appears to have helped to contribute heavily to the robust growth of population and development in neighboring Coweta County.
That is also a really good point that the retail area at Fischer Crossing (at the junction of GA highways 34 and 54 and Fischer Road just west of the Peachtree City corporate limits in eastern Coweta County) is targeted heavily at serving Peachtree City residents.
Though, the large Summergrove community just east of the I-85/GA 34 (Exit 47) interchange in Newnan, as well as the many businesses (big-box stores, movie theatres, department stores, restaurants, etc) around the I-85/GA 34 (Exit 47) interchange in Newnan appear to have sprung up because of the direct access to the mainline Interstate system that the location at and around the I-85 Exit 47 interchange provided.
Newnan's status as the largest city in and seat of government for Coweta County (a city of Newnan with a 2016 population of more than 38,000 residents that is the largest city and seat of government for a Coweta County that had a 2017 population of more than 143,000 residents) that was located almost directly on a mainline Interstate superhighway appears to have been much more of a motivating factor for the robust growth of the area around the I-85/GA 34 interchange than just solely serving the residents of a Peachtree City jurisdiction that is located more than 9 miles to the east of the I-85/GA 34 interchange.
There is no doubt that (even with the ongoing concerns about possible demographic decline within the current jurisdiction) Peachtree City is a significant player on the Southside and within the greater Southern Crescent.
There also is no doubt that the commercial retail cluster at and around the I-85/GA 34 interchange pulls many customers from a Peachtree City jurisdiction that lies 9 miles to the east of the I-85/GA 34 interchange.
But while focusing in on an affluent municipality like Peachtree City and a generally affluent jurisdiction like Fayette County we should be careful not to overlook that a city like Newnan and a county like Coweta are very significant growth and development generators in their own rights if not just simply because of Newnan's and Coweta County's aforementioned direct location on/very near a mainline Interstate superhighway like I-85 about 35 miles and less than 35 minutes southwest of Five Points/Downtown Atlanta, and about 28 miles and 28 minutes southwest of the world's busiest airport on said mainline Interstate superhighway.
Newnan's and Coweta County's direct location on a mainline Interstate superhighway like I-85 only minutes away from both the central business district of one of the fastest-growing metro areas on the planet and only minutes away from the world's busiest airport means that the area at and around the I-85/GA 34 interchange most likely would have enjoyed robust growth in population and development even without the presence of a fairly popular planned community like Peachtree City 9 miles to the east of the area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by citidata18
South Atlanta communities as a whole are suffering from a demographic problem, as all of the young/educated residents in the region are primarily migrating to areas north of I-20 and the northern suburbs, in close proximity to all of the high-paying tech/finance jobs. These are residents that will be contributing to the tax rolls as the older baby boomer generation retires and businesses look for when deciding on where to expand/invest.
But this is especially a big problem in PTC. While PTC does offer a niche quality of life with its golf cart paths and great schools, it is in a awkward position where it doesn't really offer anything else of redeeming quality (walkable town square, affordable housing, jobs, etc.) to the aforementioned young/educated demographic for them to justify living in PTC that would sustain said quality of life in the long term.
The below article by former mayoral candidate, Dar Thompsom, goes into more detail...
That is also a really good point that many educated young residents in the Atlanta metro area/region are migrating to areas north of I-20 and to the suburbs of the Northern Crescent and 'Golden Crescent' to higher-paying jobs in fields like Tech and Finance.
But by no means are "all" educated young residents migrating to areas north of I-20. Greater Southern Crescent counties like Coweta, Henry, Fayette (outside of the Peachtree City corporate limits) and even Douglas, Rockdale and Newton counties seem to be enjoying fairly robust levels of growth in population and development from young families (including educated young professionals) moving into the area both to be near jobs as well as because of the lower real estate prices in the greater Southern Crescent as compared to many parts of the generally more affluent and higher-priced Northern Crescent.
While much of the Southern Crescent might not necessarily enjoy growth rates that are as high as the Northern Crescent, much of the Southern Crescent (including in Fayette County where Peachtree City is located) seems to be enjoying success as a lower-cost alternative to the higher-priced high-demand areas of the Northern Crescent.
