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Up against the other areas listed, I vote for Gwinnett county in all categories. I think Jacksonville is having a lot of growth recently too but clearly doesn't have the diversity, dining, etc. of Gwinnett.
Up against the other areas listed, I vote for Gwinnett county in all categories. I think Jacksonville is having a lot of growth recently too but clearly doesn't have the diversity, dining, etc. of Gwinnett.
Interesting.
Where would you place it? I was hesitant to add N.O?
How so? It feels nothing like a city...do people in ATL cherish decentralized sprawl that much that connects tiny little railroad hamlets meant to be rural stops on trains like Norcross, Dulth, Lawrenceville?
Literally any suburb USA. You guys can have it...much more mid sized cities have all that and much easier to get around. The good thing with ATL is job opportunities, but with the changes with e commerce and people working remotely, how is driving an hour to get anywhere fun?
Gwinnett has definitely come a ways over the past couple of decades but what hurts it in many of these categories is that it lacks a centralized, defining urban core where all of these characteristics/features can be found in one compact walkable area in a very synergistic fashion. While the Arena at Gwinnett may be more state-of-the-art with a higher seating capacity featuring more nationally popular entertainment acts than, say, the Colonial Life Arena in downtown Columbia (and I'm just staying this for the sake of argument, I'm not sure if that's accurate), you don't have the option to book a hotel room in an adjacent urban commercial district and get a good meal or hit a bar, or do a little window-shopping or actual shopping before and afterwards. So that's an example of how the physical environment can enhance or diminish the experiences related to these factors.
Gwinnett has definitely come a ways over the past couple of decades but what hurts it in many of these categories is that it lacks a centralized, defining urban core where all of these characteristics/features can be found in one compact walkable area in a very synergistic fashion. While the Arena at Gwinnett may be more state-of-the-art with a higher seating capacity featuring more nationally popular entertainment acts than, say, the Colonial Life Arena in downtown Columbia (and I'm just staying this for the sake of argument, I'm not sure if that's accurate), you don't have the option to book a hotel room in an adjacent urban commercial district and get a good meal or hit a bar, or do a little window-shopping or actual shopping before and afterwards. So that's an example of how the physical environment can enhance or diminish the experiences related to these factors.
I understand that. Not so much debating the fabric between these two cities as much as I am the bare offerings for the listed categories.
Sugarloaf Mills (you probably remember it as discover mills) would probably be the defining area.
How so? It feels nothing like a city...do people in ATL cherish decentralized sprawl that much that connects tiny little railroad hamlets meant to be rural stops on trains like Norcross, Dulth, Lawrenceville?
Literally any suburb USA. You guys can have it...much more mid sized cities have all that and much easier to get around. The good thing with ATL is job opportunities, but with the changes with e commerce and people working remotely, how is driving an hour to get anywhere fun?
Most of the listed metros aren’t super urban. And when you compare the overall of these metros to Gwinnet, not just a slither of centralized urbanity, Gwinnet probably beats most of them out in density. That aside, it’s just comparison of overall offerings.
And I wouldn’t call Gwinnet any suburban county USA. Jimmy Carter in Norcross, while mostly strip malls, has an international flair to it. There are other areas throughout Gwinnet that feel this way as well. Having that mishmash of cultures is always going to give a different feel, Gwinnet even feels more “international” than the city of Atlanta in some ways.
How so? It feels nothing like a city...do people in ATL cherish decentralized sprawl that much that connects tiny little railroad hamlets meant to be rural stops on trains like Norcross, Dulth, Lawrenceville?
Literally any suburb USA. You guys can have it...much more mid sized cities have all that and much easier to get around. The good thing with ATL is job opportunities, but with the changes with e commerce and people working remotely, how is driving an hour to get anywhere fun?
I'm having a hard time understanding what has you all up in arms here. The OP talks about how a suburban county has dramatically grown and increased its offerings and amenities to become more self-contained and here you are flying off the handle about folks cherishing sprawl and how much of Gwinnett grew up around railroad hamlets, as if that's drastically different than elsewhere in the country.
You could have easily said what I did in my previous post without having become so emotional about it. You aren't telling us anything new when you allude to Gwinnett's post-war development patterns. We know you hate it with a passion but the way you keep lashing out at folks over this is beyond ridiculous dude.
I just don't get how you can compare a single suburban county in Atlanta to a large city like Jacksonville.
-Jacksonville has significant water recreational amenities, including the St. John's River, a long riverwalk promenade, a water taxi, and MOST IMPORTANTLY OCEAN BEACHES!!!
Can Gwinnett compete with that?
-Jacksonville has within its city limits:
-JAX airport
-a downtown PeopleMover system
-an NFL Team and large football stadium the hosts the world's largest cocktail party and the Gator Bowl
-Zoo
- Several shopping malls, including an upscale lifestyle center called St. Johns Town Center, and a downtown mall (that is somewhat depressed admittedly)
- Urban districts like San Marco & Riverside which have multiple walkable corridors
- Adjacent cute Beach Towns, one with a cute downtown just off of the ocean
-Jacksonville State University and University of North Florida
-Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum, and Museum of Science and History
-A large, big city downtown with substantial skyline, major employers like Wells Fargo, Prudential, and Bank of America & the HQ for Stein Mart
-every national chain store and restaurant that Gwinnett has
-JAX has a 46,000 acre nature preserve
-Largest public library in Florida
-Concerning demographics - 55% Non-hispanic white, 30% black, 8% Latino, 4% Asian
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