Top 5 and Cons of Living in Suwanee, Georgia
Hi! This is Tim Trevathan with Keller Williams Realty and Tim Trevathan Homes. Today, we are going to talk about the pros and cons of living in Suwanee, Georgia. Suwanee is a city of almost 21,000 people located along the northern edge of Gwinnett County located just south of Sugar Hill and north of Duluth.
Suwanee is thriving! Over the years it has transformed from a sleepy bedroom community with glimpses of its rural past to a lively suburban community with an active town center. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Suwanee’s population grew 35.4%, thanks in large part to a focused redevelopment and revitalization effort.
Lifestyle website Niche.com has ranked Suwanee as the tenth “best suburb to raise a family” in Georgia and also top ten for “suburbs with the best public schools in Georgia”.
Pro #1: Suwanee Town Center. The Suwanee Town Center is undoubtedly one of the best things Suwanee has to offer its residents. This live-work-play area offers a variety of dining and shopping options to residents who live in one of the walking-distance town home or single-family home communities and driving distance residents also come to the Town Center to shop, eat, and enjoy concerts and other events hosted by the city in Suwanee’s amphitheater.
We’ll talk more about town center specifics in a future video, but easy access to the Suwanee Town Center is easily a top pro on and Suwanee pro/con list. Suwanee considers the Town Center a “community front yard”, and I’d say that is a great description of this well-designed area.
Con 1: Affordability. Like many of the northern Metro Atlanta suburbs, living in Suwanee can be pricey.
The median household income in Suwanee is $90,372; well over that of the country as a whole.
In February 2022, per Realtor.com the median listing price of homes in Suwanee was over $500,000, coming in at $507,500. In our current real estate market, it is very difficult to find a home under $400,000 in Suwanee, pricing out many first-time home buyers and young families.
On the other hand, for buyers with generous budgets, Suwanee is a great community in which to start your search for your dream home.
Pro 2: Schools. Suwanee is served by the award-winning Gwinnett County School system. Suwanee is served by three public high schools: North Gwinnett, Peachtree Ridge, and Collins Hill. All three schools are high performing. US News & World Report ranked North Gwinnett #17 in Georgia, Peachtree Ridge #37 in Georgia, and Collins Hill #56 in Georgia in 2021, out of 472 public high schools. North Gwinnett was also ranked the 2nd best public high school in Gwinnett County. Suwanee is served by 6 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 3 high schools.
Con 2. Private Schools. While Suwanee is known for its great public schools, some families prefer to go the private school route. Unfortunately, it may be a bit of a drive. While there are several private preschool options, there is only one private Christian K-12 option in Suwanee, one private Christian K-8 option specializing in dyslexia, and one Montessori school serving students through age 9. If you are looking for other private school options, you’ll have to look outside of Suwanee.
Pro 3: Parks & Greenway. Suwanee is served by the wonderful Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation department, and by its own robust park system. There are 3 Gwinnett County parks in the Suwanee area and 8 city-run parks. The Suwanee Creek Greenway is a hard surface trail running 4 miles through the middle of Suwanee, connecting Suwanee Creek Park to George Pierce Park.
I don’t have time to go into all the details in this video, but these parks offer Suwanee residents playgrounds, hard surface trails, pavilions and picnic areas, open green space, disc golf, an orienteering course, a community garden and public orchard, basketball courts, a skate park, and more.
Bottom line: if you like to get out and enjoy the outdoors, Suwanee has you covered. My advice: visit all the parks to find your favorite, but I suggest starting with White Street Park, Suwanee Creek Park, and the Town Center Park. If you have small children, I suggest heading to Playtown Suwanee and checking out the playground. It is a kid’s dream come true! In a future video, we’ll take a closer look at some of these amazing parks and all they have to offer Suwanee residents.
Con 3: Traffic. It goes without saying that traffic is a downside to living in any Metro Atlanta suburb. Because Suwanee is directly south of Sugar Hill and Buford, many of their residents pass through Suwanee on their daily commute and add volume to Suwanee’s roads. But, its not all doom and gloom! Thankfully, Suwannee has two parallel north-south main roads (Buford Highway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard) which really helps keep traffic from being as bad as it could be.
