Top 5 Pros and Cons to Living in Johns Creek, Georgia
Hello! This is Tim Trevethan with Tim Trevethan Homes and Keller Williams Realty. In this video, I am going to share with you 5 pros and cons of living in Johns Creek, Georgia. No matter which list you look at, Johns Creek consistently ranks as one of the top places to live in the entire state of Georgia. It was recently ranked the 3rd best place to live in Georgia by lifestyle website Niche.com.
Johns Creek was developed as a planned mixed-use community in the 1980’s and was finally incorporated as a city in 2006. Located in northern Fulton County near the Fulton/Gwinnett county line, John’s Creek’s nearest Fulton county neighbor is the city of Alpharetta. However, its closet neighbors geographically are Duluth and Peachtree Corners, both located in Gwinnet County.
With a population of 82,453 in the 2020 census, Johns Creek is the 10th largest city in Georgia. It dwarfs all of its immediate neighbors; while still coming in behind Roswell, another city sharing northern Fulton County with Johns Creek.
Its time to look at 5 reasons people love living in Johns Creek, as well as a few cons you may want to keep in mind if you are considering moving to Johns Creek.
Pro 1: A well maintained city. Some cities just feel grungy and poorly maintained as you drive around. Johns Creek is not one of those cities. The many HOA’s keep the city’s neighborhoods in great shape. The city itself does a good job of maintaining the roads and medians. In addition, the city has its own police and fire departments and is not dependent on the county for those services.
Con 1: Affordability. Living in Johns Creek is not cheap. In 2020, the median household income was $125,862. According to Realtor.com, in February 2022 the median sold price for homes in Johns Creek was $581,000. Unfortunately, this puts the city out of reach for many first time homebuyers.
Pro 2: Schools. Johns Creek is served by the Fulton County school system. There are 3 public high schools within the city limits, and a 4th public high school in nearby Roswell serves a small portion of Johns Creek as well. All four high schools are very highly ranked, with the 3 in Johns Creek (Johns Creek HS, Northview HS, and Chattahoochee HS) all ranking in the top 20 high schools in the entire state of Georgia by US News & World Report in 2021. Two of those, Northview HS and Chattahoochee HS are ranked in the top 10 high schools in the entire state. Even Centennial High School, the lowest ranked of the four, is still within the top 50 high schools in the state (out of almost 430 schools).
These high schools also consistently perform well athletically. Most recently as of this filming, the Johns Creek High School boys swim team bested the Centennial High School team to win the 2022 state swimming championship for the second year in a row.
Con 2: Traffic. Traffic in Johns Creek is no joke. For better or worse, there is only 1 main north-south artery and 1 main east-west artery. The result is quite the traffic mess during rush hour. While there are of course secondary roads, these too tend to be quite backed up during peak traffic times.
If you are trying to commute from Johns Creek towards Atlanta in the mornings, be prepared to either leave early or to spend time in traffic. The idea commute would be to head north of Johns Creek in the morning or better yet, work remotely from home and avoid the traffic altogether!
Pro 3: Safety. Lifestyle website neighborhoodscout.com listed Johns Creek as one of the 100 safest cities in all of America in 2022. It came is as #29! While no city is 100% safe 100% of the time, Johns Creek is statistically a very safe place. Like most cities, property crime is the most common sort of crime. But even still, your likelihood of becoming a property crime victim is only 1 in 205 in Johns Creek…..compared to a likelihood of 1 in 50 if you look at Georgia as a whole.
When looking at the FBI crime data, neighborhoodscout.com found Johns Creek has a crime index of 80; meaning it is safer than 80% of cities in America. That’s pretty impressive!
Con 3: No downtown/city center. Unlike most of its neighbors, Johns Creek is a relatively new planned community and has no historic downtown area. Unlike its neighbors, the city also lacks a planned city center area focused on walkable shopping, dining, and entertainment. There is an amphitheater located in Newtown Park where the city hosts various events. But, it is inside the park and there are not any easily walkable dining or shopping options nearby.
Pro 4: Good Food. While it may not have a true city center or revitalized historic downtown area like its neighbors, Johns Creek still has plenty of fine dining options, and upscale casual options scattered throughout the city. Most of Johns Creek’s restaurants are located on its two main roadways, Highway 141 and State Bridge Road, so keep an eye out while you are driving to and from work and be sure to stop by and try the places that catch your eye!
According to the Johns Creek Convention and Visitors Bureau, there are over 125 restaurants in the city serving cuisines that span the globe. Whether you are craving Mexican, Indian, Thai, Seafood, Steak, BBQ, Chinese, or a classic American breakfast, you will find all of that and more inside the city limits of Johns Creek. When you live here, there is no need to spend the time or gas driving down to Midtown for a great meal.
Con 4. No Big Box Stores. As of this filming, there are no big box or warehouse type stores within the city limits of Johns Creek. We’re talking no Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Costco or Sam’s Club with a Johns Creek address.
Depending on your shopping habits and where you live in Johns Creek this may not be a huge negative, but for some folks it may be an inconvenience to travel to a nearby city to visit these popular retailers.
But, its not all bad news! There is a plethora of grocery stores in Johns creek and best of all, there is an H Mart in town. This Korean-American supermarket chain is a go-to source to purchase Asian foods. Their mission is to offer the best products possible, and they go above and beyond to bring high quality products to their customers. H Mart doesn’t just offer food – it also offers a variety of home goods, especially kitchen products, and has a food hall that is not to be missed if you love Asian cuisine.
Con 5. Homeowners Associations. Love them or hate them, there’s no getting around the fact that Johns Creek is full of subdivisions with homeowners associations. For some people, this may be a positive since HOAs generally mean well maintained and well-groomed neighborhoods. However, if you are the person who does not want to have to get permission before making changes to the exterior of your home, then you will want to be careful which neighborhoods you consider.
Pro 5: Parks. The city of Johns Creek enjoys a great park system. Combined, there are over 200 acres of parkland and nature reserves. The parks also offer walking trails and the city offers 5 access points to the Chattahoochee river either inside the city or just outside the city limits. That is a lot for a city that isn’t all that big!
Summary: Johns Creek is a thriving city. Traffic is a constant battle, but the trade off is getting to call this city with its top notch schools, well maintained neighborhoods, and low crime rate home. Living here is not cheap, but many residents find it money well spent.
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]
