Gwinnett County, Georgia Totally Explained

Everything about Gwinnett County totally explained

Gwinnett County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 15, 1818. As of the 2000 census, the population is 588,448. The 2007 Census Estimate placed the population at 776,380 (External Link

). It is estimated to be the 9th fastest growing county in the country in terms of numeral increase. The county seat is Lawrenceville.
   The county was named for Button Gwinnett, one of the delegates to have signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence on behalf of Georgia.
   This county is a part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area). It contains many important suburbs of Atlanta, many of whose residents commute using Interstate 85. Gwinnett is dominated by car-dependent strip malls, malls (including the Mall of Georgia), car dealerships, industrial warehouses, country clubs, and miles of low-density single family residential housing, all connected via an extensive network of surface streets and highways. Despite recent efforts of forming a public bus system, the average commute time in Gwinnett County is 30.8 minutes, ranking it the highest in metro Atlanta and 18th highest nationwide (2003 census).
   Gwinnett County's population is approximately 18.3 percent of the total Atlanta region population and has captured 26% of the region's growth since 2000, growing faster numerically than any other county in the region for the past 25 years running. It is the fourth-largest county on the list of 100 fastest-growing counties in the nation; to see large counties have a high percentage growth is quite rare. Gwinnett County Public Schools is the largest school system in Georgia and the fastest-growing in the entire Southeast, with 113 total school facilities and a projected 2007-08 enrollment of 159,258 students.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 437 square miles (1,131 km²), of which, 433 square miles (1,121 km²) of it's land and 4 square miles (10 km²) of it (0.91%) is water.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Forsyth County, Georgia - north

Hall County, Georgia - northeast

Jackson County, Georgia - northeast

Barrow County, Georgia - east

Walton County, Georgia - southeast

DeKalb County, Georgia - southwest

Rockdale County, Georgia - south

Fulton County, Georgia - west

Secondary highways

Arcado Road

Beaver Ruin Road (S.R. 378)

Bethany Church Road (S.R. 264)

Braselton Highway (S.R. 124)

Buford Drive (S.R. 20)

Buford Highway (U.S. 23/S.R. 13)

Duluth Highway (S.R. 120)

Indian Trail-Lilburn Road

Jimmy Carter Boulevard (S.R. 140)

Jones Mill Road

Lawrenceville Highway (U.S. 29/S.R. 8)

Pleasantdale Road

Pleasant Hill Road

Ronald Reagan Parkway

Scenic Highway (S.R. 124)

Singleton Road

Steve Reynolds Boulevard

Stone Mountain Freeway (U.S. 78/S.R. 10)

Sugarloaf Parkway

University Parkway (U.S. 29/S.R. 316)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 588,448 people, 202,317 households, and 152,344 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,360 people per square mile (525/km²). There were 209,682 housing units at an average density of 485 per square mile (187/km²). The racial makeup of the county is currently 52.2% White non-Hispanic, 19.8% Black, 0.2% Native American, 9.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 4.32% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. 17.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Gwinnett County has the largest Latino and Asian populations in the state of Georgia.
   There were 202,317 households out of which 42.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were married couples living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.70% were non-families. 18.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.28.
   In the county the population was spread out with 28.20% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 37.50% from 25 to 44, 20.30% from 45 to 64, and 5.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 101.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.10 males.
   The median income for a household in the county was $60,537, and the median income for a family was $66,693. Males had a median income of $42,343 versus $31,772 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,006. About 3.80% of families and 5.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.90% of those under age 18 and 5.50% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

By Road

Gwinnett County is accessible by major interstates as well as several US Highways. Interstate 85 runs through Gwinnett from DeKalb County at its southwestern entry point, and Barrow County in the northeast. Interstate 985 branches off Interstate 85 at Exit 113 near Suwanee.
Several U.S. Highways run through Gwinnett County as well. US Route 23 runs through Duluth and Suwanee. US Route 29 runs through Central Gwinnett through Lawrenceville. US Route 78 runs through the Southern portion of Gwinnett County. All of the U.S. Highways are east-west throughout Gwinnett County (although U.S. Routes 23 and 29 run north-south throughout most of its route).
Gwinnett County is served by several Georgia State Routes. Georgia Route 316 branches off Interstate 85 at Exit 106 after the Pleasant Hill Exit 104. This highway connects metropolitan Atlanta with Athens, where the University of Georgia is located. A second route is State Route 124, also known as Scenic Highway. This serves as the main route between Lawrenceville and Snellville. A third highly used route is Georgia Route 120, which runs from Tallapoosa, Georgia (west of Atlanta) to Lawrenceville. A fourth major route is Georgia Route 20, which runs Northwest to Southeast in Gwinnett County through Grayson, Lawrenceville, Buford, Sugar Hill, and Cumming (in Forsyth County). And a fifth major route is State Route 8, which parallels Georgia Route 316, connects East to West between Auburn, Dacula, Lawrenceville (where it merges with US Route 29) and continues through Lilburn and eventually into Atlanta and Austell.

By Air

Gwinnett County is primarily reached through Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The county also has its own airport, the Gwinnett County Briscoe Field. This is Gwinnett's municipal airport near Lawrenceville, accessible by GA Route 316.

