Norcross quality of life trending downwards? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: apartments, house, neighborhood)

[mastodonn]

As my wife and I were wondering whether to buy a home in Sandy Springs or Dunwoody, we accepted an invitation to visit the home of one of my wife's colleagues in the Norcross (Peachtree Corners, close to Spalding Dr) area. We saw lots of nice subdivisions and properties along the way that offered a bigger house for the same price than we could get in Sandy Springs.

But we also saw some red flags.

For context - we used to live in Atlanta before moving up north and we recently decided to come back here. Just by comparing our impressions of Norcross from the late 1990s and occasional visits in the 2004 time frame to today, we noticed that there were tons of possibly illegal immigrant types hanging around all the way from 285 to Spalding dr in the north and to Holcomb and Spalding in the West. In talking to my wife's colleague and her husband, they too saw this as a big downtrend because of the associated "quality of life" issues - safety, traffic chaos etc. In fact, not far from where they live, we saw two women each with a baby in a stroller recklessly cross the road with cars zipping past them.

Before we buy a house, we'd like to know not just how a particular community or neighborhood is today but where will it be 5-10 years from now?

My question to people here that live in Norcross - P'tree corners and elsewhere or are familiar with the area - "Where do you see Norcross headed as a good place to live?"

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by mastodonn

As my wife and I were wondering whether to buy a home in Sandy Springs or Dunwoody, we accepted an invitation to visit the home of one of my wife's colleagues in the Norcross (Peachtree Corners, close to Spalding Dr) area. We saw lots of nice subdivisions and properties along the way that offered a bigger house for the same price than we could get in Sandy Springs.

But we also saw some red flags.

For context - we used to live in Atlanta before moving up north and we recently decided to come back here. Just by comparing our impressions of Norcross from the late 1990s and occasional visits in the 2004 time frame to today, we noticed that there were tons of possibly illegal immigrant types hanging around all the way from 285 to Spalding dr in the north and to Holcomb and Spalding in the West. In talking to my wife's colleague and her husband, they too saw this as a big downtrend because of the associated "quality of life" issues - safety, traffic chaos etc. In fact, not far from where they live, we saw two women each with a baby in a stroller recklessly cross the road with cars zipping past them.

Before we buy a house, we'd like to know not just how a particular community or neighborhood is today but where will it be 5-10 years from now?

My question to people here that live in Norcross - P'tree corners and elsewhere or are familiar with the area - "Where do you see Norcross headed as a good place to live?"

I think your observations are very astute. Norcross has changed a great deal over the last 10 years, and by and large not for the better. The Spalding Drive corridor still seems OK; I have friends there, but their kids have been out of the school system for a while, so I can't address that. Frankly, there are other suburbs I would look at before Norcross. You have touched on a basic truth about this city...things change here very quickly.

[martarider]

Norcross has gone straight to the crapper, just like the rest of Gwinnett

[aries4118]

However, the Peachtree Corners part of Norcross is still going very strong. It is really kinda an extension of Dunwoody. The children of Peachtree Corners attend Simpson Elementary, Pickneyville Middle, and Norcross High...all very strong schools (a small part of Peachtree Corners attends Peachtree Elementary...it is decent/good).

The Peachtree Corners part of Norcross is very different from the rest of Norcross! I'd definitely give it another look/try. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

[Memphiz]

better learn spanish, they walk up and down the streets all day looking for work in some areas

[dens]

My opinion...skip all of it Peachtree Corners and Norcross and I lived there up to 2 years ago.

[BringBackCobain]

I grew up in Peachtree Corners, Neely Farm subdv. to be exact. My parents moved there from Dunwoody Club Forest in 1989. I went to Simpson Elementary, a great school. Peachtree Elem has gone downhill though, because all the apartments in PC are zoned to it.

Even since the early 90's, I used to hate telling people I was from "Norcross", because Peachtree Corners isnt within the city limits, it just uses a Norcross mailing address. But when I said peachtree Corners, people would say "where?!".

