Cobb Vs. Gwinnett (Atlanta, Marietta, Lawrenceville: schools, to live in, restaurants)

[ShenardL]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Your comment raises a good point, which is that while both Gwinnett and Cobb counties have historically been deeply conservative outer-suburban communities, Cobb County, by far, has had a reputation for being significantly and decidedly more conservative (politically, culturally and socially) than Gwinnett County.

Before the turn of the Millennium, Cobb County had a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most conservative suburban counties in the entire country.

Continued explosive population growth and accelerating demographic shifts have greatly moderated and even noticeably muted the very notable conservatism that Cobb County has been known and recognized for historically.

While continuing explosive population growth and exponentially accelerating demographic shifts have completely transformed Gwinnett County into an increasingly overwhelmingly ‘majority-minority’ community where there appears to be a growing left-of-center political movement... This in a county that at one time (during the decade of the 2000’s) at least somewhat briefly had the largest county Republican apparatus in the state of Georgia.

Yes, when I first moved to Gwinnett as an elementary school student in the 90s, I think the county was nearly 90% white in population. Jimmy Carter Blvd was somewhat developed then but everything north of that (Beaver Ruin, Satellite, Pleasant Hill Rd, Duluth Highway, Old Peachtree Rd, Lawrenceville Suwanee Rd, etc.) was mostly trees and farmland. Now, it's mostly all developed and the county is nearly an even split at almost 25% White 25% Asian 25% Hispanic 25% Black (+/-5%). Definitely one of the most diverse counties in the nation.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

Yes, when I first moved to Gwinnett as an elementary school student in the 90s, I think the county was nearly 90% white in population. Jimmy Carter Blvd was somewhat developed then but everything north of that (Beaver Ruin, Satellite, Pleasant Hill Rd, Duluth Highway, Old Peachtree Rd, Lawrenceville Suwanee Rd, etc.) was mostly trees and farmland. Now, it's mostly all developed and the county is nearly an even split at almost 25% White 25% Asian 25% Hispanic 25% Black (+/-5%). Definitely one of the most diverse counties in the nation.

Yep.

In 1990, white residents (non-Hispanic/Latino) made up 89.41% of Gwinnett County’s population.

But as of the early 2020’s, white residents (non-Hispanic/Latino) only make up about 35.4% of Gwinnett County’s population.

Though, Gwinnett County’s minority population potentially may be higher because some minority populations may be more challenging to count.

[primaltech]

I lived in both for years, and I like certain things about both, but Cobb is generally better. It's definitely a lot closer to stuff.

[Kingofthe404]

It's wild how much the Atlanta suburbs have changed racially since the 90's. I wonder if this is natural, or was planned? How does an area go from 69% white, to 39% white in a Span of 30 years, without some sort of planned outside manipulation.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by Kingofthe404

It's wild how much the Atlanta suburbs have changed racially since the 90's. I wonder if this is natural, or was planned? How does an area go from 69% white, to 39% white in a Span of 30 years, without some sort of planned outside manipulation.

Never underestimate the power of good old fashioned racism.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Kingofthe404

It's wild how much the Atlanta suburbs have changed racially since the 90's. I wonder if this is natural, or was planned? How does an area go from 69% white, to 39% white in a Span of 30 years, without some sort of planned outside manipulation.

I don’t know if the (continuing) demographic transformation of the Atlanta suburbs came about as the result of a sinister plan.

The (continuing) demographic transformation of the Atlanta suburbs has come about as a result of multiple factors, with the presence of the world’s busiest airport (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport) during an era of international air travel probably being the biggest factor by far in helping to generate the dramatic demographic transformation of the Atlanta suburbs over the last 30 years.

Being the site of the world’s busiest airport at various times over the last 60+ years (including being the overall world’s busiest airport in every year but one since 1998) has helped Atlanta to attract teams in the 4+ major professional sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL and MLS)... Which was an early-on top priority of the city’s civic boosters who wished for Atlanta to transform from kind of a sleepy mid-sized regional Southern city to a large major metropolis of national and international importance.

Being the site of the world’s busiest airport also helped Atlanta to attract a bid as host of the 1996 Summer Olympics games, which was a totally historically transformative event in the growth of Atlanta from a mid-sized Southern city of regional importance to a large major metropolis of international importance and influence.

Atlanta’s very aggressive real estate development community (which often aggressively built new residential and commercial development to accommodate the Atlanta area’s explosively fast-growing population and economy) and Atlanta’s status as the leading national relocation destination for African-Americans (a status which was aided by the presence of the airport, the Interstate system and Atlanta’s central location in the Southeastern U.S.) have also played starring roles in the dramatic demographic transformation of the Atlanta suburbs.

