Waitress Elizabeth Griffin says it's worth the drive to work in the Crabapple area of Milton.

"People are still tipping," she said.

Bob Andres / AJC (ENLARGE)

The Crabapple Station development has some completed houses but also some vacant lots.

Bob Andres / AJC (ENLARGE)

This sign was hung on a new building in a development with many vacant lots in Crabapple.

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Griffin said she passes many other places to work on her 20-minute commute from her home in Canton to her job at Little Azio. Even with gas at $4 a gallon, the drive is worth it.

"We haven't been smacked by the economy," Griffin said of Little Azio's wait staff. "I have a friend who works at [a nearby tablecloth restaurant] who used to make big money, and she said it's slowed a lot. I'm definitely going to drive to work in a billion-dollar ZIP code."

Crabapple shares the 30004 ZIP code with south Forsyth County. The Forsyth portion ranks among the top 20 home sales markets in metro Atlanta, according to the 2008 Home Sales Report (an annual analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, using data was obtained by SmartNumbers, a firm that analyzes home sales data and spots trends in the real estate industry).

Crabapple represents a slice of what could be the future in North Fulton — a place where kids can walk to elementary, middle and high school, and their parents can stroll to dinner or an evening's entertainment.

Traffic already is a nightmare.

Two main roads in Crabapple have the lowest possible rating from transportation planners — "F."

Mayfield Road and Broadwell Road were fine as rural roads but are overwhelmed by current demand, according to a community development plan Milton city officials released in January.

Hopes are high that Crabapple will evolve into metro Atlanta's next live-work-play community. Traffic will ease as people can walk to more of their after-work destinations, according to Milton's development plans for the area.

The economic slowdown has slowed pace of the planned transformation. Dozens of new homes are on the market and many have discounts ranging from 6 percent to nearly 20 percent. There's lots of buzz about the lack of activity on the site of the planned Crabapple Mercantile Exchange, a live-work-play community across Crabapple Road from Little Azio.

The Mercantile Exchange is anything but dormant, said John Adams, president of Lodestone Development Co. The project's retail space is 62 percent leased, and his architects have been tweaking the plan to accommodate tenants, he said. Adams said tenants include Zest, a restaurant in the historic Donelly House; a dentist, Sarah Roberts; and Scoops, an ice cream parlor.

Adams said another reason for the apparent sluggishness is that he didn't actually buy the land until December. That's the first he could get a loan to buy the site, following almost a year of debate over the design among Milton city officials.

Construction now is slated to begin after steel arrives on site later this month, he said.

"Crabapple will be a great, old world community where people can set their troubles aside and relax," Adams said. "They say it's going to be the next Vinings."

BB Benbrook can't wait for the Mercantile Exchange to be started.

Benbrook's a Realtor for homes in Crabapple Crossroads, a planned residential community adjacent to the Mercantile Exchange. Benbrook expects the homes she's selling to benefit once potential home buyers see a mixed-use development within walking distance. Of 48 houses built, 16 are sold and occupied and 32 are available.

Discounts abound in Crabapple Crossroads.

A model home is marked down 17 percent, from $539,900 from $649,900 for six bedrooms and four baths on a level lot.

Benbrook — who moved to North Fulton to get away from the fiasco of the Florida real estate collapse — said she'd buy a home in Crabapple Crossing if she could afford one.

"Living here reminds me of a quiet, gentler time, when neighbors mingled with neighbors," Benford said. "I saw a baby-boomer couple walking to dinner holding hands. It made me feel warm and fuzzy."