Moving to Lawrenceville,Ga from Cali, Bay Area what to expect? (Atlanta: how much, house)

[nibseysgirl]

Originally Posted by anitalonip

I'm a native of San Francisco California. I'll be in Georgia next week. Lawrenceville, GA is the area we are considering calling home. I have traveled to Atlanta many times and have contemplated moving for a long time. I'm excited as well scared of such a move with two small children 5 & 3. Base and my limited research, it is my understanding that schools are great in Gwinnett and the overall community is growing and has many of the cultural dynamics I would find in San Francisco. (Happen, some of the best shopping & Food, friendly, health and green conscious, lot of tourist & beautiful HOMES and VIEWS) Is there anything anyone who lives in Lawrenceville or knows the area pretty well can tell me that I would not have been able to ascertain from my internet searches ???
I plan to make Georgia my HOME

Thank You so much!!

Hi there,
I found the best areas on Lawrencville are the zips 30045,30043 and 30044. The schools in the are that are best from all indications including testing and AYP are Mill Creek and Collins Hill. I have been told that N Gwinnette schools are very good too. S. Not....
I am considering moving to L'ville as well. Calling Snellville GA home as of Oct 1 until we find a home to purchas of our own..Hope this helps..Lisa

[CALI2GEORGIA]

We sold our home of 20+ years and moved from Oakland to Lawrenceville a few years ago and we are slowly growing accustomed to the area. if you own a home in San Francisco and it is at all possible, I would advise renting out that property and trying it here on a trial basis. Things here are pretty well spread out and traffic is worst here than the Bay Area especially since the freeway system is not as advanced by any means. There is a current water drought that could go from bad to worse and the growth factor for new homes is tremendous while the roads have not been expanded to accomodate the growth. And there isn't alot of buses or transportation methods especially in Lawrenceville unless you own a car.

[cregacho]

My family may be moving to Lawrenceville from central valley Cali (Stockton) From the research I gathered that you can get a great home between $150k and $200k. These would generally be older homes though (built in the 80's or 90's) Can someone confirm if the Brookwood school area is one of the better places to be? A home I was looking at would be local to Brookwood HS, Five Forks middle school and Craig elementary. I've read that the area is racially diverse but the city data shows is mainly white. How is it compared to bay area/central valley california where it's a pretty good mix (i.e. if I'm at the mall you'll see a fairly equal mix of white, black, hispanic and asian) Anyway I'll be in GA next week to look around. Any info/advice is much appreciated!

[Carrillo1]

Brookwood is one of the best in the area, and often has the best scores. Some other good schools are Collins Hill, Peachtree Ridge, Parkview, Dacula, Mill Creek, and Grayson. Schools with a lot of free lunch and problem children-Meadow Creek, Berkmar, Central Gwinnett, and South Gwinnett. I go to church in Lilburn, where most of the kids go to Parkview and Brookwood. There is a lot of diversity. However, watch out for Lilburn. The only good patch are the homes in the Parkview or Brookwood dist.

[luashtal]

Okay. Many of you are saying that there is quite a bit of diversity in the area. However, I just finished reading a post from someone saying that they had dinner with a diverse group being from England, Scottland, Ireland and a few Americans.

I'm sorry, but that is not diverse in my book. Diversity would constitute people of other colors, for example, hispanic, black, indian, asian, etc.
The group mentioned above is still all white.

Can anyone tell me if there is truly diversity in this community or not?

Thank you,

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by luashtal

Okay. Many of you are saying that there is quite a bit of diversity in the area. However, I just finished reading a post from someone saying that they had dinner with a diverse group being from England, Scottland, Ireland and a few Americans.

I'm sorry, but that is not diverse in my book. Diversity would constitute people of other colors, for example, hispanic, black, indian, asian, etc.
The group mentioned above is still all white.

Can anyone tell me if there is truly diversity in this community or not?

Thank you,

I am certain there are 'a few' families that socialize more diversely. This area was once primarily farmland settled by English and Scots-Irish, IIRC.

Around the city of Decatur and the Intown neighborhoods of the city of Atlanta you would find more diversity.

Tossing in my $.02.

bhs

[luashtal]

Very scary that you find a group from England, Germany and Scottland a diverse group. If that is what you call diverse, you must have led a very sheltered life.

This group is still European or white. How is that diverse?

[luashtal]

Originally Posted by bhs119

I am certain there are 'a few' families that socialize more diversely. This area was once primarily farmland settled by English and Scots-Irish, IIRC.

Around the city of Decatur and the Intown neighborhoods of the city of Atlanta you would find more diversity.

Tossing in my $.02.

bhs

I understand. That makes sense, but why does everyone keep saying that this is a diverse community?

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by luashtal

Very scary that you find a group from England, Germany and Scottland a diverse group. If that is what you call diverse, you must have led a very sheltered life.

This group is still European or white. How is that diverse?

I would not call such a group diverse.

There have been numerous threads analyzing the diversity of the metro Atlanta area. Posters seem to conclude that there are some boundaries among the races. I imagine many people lead very busy lives--commuting several hours a day from Lawrenceville is time consuming and trying to take care of family responsibilities may inhibit getting to know others.

There are many transplants in the metro area and maybe that is a factor?

Some of the posts on diversity theorized eloquently and I wish I could recall more of substance.

ETA--
Previous thread on diversity>>>
https://www.city-data.com/forum/georg...diversity.html

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by luashtal

I understand. That makes sense, but why does everyone keep saying that this is a diverse community?

It is becoming 'more diverse'.

Gwinnett County was primarily Caucasian until the late 80's/early 90's.

The Hispanic and Asian communities developed along Buford Hwy and the population shifted north. The Pleasant Hill/Gwinnett Mall area is now largely Asian. The population continues to move north.

Hispanics found work in the industries of Gwinnett, Hall and Forsyth counties--low paying jobs and many transplants moved into upscale communities in these areas to fill high tech jobs. That is the sort of diversity that exists.

bhs