Archive for the 'Roswell Real Estate' Category
Alpharetta Real Estate Sells for $100k More on Average than Roswell and East Cobb Real Estate
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Roswell Real Estate
My fellow Realtor, Kathy Drewien, in Marietta does a great job of compiling market statistics in her area. She does it the old-fashioned way: with hard work and expertise. She recently did a comparison of East Cobb, Roswell and Alpharetta. The analysis was done by zip code, so the Alpharetta numbers include Milton and Johns Creek real estate, but none the less the numbers are intriguing.
Her analysis shows that on average Alpharetta real estate sells for about $100,000 more than East Cobb (Roswell and Marietta addresses) and Roswell (Fulton County addresses). Click Here for all the numbers from Kathy.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 2 Comments »
Possibly the Ugliest House in Roswell
categories: Roswell Real Estate, Stuff I like to talk about
WARNING: This post has no intrinsic value. None the less, I thought you might find it entertaining.
Last night, I was in a "glass half empty" mood so I thought that I’d share with you this little gem I came across while searching for foreclosures in Roswell and Alpharetta tonight.
This house could possibly be the ugliest house in Roswell. I’m not sure if it is the color, the windows, the landscaping, the architecture, the front door, the chimney sticking out of the front of the house … sound I go on? Actually I think it is the combination of all.
Now for the good news: This "Classic Contemporary"with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths can be yours for $289k.
Hey, it’s a foreclosure and everyone wants a foreclosure, right?
Other Foreclosures in Alpharetta and Roswell
If you don’t like this one - and I have no idea why you wouldn’t - there are others, possibly less colorful, though.
<BIG NOTE> The links referenced in the following
paragraphs have been removed intentionally in order to comply with FMLS
rules. Apparently it is against the rules for me to share the
information with you via my blog. I can email you the links
individually, but I am not allowed to have you individually read it
here. The rules are not keeping up with the times, in my humble
opinion. The spirit of the rules should be to help people market homes
and get them sold and to liberally share the data, not to throttle the
communication of listing data. When someone in a position to alter the
rules cares what I think, I’ll let you know! For now, please contact me directly and I’ll be happy to furnish you with the data directly. <END BIG NOTE>
Current List of Foreclosures in Alpharetta and Roswell EAST of GA-400 - 81currently on market.
Current List of Foreclosures in Alpharetta and Roswell WEST of GA-400 - 67 currently on market.
These links are good for 30 days from today. If you are reading this after that, please contact me and I’ll get you an updated list.
Last Note: my daughter just looked over my should shoulder and said, "You have to sell THAT house?" Fortunately not, but there is a price at which anything will sell.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently Comments Off
2007 Real Estate Market Review for Alpharetta and Atlanta
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Roswell Real Estate, Stuff I like to talk about
Hello, 2008…we’re back! And we have the Atlanta and Alpharetta housing data with us!
We had a great year in 2007, doubling our business from 2006; and we are looking forward to an even better 2008. Why then does everyone seem so bleak about the real estate market in Atlanta and Alpharetta?
In fact, last week, the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran an article entitled "Drop in Housing Prices Hits Metro Atlanta." What they reported was that Atlanta had a .07% drop in home values from October 2006 to October 2007. When housing prices are down 5%, 10%, 15% or more in some cities, is a less than one percent drop in Atlanta really news?
So, I went to the real estate sales data and crunched it seven ways to Sunday for both the Atlanta Metro Area and for Alpharetta and the surrounding cities of Roswell and Milton. The Bottom Line for Atlanta and Alpharetta is - and this is consistent with what I’ve posted here before - that the number of sales is down, the average sales prices is up and the average days on market is longer.
