Community
Amberfield Community: A multi-part series on communities in Peachtree Corners
One of the best features about living in Peachtree Corners is the winding sidewalks. In the Amberfield Community, its residents have hit the jackpot. For the community that shares The Fields Club with its neighbors of Riverfield, there is no place they would rather be during such uncertain times. The designs of over 450 homes in Amberfield and the amenities they enjoy are constantly evolving for their ever-changing needs. And thanks to the thoughtful planning of land developer Jim Cowart, the residents can better adapt and change with the world around them.
A resident’s perspective
Rhonda Levan, a Realtor for the great city of Peachtree Corners, is one such homeowner. She moved to Peachtree Corners in 1988 from the northeast to attend Emory University, and like most northeastern transplants, she never looked back.
Rhonda started out at North Manor but found her way over to Amberfield because her family wanted a house with extra space so she could take over the family gatherings. Rhonda’s two kids who enjoyed the perks of Gwinnett County’s award-winning school system are now full grown, but Rhonda muses that the house is just too convenient for them to even consider leaving the nest.
Her favorite part of the homes in Amberfield are that the rooms can be repurposed as the needs of the family change. The guest bedroom on the main floor of her home has been repurposed several times already and may even change again. Rhonda maintains that she will never leave her home, she will simply install an elevator when the time comes!
She recently discovered an old price sheet from her early years of Amberfield real estate and had a laugh over the fact that new residents could once purchase a custom home in Amberfield for the mid-200s. But there is more sparkle to the community than just the homes themselves.
Rhonda gushed over the famed sidewalks of Peachtree Corners and the many events that The Fields Club has to offer. She can’t wait to get back to the Halloween parties and bike parades and said she breathes a sigh of contentment when she thinks about being able to go down to the clubhouse with her family and catching up with her neighbors again.
She talked about the time her daughter fell off her bike and one of her neighbors took care of her and brought her back to their home safely. A community that takes care of each other like that is really what brings the most value to the neighborhood.
Putting the real in real estate
Nancy Minor, who has been a Realtor in Peachtree Corners for 34 years, knew that the Amberfield community was going to be special from the moments she watched it first being built. A seasoned veteran, Nancy recalled all the times over the years that the real estate community braced for a housing bubble burst, but Peachtree Corners was never affected like they thought it would be.
She believes that it’s because of residents like those in Amberfield, who keep up with all the latest trends and update their homes to meet modern needs. This is one reason that the market in Peachtree Corners has remained strong.’
Nancy also attributes most of the real estate success in Peachtree Corners to the genius of the late great Jim Cowart. She first met Jim when he used to throw special appreciation events for the real estate agents in Peachtree Corners.
From that point on, Nancy said, she still hears stories about how good a person he was. She even heard a story recently about how a church needed an organ and it was far beyond their budget. So instead of calling attention to it, Jim simply went out and bought the organ; it was waiting in the church the following Sunday. It seems that just like his predecessor, Paul Duke, Nancy knew Jim as someone who “did what needed to be done quietly, to help the community.”
The lasting legacy of Jim Cowart
Jim Cowart was one of the first in the nation to put special care into the entrances of neighborhoods, which is why neighborhood entrances in Peachtree Corners (and throughout much of the U.S.) are now flush with lush shrubbery and flowers. He also took risks with modern suburban architecture while developing the Amberfield community, creating homes that were unlike any others of their time.
Up until that point, Nancy recalls that most neighborhood homes were simply “5-4 and a door,” meaning that homes were always five windows on top and four on the bottom with a door in the middle. Jim was not only a visionary in terms of architecture, but he would personally step in during any neighborhood disputes.
“How many people do you know with busy jobs like that who would get a phone call and simply drop everything and come to the aid of the homeowners?” Nancy asked.
Jim Cowart was strict with his builders and was even surprised himself by the demand for new homes as Peachtree Corners was booming. He kept having to go back to the city and ask for more money and more land to keep up with the needs of the new homes in the Amberfield community.
But Jim’s master plan was in the sidewalks themselves. No other community in the Atlanta metro area has such a well-planned sidewalk system that weaves through each of the surrounding neighborhoods and leads to the YMCA, the river and other amenities.