Last edited by Born 2 Roll; 12-02-2018 at 10:03 AM..
I’ve been saying for years that the future of PTC will depend on redevelopment of existing parts of town that are really starting to show their age. There are a surprising number of residential streets in both Aberdeen and Glenloch villages that were built in the 1960s and 70s that are to be kind, quite dumpy. Despite its reputation for being a wealthy community of large houses on lakes and golf courses, PTC remains the only place in all of Fayette County that has HUD-subsidized housing. I think many people who drive down the main roads of PTC miss this fact because the older, cheaper neighborhoods are kinda off the beaten path.
And while there is some nostalgia at play in keeping some of the early cedar-siding and pitched roof commercial buildings that evoke ski lodges, some of those are also really showing their age and not desirable in a modern retail environment. That being said, I hate to see PTC’s redevelopment effort modeled on what’s going on in Alpharetta, etc. Those dense mixed-use projects are good fits for much of metro Atlanta (including nearby Fayetteville) but I think it would be a mistake to just duplicate that same concept in PTC. It’s always been an Uber-suburban city without a central town core, and trying to create one now would destroy much of what makes it unique and special.
The reality is cities must evolve in order to remain competitive and not become stagnant. PTC being a uber-suburban bedroom city worked for a time because that was what Americans desired as everyone was fleeing inner city communities for the outskirts of towns. With people now placing the importance of being near their jobs and in urban environments above all else, what has worked for them the past 20-40 years ago may not be enough to work going forward.
Alpharetta and even places like Newnan and Fayetteville realize this, which is why they're embracing the neo-urban developments (Pinewood Forrest, Village Square at Newnan Crossing, Avalon, Ashley Park, etc.) and are now increasingly seeing more growth/investment than PTC.
Last edited by citidata18; 12-02-2018 at 11:00 AM..
I recently had a conversation with someone who resides in McDonough. They were extremely frustrated because they're a college educated professional who works at a job in the NE suburbs of Atlanta every day and aren't all that happy with their place of employment and they damn sure aren't happy with their commute.
They were saying how the only employmemt opportunities they can find nearby are all related to warehouse/distribution, so they can't just job hop to another company in the same line of work for the same pay. And because they're so far south of the city, most of the corporate employers north of the city won't even consider them for their open positions.
I didn't know what to tell them, because really they are kind of screwed. The only other thing I could suggest was maybe looking to jobs in Macon, but that would be a long drive every day and a lot of wear/tear on their car. Plus, even Macon doesn't necessarily have much of a corporate presence.
I was also reading another forum where a future resident was considering McDonough for relocation (but would commute to Atlanta) and the feedback from folks who either lived there, worked there or were natives of the area was not pretty. To be fair, this forum in question is harsh on most areas OTP in general, but they at least have things that are positive to say about places like Buford, Kennesaw, Roswell, etc. Meanwhile, there was absolutely nothing but vitriol when it came to McDonough and Henry County in general.
They were slamming it for the soul crushing truck traffic from all of the warehouses, and the fact that places like Ruby Tuesday and O'Charley's were the only halfway decent restaurants nearby to take clients who were visiting. They was also another user who mentioned the value of the home they brough before the recession is still below levels from 10 years ago and values are actually declining in general. They also mentioned that a ton of flight from Clayton County is occurring, and the problems are being brought with them.
I would hate for the rest of the communities South of Atlanta to be in the same boat 20 years from now, aside from portions of Fayette County being a gigantic retirement community, because they were hostile to growth or failed to manage it right by learning from Henry and Clayton County's mistake. This is especially true if I were a homeowner or interested in purchasing a home and am concerned about long-term property values.
Even here in Newnan, I'm already hearing long-time natives complain about the city turning into Union City. While it is hyperbole, I kind of get their point. Places like Morrow, Union City, etc. also did a ton of overbuilding back in the 70s and 80s like what's happening in McDonough or Newnan now, and because they lacked the economic base to sustain all of the development, they're now contending with rising crime rates, aging infrastructure and a lot of vacant commercial/industrial real estate.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