But first, some historical perspective on Atlanta and Alpharetta…
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Atlanta Metro Residential Real Estate Sales History |
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| # of Sales | Avg. Sales Price | Days on Mkt | Sales Volume | |
| 2002 | 47,826 | 225,022 | 98.0 | $10.76B |
| 2003 | 51,743 | 231,846 | 104.9 | $12.00B |
| 2004 | 57,726 | 240,312 | 103.6 | $13.87B |
| 2005 | 65,803 | 255,168 | 102.4 | $16.79B |
| 2006 | 68,256 | 260,723 | 100.2 | $17.80B |
| 2007 | 55,650 | 266,874 | 115.0 | $14.85B |
2006 was the BEST YEAR in Atlanta Real Estate…EVER. Almost $18 Billion of real estate transacted in Atlanta in 2006. Almost $15 Billion transacted in 2007. Yes, that is down from 2006, but still the THIRD BEST year in Atlanta Real Estate history. Is that something to get upset with if you are a buyer?
Next, let’s look at the real estate market data for North Fulton and the Alpharetta / Roswell over the last six years.
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Alpharetta / Roswell Metro Residential Real Estate Sales History |
||||
| # of Sales | Avg. Sales Price | Days on Mkt | Sales Volume | |
| 2002 | 4,224 | 318,503 | 99.7 | $1.35B |
| 2003 | 4,416 | 337,164 | 102.7 | $1.49B |
| 2004 | 4,317 | 362,225 | 94.4 | $1.56B |
| 2005 | 4,364 | 386,398 | 84.9 | $1.69B |
| 2006 | 3,896 | 409,473 | 80.3 | $1.60B |
| 2007 | 3,266 | 425,490 | 100.9 | $1.39B |
Alpharetta and Roswell’s real estate market actually peaked before Metro Atlanta’s, with 2005 being this highest gross volume year on record. If you maintain that there is a slide in the Alpharetta market - and that it is attributable to the sub-prime falling out or other national factors - you can’t say that it started in the Summer of 2007. The housing trends in Alpharetta started down as early as late 2005, although I’d have to do an analysis of month to month data to pinpoint it more closely.
If the 2007 housing market wasn’t so bad, why did it feel so horrible?
On the one hand you have realtors trying to give the market a positive spin and on the other hand you have media outlets trying to sell death and destruction in the housing sector. Who’s right? If 2007 was indeed the third highest sales year in Atlanta history, why were sellers complaining so much about a horrible housing market?
Simply put, the answer is because over 1,000 homes fewer homes sold in Alpharetta and Roswell last year compared to previous peak years. That means there are 1,000 disgruntled sellers out there complaining about the housing market at the water cooler, at the bus stop and at the check-out line.
For those sellers who have been able to sell, it has taken on average 20 days longer than just last year. In 2006, while not as many people sold as in 2005, at least it was a relatively quick sales process. Now sellers have to endure longer in a slower market.
The good news is that prices are still going up. This is a pretty amazing phenomenon, actually. It means that the better houses (the ones in the 3,266 that were good enough to sell in 2007) are still selling at a decent price. The less good houses are either stagnating on the market without reducing their price enough to sell or are expiring or being withdrawn without sale. It would be an interesting experiment to see what the average sales price would be if we sold the other 1,000 homes in the Alpharetta area. What price would they sell at as a whole to "clear" the market of the excess inventory and where would that leave the average? The lesson in this is that people with "good houses" are actually benefiting from a slower market: they are able to sell at the higher average sales price while the less desirable homes (or over priced homes) languish.
All the while, new listings continue to come onto the market. In fact, as the graph to the right shows, more new listings came onto to the market at the end of 2007 than compared to the end of 2006. The red line for 2007 is significantly above the blue line for 2006 listings and the aqua line (2007 sales) didn’t have its typical end of year up tick, although, anecdotally, we were very busy.
Couple that with fewer sales at the end of 2007 and you have a lot of inventory on the market. As of the end of November, 2007, the latest data available, there are 7.3 months of resale inventory in the Alpharetta / Roswell market across all price ranges. (There is some significant variance depending on the price range, with a lot more inventory at the high end, of course.) Compare that to November, 2006, when there was 4.8 months of resale inventory on the market. Hello, buyers…it is time to step forward!
