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And then also Downtown Marietta is a notable factor, which rivals Downtown Decatur as a hip, urban place and popular attraction/destination. It may not quite be Decatur, but it's at least bigger and better than any of the other historic downtowns in the entire metro.
Heck, I prefer visiting there over Downtown Atlanta, which I'm about equidistant to either.
While they obviously may not quite be anything like Downtown Marietta or Downtown Decatur, Gwinnett also has some nice quaint downtown village areas in Norcross, Duluth, Suwanee, Buford and Lawrenceville.
Without having read any of the previous posts, I will say that anyone who is moving to the Atlanta area should live as close to their job as their budget can allow. I'm assuming that previous posters have said the same.
We live in East Cobb. I work Downtown, and my husband works at Lockheed-Martin in Marietta. It would not have made sense for us to live in Gwinnett, Alpharetta, or PTC. Now we could have lived in North Atlanta or Sandy Springs. If we had, I could have theoretically taken MARTA into work every day, and my husband would have had a fairly short commute.
If you work in Gwinnett County or somewhere near the spaghetti junction, your best bet is to live in Gwinnett County. If you work by the airport or will be using it frequently, then PTC is probably best.
While they obviously may not quite be anything like Downtown Marietta or Downtown Decatur, Gwinnett also has some nice quaint downtown village areas in Norcross, Duluth, Suwanee, Buford and Lawrenceville.
Yeah, especially Lawrenceville's. But again it's just not as big of a deal as Marietta. Lawrenceville has big plans though, they want a bigger and better lively downtown beyond just the immediate square.
Suwanee's town center is newly built, and suburban cookie cutter, kinda. Don't get me wrong, it's really nice, it just doesn't feel authentic historic. It's not as bad as Smyrna's 'Market Village' atrocity (the worst, fakest downtown of the metro, sadly), but it just has a vibe like you're at Mall of GA or something.
People newer to Gwinnett maybe aren't aware of this, but Suwanee had an actual real historic downtown, further south at Main St and Scales Rd area:
But then in the early 2000's I guess they decided to basically abandon that spot and move everything up to an all-new downtown development at the corner of Buford Hwy and Suwanee Dam/Lville Suwanne Rd.
Downtown Duluth is the one to watch- they have some cool developments going on, they are trying for it.
Without having read any of the previous posts, I will say that anyone who is moving to the Atlanta area should live as close to their job as their budget can allow. I'm assuming that previous posters have said the same.
We live in East Cobb. I work Downtown, and my husband works at Lockheed-Martin in Marietta. It would not have made sense for us to live in Gwinnett, Alpharetta, or PTC. Now we could have lived in North Atlanta or Sandy Springs. If we had, I could have theoretically taken MARTA into work every day, and my husband would have had a fairly short commute.
If you work in Gwinnett County or somewhere near the spaghetti junction, your best bet is to live in Gwinnett County. If you work by the airport or will be using it frequently, then PTC is probably best.
LOL! This wasn't a relocation thread this time.
This was just a thread where the OP posed a simple question to ask respondents to choose which metro Atlanta powerhouse OTP suburban county they thought was better, Cobb or Gwinnett?...
Quote:
Originally Posted by nickm4226
Which northern Atlanta suburb do you prefer IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE and why? Cobb vs. Gwinnett the ultimate northern Atlanta showdown!
Yeah, especially Lawrenceville's. But again it's just not as big of a deal as Marietta. Lawrenceville has big plans though, they want a bigger and better lively downtown beyond just the immediate square.
Yeah, I really like what Lawrenceville wants to do with their downtown and Intown area long-term.
They don't just want to improve their downtown area, they want to turn much of the existing historic part of their city into a college town of sorts that will compliment a Georgia Gwinnett College that they think and hope might experience much future growth and eventually expand its geographical footprint to jump south across Georgia 316 towards Downtown Lawrenceville.
