Lilburn, Georgia. Located in the southwestern corner of Gwinnett County saw its heyday as a community back in the 1980’s and 1990’s when neighborhood after neighborhood was built and families flocked here for the great schools and convenient access to jobs in downtown Atlanta. In the first decades of the 2000’s, Lilburn remained largely stagnant while nearby communities like Norcross and Duluth were busy developing their downtown areas, attracting restaurants and shops, and becoming places their residents love to live.
Now, over the past few years and continuing to the present day, Lilburn is undergoing its own revitalization and there are lots of exciting things happening and people are not only moving here, but are really excited to join the Lilburn community. Stick around to the end to find out why!
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Okay, let’s get to the point of this video: the pros and cons of Lilburn, Georgia
Pro 1: Location, Location, Location. Of all the Gwinnett County cities, Lilburn has one of the most direct commutes into Atlanta. Highway 29 runs right through Lilburn and will take you into Tucker and then Decatur on your way to downtown or midtown. Or, you can easily hop on I-85 or Highway 78 if those are a more direct route to your destination. Another great thing about Lilburn having so many routes into the city is that if there is a traffic snarl on your usual route, you can easily take an alternate if necessary.
Con 1: Traffic. Of course traffic is part of living in a major metro area. You just can’t avoid it! Thankfully, there are a lot of back roads that can get you from place to place in Lilburn pretty quickly. But during rush hour, be prepared for it to take a while to get anywhere in town. One of the downfalls of being closer to Atlanta is that there are a lot of people who don’t live in Lilburn but have to pass through Lilburn on their commute to and from work.
Pro 2: Lilburn City Park. Lilburn City Park is one of the best things Lilburn has to offer. From the large, grassy field where visitors kick around a soccer ball or throw a frisbee, to the brand new playground and splash pad, to the two pavilions that offer a shady place to enjoy a picnic, you will see both families and individuals out and about enjoying all the park has to offer.
The Camp Creek Greenway also passes through City Park and is a 4.2 mile paved, mostly shaded, mixed-use trail very popular with walkers and runners. It stretches from Killian Hill Road, through the park, and to Rockbridge Road where it connects to Lions Club Park.
Lilburn City Park also is where most of the city’s events are hosted. Popular events include Food Truck Tuesday, which usually runs late spring through early fall one Tuesday a month, a summer concert series, Sparkle in the Park on the 4th of July, Lilburn Daze in the fall, and a St. Patrick’s Day parade plus more events throughout the year.
The city does a great job hosting events throughout the year for the community.
One more cool thing about the park: there’s a Mexican restaurant right in the parking lot! You heard that right: Agavero Cantina Parkside is a double decker bus that came all the way from London and was transformed into part of a Mexican restaurant. Grab some food and enjoy the park!
Con 2: Lack of Development Downtown. Right now, there’s not a whole lot to downtown Lilburn, which locally is known as Old Town. The few businesses that are there though, are community staples and stay busy! Worth noting are the popular local restaurant 1910 Public House, Antiques in Old Town, an awesome store run by a couple who are longtime locals, Old Town Flowers and Gifts, and martial arts schools Georgia Chung Do Kwan.
Compared to other nearby cities like Norcross, Duluth, and Lawrenceville, downtown Lilburn is small. Really, really small. The businesses stay busy, but Old Town just doesn’t have the same lively vibe that the larger downtowns do.
Pro 3: Current and Ongoing Development. Old Town may be small, but there are big plans for its future!
One business that is new to the scene is Citizen Exchange. This art collective hosts collections and works of art for sale by local Lilburn artists. They have also added a coffee shop and host art classes.
Music on Main has been around for several years, but is a definite pro for Lilburn as there’s nothing quite like it in the surrounding areas. Music on Main offers music lessons, but also hosts various bands and musicians on Saturday nights for outdoor concerns. Tickets are limited and Music on Main offers a relaxed yet intimate venue.
A townhome development is nearing completion across from the park that offers residents a front row seat to the city events in the park! The current plan is to add more shops and restaurants along Main Street as part of this development. I will say, these were originally slated to be open in early 2022 and construction hasn’t started yet. But, it does seem like construction is getting closer to starting!
Another Old Town development including a parking garage to add parking to downtown, luxury apartments, and more retail options is in the planning stage. The city has also hired consultants to help it create a plan to attract more business to the Highway 29 corridor.
Development takes time, but Lilburn has big plans for the future!
Con 3: Older Homes. If you are looking for an older home, you are in luck! But if you are looking for a brand new, single family home, it will be harder to find. There are of course a few newer neighborhoods, but most of the new construction currently being built are townhomes.
Much of the land in Lilburn was developed years ago when suburban sprawl first came to the area, thus Lilburn is filled with older, established neighborhoods. Many of the Lilburn neighborhoods were built in the 1970’s through 1990’s. Some homes have been nicely updated, but others are quite original.
Pro 4: Schools. The local schools have been drawing teachers, parents, and hopeful future parents to Lilburn for decades. Most of Lilburn is districted for Parkview High School. It is ranked the 34th best public high school in the entire state as per US News & World Report, and the 5th best out of 27 public high schools in Gwinnett County.
The feeder elementary and middle schools in the Parkview Cluster are also highly regarded and have good reputations in the community.
A slice of Lilburn is also districted for Brookwood High School, which has an equally good reputation; it ranked 27th in the state and 3rd in the county.
A slice of Lilburn is also distracted for Berkmar High School. Berkmar ranked 157th in the state and 15th in the county.
Generally, those with families or hoping to have families and utilize the public school system usually look for homes in the Parkview or Brookwood Clusters.
Con 4: Lack of Shopping. In some ways, Lilburn is a bit of a retail and restaurant desert. Don’t get me wrong, Lilburn is full of businesses, but if you want to shop at a big box store other than Walmart or Home Depot, or want a sit down chain restaurant like Chilis or Applebees, you’ll be driving to Snellville.
Snellville is where you’ll find Target, Hobby Lobby, Best Buy, Academy Sports, Lowe’s, Homegoods,
Its also where you’ll find Jim & Nicks, Bonefish Grill, Ted’s Montana, Longhorn, Chicken Salad Chick, and more.
But, on the plus side, Lilburn does have some amazing locally owned restaurants like Little Al’s hot dogs, Empanada Express, Izzy’s NY Pizza, Dante’s NY Pizza, and Taqueria Los Hermanos.
Pro 5: Diversity. Lilburn is an incredibly diverse community. Gwinnett County is one of the most diverse in the southeast, and almost 100 languages are spoken in the school system. There are people from almost all over the world in Lilburn.
It is home to the largest Hindu temple in Georgia and it was actually one of the largest in the whole world at the time of its construction. There is also a Bhuddist temple, mosques, an Egyptian Orthodox church, Korean speaking churches, Spanish speaking churches, Vietnamese speaking churches, and I’m sure I am missing some!
Parkview High School is 78% minority per US News and World Report, and is about 20% Asian, 22% Hispanic, 27% Black, and 25% white.
You can easily see the community’s diversity when you are at the grocery store running errands or just jogging at the park.
So, there you have it! The pros and cons of living in Lilburn, Georgia. If anything I said caught your attention and you are thinking that you might like to call Lilburn home, please reach out and let’s talk! Or, if you decided Lilburn is not the place for you and would like help figuring out what is the right fit, let me know what you are looking for!
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