Even with all this seemly negative news regarding the housing market in Alpharetta, I’m still bullish on 2008. You might think that I’m one of those, unrealistic, always optimistic people. To know me is to know better.
But what I do know is that Alpharetta, and particularly Milton, has a housing product that is unique and still in demand. People want to live here: the schools are good, there are lots of corporate offices here and the quality of life is very high. You get a lot of house, space and privacy for the money, as I’m sure some of my relocating clients will attest. Plus, I believe that we offer professional services that people value and appreciate.
I don’t have an insightful predictions are even resolutions for 2008. I only know what I know and that is that business continues to grow - the reception to this blog has been great - and we will sell more houses in 2008 than in any previous year.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 2 Comments »
Video Home Tours of Alpharetta and Roswell Real Estate
categories: Buyers, Roswell Real Estate, Video Tour
We’re going video, baby!
I’ve enjoyed writing this blog for the last sixteen months. I’ve learned a lot and I appreciate the nice notes from so many of you saying that you appreciate the value this blog has given you when making decisions related to real estate in Alpharetta.
Just the other day, I had a note from a reader in Texas who put it succintly: She said that real estate statistics were easy to find. Analysis, opinion and insight were things she had not been able to find.
Those commodities are what this blog aims to deliver and in that spirit, we are taking it to the next level in 2008. MORE value in 2008 is our charge.
I will continue to write this blog because I believe in the value of the written word. However, we are adding narrated online video tours. The key word being ‘Narrated.’ My opinion, based on the reception we have received from this blog is that readers want MORE opinion, not less, even if they disagree. At least we’ve then had the opportunity to explore the issues.
I’ve spent the past three days learning as much as I could about posting video to the web and a blog, and hunting for examples of how other real estate professionals are doing this. I haven’t found anyone who is actually narrating home tours as they shoot them. All I’ve found is glorified virtual tours posted to YouTube. These are nothing but a bunch of still photographs with transitions set to music. I want to give the viewed actual play by play, as if we were actually together walking through the house.
Without further ado, here is the first of our video tours (as opposed to virtual tours ;->). I pray it will be the first of many to come. Please, by all means, let me know what you think of this video and how we can modify it to make it better.
| Oak Ridge Run Roswell, GA Off Woodstock Rd. Near Roswell Park 4 Bedroom / 2.5 Bath Finished Basement List Price: $430,000 |
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 12 Comments »
The Real Estate Glass is Half Full in Georgia and Alpharetta
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Local Market Conditions, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate
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Click on Map to Enlarge |
I’ve said on this blog before that you can lie with statistics - or at least mislead by not telling the whole story. I find this often with the current housing crisis.
The headline of the most recent Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) report, referenced on the front page of the USA Today today, reads: "House Price Weaken Further in Most Recent Quarter, First Quarterly Price Decline in U.S. since 1994." That sounds scary, doesn’t it?
While this is technically correct, if you looked at the report in more detail, you would probably not be so scared.
I’m not saying the housing market is a bowl of cherries, but it is certainly not all gloom and doom as most media outlets would have you believe. Frankly, I’m growing a bit weary of hearing about how bad the market is. I hear it from other agents, usually the ones who aren’t selling anything, and I hear it from frustrated sellers who can’t sell their homes because they are overpriced, and I hear it every day on the news.
Personally, I prefer to look at it this way: Atlanta is a growing metro area with steady job creation; Alpharetta and North Fulton have some of the best public and private schools around; people want to live in the South because of the weather, jobs and because it is cheaper to live here than other regions; people want to live in Alpharetta and the surrounding cities and they appreciate the informed, professional real estate services that we provide them. My business is up over last year. Can the market be that bad?
Housing Crisis Centered in Four States, Not Georgia
If you dig into the actual report, which no one ever does because it is 89 pages long, you’ll see that the housing crisis, in terms of negative appreciation, is isolated to California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada, with Massachusetts and Rhode Island, playing a small role. There are still twenty states that have experienced 5% or better appreciation from Q3 2006 through Q3 2007.
