Gwinnett Daily Post

SUWANEE -- The City of Suwanee was recently named a "top 10 city to raise your kids" by Kiplinger.com.

The website's author, Caitlin Dewey, said, "Suwanee sits in Atlanta's moneyed northern suburbs: Think big yards and small crime rates. The town's highly regarded schools make it a particularly good place for raising children. The education nonprofit GreatSchools.org rates every school in the district an enviable 9 or 10 (out of 10)."

Mayor Jimmy Burnette said the recognition is exciting and means the citizens appreciate what city officials are doing.

"It makes you feel like you're doing something right," he said. "Somebody is paying attention to what you're doing."

Dewey said the website chose the cities based on metropolitan areas with high household incomes relative to living costs, a large percentage of families with children under 18, and low crime rates.

"We weren't seeking the cheapest places to live, but rather places where earnings potential is more than adequate to cover a family's expenses," she wrote.

Other factors were education, parks, playgrounds and libraries. Dewey reported that Suwanee's average family income is $104,813, and the percentage of families with children is 40.3 percent.

The top city in the list was Omaha, Neb., and Richland, Wash. came in second. The cities that trailed Suwanee were Thousand Oaks, Calif., East Grand Rapids, Mich., Appleton, Wis., Sunnyvale, Calif., Middletown, N.Y., Corona, Calif., and Stamford, Conn.

Kiplinger also referenced Suwanee's proximity to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Lake Lanier,.PlayTown Suwanee and the Big Splash fountain were also viewed as positives.

"Meanwhile, Mom and Dad can expect low living costs and solid incomes at one of the many manufacturing firms that call the area home," Dewey wrote.

Suwanee's also been recognized by Money Magazine in 2007 and 2009 as, "one of the country's best small communities in which to live."