Interstate 85 also runs through the far eastern edge of Suwanee, providing direct access to downtown Atlanta. Interstate traffic can be a problem for sure, but easy interstate access is a still a perk to those traveling to Atlanta for work or entertainment.
Pro 4: Location. While Suwanee itself is not most people’s idea of a vacation destination, when you live in Suwanee vacation is never far away. Lake Lanier Island Resort is only 30 minutes up the road (without traffic, ha!) which makes it perfect for a quick weekend getaway. The mountain towns of North Georgia are under two hours away, making them a popular place to own a second home or just escape town for the weekend. Chattanooga, TN is two hours away and Asheville, NC is just under 3 hours away; giving you all sorts of awesome vacation destinations within an easy drive after work on Friday afternoon. The best part is, you’ll be headed against traffic towards all of them!
Con 4. Location. While location is on the pro list when it comes to weekend getaways, it is on the con list when it comes to your daily commute. For those who work in downtown Atlanta or nearby, the further north of Atlanta you go, the longer your commute in to work gets. While, as mentioned earlier, Suwanee residents do have easy interstate access, downtown Atlanta is about 30 miles away from Suwanee. That doesn’t sound far, but the volume of traffic can easily turn those 30 miles into a 45-60 minute commute.
Unfortunately, mass public transit is lacking in the metro Atlanta area. There are Marta buses that will take you into the city, but you still must drive to the park and ride lot. The nearest lot is about 13 miles away from the heart of Suwanee, and can easily be a 20+ minute drive. But, driving to the lot and then taking the bus can be a great way to redeem some of your commute time by working or relaxing as you ride into the city.
Moral of the story, if you can head towards Atlanta either before or after the bulk of the rush hour traffic, you’ll spend a lot less time in your car or on the bus.
Con 5: Weather. If you have your heart set on mild winters and hot, humid summers – then you have come to the right place. If you have your heart set on seeing snow each winter or not being drenched with sweat the moment you step foot outside in the summer, then you’ll want to choose someplace other than Suwanee (or Atlanta for that matter).
While we’re talking about Suwanee’s weather woes, we can’t forget the thick yellow coating of pine pollen that planets the area for a few weeks each spring. While normal to Georgia natives, it can take some getting used to for those moving here from other places in the country. Many newcomers also complain of having a lot more allergy symptoms their first couple springs and falls here than they are used to experiencing.
Suwanee’s average summer highs are in the 80’s, which isn’t terrible, but the high humidity makes things quite muggy for most of the summer. Thank goodness for air conditioning!
Pro 5: Restaurants. When it comes to food, if you crave it, Suwanee likely has it (with one glaring exception). As of the 2020 census, 20.3% of the Suwanee population identified as Asian, and this is reflected in the number of Korean restaurants in the city, as well as restaurants showcasing other Asian cuisines.
However, if you are looking for pulled pork style BBQ, you’ll need to keep looking – to the best of my knowledge, as of this filming, there are zero BBQ restaurants in the actual Suwanee city limits! All is not lost though, as there are two BBQ restaurants with a Suwanee address – just barely as they are on the very edge of Suwanee territory but do let the Suwanee address claim some pulled pork deliciousness even though they aren’t in the city itself.
But if you want pizza, a burger, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, or fast food – Suwanee has you covered.
Summary: Suwanee is hands down an awesome place to call home. Sure, traffic is a bummer, homes can be pricey, private schools are scares, and summers are hot and humidity. But, Suwanee has so much to offer, and those pros of Suwanee living make up for the relatively few downsides of living here. From the active town center to the numerous parks and trails, to the great public schools and plenty of restaurant choices (especially Asian dining options), I don’t think you’ll at all regret choosing to call Suwanee home.
Call me if you need help with your Atlanta real estate buying/selling! Let’s setup a game plan to fulfill your real estate goals! Tim Trevathan: 770-906-0748 | [email protected]