Nancy was once part of a special committee to fight for the now iconic sidewalk system of modern-day Peachtree Corners. So, thanks to pioneers like Jim Cowart and Nancy Minor, Peachtree Corners will thrive for years to come.
Brian Johnson, Peachtree Corners City manager, boasts of The Fields Club where residents of both Amberfield and Riverfield can come together and enjoy its many amenities including multiple pools, tennis courts, playgrounds and a clubhouse. Members can also enjoy events like live music, movie nights and seasonal festivals.
Brian said he believes that “the character of a community is defined by its social and recreational amenities. And the socializing of both communities is made possible by The Fields Club.”
Like him, the residents of Amberfield are a beacon of what an ideal community looks like, and they spread those ideals every day by simply living that philosophy.
On May 17, the City of Peachtree Corners installed a Memorial Children’s Little Free Library at the Town Green in the Children’s Corner. The little library was donated by Steve Cloer on behalf of his son, Benjamin “Lloyd” Cloer.
The little free library encourages kids to take a book and leave a book to encourage increased literacy and the love of reading. The library was paid for with funds Benjamin had acquired during his lifetime and was designed and built by Benjamin’s father. It will be registered as an official Little Free Library and will be part of a program that provides over 150,000 libraries in more than 120 countries.
Benjamin, a Norcross High School (NHS) graduate in 2011, lost his life in an act of senseless gun violence on November 10, 2019. While at NHS, Benjamin was an Honor Student, President of the Science Club, Co-Founder and Co-President of the Philosophy Guild, a member of the Math Team and a violinist in the Orchestra. He earned numerous academic awards and achieved an SAT score that put him in the top 2% of students in the nation.
Following high school, Benjamin was awarded an academic scholarship to attend Pomona College in Claremont, Cal. In 2015, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience with a minor in mathematics.
After completing his undergraduate degree, Benjamin continued to pursue his education at Georgia State University as a full-time student. In the fall of 2018, he entered the Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) program at the University of Georgia. In the fall of 2020, Benjamin was planning on attending Georgia Tech to pursue his Doctorate in Artificial Intelligence.
At 26 years old, a few weeks before he was to complete the requirements for his master’s degree in AI at UGA, Benjamin’s life was taken. Benjamin received his master’s degree in AI from UGA posthumously in May 2020.
Benjamin is described by those who knew him well as someone filled with compassion and caring for others. He had an innate empathic ability to feel when someone was in need. Many people have described him as being “an old soul.”
Friends of the Cloer family created an endowment, the Benjamin Lloyd Cloer Endowment for AI. Thanks to everyone who has or will donate, there will forever be a “Benjamin Lloyd Cloer Endowment for AI” at UGA. The endowment began offering grants in the fall of 2020 to students in financial need who are studying artificial intelligence.
Community
Peachtree Corner’s Goal: The Best Streets, Sidewalks, and Multi-Use Trail System in Gwinnett County
Since the City was founded in 2012, Peachtree Corners has taken these goals very seriously: One, we want our citizens to be safe driving on the best streets in Gwinnett County, and two, we believe in having a walkable community. With this in mind, we have planned several projects for the creation of new sidewalks and multi-use trails.
To ensure that the City can provide the best streets for our residents, we have conducted a technical analysis of each street to prioritize the order in which those streets are resurfaced. State-of-the-art imaging technology called Laser Crack Measurement is used to develop a Pavement Coefficient Index (PCI) for each street. Each neighborhood is given an average PCI for all its streets, and all neighborhoods are prioritized based on those averages. The City performed its most recent analysis in October of 2022.
In April of this year, the City began work on its scheduled 2023 Street Paving projects. The following neighborhoods are currently scheduled for paving in 2023.
- Chattahoochee Station
- River Valley Station
- Spalding Hollow
- Neely Meadows
- Spalding Bluff
- Holcomb Bridge Station
- Spalding Chase
- Peachtree Square Townhomes
These neighborhoods may not be paved in the order above, but Contractors will post signage in the specific neighborhoods before work begins.