It's very ambitious, but I really like their long-term vision of wanting to be a college town of sorts that attracts larger numbers of younger adults.
Quote:
Originally Posted by primaltech
Suwanee's town center is newly built, and suburban cookie cutter, kinda. Don't get me wrong, it's really nice, it just doesn't feel authentic historic. It's not as bad as Smyrna's 'Market Village' atrocity (the worst, fakest downtown of the metro, sadly), but it just has a vibe like you're at Mall of GA or something.
People newer to Gwinnett maybe aren't aware of this, but Suwanee had an actual real historic downtown, further south at Main St and Scales Rd area:
But then in the early 2000's I guess they decided to basically abandon that spot and move everything up to an all-new downtown development at the corner of Buford Hwy and Suwanee Dam/Lville Suwanne Rd.
Downtown Duluth is the one to watch- they have some cool developments going on, they are trying for it.
Yeah, I wish that they could have worked with the existing historic downtown village area of Suwanee, but I can see how the less-inconvenient location of that historic downtown village area might have made it more difficult for them to attempt to work with.
But even with the valid criticism that the newer Suwanee Town Center area comes off as "suburban cookie-cutter" to some observers, it is still a nice community gathering place and focal point for a community like Suwanee to have.
It does not have the character of Suwanee's existing historic railroad-side downtown village area, but the Suwanee Town Center Park development does give Suwanee (a community with a large population of affluent residents) a destination that appeals to people on a regional scale. The location of the mixed-use development at/near the corner of Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road and Buford Highway also provides for convenient access from other parts of the county and metro area.
It's not perfect, but its not all bad, either, and seems to be much more of an asset than a liability to the Suwanee community.
Suwanee has the best looking city hall in the metro, I'll say that. It's beautiful with that glass front, and the fountain in front.
I just wish all the historic (and not so historic) downtowns of the metro were about 5x larger. Because they are really the gems of our sprawled out metro area.
Except Downtown Atlanta, I just wish that one was 5x better. And they'll get there.
I will compare Cobb and Gwinnett counties in the following areas:
Location
Topography/Setting
Amenities
Jobs/Economy
Schools
Diversity
Crime/Safety
Roads/Transportation
Parks/Recreation
Housing/Land Use
Affordability/Cost
Government/Taxation
Let's begin...
Location
Overall, Cobb is closer to Atlanta than Gwinnett is. Marietta, a central location in Cobb, is 15 miles away from Atlanta. This is comparable to Gwinnett's closest-in locale, Norcross. Meanwhile, Lawrenceville, a central location in Gwinnett, is 25 miles away from Atlanta. This is comparable to Cobb's farthest-out locale, Acworth. Cobb is almost entirely "suburban" with some "urban" areas near 285 (Cumberland/Vinings). Gwinnett is mostly "suburban", with a lot of "exurban" areas at its fringes (Dacula, Buford/Hamilton Mill). This means that Cobb is simply...closer...to amenities, jobs, etc. overall. One can reach Downtown/Midtown/Buckhead in 15 minutes from parts of Cobb without traffic. This is simply impossible from Gwinnett. Besides, Cobb is much closer to the Airport
Cobb wins this round
(Cobb 1, Gwinnett 0)
Topography/Setting
Cobb and Gwinnett are both situated among gently rolling, forested hills near the Chattahoochee River in Georgia's piedmont region. Both have a large lakes partially within their borders (Allatoona in Cobb and Lanier in Gwinnett). However, Cobb has several "mountains" within its boundaries, such as Kennesaw Mountain (the only real mountain), Sweat Mountain, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain, and Mount Wilkinson. Gwinnett has no mountains. This makes Cobb county slightly more interesting to me.
