need advise on Tucker neighborhoods (Atlanta, Lilburn: apartment complexes, rental, condos)

[jdhgator]

My wife and have done a search for homes in the Tucker Georgia area and have found a couple of neighborhoods that we both liked. We are preparing to make an offer, and wanted to find out as much as possible. The two communities we are looking at are Ramsgate (about 6 miles east of the perimeter off of Lawrencville) and Smoketree (north of Britt Rd, south of Norcross-Tucker Rd, and west of Jimmy Carter). Both neighborhoods seemed fine, with Smoketree having a little older houses than Ramsgate, but with larger lots. Ramsgate seemed newer, with nicer houses but on smaller lots. We've been told to avoid the Smoketree area because of the school district and crime. Any info on these two neighborhoods would be very useful.

[JPD]

Are those in Gwinnett or Dekalb? I live in Tucker, but I'm not familiar with those neioghborhoods (I rarely pay attention to the names of subdivisions). Generally, the Dekalb portion of Tucker is better.

[jdhgator]

Smoketree is in Dekalb and Ramsgate is just over the Gwinnet county border. Ramsgate is in the Parkview school district, which we've heard is strong. Smoketree is in the Meadowcreek school district, which we've heard is bad.

[JPD]

I would avoid the area between Britt Road and Norcross-Tucker Rd. That area has gone downhill steadily for years, especially the closer you get to Jimmy Carter Blvd.

[lastminutemom]

If Smoketree is in Meadowcreek that that is Gwinnett....

[BillWagner]

JDHGATOR, About your question about Parkview High School. It is one of the best schools in the metro area. Parent - School participation is very good here. They have some of the best academics and atheletic programs anywhere in the state. It located in a very good area for commuting and the homes in the area are very sought after by families looking for exactly what you are looking for. Meadowcreek area is a good community also but not as nice as the Parkview area. If you are looking at the return on investment on your home, Parkview is the area you should focus on. Let me know if I can help...Bill

[rackensack]

We lived in Smoketree from 1996 to 2005. I was deeply involved in the Homeowner's Association board for several years, and my wife was on the Swim & Racquet board, before the two organizations merged a few years back. It's in Gwinnett County, about 500 yards from the DeKalb County line.

If you don't have kids, or are fine with moving when yours reach school age, there are lots of things to like about Smoketree. It's a very friendly, welcoming neighborhood, with a lot of diversity but a good sense of community. We aren't really "joiners" but got very involved in both formal and informal neighborhood activities -- supper clubs, picnics, neighborhood movie nights at the Swim & Racquet grounds, the annual costume parade at Halloween. etc. The location is very convenient to many parts of the Atlanta area.

The neighborhood C.O.P.S. (Community Oriented Police Services) program is active and has been recognized by the Gwinnett P.D. as C.O.P.S. Community of the Year for Precinct 1 more than once. The crime rate specifically in Smoketree is quite low by comparison with the surrounding area, but it's not non-existent -- typically a burglary or two each quarter, among 260-something houses. We got hit a year or so before we moved out in November 2005.

The schools are, well, an issue. Nesbit Elementary is too big (1200+ students), has 85% of its students on free or reduced lunch programs, has a majority Hispanic population, most of whom are drawn from the numerous apartment complexes in the area (meaning they're highly transient). We had our two kids there for one semester in fall of 2005, one in third grade and one in first. Our impression of the teachers, and the new principal who'd been in place a year or so by then, was generally positive (my son's teacher was great) and they did an outstanding job helping get my son assessed and classified for some learning challenges he has. The school suffered for its first decade or so, however, from a principal who regarded parental involvement as meddling and as interfering with her primary mission, which was dealing with the challenges of a highly transient population with increasingly limited English language skills. Several neighorhood parents in Smoketree reported being pretty coldly rebuffed in their efforts to volunteer and assist at the school in those days. That changed with the new principal, but the effect was to drive most of the kids of area homeowners into private schools or to cause their parents to sell and move elsewhere, leaving only the apartment kids in the school. Nesbit's GreatSchools.net rating is a 3, making it among the three lowest-rated schools in the Gwinnett system.

Lilburn Middle School also gets a 3 from GreatSchools.net, making it the single lowest-rated middle school in Gwinnett. In addition to all of the problems Nesbit deals with, they have an increasing problem with gangs and violence.

Likewise for Meadowcreek. It also gets a 3 from GreatSchools.net. Drugs, gangs, and violence are significant problems.

I should say that I really think school ratings like that oversimplify and in some cases become self-fulfilling prophecies, but in this case they should give you some idea of how poorly regarded the schools for Smoketree are. Most of the parents in the neighborhood, when the kids reach school age, either move or enroll the kids in private schools or homeschool. Nevertheless, there are still quite a few families with small children in the neighborhood. If your concern about the schools is primarily about their effect on property values, it's obviously a consideration, but in all honesty you have to go a whole lot farther outside the area to find a neighborhood as pleasant, with equally well-built houses, for anything like the prices in Smoketree. They aren't appreciating as fast as houses in better school districts in DeKalb, but they still compare well with other Gwinnett neighborhoods and there seems to be no shortage of buyers for whom the schools are a non-issue.

The surrounding area is increasingly Hispanic, and there's a substantial Asian population as well, so if cultural and linguistic diversity bother you, you'd be better off elsewhere. I sort of like having lots of taquerias and pho shops around, but the schools and the commuting distance to our synagogue were ultimately the things that made us decide to pull up stakes.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions about Smoketree.

[gregbri]

My partner and I moved up to GA from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 2 years ago. We rented an apartment for 6 months and researched negihborhoods in and round Atlanta, we researched all counties as well. My partner works for a huge research firm thefore we have great resources to pull neighborhood research information. We were looking for a quiet nice neighborhood that has great potential to grow. Thankfully we found Smoketree in Tucker. As far as the hispanic and asian community that community is no longer growing. They are moving elsewhere and the exciting thing is... (the old Lucent tech. facility) off of Jimmy Carter and 85 a multiuse facility is in the plans. They plan to build high end condos, resturants and shops. This is going to increase our home values and continue to increase rent, flushing out the renters. Hopefully this will inturn redevelope the rental communites into housing communites once the economy turns around. People are leaving Midtown and moving to Tucker and we see quality MORE people slowly buying into Smoketree. There are more gay couples moving into Smoktree also. That alone will increase all our home values as well. Smoketree is so convient to Midtown, Emory, the CDC, Buckhead and other fine places. We LOVE Smoketree..........

[gregbri]

Just wanted to let you know that Gwinnett county, where Smoketree is located, has just passed a rule that you can send your child to any school in Gwinnett county, provided you become responsible to getting your child to and from that school.

This means you are no longer tied to the schools designated for this area!

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by gregbri

Just wanted to let you know that Gwinnett county, where Smoketree is located, has just passed a rule that you can send your child to any school in Gwinnett county, provided you become responsible to getting your child to and from that school.

This means you are no longer tied to the schools designated for this area!

Are you sure about this? I think you might be confusing the new state law with a GCSS policy. Can you show me documentation on this?