Gainesville ghetto?

[ATLTJL]

Well, it's just what I heard.

But I think the person who told me was probably confused, and considered the coming location in Warner Robins and newly announced location in Calhoun as "Atlanta."

[architect77]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Like others have stated, unfortunately, because Gainesville is a highly industrial town, it has many utilitarian areas that make the city appear as if it is rundown.

Admittedly, there are some neighborhoods in some key areas along major thoroughfares that do appear to be rundown.

But don’t let the rundown look of a few key areas fool you.

Because of its advantageous location on Lake Lanier and because of its close proximity to Atlanta (while it is officially its own MSA/Metropolitan Statistical Area, Gainesville and surrounding Hall County are actually part of the roughly 39-county Atlanta CSA/Combined Statistical Area), Gainesville has become a very powerful and influential city that punches well above its weight in Georgia politics.

Because of the large amount of industry in Gainesville and surrounding Hall County, Gainesville politicians (like former Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, former GA Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, GA state Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, Congressman and 2020 GA US Senate candidate Doug Collins, etc.) have often been able to raise and generate the funds needed to run campaigns for higher office.

Beyond being a very powerful and highly influential city in Georgia politics, Gainesville is also a very important city in the Northeast Georgia Mountains region.

Gainesville is recognized as being the political, economic, industrial, cultural and social hub of the Northeast GA Mountains region.

Gainesville also effectively serves as a very important gateway community between heavily populated metro Atlanta to the southwest and the more sparsely populated outer-exurban and rural Northeast Georgia Mountains region.

Like others have stated, Gainesville is very much its own ‘self-contained’ city but is also at least partially part of metro Atlanta, particularly in the south half of Hall County from Gainesville south towards Atlanta.

Gainesville and Hall County is officially its own individual metropolitan area and has its very own unique identity but at the same time is also very much connected to metro Atlanta with its location on metro Atlanta’s major water source (Lake Lanier), a direct Interstate superhighway spur connection to Atlanta by way of I-985 and as the site of the Atlanta Falcons training facility (in Flowery Branch).

Like sedimenjerry mentioned, people north of Gainesville (in north Hall County) don’t consider themselves to be part of metro Atlanta. But there are also some areas in the parts of Hall County that are closer to Gwinnett County and metro Atlanta (particularly in the Flowery Branch and Buford areas) that appear to identify more closely with metro Atlanta.

It is very interesting how Gainesville and Hall County is its own self-contained community with its own unique identity that is separate from metro Atlanta but yet is also so strongly connected to metro Atlanta and has often had such a very strong influence over metro Atlanta politically and socially, particularly since about after the turn of the Millennium.

Our former governor Nathan Deal is from this area, and he was good in luring business and industry.

He made practical and good decisions and was a good governor. He was amenable to the Georgians threatened by an evolving cultural landscape but ultimately rejected bills if they included aspects that seemed too discriminatory to say, the LGBT community or would repel major employers from operating here.

[y8tiger]

Lived in Pointe Lanier Apartments on Spring Rd. in the mid 90's. Loved sitting out on the balcony and watching the sunset over the lake with the mountains as a backdrop.

Back then alcohol could be only served at restaurants so the night life consisted of Applebee's, Peaches, and a Pizza Restaurant on the Square. There was also a Country Bar called The Pink Cadillac located where Browns Bridge Rd and the GA-400 intersect.

[Born 2 Roll]

Gainesville residents, businesses and city officials say they are looking forward to the imminent completion of some $200 million in new development and infrastructure upgrades to the city’s historic downtown.

A combination of public and private financing will bring new apartments, shops, restaurants, venues and higher education facilities to the area surrounding the Gainesville Square, as well as improved sidewalks and parking options.

Gainesville developments offer new life in downtown district (GPB News)

[Need4Camaro]

I personally never had an issue with Gainesville. It gets nicer when you are near Lake Lanier.

[hilltop180]

I dated someone who lived there in the early 2000's. At first I was surprised by some of the blighted areas. The big industry there is poultry processing so you have a lot of undocumented workers there making ends meet. The areas close to 985 were pretty rough. A lot of people had moved south toward Oakwood. Then as time went on, higher income folks moved south towards Oakwod; then to Flowery Branch and Buford. She lived there because the cost of living. At the time it was far lower than Gwinnet areas like Norcross and Duluth; like half the amount for rent on a 3 br apartment or house. It actually had a nice small town feel up there w/ nice people and restaurants. If you have a job in Gwinnett or Alpharetta, Gainesville can be a spot you can find lower cost of housing.

[Born 2 Roll]

Multiple large land developments are set to proceed in Gainesville, thanks to unanimous approval from the Gainesville City Council.

One of these developments, called Gainesville Township, will encompass 1,122 acres southwest of the intersection of Jesse Jewell Parkway and Old Cornelia Highway, and in between Floyd and Eberhart Cemetery Roads...

