Snellville hit hard by foreclosures

SNELLVILLE, Ga. -- Despite the success of neighboring cities, the housing crisis is distressing parts of Snellville.

On the south side of the city, one in almost every 50 homes is in foreclosure. In the city’s quiet Oak Meadow subdivision, the housing crisis is making some noise.

"It's not the same neighborhood that it was, resident Christina Cole said.

Directly across the street from her home sits an empty house, one of four foreclosures listed in the neighborhood this year.

Cole said in the nine years since she's moved in, things have changed.

"It is sad to see the subtle changes, Cole told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh. "There were lots of families, lot of people with kids."

According to Realtyrac.com, in Gwinnett County as a whole, one in every 221 homes is in foreclosure.

But it's almost twice as bad in the city of Snellville, with one in every 117 in foreclosure. On the south side of Snellville, it's as high as one in every 57 homes in foreclosure.

Kavanaugh spoke to Snellville city leaders about what they are doing to tu things around.

"It takes a neighborhood way down real fast, Snellville's economic development director, Eric Van Otteren, who said he is well aware of the numbers. He said the city is planning to tu around the housing market by starting with the job market.

"How do we help small businesses start, how do we help them grow, how do we help them create jobs?" he said.

Van Otteren said the city created an entrepreneurs' council with a focus on small business. Last year, he said, the council raised property taxes and they plan to build a new town center.

It's all designed to get people back to work, back in their homes and back in Snellville.

Many of those big projects require big money, and tax revenues may not be enough. Van Otteren said the city is looking at other possible revenue streams.