I actually wrote this on my phone during Garrett’s ice skating lesson yesterday.  I needed to play with it a little more before unleashing it on the public…

Location, Quality of Life, Location

It’s time for Garrett’s (mostly) weekly private ice skating lesson.  These are done during public skating sessions, so there is always lots going on…  Garrett always jokes about the figure skaters… girls without pants (remember, he’s 4).  But, I digress…

The point is that I drive 30 minutes or so to get here, twice a week, once for his lesson and once for hockey practice.  We also have season tickets for the Atlanta Thrashers, and drive about 30 minutes the other way go to games.  My wife goes into her office about once a week… also downtown, and about 30minutes away.  I visit my office once every week or two… about 45 minutes the other way.  We have balanced where we live with the needs that we have to be in different parts of town.

Oddly (or not), we love where we live because we are in the center of our world.  As I counsel clients when buying a home, we talk about their “wheres.”  Where do they work?  Where do they play?  Where do they have commitments.  And it is different for every person.

Some may need to live close to work, others may work from home.  Some have family members that they need to be able to attend to, others want proximity to a certain school.  It’s different for every person.

If you are a buyer, one thing to keep in mind is your “where.”  There is an allure with the bigger homes further out in the suburbs.  Every metropolitan area has them.  Same price, 50% more home…  But there is more of a price.  Forget the cost of gas…  It can certainly be a variable to consider…  But there is something much more important.

Quality of Life

I love driving.  I love road trips.  Some of my best memories are hitting the road with my family or friends and seeing the world.  Commuting is NOT a road trip.  None of my best stories start with “I was stuck on I-85 in traffic…”  I would rather spend that time doing other things.  I would rather mow the grass than sit in rush hour traffic.

Sure, there are ways to turn that time into productive time… but that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be better spent playing with my kids, talking with my wife or even relaxing.

That is one of the reasons I like Lilburn so much.  It is convenient to downtown Atlanta.  The homes are a good value.  The school clusters are rated quite highly.  There are a host of recreational opportunities.  From the Mountain Park Pool and Lilburn Town Park to Stone Mountain Park and two different Moe’s restaurants (I like Moe’s…), Lilburn presents a very compelling case as a way to have great quality of life, a nice house at a reasonable price and a convenient location.

If you are new to the Atlanta area, let’s talk about Gwinnett County and Lilburn.  If you are in the area, you already know about it… and we can find you a great new place.

From the new LilburnDwellings.com

We’re all pretty excited about the Gwinnett Braves coming to Lawrenceville, Ga. starting with the 2009 season.   (Opening day is April 15, 2009)  I’ve been tracking the progress of the stadium & everything else going on with it pretty closely.  In fact, I’m planning to be a season ticket holder.  I’ve been “in line” to purchase tickets since the team’s move was first announced months ago.   Today I got the email that the official schedule has been released.

The G-Braves are scheduled to play 144 regular-season contests in
152 days starting April 9 (away) and then ending September 7.   The 72-game home slate includes 10 in April, 16 in May, 16 in June, 15 in July, 12 in August and 3 in
September.   The longest homestand of the year (12 games) begins on July
20th and includes three four-game series against Norfolk, the Lehigh Valley
IronPigs & the Rochester Red Wings.

You can get all the details at GwinnettBraves.com

Mill Creek, Dacula students and Hamilton Mill, did you know we have the chance to have the Mill Creek vs. Dacula football game be the Fox 5 Game of the Week? This is a great opportunity to let everyone in Gwinnett County know about our wonderful community and the Dacula area.

Follow this link and vote for the game. Voting ends on Thursday, August the 28th.

If the Mill Creek game wins — My Fox Atlanta will be at our school’s game with ‘The Hand’ and will distribute Fox5 goodies to the crowd.

We need your vote now!  We don’t want to let LaGrange/Newnan beat us out!

I actually posted this on my other blog last year… but it is SO appropriate. I am so excited to be advertising in the program this year.
We just got back from a fun event. Ok, if I were a serious fan of Parkview, it might not have been as fun… but if I were a serious fan of Brookwood, it would have been a hoot. But, I’m not going to actually talk about the game, except in the most circumspect of ways. I want to talk about the event.

Despite our best intentions, we didn’t get up to Parkview High School until almost 7:15. Since the game was scheduled to start at 7:30, we thought it would be ok… and if it weren’t for the fact that the average fan was parking no closer than Snellville (where everybody is somebody!), that would have been plenty of time. So, we saw people walking a mile away… and I was thinking that with a pregnant wife and a three year old, it wasn’t going to be much fun making that hike… twice… second time with me carrying both. But, after a few laps of some churches, other school’s parking lots, a soccer field and some side streets, we found a place to plop the ol’ minivan. And it was only 7:25…

So, we gathered up the supplies and began the trek. Little G-man could hear the band… and he was excited. As we got closer to the sound, he was asking more questions. After a few miles, we were within sight (ok, we had been walking about 10 minutes). This thing was big… I mean really big. We knew that there was a big rivalry, and we knew that it was the last game of the season before State Championship Playoffs, but this was big. The place was PACKED.