It probably should also be noted that Atlanta is not the only highly populated region in the U.S. experiencing significant and/or dramatic demographic changes.

Many highly populated regions in the U.S. are experiencing similar significant and/or dramatic demographic changes right now, including California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Arizona and North Carolina.

The dramatic demographic transformation that is going on in the Atlanta suburbs is not just a local trend but is part of a larger national trend where the suburbs of many (if not most) large major metropolitan areas are experiencing dramatic demographic transformation.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Kingofthe404

It's wild how much the Atlanta suburbs have changed racially since the 90's. I wonder if this is natural, or was planned? How does an area go from 69% white, to 39% white in a Span of 30 years, without some sort of planned outside manipulation.

Your comment also raises the point that multiple metro Atlanta suburban counties have experienced dramatic demographic transformation over the last 30-40 years.

DeKalb County’s population has gone from being more than 70% white in 1980 to less than 30% white today.

Gwinnett County’s population has gone from being just under 96% white in 1980, to being about 35% white today.

Rockdale County’s population has gone from being just under 90% white in 1980 and 1990, to being just under 29% white today.

Douglas County’s population has gone from being more than 90% white in 1990, to being about 37% white today.

Henry County’s population has gone from being just over 88% white in 1990, to being about 40% white today.

(An interesting note about Henry County’s population is that the white percentage of the county’s population actually went up from about 81% in 1980 to about 88% in 1990 apparently as a result of white residents moving out of Clayton County in large numbers as the black population skyrocketed there during the decade of the 1980’s.)

Clayton County’s population has gone from being more than 90% white in 1980, to being only about 9% white today.

Newton County’s population has gone from being more than 76% white in 1990, to being just under 44% white today.

The white population in Fulton County seems to have not experienced the dramatic demographic decline that other metro Atlanta counties have, with white residents going from being about just under 47% of Fulton County’s population in 1980, to being just under 40% of Fulton County’s population today.

Though, Fulton County overall has still experienced significant demographic changes as the county has gone from being a 53-47 minority/white county (+6 minority county) in 1980 to being a 60-40 minority/white county (+20 minority county) today.

While not experiencing demographic changes that have been as dramatic as other metro Atlanta counties, Cobb County has still experienced some very significant demographic changes, with white residents going from being under 94% of Cobb County’s population in 1980, to being about 51% of Cobb County’s population today.

The dramatic demographic changes that metro Atlanta has experienced over the last 30 years (with the announcement that Atlanta would host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games appearing to be a demographic inflection point in September 1990) means that the Atlanta metropolitan area has gone from having only one county with a ‘majority-minority’ population in 1990 and before, to having at least 8 counties with ‘majority-minority’ populations in 2020... With Cobb County appearing to be on the very verge of becoming a 9th ‘majority-minority’ metro Atlanta county, if Cobb County hasn’t already become a ‘majority-minority’ county as of this writing.

Fayette County (where whites have gone from being more than 94% of the population in 1980 and more than 91% of the population in 1990, to being just over 60% of the population as of today), Forsyth County (which was once one of the whitest counties in the entire country where whites made up at least about 99% percent population in 1980 but currently make up only as little as 63% of the population by some estimates in a county that reportedly is now home to the nation’s fastest-growing Asian population), and even Paulding County (where whites made up just under 95% of the population in 1990 and before, but now make up about 68% of the population) also appear to be heading in the direction of becoming ‘majority-minority’ counties within the next 15-20 years or so.

[DabOnEm]

Originally Posted by Kingofthe404

It's wild how much the Atlanta suburbs have changed racially since the 90's. I wonder if this is natural, or was planned? How does an area go from 69% white, to 39% white in a Span of 30 years, without some sort of planned outside manipulation.

If you look up the raw numbers, I bet you there has actually been white growth. It's just that the minority population growth has been so high that it has pushed the percentage of White residents down, but not necessarily in raw numbers.

[ShenardL]

Originally Posted by DabOnEm

If you look up the raw numbers, I bet you there has actually been white growth. It's just that the minority population growth has been so high that it has pushed the percentage of White residents down, but not necessarily in raw numbers.

Yeah, Gwinnett went from 350,000 in population in 1990 to just under 1 million in population in 2020. Of the 650,000 population growth, the vast majority has been minority.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Never underestimate the power of good old fashioned racism.

How was the suburbs becoming less white racist?