Cobb wins this round
(Cobb 2, Gwinnett 0)
Amenities
Cobb and Gwinnett are both littered with suburban-style stripmalls and shopping centers full of big-box stores. Cobb has two declining malls (Cumberland and Town Center). Gwinnett has a dead mall (Gwinnett Place), a declining mall (Sugarloaf Mills) and a thriving mall (Mall of Georgia). Cobb has two "outdoor malls" (The Avenue and The Battery), and Gwinnett has one "outdoor mall" (The Forum) with another in the works (Revel). For large events such as concerts, Cobb has the Galleria, and Gwinnett has Infinite Energy Arena. For pro sports, Cobb has the edge, as they have the Atlanta Braves (Major League Baseball), Atlanta United 2 (USL Soccer), and Atlanta Blaze (Outdoor Lacrosse). Meanwhile, Gwinnett has the Gwinnett Stipers (Minor League Baseball) and the Georgia Swarm (Indoor Lacrosse). Cobb has more museums, while Gwinnett has more religious amenities, such as the BAPS Hindu temple in Lilburn, the largest outside India. Each has a general-use airport (Cobb County Airport in Kennesaw, Gwinnett County Airport in Lawrenceville). Each county has an abundance of amenities catered to various ethnic groups, Gwinnett slightly more so. Nightlife is not great in either county. Overall, narrow victory for Cobb.
Cobb wins this round
(Cobb 3, Gwinnett 0)
Jobs/Economy
Cobb and Gwinnett both have healthy, growing economies with an abundance of good-paying jobs. Cobb has major centers of employment at Cumberland, the Dobbins AFB area, and Kennesaw at the junction of 75 and 575. Gwinnett has major centers of employment at Peachtree Corners/Technology Park, along 85 in Norcross, in Duluth at the junction of 85 and 316, and in Suwanee along 85. Both counties enjoy fairly low rates of unemployment and poverty, and each county has a higher-than-average median household income. Cobb has a noticeably larger share of upper-income residents when compared to Gwinnett. I attribute this to Cobb's closer location to North Fulton/Perimeter/City of Atlanta centers of employment. For Fortune 500 companies, Cobb has Home Depot and HD Supply Holdings. Gwinnett has AGCO and NCR (NCR recently moved their HQ from Duluth to Midtown, but they still maintain a large office presence in Duluth). Tie
Cobb and Gwinnett tie
(Cobb 4, Gwinnett 1)
Schools
Cobb and Gwinnett public schools are both high-quality systems overall, some of the best in the southeast and the nation, in fact. Each has several top-tier school clusters, Cobb with slightly more (Walton, Pope, Lassiter, Kennesaw Mountain, Harrison, Wheeler Magnet in Cobb. GSMST, North Gwinnett, Brookwood in Gwinnett). Although Cobb has more top schools in upper-middle class areas, Gwinnett excels in providing quality educational outcomes for at-risk and historically underperfoming student demographics. This is especially evident in the Norcross, Parkview, Duluth, Peachtree Ridge, Grayson, Archer, Dacula, Mountain View, Lanier, and Collins Hill clusters. These clusters are located in middle-class areas or areas with income diversity (high and low income students). Cobb has a few clusters like this as well, such as the Campbell and Sprayberry clusters. The worst school clusters in each county are "okay", but not awful. Each county has several private schools to choose from. Each county has a large four-year university (Kennesaw State in Cobb, Georgia Gwinnett in Gwinnett), as well as technical colleges (Chattahoochee Tech in Cobb, Gwinnett Tech in Gwinnett). Another tie.