After getting in, we managed to find a seat in what I would describe as the Not Old Enough to be a Student section. I felt old… Gail felt old… Garret even felt old. The girls around us were young enough to give him a third look (note to self: I think the issues will start in about 8 years). So, despite the frantic activity in the kiddie section, there was an interesting football game going on. But, with the “Rush Hour on I-285″ traffic in the aisle next to us, we decided to seek other accommodations before half-time. My wife is a “recovering” band geek, so we had to be in a good position for the Halftime Show.

We abandoned the 70 pound crowd and made our way to the fence near the Parkview drum corps while they practiced. There are few things that can hold the attention like a drum corps. If they didn’t stop, he would stand there until Bob the Builder walked by and grabbed his attention away… or the Chik-fil-A cow… who just happened to walk by as the drum corps got ready to line up with the band.

My wife wanted a better perch, and we figured there was no better place that the area reserved for the band… they weren’t using it. Are you thinking that there was no way we would be able to stay there? Let me tell you, my kid is cute. Aside from the people that walked in front of us constantly, it was a great spot. But, there was still less traffic than in the NOES area. We knew we would have to abandon the area after the band was done on the field, but, the ex-band geek wanted a higher view…

So, we found a perch about halfway up the aisle next to the band. We had watched Brookwood HS’s band first, now it was time for Parkview to perform. Since the little guy couldn’t see, it was up on the shoulder time. There he sat for the next 13 minutes while the band marched… asking “what are they doing?” about every 30 seconds. “they are marching”… still the answer.

Good time. We really did enjoy the show. Garrett was having a serious ball. And he’d spotted a kid with pompoms. So, after the band finished up, we headed to the concession area… and the bathroom (pregnant wife, remember?) We found different pompoms. And the stand had one of the blue and orange ones left… scored for free for the cute kid. Hurry past the funnel cake booth… ok, we slowed down. the line was long enough that even the three year old didn’t want me to wait in it. Now, the search for a new spot, sans middle schoolers.

Woo hoo. We found a spot. This was next to the band, and slightly in front of the Angry Dads Yelling Out Plays to the Coaches section. That really isn’t as bad as it sounds. This was great. Short guy was enjoying the band. I could actually see that there was football going on. Wife was also enjoying the band. Short guy was people watching… when he wasn’t assaulting the guy in front of us with the pompom. then he got a Parkview football from a passing guy (seriously, the kid scored more than the Panthers…).

We knew that we needed to get out in front of the crowd. Pregnant wife and three year old were not up to sprinting for the minivan… me neither. So, with about 9 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, we made our escape. Ten minutes to get back to the minivan and we were off… after loading up. We just managed to beat the crowd out onto the road.

A quick stop into Bruster’s for ice cream… the kid was seriously good during the whole event… and back home.

It was a great night in Lilburn, Georgia. We got to watch two State Championship caliber football teams face off. We got to watch two great marching bands perform. If you want to be in either of these excellent school districts, give me a call. Or drop by my website and take a look at what is available.

We’re all getting pretty excited about having the Gwinnett Braves here next season.  The stadium construction is well underway — and it will bring millions in new retail business to the area right along with it!  The northern tip of Gwinnett County is really getting an economic “shot in the arm” from the project.   (I’m talking about the area from Mall of Ga. up to Hamilton Mill & Chateau Elan)

I’ve been “on the list” for season tickets since they first announced that the Gwinnett Braves were coming to town.  It was pretty easy to get on the list.  You just had to go to Ticketmaster and pay $100 to hold your place.  I imagine that 100’s of people did that.  Cost per ticket is about $1k — depending on the location of the seat, etc.  We’re all still waiting for the big announcement that the tickets are actually available for purchase, etc.  Hopefully, that will be coming real soon!

Ok, not just for kids, but kids can certainly have a ball there. To start with there is the giant playground. It was built just a few years ago, and has a bunch of slides, several swings, a few climbing walls as well as a bunch of other toys…

In addition to the kids’ playground, there are tennis courts, a bandshell, playing/gathering field, a walking trail, pavilion and access to the Camp Creek Greenway Trail. The park is located right in the heart of “Olde Town” Lilburn.

***From LaneBailey.com***

I got the chance this morning to visit the Gwinnett Environmental Center in Buford. It is a really cool place to visit. It offers a variety of opportunities for recreation as well as education… and it is a really nice setting.

The basic function of the center is water education.

• Blue Planet theater… two multi-media screens and a waterfall screen. The waterfall screen also turns into a rock screen.
• The Water Room… My son’s favorite. It offers kids (like me!) the opportunity to play with various water tools while learning about the power of water, as well as how water is treated and how to save water.
• There is a history of water in Gwinnett County and the Southeast, relating how culture reflected the waters.

The actual building in which the center is housed is also pretty impressive from a green perspective.

• It is the first Gold Certified Green Building in Gwinnett County.
• It has the largest sloped vegetative roof in the US. The 40,000 sedum seedlings which helps to reduce the heat island effect, keep the interior cooler in summer and reduce stormwater runoff.
• It uses non-potable water for cooling. It is pretty cool…
• Pervious (porous) pavement is used to allow water to soak through instead of run off of the paved portions of the parking lot and trails.
• Renewable and recycled materials were used throughout.

There are field study programs for school aged children as well.

On the recreational front, the center has several miles of trails in and around it. They range from easy to strenuous and vary in length from one tenth to 2.4 miles and some are paved. There are eleven different trails.

Visit the website for the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center website.

For more images from the Gwinnett EHC, please feel free to visit LaneBailey.com.