In addition to roads, the City plans for the construction of more sidewalks and multi-use trails.
The location of new sidewalks and multi-use trails is based on the needs and gaps within our current network. We have been focusing on connections to businesses, schools, bus stops, and other public facilities as well as worn paths we have noticed throughout the city that show a clear need for sidewalks.
Below is the list of sidewalks that will be under construction this summer:
- Woodhill Dr
- Meadow Rue Dr
- Parkway Lane
- Jay Bird Alley
- Green Pointe Parkway
- The Corners Parkway
Additionally, we have several sidewalks that are currently under design:
- Jay Bird Alley
- SR 141/Peachtree Parkway
- Jones Bridge Circle
Multi-Use Trails that are currently under construction are in Technology Park, at Town Center, and the Riverlands Path, located on East Jones Bridge Road and Medlock Bridge Road.
In the future, the City will work towards the design and construction of the following multi-use trails:
Burdell Branch: This portion of the system will connect Engineering Drive south to Woodhill Drive. An existing segment of Corners Connector currently ends at Engineering Drive and Peachtree Parkway in front of the Corners Fine Wine & Spirits and RaceTrac. This project will extend that trail infrastructure south to the Chick-fil-A area and its adjacent shopping centers.
Farrell Creek: Will consist of approximately 2.13 miles of 10′ to 12′ concrete multi-use trail. It is proposed to run from Peachtree Corners Circle west of Peachtree Parkway to Engineering Drive. This trail would run around two water features along Triangle Parkway and an additional water feature north of Engineering Drive.
Crooked Creek Trail North: Crooked Creek Trail North is composed of 7 segments totaling approximately 4.04 miles. The segment is planned to run along Crooked Creek from the area around Peachtree Corners Circle to Spalding Drive. In addition to the planned 7 segments, there is one alternative segment (.17 miles) that may be constructed as part of the project.
Crooked Creek Trail South: Crooked Creek Trail South is composed of 7 segments totaling approximately 2.95 miles. The segment is planned to run from Peachtree Parkway West to Peachtree Corners Circle. It will be located along Holcomb Bridge Road from Peachtree Parkway to the intersection of Jimmy Carter Blvd. From that intersection, it will move along Crooked Creek to Peachtree Corners Circle.
That’s a brief update on the status of paving, sidewalks, and multi-use trails in the City. Although there will be some delays and inconvenience, please bear with us as we complete our current paving schedules. We want our citizens to be confident that we are making progress on our goal of having the best streets, sidewalks, and multiuse trails in Gwinnett County.
Stay safe,
Mike
City Government
How will drones be used in the city, new City Budget is coming up and City Marshals are ready to be hired.
Peachtree Corner’s Goal: The Best Streets, Sidewalks, and Multi-Use Trail System in Gwinnett County
Read the Peachtree Corners Magazine June/July 2023 Digital Edition Online
Atlas Behavioral Health Celebrates Opening in Peachtree Corners
Peachtree Corners Business Association Announces Annual Scholarship Winners
Israel Innovation Authority and Peachtree Corners Ally to Bring Top Technology Startups to Silicon Orchard
Peachtree Corners Installs Little Free Library in Memorial to Benjamin “Lloyd” Cloer
Insight Sourcing Group Adds Kane Kiester as VP of Energy Procurement and Management
Peachtree Corners Business Association Announces Annual Scholarship Winners
Read the Peachtree Corners Magazine June/July 2023 Digital Edition Online
Atlas Behavioral Health Celebrates Opening in Peachtree Corners
Insight Sourcing Group Adds Kane Kiester as VP of Energy Procurement and Management
Israel Innovation Authority and Peachtree Corners Ally to Bring Top Technology Startups to Silicon Orchard
Peachtree Corners Installs Little Free Library in Memorial to Benjamin “Lloyd” Cloer
Peachtree Corner’s Goal: The Best Streets, Sidewalks, and Multi-Use Trail System in Gwinnett County
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Light up the Corners [Video]
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The ED Hour: What it takes to Remove Barriers from Education
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