Cobb and Gwinnett tie
(Cobb 5, Gwinnett 2)
Diversity
Cobb and Gwinnett are both diverse. However, Gwinnett is very diverse. It is the most diverse county in the southeast, and the 5th most diverse county in the nation, according to niche.com. According to latest estimates from the American Community Survey, Cobb is 53.1% White (Non-Hispanic), 26.3% Black, 12.8% Hispanic, and 5.1% Asian. Gwinnett is 39.3% White (Non-Hispanic), 25.9% Black, 20.7% Hispanic, and 11.2% Asian. Cobb is more homogeneous than Gwinnett: Whites are clustered in East and West Cobb, Hispanics are clustered in South-Central Cobb, and Blacks are clustered in South Cobb, with exceptions. In Gwinnett, whites are clustered in along the Chattahoochee River (Peachtree Corners, Berkeley Lake, Suwanee) as well as in the Parkview-Brookwood-Grayson corridor north of 78, as well as the Hamilton Mill area and Buford, but whites can be found throughout Gwinnett. Blacks are spread out throughout most of Gwinnett, but are most heavily concentrated south of 78. Hispanics are clustered north of 29 between Norcross and Lawrenceville, but are also found throughout the rest of Gwinnett. Asians are concentrated around Duluth, but are fairly spread out as well. In short, Gwinnett is more integrated, and less segregated, than Cobb. Gwinnett is also more income-diverse than Cobb. In Gwinnett, one can find upper-middle class, middle class, and lower middle-class within a few miles of each other throughout the county, with some exception. In Cobb, the upper-middle class, middle-class, and lower-middle class are largely separate from one another, with some exceptions. Gwinnett wins this round.
Gwinnett wins this round
(Cobb 5, Gwinnett 3)
Crime/Safety
Both Cobb and Gwinnett have slightly higher than average crime rates when compared to the nation as a whole. On a scale of 1 (low crime) to 100 (high crime), Cobb's violent crime index is 40.5, and its property crime index is 41.5. This compares to Gwinnett's violent crime index of 42.5, and its property crime index of 41.1. Each county has plenty of "safe" areas, and each county also has "seedy" or "shady" areas. There are no "completely avoid" areas in either county like one may find in parts of the City of Atlanta. There is a fair amount of gang activity in each county. Tie
Cobb and Gwinnett tie
(Cobb 6, Gwinnett 4)
Roads/Transportation
Cobb and Gwinnett both have awful rush-hour traffic, as well as awful traffic during the day in certain places. Cobb has 75, 285, and 575. Gwinnett has 85, 316, 985, and PIB. Neither county has MARTA or commuter rail, but both counties have inefficient, underfunded bus services, as well as regional Xpress buses. Both counties are 10 years behind infrastructure demand. This is compared to places in Texas or Florida, which are often 10 years ahead. The uncontrolled sprawl in both counties has led to an inefficient road network. Cobb just completed the "Northwest Corridor" toll lanes along 75 and 575. Gwinnett just extended their toll lanes to Hamilton Mill road. Tie, but neither county gets a point this round! If Gwinnett votes to join MARTA this March and actually builds a station along Jimmy Carter to extend the Gold line, they will win this round in the future.
Cobb and Gwinnett tie, no points awarded
(Cobb 6, Gwinnett 4)
Parks/Recreation
Cobb has a fair amount of decent parks scattered throughout the county. Gwinnett has a lot of large, high quality parks throughout the county. In my opinion, Gwinnett county has the best parks system in the southeast, and it is not a close competiton. Gwinnett has several truly massive parks that one can quite literally get lost in, such as Tribble Mill Park, Harbins Park, Little Mulberry Park, and Settles Bridge Park. The only parks in Cobb that compare to these are areas of the Chattahoochee NRA (Cochran Shoals and Gold Branch), as well as Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. None of these are county-run like the aforementioned parks in Gwinnett. Gwinnett also has access to the Chattahoochee NRA, like Cobb. While both counties have bike paths, Gwinnett's system is more extensive, and there are plans to extend it more. Cities in Gwinnett county are known for their festivals, such as Duluth's Fall Festival at the Town Green and the several that occur at Suwanee's Town Center. Each county has a large lake for boating and fishing (Lake Allatoona in Cobb, Lake Lanier in Gwinnett). Gwinnett county has superior youth and high-school level sports programs, although both counties are very good in this area. Gwinnett is well-known for its high school football, and it is the 4th most recruited county in the nation for college football programs. Cobb is known for its exceptional baseball programs, but not as much as Gwinnett's football programs. Gwinnett takes this one.
