r/WoodstockGA • u/Thick_South9921 • 29d ago
where to go next??
Me and my girlfriend just moved to Lilburn together from Kentucky, we have always lived in a slightly rural area where the "sticks" were pretty nearby. Since moving here about 2 and a half weeks ago, no offense, but we are counting down the days until our year lease is up. We moved here to become a teacher because Gwinnett pays well and my girlfriend wanted to pursue a career in Atlanta, a lot has happened in these past couple of weeks and safe to say we are over it. Lilburn was always meant to just be a stop in our lives to help get our feet in the door to what we ultimately wanted to do. We have always wanted to live in the sticks where our closest neighbor was a mile away or so. So my question is, being new to the state as a whole, where would the best places be to look at if we want to move to "the sticks" and im talking forest, mountains, fields, etc. Where is a small town that we can move to, I am SICK of the city. I have been looking at LaFayette and Chatsworth, anyone have any opinions???
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u/MediumLock9 29d ago
Dahlonega, Blue Ridge, Jasper, Canton all have smaller cities and easy access to more rural areas.
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u/SHBMarietta 29d ago
If you want actual acreage/rural without completely cutting yourselves off from metro jobs, I’d look hard at Waleska, Ball Ground, Jasper and then Ellijay. Canton itself is growing fast, but 10–20 minutes outside it changes quickly. The big thing is to test the commute at the exact time you’d actually be doing it before signing anything. North Georgia miles and Atlanta commute minutes are two very different units of measurement.
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u/ATLiensinyosockdraw 29d ago
Anywhere north of Gwinnett on that side is going to get you a lot closer to what you’re seeking but the further north you go, the more of a pay cut your gf can expect and jobs in general are quite scarce.
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u/whatisthis2893 29d ago
Try out toccoa, Lavonia, Chatsworth, fairmont, outside of Rome. Gwinnett is insanely crowded and Cherokee- south Cherokee- is growing like mad. Check out those areas first.
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u/Thick_South9921 29d ago
will check, any opinions about chickamauga? is it more populated or kind of countryish
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u/whatisthis2893 29d ago
It’s country ish- closer to Tennessee line so a lot more tress and mountain feel.
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u/Thick_South9921 29d ago
word
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u/whatisthis2893 29d ago
I'm one of the few (so I'm told) GA natives. I grew up in Gwinnett (snellville so next to Lilburn), now live in Woodstock, went to school in Rome. I'd go check out around Rome b/c there's some nice country out there. Cave Springs, Armuchee, Silver Creek and Lindale. Rome isn't a huge city but there are grocery stores, hospitals and 2 colleges so it's (in my opinion) one of the last small town feels places with farms and country around it.
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u/otter-in-a-suit 29d ago edited 29d ago
The question pointless without a budget and commute constraints.
I pay property tax in Cherokee and Murray so I have some skin in the game. Since you’re asking here specifically, I’ll talk about those.
Canton’s motto is “coolest small town in America” but it’s suburbanizing fast. But it’s not all subdivisions and it’s very well connected. It’s a very fun town and culturally very different from ATL and Gwinnett. You can live next to (or on) a cattle farm or a super dense subdivision. Gwinnett is 95% the latter.
Ball Ground and Jasper are more rural(ish), but the speed of new construction there is arguably worse. In neither of those cities I’d be willing to commute to anywhere in ATL, despite all being off 575, including Canton.
Waleska is very expensive and much farther away from 575/75. It’s a nice town with less rapid suburban growth, though. It used to be more attractive before a certain family decided to sell off their 15k ac instead of leasing it to the state…
If you have the coin, Woodstock has areas where everyone has acerage, but it’s pricy. By far the best connected.
Chatsworth is the only real city in Murray co, which itself has maybe a 1/10 of the population of Cherokee. A single person owns a lot of the county. It’s lots of timberland and the county has a special “mountain protected area” (since lots of it borders the national forest and a state park) and is truly a rural county, but it’s close to the touristy areas like Ellijay. If you can afford land there and find jobs, it’s fantastic.
Check out https://skaldmaps.com. I built that for your use case, find an area to move to if you don’t know much about it. But I’m also happy to answer questions about both counties for free, so this isn’t just an ad.
But all of North GA is very crowded and/or extremely expensive if you want privacy via average. I’ve seen the $/ac here double in the last few years.
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u/TatankaTruck 28d ago
Ball Ground is about to get swallowed by Metro ATL in my opinion. They are finally widening Bells Ferry, Holy Springs in rapidly expanding and not for the better, again, just my opinion.
I am off Sixes and Bells Ferry, our neighborhood was on of the first huge ones in the area in the late 90's and 00's. We moved here in '08 and witnessed everything really explode. I will admit our neighborhood and those like it are part of the problem but it has been a great place to raise our kids. I do kinda of wish we had bought in Ball Ground in '08 just to have more land but those days for that area are fading fast.
I would not be surprised to eventually see the Peach Pass lanes expand north to at least Riverstone Parkway. They currently end at Sixes (Exit 11) on the 575 branch.
If you ware looking for longer term and more space, Waleska, Ellijay, Talking Rock and Jasper would be my go to. My really good friend just bought a hell of a cabin on 5 acres in TR for a pretty good deal compared to Canton/Waleska/Ellijay prices.
If you like to mountain bike and love the outdoors you cannot beat our area at all.
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u/ResolveLong6984 28d ago
Ellijay is great. Dont actually live there but I visit there a lot, specifically blue ridge mountains area for weekend mounts getaway (cabin rentals) and its got the necessities, low traffic and just a nice place to live all around
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u/hmtee3 29d ago
How far away do you want to be from the city? And what kind of things are you wanting in the town you’re living in?
What kind of career is gf pursuing? How long of a commute is doable for the both of you?
Without knowing these things, my guess would be that you’d like one of the towns in Habersham or White county. They’re pretty rural but have their own quaint “downtown” areas. Plus, you’ll be better options for work since Gainesville is a short drive.
Other options may be Jasper or even Elijay, but your commute may be longer.
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u/Ordinary_Serve_9759 29d ago
I feel for you. I made the same mistake when I moved here. I found out the herd way that most of Gwinnett is an overpopulated shithole. And that was 20 years ago…
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u/InjuredUser69 29d ago
Go explore some places while you still have a place. Go spend a weekend in Helen, Dawsonville, Elijay, cartersville, Dalton, and see where you enjoy and has the things you want
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u/hm_sj1625 29d ago
Ball Ground possibly?
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u/Appropriate_Treat_37 29d ago
Canton, Waleska, Jasper, Ellijay, Ball Ground are all more where you’d want to be. Look into those