Photograph by Andrew Thomas Lee
Johns Creek has achieved a lot in the 20 years since it was incorporated as its own city. Travel + Leisure named it America’s best suburb in 2024, and for the past two years, U.S. News & World Report has declared the city one of the best places to live in the country, citing, among other perks, low crime rates and high-performing schools.
A swath of North Fulton about 30 miles north of Atlanta, Johns Creek boasts nine city parks, its own symphony orchestra, a hospital, and plenty of restaurants and shops. The community is culturally diverse, with half its residents identifying as non-White. There’s also diversity of cuisine: Two Michelin-recommended spots, Hen Mother Cookhouse (Southern comfort fare) and Masterpiece (Chinese cuisine), call Johns Creek home, alongside several Mediterranean grills, Korean fried-chicken joints, and Indian restaurants. Japanophiles flock to Johns Creek for the metro area’s only Kinokuniya bookstore and the popular Japanese dollar store, Daiso.
Even the dog park has earned national accolades: Newtown Dream Dog Park, which has artificial turf and a doggy splash pad, was named a USA Today reader’s choice favorite in 2024.
Photograph by the City of Johns Creek
Why it’s hopping:
Johns Creek had long lacked a centralized “third space” for dining, relaxing, and celebrating, along the lines of Avalon in Alpharetta or Halcyon in South Forsyth. That’s changing: In October, the first stage of Medley, a 42-acre mixed-use development from Avalon developer Mark Toro, will open at the heart of a wider Johns Creek Town Center area that will serve as the city’s downtown. In addition to apartments, townhomes, and a hotel, Medley will be home to shops and restaurants; a coveted Trader Joe’s has already opened in the complex.
Over the summer, the Boardwalk at Town Center, a new park and amphitheater outside city hall, launched with a massive Fourth of July celebration that might be Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry’s proudest achievement to date. “You [could] just feel the community spirit and the sense of belonging,” he says of the event. “And that’s not an easy thing to do when a city like Johns Creek was born out of thin air.”
Courtesy of Sree Shama
Who calls it home:
David Ahmadi, general manager at Six Bridges Brewing in Town Center, says new developments have breathed more energy into Johns Creek than the city had when he moved here in 2003. Previously, residents stuck with their subdivisions and mingled only at school events. “Now, there’s just more opportunity for people [of different backgrounds] to get together,” he says. “And the more cross-pollination you have, the stronger we get.”
“Our community is an awesome community,” says Sree Shama, who has lived in the area since 2001. Like Ahmadi, he cites the city’s diversity as a major strength, noting that whenever he goes to the grocery store, “I get to see people of all different countries or origins, and we all seem to be having fun.”
How the community gathers:
The city’s celebrations reflect the wide range of people who call it home. In 2022, Johns Creek became the first city in Georgia to sponsor a Diwali festival; the Hindu festival of lights has become so popular, the city has had to scale it back to prevent congestion nightmares.
This year’s Diwali Celebration takes place in November. Plans are still taking shape, but last year’s festival featured the Diwali Market with dozens of crafts vendors, as well as food trucks and performances from local Indian dance schools. Shama, who is on the Diwali Market’s planning committee, says he’s grateful that city leaders embrace diversity as one of Johns Creek’s biggest strengths. Other popular festivals include Daffodil Days in the spring, which draws families with carnival rides and games, as well as the annual Lunar New Year celebration in February and the International Festival in May.
Photograph by the City of Johns Creek
Diwali Celebration
Date: Saturday, November 7
Cost: Free
Location: The Boardwalk at Town Center
Good to know: Make time to explore the new one-mile elevated trail that winds through trees and wetlands near the Boardwalk.
Atlanta Real Estate at a Glance
- Average single-family home price in Buckhead: $1.8 million.
- Current list price of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins’s Johns Creek estate: $2.99 million.
- In Atlanta’s luxury market, suburban demand outpaces urban demand 2:1.
- One of the most expensive homes sold in the metro area this year was in Sandy Springs: a $9.75 million stunner with a pickleball court, a sports field, and a putting green.
- Also in Sandy Springs, actor Josh Brolin’s house is on the market. The price was recently reduced 5 percent, to $4.75 million.
This article appears in our September 2026 issue.