Yes, that is a drop from the double digit appreciation of 2004 and 2005, but do home owners expect the market to continue like that for ever? To me, it has sounded like some homeowners thought they were in some way entitled to double digit home appreciation and now when they are trying to sell they say, "Well, I’m not gong to give the house away." If I had a nickel every time I’ve heard that in the last six months ;->
If you zero in on the Southeast, home appreciation has been respectable in the last year given the overall economic climate: Tennessee 6%, North Carolina 6.5%, South Carolina and Mississippi 5.1%, Alabama 5.3%. Georgia is the low man on the totem pole at 3.5%.
Atlanta’s Housing Appreciation is Average for the Country
If you look at just Atlanta, it ranks 139th out of 287 metropolitan statistical areas. Atlanta has had 2.61% growth over the past year but a -.56% drop in the last quarter. Over the past 5 years, Atlanta real estate has appreciated 20.18%.
Looking at other cities in the U.S., seventeen of the twenty cities leading the the DEpreciation were in Florida and California. The other three were in Michigan. Surprise there! My reading of the OFHEO report is that while certainly appreciation has come down across the board, that this problem is mostly concentrated in a very few states.
Alpharetta Real Estate Continues to Appreciate
Even within Atlanta, there are pockets of variance in the real estate market. While the city as a whole may be relatively flat price wise, I wrote on this blog back in September that average sales prices have continued to increase in North Fulton (Alpharetta, Milton, Roswell and Johns Creek) on both sides of GA-400 by $30,000 over last year. People want to live in North Fulton, that is obvious - and we are here to help them accomplish that goal!
It is a great time to buy real estate in Alpharetta. Sellers who have remained on the market are truly motivated to sell. But buyers, don’t think that Alpharetta is a fire sale. Yes, it is a good time to buy. Yes, you can find a lot of house for the money. But good houses still sell quickly, so my advice to buyers is not to get too high on the hog.
I don’t know about you, but my glass is half full and I don’t subscribe to gloom and doom in Alpharetta. Looking at the details of the housing data tells the more complete story.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
The Definition of Flat: Home Sales Remain Flat in North Fulton County, Georgia
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Buyers, Local Market Conditions, Roswell Real Estate, Sellers
Warning: Statistics lie. Well, actually, people can lie with statistics. If you don’t believe me, check out this book.
With that disclaimer, I’ll tell you that the real estate market in North Fulton county is flat…and I’m not lying, really.
He is my definition of flat: In July 2006, 162 single family homes were sold in North Fulton (Roswell, Alpharetta and Milton), west of GA-400. In July 2007, 163 single family homes were sold in the same area.
Good, we’ve now debunked with one statistic the common misconception that the real estate sky is falling. I can see the headlines now in the Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Atlanta bucks nation trend. Real estate market holds firm.”
Heck, it was just last week when the national media couldn’t get enough of the announcement that for the first time the national average sales price actually declined. Yes, that made a good story; always lead with the blood. There is only one problem: I don’t really care about the national average. I mean, I do, but only because it is some sort of global indicator of the health of the economy. But in the end of the day, I care about the national sales average about as much as I care about the temperature of the oceans. I do care about the global environment but, damn it’s hot here and I want to know when it is going to rain next. Real estate is local, too, and the fact that the national average is down doesn’t help me in my market.
The Laws of Real Estate Market Analysis
Law number one is that real estate is local. Law number two is that, not only is it local, it also varies significantly by price point. Law number three is that new construction and resale homes are different markets.
So, while I can say with perfect certainly and a statistical fact to back me up that the real estate market in North Fulton is flat, if we care to look a little deeper we will see some interesting developments in the last year in this market.
1. If you include the other half of North Fulton (east of GA-400), sales were actually down from last year. Four hundred and four homes were sold in July 2006. A year later only 344 were tallied.
2. Average days on market is up from about 54 to about 63. Plus, the number of homes active in the market increased from 1,859 a year ago, to 2,440 this year. Sellers, you have a lot more competition than you did.