Public Transportation

Gwinnett also operates its own public transportation. The Gwinnett County Transit (GCT), formed in 2000 and starting local service in 2002, serves much of central and north Gwinnett, and provides easy access to the Doraville MARTA station in northeastern DeKalb County, as well as transportation between major commercial and residential areas.
At present, Gwinnett County isn't connected to the Atlanta Area's MARTA rail system. Several proposals have been made regarding rail transit that would pass through Gwinnett, most recently a "university link" system that would link Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and the University of Georgia in Athens. Potential stops within Gwinnett County include Lilburn, Lawrenceville and Dacula, among other possibilities.

Government and Elections

Under Georgia's "home rule" provision, county governments have free rein to legislate on all matters within the county, provided that such legislation doesn't conflict with state or federal law, or the state or federal Constitutions.
   Gwinnett County is governed by a five-member Board of Commissioners, which has both legislative and executive authority within the county. The chairman of the Board is elected county-wide and serves in a full-time position. The other four Commissioners are elected from single-member districts and serve in part-time positions. The Board hires a County Administrator who oversees day-to-day operations of the county's 11 executive departments. Gwinnett County also has a separate police department under the authority of the Board of Commissioners.
   In addition to the Board of Commissioners, county residents also elect a Sheriff, District Attorney, Probate Court Judge, Clerk of State/Superior Court,Tax Commissioner, State Court Solicitor, Chief Magistrate Judge (who then appoints other Magistrate Court judges), Chief Superior Court Judge and Superior Court Judges, and a Chief State Court Judge and State Court Judges.
   Gwinnett County has the largest public school system

in the State of Georgia.

United States Congress

Senators		Name	Party	First Elected	Level
	Senate Class 2	Saxby Chambliss	Republican	2002	Senior Senator
	Senate Class 3	Johnny Isakson	Republican	2004	Junior Senator
Representatives		Name	Party	First Elected	Area(s) of Gwinnett County Represented
	District 4	Hank Johnson	Democratic	2006	Lilburn, Norcross
	District 7	John Linder	Republican	1992	Rest of county

Georgia General Assembly

Georgia State Senate

	Name	Party	First Elected	Area(s) of Gwinnett County Represented
5	Curt Thompson	Democratic	2004	Norcross, Lilburn, Tucker
9	Bugidaba	Republican	1992	Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Loganville, Mountain Park, Snellville
41	Steve Henson	Democratic	2002	Lilburn, Tucker
45	Renee Unterman	Republican	2002	Buford, Dacula, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Loganville, Sugar Hill, Suwanee
48	David Shafer	Republican	2001	Berkeley Lake, Duluth, Peachtree Corners
55	Gloria Butler	Democratic	1999	Centerville, Stone Mountain

Georgia House of Representatives

	Name	Party	First Elected	Area(s) of Gwinnett County Represented
51	Tom Rice	Republican	1996	Berkeley Lake and Peachtree Corners
95	Robert Mumford	Republican	2004	Centerville and Stone Mountain
96	Pedro Marin	Democratic	2002	Norcross
97	Brooks Coleman	Republican	1992	Duluth
98	Bobby Reese	Republican	2004	Buford, Rest Haven, Sugar Hill, Suwanee
99	Hugh Floyd	Democratic	2002	Lilburn and Norcross
100	Brian Thomas	Democratic	2004	Duluth, Lawrenceville, Lilburn
101	Mike Coan	Republican	1996	Lawrenceville
102	Clay Cox	Republican	2004	Lilburn, Mountain Park, Tucker
103	David Casas	Republican	2002	Five Forks, Lawrenceville, Lilburn
104	John Heard	Republican	2002	Lawrenceville
105	Donna Sheldon	Republican	2002	Braselton, Dacula, Hamilton Mill, Hog Mountain
106	Melvin Everson	Republican	2005	Five Forks, Lilburn, Snellville
107	Len Walker	Republican	1994	Snellville and Loganville

Libraries

The Gwinnett County Public Library system has 14 branch locations spread throughout Gwinnett County. The newest branch library opened October 28, 2006, in Grayson, Georgia. The library system was named Library of the Year in 2000 by Library Journal magazine.

Sports

Club	Sport	League	Venue
Atlanta Vision	Basketball	American Basketball Association	Suwanee Sports Academy
Georgia Force	Arena Football	Arena Football League	Arena at Gwinnett Center
Gwinnett Braves	Baseball	International League	Gwinnett County Ballpark
Gwinnett Gladiators	Hockey	ECHL	Arena at Gwinnett Center

Cities and towns

Auburn

Berkeley Lake

Braselton

Buford

Centerville (unincorporated)

Dacula

Duluth

Five Forks (unincorporated)

Grayson

Harbins (unincorporated)

Hog Mountain (unincorporated)

Lawrenceville

Lenora (unincorporated)

Lilburn

Loganville

Mountain Park (unincorporated)

Norcross

Peachtree Corners (unincorporated)

Rest Haven

Rosebud (unincorporated)

Snellville

Sugar Hill (Top 100 Fastest Growing Suburb in America - Forbes Managzine 2007)

Suwanee (Top 10 Small Town in America - Money Magazine 2007)Further Information

Get more info on 'Gwinnett County'.

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