Gwinnett wins this round
(Cobb 6, Gwinnett 5)
Housing/Land Use
Both Cobb and Gwinnett are full of suburban sprawl. Both counties have a fairly diverse housing stock. Both counties have a few walkable town centers, with Cobb's downtown Marietta being the best known and highest quality. Cobb also has the "downtowns" of Smyrna and Acworth. Gwinnett has the "downtowns" of Norcross, Duluth, Suwanee, Buford, and Lawrenceville. Both counties have clusters of old, rundown apartments as well as clusters of million-dollar+ single-family homes. Both counties are equally good and bad in this category. Tie
Cobb and Gwinnett tie
(Cobb 7, Gwinnett 6)
Affordablity/Cost
In both counties, it is possible, but increasingly difficult, to live a middle-class lifestyle in a good school cluster with an affordable home. This is the case almost everywhere in Metro Atlanta, as well as the United States overall. The median home value in Gwinnett is $227,200 compared to Cobb's $254,200. I attribute this, once again, to Cobb's superior location. However, Gwinnett's median household income is $64,496, compared to $72,004 in Cobb. This means that the median home value to median household income ratio in Gwinnett is 3.52, compared to 3.53 in Cobb. As a result, the income to cost of living ratio is nearly the same. Tie
Cobb and Gwinnett tie
(Cobb 8, Gwinnett 7)
Government/Taxation
Both Cobb and Gwinnett have experienced plently of bad governance/corruption/lack of representation/scandals in recent years. Recently, the Cobb County commission decided to allow SunTrust Park (Braves Stadium) to be built using mostly taxpayer money, without taxpayer approval. Now, the residents of Cobb are paying for it in the form of property tax hikes, increased fees, and reduced services. There was talk of shutting down libraries at one point: https://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt-...9O82jY34YyOQJ/ . Also, Cobb's goverment/elected officials have been very anti-transit even though a majority of Cobb residents are in favor of MARTA expansion into the county. In Gwinnett, the anti-transit county commission (there's a theme here) voted to hold a MARTA referendum as a costly special election in March. The referendum could have easily been held during the general election in November. Many people suspect that the commission decided to hold the referendum in March to avoid predicted high turnout from liberal and democratic voters in the general election, who overwhelmingly support MARTA's expansion. By holding the referendum in March, it has been suspected that the anti-transit Gwinnett commission was hoping to benefit from the lower, more conservative, more republican historical off-year election turnout. This group is mostly not in favor of MARTA expansion in the county: https://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt-...ujcSuANbiiLKO/ . These examples are simply the most recent and most notable in each county; many other shenanigans have occurred in each county. Also, the commissions of each county have been criticized for not being representative of their diverse constituency (Until very recently, each commission has been composed almost entirely of white, republican males for the past few decades). Each county has similar property and sales tax rates. Tie, but no points are awarded!
Cobb and Gwinnett tie, no points awarded
(Cobb 8, Gwinnett 7)
Overall, one can't go wrong in either Cobb or Gwinnett. However, in my opinion, Cobb has the slight edge over Gwinnett at this point in time.
FINAL SCORE
COBB 8, GWINNETT 7
Cobb wins the game!
Last edited by DoubleZ OTP; 01-02-2019 at 03:42 PM..
I'll give Gwinnett the edge there with some nice county parks. And I believe Gwinnett is more affordable. And more diverse I guess, but it's not like Cobb is not also really diverse.
I'm surprised you didn't give Cobb the edge on jobs/economy. Cobb has the 5th largest business district in Atlanta, with actual high rises and everything, and it's inside/right on the perimeter. Gwinnett has nothing like Cumberland- it's a very residential oriented county, with some sprawling campuses along the freeways, and a lot of that is more industrial/distribution type stuff.
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Cobb vs. Gwinnett