3. The good news is that the average sales price is up over last year, so beware bargain basement shoppers. The west side average price increased from $481k to $488k. On the east side, they had a whopping increase from $391k to $436k.
The Breakdown
But remember, statistics lie. What happens when we break down the market by price range and look at absorption rates, the rate that new homes on the market are absorbed by the buyers. Another way to look at it is the months of inventory on the market. Six months of inventory is considered neutral between a buyer and seller market.
The two tables below show reveal some interesting points about our current market, points that are anecdotally reinforced by my personal experience in the marketplace every day. (Totals don’t add because of omitted data at lower prices.)
Overall inventory is up from 5.2 months in July 2006 to 7 months in July 2007.
| 2006 | $200k to $250k |
$250k to $300k |
$300k to $500k |
$500k to $750k |
$750k to $1M |
$1M to $2M |
$2M | Total |
| Sold in July | 666 | 556 | 1348 | 536 | 127 | 58 | 9 | 3858 |
| Current Inventory | 155 | 183 | 522 | 308 | 148 | 126 | 47 | 1669 |
| Months of Inventory | 2.8 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 6.9 | 14.0 | 26.1 | 62.7 | 5.2 |
| Days on Market | 47 | 45 | 45 | 46 | 56 | 75 | 112 | 154 |
I don’t know that this is exactly earth shattering, but there are two different markets in North Fulton: the market below $750k and the one above $750. Actually, I think the demarcation line is a little lower, but there are definitely two distinct markets. This seems pretty logical. Not everyone has $750k to spend on a house but a lot of people still want to live here and have $400–$500k to spend. That part of the market is still hot…OK, warm, particularly west of GA-400.
| 2007 | $200k to $250k |
$250k to $300k |
$300k to $500k |
$500k to $750k |
$750k to $1M |
$1M to $2M |
$2M | Total |
| Sold in July | 602 | 509 | 1228 | 573 | 125 | 65 | 9 | 3442 |
| Current Inventory | 172 | 207 | 715 | 440 | 181 | 142 | 56 | 2014 |
| Months of Inventory | 3.4 | 4.9 | 7.0 | 9.2 | 17.4 | 26.2 | 74.7 | 7.0 |
| Days on Market | 48 | 52 | 55 | 54 | 66 | 90 | 103 | 131 |
There is one caveat, though. This year, there is more inventory, no doubt, so your home has to be in better condition and compare favorably to increased competition in order to sell. However, even though it is more competitive, good homes in these price ranges still sell relatively quickly (under 60 days) for around 97% of the list price. Operative word was “good”. The junk sits on the market.
New Homes
When it comes to new homes, the picture is a little more bleak. First of all, there is practically no new home inventory below $500k (only 43 homes in all of North Fulton.) When selling your $800k resale home in a market with 17 months of resale inventory, don’t forget that there are 120 new homes in inventory, too. This is where the market has really slowed down: In 2006 there was a 22 month inventory of new homes between $750k and $1 million. In 2007, there is a 45 month supply west of GA-400 and a 33 month supply east of GA-400. Buyers, this is where you can really drive a bargain. Builders are offering huge incentives and resellers are having to lower their prices if they truly want to sell.
Bottom Line
I’m a bottom line guy, so here goes. Markets go up; markets go down. That is reality. No one was bemoaning the poor buyers a few years ago when everything was selling. Now all I hear is woe is me from the media and from the sellers. If you want to sell you home, North Fulton is still a desirable place to live, people are still coming here and home prices are still increasing believe it or not. But if you want to sell, you need to be realistic about your price and the condition of your home. Best thing about this market is that if you are a buyer it is a great time to buy. When was the last time you heard a national media outlet say, “Great time to buy residential real estate in America.” Well, come to North Fulton.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 3 Comments »
Why Have Property Taxes Increased So Much in 2007 in North Fulton?
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Johns Creek Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Roswell Real Estate
The short answer is because there is a new sherrif in town.
