Moving to Gwinnett is Not For Everyone: Four Facts You Must Know

Moving to Gwinnett is NOT For Everyone: Four Facts You Must Know

People move to Gwinnett County, Georgia for good schools, suburban sprawl, close proximity to Atlanta, great shopping, excellent dining, and a more laid-back lifestyle. It is a good place to live. But moving to Gwinnett is not for everyone. Because, while most Gwinnett County residents still love being there, some folks were taken by surprise with things they didn’t think they’d encounter. I’d hate for you to move out here, only to be disillusioned by the not-so-great aspects of this particular Atlanta suburban area.

Don’t get me wrong – Gwinnett has a great deal to offer. It’s one of the reasons so many people have moved to Georgia from other parts of the country. But before you pack it up and move, I’m going to show you in this video some of the real-life issues that just might put a damper on living in Gwinnett County, Georgia.

[intro]

Hey everyone, I’m Tim Trevathan with Tim Trevathan Homes, helping people from all over the country make a move and find their dream home. Atlanta, as you know, has been growing continuously and where people choose to call home has been shifting, mostly to North Atlanta. And naturally, one of their favorite areas is Gwinnett County. But moving to Gwinnett is not for everyone, because even with the increased popularity and growth, you may not want to pack it up and move Gwinnett…just yet. Let’s talk for a minute about the ever-changing landscape of Gwinnett County, and I’m going to share four facts you must know…before you go.

So one of the first things that comes to mind when people talk about Gwinnett are the famous “great schools” everyone’s always bragging about. “Come to Gwinnett” they say. “Top schools” they say. Well, I’m going to put a pin in that balloon right now when I tell you this: Gwinnett schools are not all top, and they’re not all great.

The truth of the matter is that just because you live in this particular Georgia county, it does not guarantee you one of the best schools in the state. In fact, the Gwinnett County student test scores of public schools varies enormously throughout the county. A particular high school in say, Snellville, for example, may be ranked much lower than a particular high school in Johns Creek. Yes, some neighborhoods are more expensive, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the schools in that area are top-notch. And schools in a more modest area might surprise you too. So you really have to do your research.

You cannot just blindly pick a house, any house – almost blindfolded – in Gwinnett County and assume your kids will automatically be educated at one of the finest public schools in the nation. And I think that particular fact is a stunningly bad surprise to people who have just moved here from out of state.

Now, the good news is that in Georgia, you do not necessarily have to live right in the district in order for your children to attend a particular school, but you do have to be close enough to get them there if they’re not on the bus route. It’s referred to as School Choice or Open Enrollment. And keep in mind, merely selecting a school is not a guarantee that your request will be granted. Each district has rules and procedures for these requests, but transfers are often granted if you follow that school’s application process and if they have the space available.

I bring this up because – again, while Gwinnett has some very mediocre schools, and some very good schools…you could also hit the public school jackpot. Because there is one public high school in Gwinnett that is widely considered the very best of the best. I’m talking about the 2025, number one-ranked public high school in all of Georgia that is also ranked number nine in the entire country.

Yes. In Gwinnett County!

I’m talking about Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science & Technology – or GSMST for short. As the name suggests, GSMST is a specialty, college prep school for grades 8-12 and gets exceptional notices for academics, teachers, diversity, administration and a student-teacher ratio of 16-to-1, which is almost unheard of these days in large metro areas. GSMST, located in Lawrenceville, Georgia, used to be a charter school but is now public and… for admission?

Only by lottery. And possibly because of that lottery system for enrollment, you should also be aware that GSMST has a total minority enrollment of 86%, with 32% of students being economically disadvantaged – making their exceptional test scores all the more remarkable. But if Number One isn’t your ideal, especially if your children are not college-bound? Fortunately, there are other excellent public high schools all over Gwinnett County. You just have to know where to look.

The number two-ranked North Gwinnett High School is in Suwanee, Georgia and Number Three is Paul Duke Stem High School in Norcross, Georgia. But these two don’t rank anywhere nearly as high in the state or nationally as GSMST. And you can see on a map that there isn’t just one area of Gwinnett County that contains all of the best public schools. They’re all over.

So once again, I urge you: if you’re moving to Gwinnett and have children, do your homework on public schools so you can find one that suits your and their needs and sets them up for future success. And if you do need to take your kiddo to a different school in the county, I hope you’ve built in an extra hour to your work commute…

Because that brings us to the second reason moving to Gwinnett is not for everyone:

Traffic in this county is crazy and will only get worse. Think about it. Gwinnett was deemed one of the fastest growing counties as far back as the 1970s and 1980s…and hasn’t stopped to take a breath since.

You don’t believe me? Gwinnett has a 2025 estimated population of 998,232 residents; other estimates have it over a million. And while the county board of commissioners has just approved a budget of over two billion dollars to add capital improvements, public safety and health, and the creation of a Parks and Recreation Department, only a portion will eventually go to infrastructure improvements. At present time: our roads are a mess!

