Gwinnett keeps top credit score (Atlanta, Dunwoody: crime, neighborhoods, construction)

[ATLTJL]

Gwinnett Daily Post | Gwinnett keeps top credit score

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like this means Gwinnett county has a higher credit score than the Federal government.

[ericsonga]

I love that everyone hates on Gwinnett, but suddenly when something good is said no one is to be found.

[berkeleylake]

Yep, agreed, ericsonga. Not many responses here either so far, to something positive regarding Gwinnett or government for that matter. Good for Gwinnett.

With so many local governments in Georgia (and elsewhere) at the county level are in economic shambles, so why not point out some good news for once? Maybe some of the other counties can copy Gwinnett's gov't example and do better with own finances.

[AcidSnake]

I agree, good for Gwinnett.

My take on the lack of positive postings on here is that maybe when the traditional anti-ITP/anti-Dekalb/Fulton leadership city-data posters learn to have something good to say about the aforementioned metro counties, then maybe people from those 2 counties will reciprocate with something good to say about Gwinnett.

After all, one good turn deserves another, right?

[cwkimbro]

I feel like I live in between two different groups

The OTP haters and the suburban crowd that sometimes hates the ITP or their OTP backlash, but their in general anti-tax rhetoric.

They don't always cheer Gwinnett during the good times, because they are focusing on the bad (because in their mind gov't is bad). They tend to focus on corruption. Now I'm not saying we should tolerate any corruption, but corruption affecting 0.01% of our budget from a couple of past commissioners tarnishes everything else that is impeccably planned by a professional staff.

On the Gwinnett Daily Post's website and their version of the story there were only 4 online comments. The very first said, "The ratings are NOT due to the BOC or county staff; the ratings are DESPITE the BOC and county staff. The taxpayer has funded criminality and largesse to a degree that cannot be sustained. Instead of rhetoric and pats on the back for spending taxpayer money, put forth a plan to cut spending and renounce further tax increases until the economy recovers. Better yet, cut spending further and REDUCE the tax burden. Here is an easy start: The subsidy to the Chamber. Get rid of it PERIOD
"

To me this is a shining example. Somehow the ratings magically happened despite poor leadership? And we need to keep cutting more taxes with no respect to what the county is actually accomplishing.

Nevermind that we have nationally award winning schools, parks, water treatment systems, etc...

Anyways... I just wanted to take a moment to shine light on something most people skip over. There has been a sewage treatment overhaul been going on for a long time. It represents a major shift in strategy from when the county was an exurb and a smaller suburb. It represents huge operational savings for now + when we grow.

Gwinnett Daily Post | $245 million sewage plant upgrades nearly complete

Of course there are still many areas for ongoing improvement
-Many of the counties older properties, especially south of Lilburn are mostly on septic and not sewer. This means we are using up more storage capacity from Lake Lanier by not returning as much water as we take.

-Developers are now required to have sewage. Many developers are only concerned with the single neighborhood they develop and the cheapest way for them to implement sewer... not long-term operational efficiency. Many of the newer neighborhoods, especially in the central-North and northeast portions of the county are building small neighborhood pumps and making pressurized sewer mains, since they can't effectively implement a gravity pipe. This means it will cost the county the operations of all these pumps throughout the county and potentially a pricey retrofit of gravity sewer mains int he future.

[sofjwp]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Gwinnett Daily Post | Gwinnett keeps top credit score

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like this means Gwinnett county has a higher credit score than the Federal government.

the problem is the Fed's don't play by the same rules everyone else does
Imagine you wrote your self a check..

It's like "Self, I owe you a few trillion."

Self says "Yes, you do. Please pay us on time or I'll garnish our wages."


Of course, the founders would have worked all night with no sleep in the cold rain to pay off what they owed to themselves.

[ATLTJL]

My take on the lack of positive postings on here is that maybe when the traditional anti-ITP/anti-Dekalb/Fulton leadership city-data posters learn to have something good to say about the aforementioned metro counties, then maybe people from those 2 counties will reciprocate with something good to say about Gwinnett.

I don't want to start a whole thing here, this is just an honest question....

I have noticed that the venom on this board from the ITP people against the OTP people is exponentially more vicious than anything the OTP people say about ITP.

But I've only been here for about a year. Did the OTP people start it before I got here?

The sentiment has gotten so weird that people can't even accept universtal truths. You'll hear OTP people argue that traffic is overblown and ITP people say that all you have to do is walk with purpose and crime is not an issue. It's like we can't even accept the general truths that traffic is worse OTP and crime is worse ITP. Both sides want to argue that their area is perfect and other areas are horrible.

Well, I've lived both ITP and OTP all over the place and both areas have their pluses and minuses! Neither is better than the other, they are just different....and at the end of the day, they really aren't THAT different. Maybe individual areas are, but the whole ITP and OTP distinction is ridiculous.

[testa50]

If anything, I think of Gwinnett as the county in the metro that actually has its stuff together the best. They've got major roadway plans and projects taking place, and other major infrastructure initiatives. And they've been doing it all dealing with the realities of metro Atlanta: several parts of Gwinnett were previously thriving but have fallen on harder times.

Challenges remain, but making the sorts of investments it is and trying to build its own identity and job centers is what will ultimately keep it from going the way of Dekalb (school issues, and erosion of the county's "brand"). I certainly hear a lot less infighting and vitriol from within Gwinnett than I do from some other places.

[AcidSnake]

In my opinion, City-data Atlanta is simply a reflection of the makeup of Georgia voters during the primaries...primarily more conservative than the other way round. Maybe that's my bias-filter echoing this sentiment, but at least I'm a big enough man to admit it.

I think the only problem for some folks on city-data is that people here in Georgia who are used to the traditional conservative voices having its way culturally, socially, and politically more often than not...aren't used to hearing progressive voices. They certainly are not used to hearing progressive voices willing to fight back as of late...and they certainly don't hear any of those progressive voices in any meaningful way outside of Atlanta proper.

Southern politics has always been aggressively parochial and no-holds barred, since the slave-holding days & Reconstruction. City-data is no exception to this reality. Why do people keep pretending like that's not the case?

Here's a good example: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution accurately reflects that conflict, whereas ever since the merging of the Atlanta Journal & the Atlanta Constitution people keep complaining of some leftwing pro-Atlanta bias in the letters to the editor; even while the AJC always maintained a healthy roster of conservatives who toe the traditional southern line.

Given the bad economy and the reality that most young people don't read newspapers as much the previous generations, the AJC eventually moved its HQ to Dunwoody and then brought in some more suburban conservative-leaning writers so that they can hold onto the older customers who still read the papers. The AJC even gave one of their most prominent left-winger editors Cynthia Tucker the boot, although to hear some people call it, she chose to retire on her own.

And the AJC is still not conservative enough for a lot of people. The same phenomena applies to City-data Atlanta.

I would be more interested in seeing how conservative does City-data Atlanta & the AJC have to be to satisfy some folks. I'm pretty sure the answer would be quite predictable and very frightening.

To conclude this convo, that is the phenomena as I see it. There is more to this story I think, but I will leave it at that.

[cittic10]

ATTA COUNTY! 'ATS MY COUNTY!