First, let me say that I feel like I have dodged a bullet this year. My property taxes – more accurately, my assessed value – did not change from 2006. However, I can hear the Fulton County Tax Assessor reloading and I can feel the litte red dot from his range finder on my house when I sleep at night.
There are about 11,500 homes in Milton and 82% of them were reassessed this year, the highest percentage in all of Fulton County. In Alpharetta, Roswell and Johns Creek, about 60% of properties were reassessed and in Sandy Springs only 25% were reassessed. Sandy Springs residents…look out next year.
New Sherrif
Historically, Fulton County has reassessed about a third of all homes each year. This pattern has kept the county on a three year rolling cycle for keeping the values current. The historical problem, though, was that the values have been all over the board even if they were adjusted every three years. This lead to wholesale changes in the Fulton County Tax Assessors office last year and the hiring of a new chief appraiser, Burt Manning.
Manning’s focus is on cleaning up the problem and the only way he sees to do that is to reassess everything in the county with consistent criteria. This year his office reassessed 55% of all property in Fulton County.
Residents in Milton have seen their assessed values increase as much as 20% over last year and the average across North Fulton is about a 13% increase. I’ve had clients call me with questions and concern about the increase and they have indicated a desire to appeal. Remember that the only grounds you can appeal on is taxability, uniformity and value.
The increase is really caused by two factors that combined to make the situation worse. First, values in many parts of the county were way to low – or the assessor’s office was just too slow in increasing them. It was five years after I moved into my house that the assessor showed my “fair market value” to be anywhere close to my purchase price.
Second is that there has been so much growth in North Fulton in the past 5–7 years. Manning has stated accurately that sale prices continue to go up in North Fulton and increases in property assessments are “part of living in a desirable community.”
Since I have lived in North Fulton since 1999, my assessed value has increased 60%. Remember, my value did NOT go up in 2007; I’ve got that to look forward to. I estimate that the market value of my home has increased just about the same amount, so I don’t feel so bad in paying the taxes that I’m charged.
However, next year I’m probably going to be hit with about a 15% increase and my property is surely not going to increase 15% in one year, particularly in a somewhat flat real estate market. My taxes will most definitely reflect a truer market value next year; the reason that my taxes will have gone up disproportionately to my home value is because they started out artifically low.
So What Does All This Mean?
If our taxes are going up, where does all the new tax revenue go? First of all, Fulton County’s 2007 budget shows about a 2% increase in property tax revenues from 2006. In 2006, though, the County brought in about $15M MORE than it had budgeted. I suspect 2007 will bring in more, too. Even if it doesn’t, your share will definitely be higher - and someone else’s proportionaltely lower.
Do I hear distant cries from the North Fulton woods for a new, separate county? Would it be ironic that in an effort to correct the problems in the assessor’s office, Manning comes in and does the right thing, but in the process creates more animosity between the residents of North Fulton and the county government. Many residents of North Fulton will feel, rightly or wrongly, that they were targeted.
Additionally, most taxing juristictions reduce the tax rate (the millage rate) each year to compensate for the increased tax base. This allows the jurisdictions to stay “revenue neutral” and for your taxes to remain the same even though your assessed value increased. For instance, Fulton County is reducing its millage rate from 11.407 to 10.281 mills (dollars per $1000 of assessed value).
|
City |
2007 Millage Rate |
| Alpharetta | 6.6 |
| Roswell | 6.087 |
| Johns Creek | 4.614 |
| Milton | 4.731 |
| Duluth | 5.191 |
| Suwanee | 5.77 |
The City of Milton, on the other hand, is not reducing its millage rate. By statute both Milton and Johns Creek can set and keep the millage rate at 4.731 mills for the first three years. Johns Creek is actually at 4.614 mills, but the point is that Johns Creek is not lowering theirs either. Both these cities are going to get a bit of a probably much needed windfall as a result of Fulton’s reassessments. These two new cities can use the extra revenue to build reserves, offset startup costs and start to build needed infrastructure.
