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Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Are you excited about Gwinnett as the “Asian Mecca”?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman in his brilliant and best selling book titled “The World is Flat” observes that the world of the 21st century is a global village.
Friedman outlines a world where borders are porous where otherwise distant cultures now have an awareness of each other and an interdependence that could not have been imagined even 20 years ago.
Here in Gwinnett County we see strong evidence of the accuracy of Friedman’s observations. Much of the vision, modernization, and growth planned for Duluth’s Gwinnett Place area can be linked to Asian investors - many who still maintain strong cultural and financial ties to their countries of origin, such as Korea and China.
These savvy Asian investors are simply just ‘following the gold’, according to a recent AJC article titled, “A touch of Asia thrives in Gwinnett.”
Gwinnett is now on the radar of many international investors. Gwinnett is attractive because it has good schools and libraries, a sound business and governmental infrastructure, and relatively inexpensive land that is ready for development.
The “Asian Tigers” as they are called in the AJC article, have a clear upscale vision for the Pleasant Hill Road/Duluth area. Their development plans are not just attractive to the Asian community but to anyone who is a stakeholder in Gwinnett and Duluth’s future.
With their imagination and dollars we can expect to see a version of Atlanta’s Midtown’s Atlantic Station (where there is a convergence of housing, shopping, office space, and recreational opportunities) tentatively called Global Station near the Gwinnett Place area.
Moreover, it is anticipated that the Asian population will increase exponentially in the county. Some are even saying that Gwinnett is the “Asian Mecca” – like Atlanta is called “The Black Mecca” when it comes to being an attractive place where Asian culture can be celebrated and economic opportunity is abundant.
“They want to be players in…turning the Gwinnett Place area into Buckhead,” said Jim Maran, president and CEO of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.
I think that changing Gwinnett Place into Buckhead is fantastic. It is rare to have a middle class community transformed into an upscale community.
Moreover, I welcome the increase in the number of quality shops and recreational opportunities.
And I especially look forward to my family’s property values rising in tandem with the proposed development.
I could never have imagined that the progress of my community would be inextricably linked to ideas and financing from Chinese and Korean businessmen. But a flat world with porous borders has tied our destinies together in lucrative and exciting ways.
A flat world works for me.
What do you think about the proposed development for the Gwinnett Place area?
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