By Bill Long, Shreveport, La. | After retiring from college teaching in July of 2014, I moved to Duluth, Georgia, to be near family. Except for two years in Washington, D.C., where I worked in the U.S. Senate pursuing a graduate degree, and a year in Cambridge, Mass., studying at the post-doctorate level, I had resided in Louisiana where I was born and raised.
Long
(Editor’s Note: We asked someone who lived in Gwinnett for a short time for his viewpoints on our county. The writer is a distinguished journalist from Louisiana, who has since returned to his native state. –eeb)
Work and other family obligations through the years required that I spend a good deal of time in Dallas, Austin, and Houston, and my passion for New Orleans and Baton Rouge (that’s where the Tigers from my alma mater roam) required frequent attention.
I had been to Europe a number of times, but I had never lived in any other part of this great country. I was eager to experience more of America. Gwinnett County, Ga., gave me that opportunity. When asked to write down my observations about Gwinnett, I naturally started to draw comparisons.
Small towns in Gwinnett County embody the southern warmth and friendliness of the entire region, not unlike Natchitoches and Abbeville in Louisiana, absent the Cajun-French accents and food. But unlike areas I had lived in, these Georgia communities have built impressive town centers and art facilities, adding appreciably to the area’s quality of life and future prosperity.
These “suburban” towns (outside the Beltway, as they say in Atlanta) are becoming urban centers as the population in Gwinnett Country continues to grow. It will be interesting to see how this diversified growth changes the character of places like Duluth, Snellville, and Suwanne.
The Gwinnett County economy seems somewhat different than other sub-regions in the south. In a short period of time, maybe four decades, Gwinnett County’s population soared from a few thousand to nearly a million, and it continues to grow geometrically. When I often went to the 1818 Club and to Gwinnett Rotary meetings during my short stay in Georgia, I met men and women who talked mostly about traffic issues, banking, residential construction, insurance, and related services. Subjects not covered were tourism, oil and gas, timbering, agriculture, fisheries, and heavy construction…..topics one would hear discussed in business clubs in Shreveport, New Orleans or Houston. Clearly, Gwinnett County’s economy is more service-based than other regions in the South.
Gwinnett County, for the most part, is clean and orderly. Compared to areas in Texas and Louisiana, more forest areas are preserved; subdivisions are better planned; roadways (more congested than one would like) are better maintained; and roadside trash and debris are better handled. I sense that healthcare is better in Gwinnett County than in other areas in the South. This, I think, is due to the influence of Emory; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Gwinnett Medical Center.
Gwinnett’s other great advantages are proximity to the beautiful mountains of north Georgia, the City of Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the presence of Delta Airlines. Obviously, getting to the airport from Gwinnett County poses a challenge. One wonders why the State of Georgia doesn’t just go ahead now and build high-speed train services over and above I-85, I-75, and Georgia 400 where rights-of-way are already in place?
On balance, I believe that Gwinnett County is a very special place. Yes, there are challenges, but on the whole, I can think of no better place to live, work, study, worship, and raise a family.
Geaux Dawgs! Geaux Jackets! Go Georgia!
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