Finally, when purchasing a new home, most prospective buyers ask at some point what the taxes are. (Buyers from New Jersey are always amazed at how low Georgia taxes are. I could double them and they’d still think they were low!). Make sure that when you look at the previous year’s tax bill for a property that you are interested in that it either has or has not been reassessed by Fulton County. The only way to do that is to look at the history of assessed value for the house, not just the previous year.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently No Comments »
Roswell Coasting — Downhill. Redevelopment Remains Divisive Issue
categories: Local Affairs, Roswell Real Estate
I had a fourth grade teach who used to say to all us pre-pubescent know-it-alls in the class: “The only way to coast is downhill.” As much as I hated that teacher’s proddings, I think she would be gratified to know that I still remember that singular lesson over thirty years later.
The same is true of the City of Roswell. It is coasting, and the only way to coast is downhill.
No Gripe = No Change
Roswell Mayor Jere Wood spoke at our brokerage today and essentially his message was that most Roswell citizens are content with their situation in life. Roswell has always ranked high on those magazine surveys of “Best Places to Live in the U.S.” and also boasts the 18th lowest crime rate as measured by some sort of FBI crime statistic. Roswell is one of only fifty cities in the U.S. with a AAA bond rating. But that is all marketing.
Mayor Wood recounted several anecdotal stories about the will of the citizenry. Most telling was his story of attending a neighborhood meeting regarding the Roswell East project to have the residents tell him that they liked things just they way they were. They liked the level of service they received. They liked their lifestyle. They felt safe, and they didn’t want their property to appreciate too much because they would have to pay more property tax!
Wood said that at that point he knew the Roswell East project was dead. Without some sort of civil malady, no change was going to occur. “Change is hard when people are happy with what they have.” So, Roswell coasts on.
The Mayor, for his part, is not a coaster. He recognizes that many changes need to be made to address the aging of the city. However, he seemed resigned to the fact that the citizenry is not ready for it yet. He said that eventually “market forces” would take care of it.
Perhaps things haven’t gotten bad enough yet – and there is certainly no political will on the City Council to beat the market forces to the punch. Wood stopped short, though, of throwing the City Council under the proverbial bus as much as the rifts between Council and Mayor are well publicized. Wood took the high road and simply stated that the Council merely represents the opinion of the governed and that the people of Roswell are split on what to do about growth and aging related issues.
We Ain’t Getting Any Younger, Baby!
The biggest issue, besides traffic congestion, of course, is the decline of Roswell’s apartment buildings and shopping centers. This is evident with any drive down Roswell Road (Highway 9) or Holcomb Bridge Road (Highway 92). Many of these properties are now 30+ years old and many haven’t been maintained. Many are vacant. At this point they are the home of a more transient population, which in turn puts more strain on City police services and the Fulton County School System. Ester Jackson Elementary School has a student population turnover of 50% EACH YEAR.
There is some talk of redevelopment of the Frasier Street Apartments, which are the oldest in Roswell, but that is probably a year out and the property is still being assembled. The City has a plan for Roswell Square designed by Lew Oliver, who I’ve written about before here. The plan would include an 80 room hotel, parking garage and some condos. But other than that, there is little action on the redevelopment front and never has been.
This is mainly because redevelopment would likely mean mixed use development, which people seem to want. However, to support mixed use, densities would have to be twenty units per acre and City Council is not willing to entertain that high of a density. Right now, densities are about 6–8 units per acre. The fear is that higher density equates to more traffic and congestion. The alternative is that development occurs further and further north into Cherokee, Forsyth and Dawson counties, which means – you guessed it – MORE CONGESTION.
So, Roswell continues to coast along. Sure, Roswell is a nice place to live and it certainly has the best parks and recreation system around. But Roswell does feel old now, as one of my colleagues politely pointed out to the Mayor - and not because Roswell has a nice historic district. It feels old in the bad way, particularly compared to Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Cumming where there is so much shiny and new. Roswell can continue to coast, but it will only be downhill.
Posted by Kevin Warmath | Currently 2 Comments »
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