... The city council voted to approve the two final requests submitted by development group Caballero Holdings, LLC: one to annex 140 acres into the city and the other to amend the existing Planned Unit Development zoning of 981 acres...

... The city council also gave approval to a rezoning request for the redevelopment of the Blue Ridge Shopping Center on Shallowford Road. The roughly 25-acre tract will be redeveloped into a mixed-use rental community with 15,000 square feet of retail space, 2,000 square feet of “pop up” retail and 385 rental units.

Gainesville City Council approves major developments (Access WDUN)

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Gainesville is best thought of as a small city where the greater population is about 100,000.

The city is mostly based on the processing of poultry that is produced at a number of farms within 100 miles in Northeast Georgia and even parts of South and North Carolina. It is not a lake/vacation town. It is a poultry processing town lucky enough to be near a lake.

This industry has its own financial service banks in town, its own processing plants, and a number of companies based on supplying that industry. You would be hard-pressed to find any other area in the world that processes more poultry in that small of an area and it is a large export generating area for us for goods both out of Georgia and out of the US.

It brings in many lower paying jobs, but some top tier jobs to support and finance the industry.

Like any other city there is a golden quarter of wealth and a good side and bad side of town.
Like any other city there is a leap-frogging suburban sprawl from the last 4 or 5 decades where newer shinier areas are built and older strips get left behind.
Like many other North American cities wealth left the older homes near the center of town for suburban enclaves outside of town.

Most of Gainesville's wealthier residents live west of the city in communities along the lake and further southwest in Hall county where there are better schools mixing with exurban Atlanta/Gwinnett wealth. The overall wealth of Gainesville compares more to that of Georgia overall, than it would to the Atlanta area overall. There are some suburban shopping strips and a small mall to the west of the city.

The cheapest areas are between the city of Gainesville and I-985. This is where the core of the industrial plants are and the freeway and railroad that sustains them. That also makes a very bad front door for those of us driving up from Atlanta.

The best place to stop is Mundy Mill Rd (Hwy 53). It is just an average aging suburban strip with alot at it, nothing more nothing less. The next best place to stop is is Mill Creek/Mall of Georgia area before you go up to Gainesville.

The actual town square of Gainesville is nice and charming. It's a nicer part of town, but unlike some of the city centers further south in Gwinnett it isn't 'trendy expensive,' but it isn't rundown at all. There are some good places to eat, a bar or two, and some boutique shops.

If you get off at Hwy 60 or Hwy 129 the area is extremely industrial. Few people live there and you probably see alot of businesses trying to protect equipment from night prowlers. However, I would think there would still be some large gas stations nearby.

This post, plus also OhioNative's post on page 1, are the best 2 posts I've seen on Gainesville IMO. Gainesville is an old poultry industry town, so you shouldn't expect too much out of Gainesville IMO. And I'd agree the nicer parts of Gainesville are north and west of downtown, instead of south and east of it near all the plants.

Speaking of Gainesville, my great uncle and great aunt(both RIP) lived there until the 2000s. If you ever do visit Gainesville, check out Longstreet Cafe for some decent Southern food. You won't be disappointed, if you eat there. Also my great uncle once owned a short lived men's clothing store, that was on the downtown square of Gainesville in the mid-20th century.

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

I've heard Buc-ees has plans to enter the Atlanta market.

The only Buc-ee's I'm aware of that exists in Georgia for now, is in Warner Robins. I suspect one day Buc-ee's will open up some locations closer to Atlanta, but who knows when that will occur?

BTW as someone who often roadtrips south to Atlanta and Nashville(from Chicago) via I-65, I am excited to hear that Buc-ee's is planning to build a location in a town just north of Bowling Green, KY! So I bet one day, you'll get your wish.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by SonySegaTendo617

This post, plus also OhioNative's post on page 1, are the best 2 posts I've seen on Gainesville IMO. Gainesville is an old poultry industry town, so you shouldn't expect too much out of Gainesville IMO. And I'd agree the nicer parts of Gainesville are north and west of downtown, instead of south and east of it near all the plants.

Speaking of Gainesville, my great uncle and great aunt(both RIP) lived there until the 2000s. If you ever do visit Gainesville, check out Longstreet Cafe for some decent Southern food. You won't be disappointed, if you eat there. Also my great uncle once owned a short lived men's clothing store, that was on the downtown square of Gainesville in the mid-20th century.



The only Buc-ee's I'm aware of that exists in Georgia for now, is in Warner Robins. I suspect one day Buc-ee's will open up some locations closer to Atlanta, but who knows when that will occur?

BTW as someone who often roadtrips south to Atlanta and Nashville(from Chicago) via I-65, I am excited to hear that Buc-ee's is planning to build a location in a town just north of Bowling Green, KY! So I bet one day, you'll get your wish.

There's a Bucc-ee's in Calhoun now too.