[insert map] Let’s pretend you live in Buford…but on weekdays, you drive your school-aged child to either GSMST…or maybe to North Gwinnett High School…then let’s say you work in Alpharetta (& not the real nightmare of Buckhead or another place inside the perimeter). The Georgia DOT has been studying the stretch of I-85 between Route 316 and I-285 for several years now to create better traffic flows and less congested exits. With around 340,000 vehicles traveling that 18-mile stretch every day, and almost half of them as freight, you’re looking at a southbound morning congestion on weekdays that extends for 11 miles. Not in the future. Right now.

As you can see, you really live your life in the car here. Metro-Atlanta traffic has for years been considered amongst the worst in the nation. And Gwinnett County’s growth means that even the once-rural parts of Gwinnett are often a virtual parking lot – especially during rush hour. Now, if you’re lucky enough to work and live within the county, the non-interstate roads like, for example, [insert map] Scenic Highway between Highway 78 and Ronald Reagan Parkway in Snellville, you’ll experience incessant crawl. But the Georgia DOT has been generating traffic studies and has eventual plans for road widening. Yes, this section has finally been approved for one additional lane on each side…but it won’t be installed until 2029, when Snellville will have added more development, meaning more cars and traffic. You see the problem now?

And if that weren’t maddening enough, the potholes and infrastructure damage create a lot of wear and tear on your vehicle. This is largely due to all of metro-Atlanta being a major commercial transportation hub. And unlike in some other major metropolitan cities, Atlanta (and Gwinnett) residents have been, and continue to be, very reluctant to use public transit. Gwinnett County, unlike Atlanta, has only busses and they don’t run everywhere or around the clock. The result? Serious traffic problems in a suburb rivaling a much larger city…which brings me to the next reason Gwinnett may not be for everyone…

The suburban “sprawl.” A lot of people have moved to Gwinnett because it puts them close to Atlanta, but with wide, open spaces, lots of trees, affordable housing… And guess what? Gwinnett is rapidly losing all of that! Gwinnett has a unique location in close proximity to Atlanta’s perimeter, I-285, but each tract of land has now been earmarked for mixed-use and commercial land and property development. One issue of commercial development has been a lot more redevelopment. So it’s become financially advantageous to buy a building, tear it down, and then redevelop it. And this sort of construction means existing companies going out of business, then new businesses starting, and the ensuing traffic. Take, for example, one commercial development: a 2,000-acre, mixed-use project along Highway 316 near Dacula. That development is expected to produce 100,000 jobs along with multifamily housing for those workers.

Norcross is now also growing again thanks to adaptive-reuse commercial projects. And the once-sleepy Snellville is undergoing a rebirth by creating a downtown area with retail, restaurant, office and entertainment space, along with apartments and a massive, two-story library. Not to mention a branch of Northside Hospital and medical offices being built. Lilburn is also doing the mixed-use development thing.

And right now, Sugar Hill is experiencing possibly the fastest of Gwinnett’s growth, going from a small community with no visible downtown area to having a vibrant one and a still-growing city center. They’ve built a concert and event amphitheater called the Bowl at Sugar Hill and a huge community fitness center, large enough for small business offices, retail and food and beverages shops.

A not-new, but major Gwinnett location for gathering – and traffic jams – is in Duluth: Gas South Convention Center. The 13,000 seat capacity arena showcases major acts for concerts, hosts trade shows, and is home to the ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators, an affiliate of the NHL Nashville Predators hockey club.

So with all the construction of restaurants, shops, businesses and event arenas in the county going up in the last several years, plus plans for more of the same, it should come as no surprise that the demographic of Gwinnett’s residents has also changed…which brings me to the last reason Gwinnett is not for everyone:

Single Family Housing construction is on the decline.

Now, you may say, “What!?! What about all the new construction, Tim? What about all those new jobs being created?”

And I would tell you…reluctantly because – don’t forget – I’m in real estate… that while there are several new single-family houses being built, and there are plenty of existing single family homes, the future of new developments in Gwinnett will include a much larger number of multi-family dwellings.

What that means to you is that along with the new commercial construction, you’re going to see a lot more new apartments, condos, and townhomes dotting the skyline in Gwinnett. That doesn’t mean there will be no new houses – there will – just not as many new subdivisions as you might expect coming up.

The reason has to do with the ongoing nation-wide housing shortage, and Gwinnett city and county planners recognizing a need to diversify along with the population. This shift shows that more single people are eyeing Gwinnett and moving here. In addition, the cost of land has increased significantly in the last several years, which would make single-family homes much less affordable.

But there is good news! Don’t forget, there are still plenty of existing single-family homes scattered throughout the county. You just have to know where to look.

So that, my friends, concludes the Four Facts You Must Know about Moving to Gwinnett. Because it’s not for everyone. I’m Tim Trevathan, your real estate expert in Atlanta. I help people from all over the country make a move and find their dream home. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. I would love to hear from you! And if you haven’t already, just click the Subscribe button so you can learn all the latest happenings on Atlanta and Atlanta real estate. Take care everyone. So-long.