Suwanee Named A Best City To Live In Georgia

SUWANEE, GA — According to a new list released by Chamber of Commerce, Suwanee is one of the best places to live in Georgia. Roswell was No. 1 on the list

Chamber of Commerce ranked the top 20 cities in Georgia out of 2,509 cities with populations above 25,000 and enough data for analysis. It used five factors: employment (number of establishments, median earnings); housing (owner-occupied housing with a mortgage, monthly housing costs); quality of life (work commute, poverty levels); education (percentage with a bachelor's degree or higher); and health (obesity ratios).

"Georgia's best city to live in is Roswell, located in Fulton County and situated around many beautiful natural features including Vickery Creek and the Chattahoochee River," the report said. "For its modest size, Fulton is home to the headquarters of several large businesses, including Pharsalia Technologies and Tripwire Interactive, that provide jobs to the city's residents."

Other Gwinnett County communities on the list's top 50 include: Duluth at No. 25, Buford at No. 32, Lilburn at No. 33, Dacula at No. 35, Lawrenceville at No. 46, and Snellville at No. 48.

The top 10 cities in Georgia are:

1. Roswell
2. Macon
3. Smyrna
4. Kennesaw
5. Marietta
6. Mableton
7. Alpharetta
8. Powder Springs
9. Peachtree City
10. Suwanee

Suwanee's history goes back hundreds of years as a Native American settlement, first by the Shawnee and then by the Cherokee and Creek, according to the city's website. The town grew around the Southern Railroad and depot built in 1871. Cotton and other agricultural crops were the town's mainstay for decades, until Interstate 85 was built in the 1970s. The city’s 1970 population of 615 has boomed to more than 19,500 currently, the city says.