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Source: Fortune magazine, ranked by 2006 fiscal revenue
AFLAC,* Columbus
Mohawk Industries,* Calhoun
*Fortune 500 companies located outside the Atlanta metro area
Source: KNOWAtlanta Magazine
- Turn off lights, television and all unnecessary electrical appliances when you leave the room.
- Naturally light your rooms by opening the curtains or blinds instead of turning on the lights.
- Don’t leave windows/doors open while the air conditioning is running. It makes the AC have to work harder to cool the house.
- Turn off the dishwasher right before the drying cycle and let the dishes air dry.
- Decide what you want before you open the refrigerator door. Don’t just leave the door open.
- Use heat-generating appliances during cooler nighttime hours.
- Avoid meals that require preheating the oven and microwave as much as possible.
- Use fans whenever possible.
- Check your hot water heater’s temperature by filling a glass of hot water from your sink. The temperature should not exceed 120 degrees.
- Use compact fluorescent light bulbs when possible – they only use one-quarter as much energy as regular light bulbs.
- Change air filters at the beginning of each heating and cooling season.
- Keep your thermostat set at the highest possible comfortable setting. Try for 78 degrees.
- Only cool the room you need; close vents and doors of unused rooms.
- Vacuum the back and bottom of the outside of your refrigerator. Removing clogged dust lets air flow more efficiently.
- Place large pieces of furniture on the outside walls to increase insulation.
- Check your windows and doors for air leaks. Proper insulation can make a huge difference in maintaining a cool house in the summer.
Source: Money Magazine
Population: 11,200
Typical Single-Family Home: $250,000
Estimates Property Taxes: $3,800
Pros: Green space, affordable housing
Cons: Traffic, I-85 interchange
Six years ago the residents of Suwanee voted to more than double their property taxes. The payoff: a boost from 28 acres of green space to more than 270, and a feeling of investment in their hometown. “People here participate in the community in a very thorough way,” says resident Dave Williams, 40, a partner in a marketing company and father of two. “They don’t just live here and work or play somewhere else.”
That’s abundantly clear at the newly developed Town Center. Built on a heavily trafficked downtown corner, it meshes park space, retail and office properties and housing into one multiuse plaza – and residents have embraced it in a big way. On summer afternoons kids of all ages splash in the park’s interactive fountains. On weekends Town Center Park’s outdoor amphitheater holds concerts and other events. Behind the appealing row of restaurants and shops are townhouses and single-family homes. Housing is reasonable – you can get into a nice four-bedroom for $250,000 – and schools are topnotch.
As for jobs, Dish Network and Southeastern Freight are the area’s biggest employers, but Google, Hewlett-Packard and other tech concerns also have offices nearby. Surrounding Gwinnett County and Atlanta (30 miles away) provide even more opportunities. Suwanee offers a tax break to companies that bring in more than 25 high-paying jobs.
Though the town has planned recent development deliberately, the area around Interstate 85, which runs through Suwanee’s southeastern corner, lacks for aesthetics but not for congestion. Still, the rest of the city has a lot to offer.
“We’re blanketed with parks to use,” says Brenda Everson, a mother of three boys. “We’re very nature-y. Instead of going to a movie, we’d rather be out hiking or playing ball. It’s nice to have those options.”
Director of Marketing and Communications
Why does one house sell within days and another languish on the market for months?
In today’s real estate market, far too many sellers watch prospective buyers make a low offer. To avoid this kind of frustration, you may want to learn the secrets of making your house more desirable. More importantly, the longer a house in on the market, the more likely the buyer will suspect the quality of the merchandise that has been “on the shelf” for a long time is somehow not up to par.
The Basics
Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes! Remember that they arrive at your front door and expect that you have done your homework and set the stage, so every room shows at its best. What makes your home special? Begin listing your home’s most positive features. Ask your spouse and your children to add their own special positive reactions. Tour every room, basement, the garage and the landscaping. Make sure that every area is showcased at its best.
Do the pre-sale staging and more for a quick sale.
Call a Jenny Pruitt & Associates’ Realtor to assist you in making your house ready for the marketplace.
Senior Vice President, Managing Broker
Sandy Springs office
Source: KNOWAtlanta
The 10-county Atlanta region’s population has surpassed the four million mark after posting a 104,000 person increase between April 1, 2006 and April 1, 2007, according to the latest estimates from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). The region is now home to 4,029,400 people, a population larger than that of 24 states.
“The Atlanta region continues its robust growth, reaching a new milestone with more than four million residents in the ten core counties,” said Mike Alexander, Chief of ARC’s Research Division. “Not only has our regional growth eclipsed a 100,000 population gain again for the second year in a row, but the City of Atlanta gained more population in the last year than it has any year in the last three decades.”
During the last three years, the region has added almost 315,000 new residents, a full recovery from the slow-down caused by the national recession earlier this decade. Since 2000, the 10-county Atlanta region has added, on average, almost 86,000 new residents each year. To put into further perspective this average increase since 2000 is greater than the average annual increase for 44 states.
The region’s average increase of 86,000 persons per year since 2000 has almost reached the 87,000 person-per-year pace set during the 1990’s, a period of unprecedented growth.
