Is Lawrenceville/Gwinett County a nice place to live? (Atlanta: apartment complexes, rentals)

[heavensangel]

Hi! I currently live in New Jersey with my husband and three children ages (3 mos., 3 yrs, and 11 yrs.). We are a young couple that wants to relocate to Georgia and heard from a friend that Lawrenceville is a nice place for families to live with good schools, affordable living, great restaurants, and other attractions. My husband and I have been applying to jobs and doing some research...but we know nothing about the area. I was looking for homes in the Gwinett area and came across several different apartment complexes on the internet and the comments posted by the tenants were very, very negative. Can someone give me some feedback about Lawrenceville and the area to help us with our decision to move or to stay in NJ? Thanks

[letonyarossi]

The Gwinnett County area is a wonderful area u will love it. Very nice. a little prcey but worth every penny. schools are great. I stayed in Norcross for 5 yrs and Cobb County for 5yrs I'm in Milwaukee wiscon now and I dislike living here with a passion, So Atlanta here I come once again to stay forever. Good Luck you've got taste girl.

[mrdkb]

Some on this thread are gong to say something negative about Gwinnett, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Snellville, etc... Just go by the schoool district. For Lawrenceville: Brookwood, Peachtree Ridge, Mountainview, Archer, Grayson, and Collins Hill areas are great.
The best area in the Gwinnett, however, is Suwanee - but not necesarilly the best school (N. Gwinnett - which however, is still one of the best schools). The best school is Brookwood, then Parkview, followed by (but necessarilly in this order) N. Gwinnett, Grayson, Norcross, Dacula, Mill Creek, Duluth, Collins Hill, Archer (new), Mountainview (new), Peachtree Ridge.

[OhioNative]

Originally Posted by mrdkb

The best area in the Gwinnett, however, is Suwanee - but not necesarilly the best school (N. Gwinnett - which however, is still one of the best schools). The best school is Brookwood, then Parkview, followed by (but necessarilly in this order) N. Gwinnett, Grayson, Norcross, Dacula, Mill Creek, Duluth, Collins Hill, Archer (new), Mountainview (new), Peachtree Ridge.

According to the Newsweek High School rankings, North Gwinnett is ranked #215 in the country, and #2 in the State of Georgia, behind only Walton HS in Cobb. Brookwood is ranked #494 in the country by Newsweek.

[infamousx]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

According to the Newsweek High School rankings, North Gwinnett is ranked #215 in the country, and #2 in the State of Georgia, behind only Walton HS in Cobb. Brookwood is ranked #494 in the country by Newsweek.

Newsweek rankings speak very little for how good a school actually is - they are based only on how many AP tests are taken by a student by a school. How students perform on the test is not factored into the equation, which is why they should not be relied upon as a valid source. For instance, in the past year 81.3% of Brookwood students who took an AP exam scored a "passing score" of 3 or higher, while 63.2% of North Gwinnett students scored a 3 or higher (only .1% above the county average). Going by this criteria, Brookwood, Duluth, Collins Hill, Peachtree Ridge, and Parkview all rank above North Gwinnett. This is not an attempt to put North Gwinnett down, as it is a fine school, but I just wanted to clarify the truth behind this bogus ranking system. Does anyone believe Berkmar is a better school than Brookwood, just because it's ranked higher in the Newsweek rankings? The point is that more established areas in Gwinnett which haven't fallen by the wayside tend to have better schools.

Anyway, back to the OP's question. Lawrenceville covers a huge area -- like mrdkb said, the best thing to do is probably look at the school district maps.

[mrdkb]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

According to the Newsweek High School rankings, North Gwinnett is ranked #215 in the country, and #2 in the State of Georgia, behind only Walton HS in Cobb. Brookwood is ranked #494 in the country by Newsweek.

Newsweek also ranked Central Gwinnett. North Gwinnett SAT scores are not highier than Norcross. North is a good school but everyone knows Brookwood and Parkview are 1 an 2 in the county. That said, Walton, Northview, Pope, and other schools are better academically then Brookwood, Parkview. But when I say better - it's not by much. Just like Brookwood, Parkview are not better by much than North. Just little better.

[mrdkb]

Buford is also a decent school

[Georgia]

I see where you were talking about apartments. If so, I would check the Mall of Georgia area for apartment rentals. What exactly are you looking for in regard to living, apartment, rental, townhome, house, purchase, etc.

[gatormomtotots]

We live in the north Gwinnett area (Dacula/Hamiliton Mill) and LOVE it! I work in the Collins Hill cluster (Suwannee)- good district but, like all school districts, they are changing. The make-up looks completely different than it did just 5 years ago.

Gwinnett is very large- generally the northern areas are much better than the south gwinnett areas. LOTS of traffic over in the Snellville area/SR 124- but still a good area.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by letonyarossi

The Gwinnett County area is a wonderful area u will love it. Very nice. a little pricey but worth every penny. schools are great. I stayed in Norcross for 5 yrs and Cobb County for 5yrs I'm in Milwaukee wiscon now and I dislike living here with a passion, So Atlanta here I come once again to stay forever. Good Luck you've got taste girl.

Actually, I think Lawrenceville covers the gamut in terms of price. There is plenty of affordable housing in the area IMO (Read: lesss than 400K).