Norcross has been declining for 25 years. Peachtree Corners is not declining, and it wont decline. Its too close in. Plus, it has too many single family homes. If it had more apartments, I would argue differently. The apartments that are in PC (along Peachtree Corners Circle and Holcomb Bridge) are sketchy, but they have been since the early-1990s.

If the citizens of Peachtree Corners were smart, they would organize some sort of civic effort to recognize Peachtree Corners as a place. They have already have made street sign toppers. They need to try and make it a CDP and get it a mailing address, or become a city. Home values would rise because people could say the house was in Peachtree Corners, not Norcross.

Stay within Peachtree Corners and youll be fine. (Peachtree Corners is roughly the area bordered by the cities of Dunwoody and Sandy Springs on the west, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Norcross city limits on the south, the Chattahoochee River on the north, and the city limits of Berkeley Lake on the east.)

Peachtree Corners, Georgia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

I grew up in Peachtree Corners, Neely Farm subdv. to be exact. My parents moved there from Dunwoody Club Forest in 1989. I went to Simpson Elementary, a great school. Peachtree Elem has gone downhill though, because all the apartments in PC are zoned to it.

Even since the early 90's, I used to hate telling people I was from "Norcross", because Peachtree Corners isnt within the city limits, it just uses a Norcross mailing address. But when I said peachtree Corners, people would say "where?!".

Norcross has been declining for 25 years. Peachtree Corners is not declining, and it wont decline. Its too close in. Plus, it has too many single family homes. If it had more apartments, I would argue differently. The apartments that are in PC (along Peachtree Corners Circle and Holcomb Bridge) are sketchy, but they have been since the early-1990s.

If the citizens of Peachtree Corners were smart, they would organize some sort of civic effort to recognize Peachtree Corners as a place. They have already have made street sign toppers. They need to try and make it a CDP and get it a mailing address, or become a city. Home values would rise because people could say the house was in Peachtree Corners, not Norcross.

Stay within Peachtree Corners and youll be fine. (Peachtree Corners is roughly the area bordered by the cities of Dunwoody and Sandy Springs on the west, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Norcross city limits on the south, the Chattahoochee River on the north, and the city limits of Berkeley Lake on the east.)

Peachtree Corners, Georgia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a good post. I don't think Peachtree Corners will ever go down either...too close-in, too close to Dunwoody. Also, Peachtree Corners, for the most part, really supports Norcross High.

On the Wikipedia link, it says that Peachtree Corners residents are able to use "Peachtree Corners" as a mailing address, but most residents do not. Maybe they should start.

[Mossberg]

Originally Posted by aries4118

This is a good post. I don't think Peachtree Corners will ever go down either...too close-in, too close to Dunwoody. Also, Peachtree Corners, for the most part, really supports Norcross High.

On the Wikipedia link, it says that Peachtree Corners residents are able to use "Peachtree Corners" as a mailing address, but most residents do not. Maybe they should start.

Yep, you can do this in most places around the country.

As long as the street address and zip code are correct, the city name is meaningless.

Hell, I hate spelling Lawrenceville out on envelopes, so I just put L'ville and have no problems with mail. I'm lazy, I know.

[sj73]

Peachtree Corners is indeed a nice area of Gwinnett. There are many more great areas in Suwanee, Duluth, Grayson, Lawrenceville and more. Although there is an issue with illegals in the county, you can go to any county in the Metro ATL and find the same situation as Norcross.

Most people who make general negative comments about Gwinnett have never even been to Gwinnett and only base their opinion on what they see in the headlines of the AJC. I have a friend that lives in Cobb that says her neighborhood situation is WAY worse than my situation in Lawrenceville.

One of my coworkers tried to convince me that she was in Gwinnett when driving up Buford Highway. I had to quickly show her where the Gwinnett County line was...it turns out the area on Buford Highway that she was putting-down as "awful Gwinnett," was actually DeKalb County (her county of residence