Is Cherokee County a Good Place for Retirees (Acworth, Woodstock: HOA, house)

[berkeleylake]

I haven't lived in Cherokee county, however, I think the area around there and close by are generally friendly for senior citizens. Decent shopping and dining options are that way as well. Even better, you are also relatively close in driving distance to some very good quality hospitals.

[staywarm2]

Making Retired Friends in Cherokee County

We are a middle of the road type couple, and I'm concerned that the people in Cherokee County will be so much more politically and religiously conservative. I'm worried that we wouldn't fit in because it seems like the people there are VERY conservative in both ways.

[BobKovacs]

I think you're a bit more concerned than you need to be. We've lived in Cherokee County for 5 years now, and find it to be a great mix of people, many of whom have moved here from other parts of the country. Yes, there are the "bible thumpers" and staunch conservatives that have been here for a while, but there's also plenty of folks who don't go to church (or keep their church-doings their own business", and are more liberal in their thinking. Especially if you move into one of the newer developments, you're not likely to have issues.

[researchnerd]

I agree with BobKovacs - I think you're worrying a little too much about politics and religion, for two reasons:

1) Cherokee County is indeed predominantly white and conservative christian. However, there are all kinds of other people in Cherokee too -- black, hispanic, asian, jewish, catholic, unitarian, pagan, atheist -- they just don't make up the majority. If you go to Waffle House in the wee hours, you'll see tattooed club kids sitting next to bubbas in head-to-toe camo. If you look around a bit and get involved in the community, I think you can find people of like mind without too much trouble. In 12 years, the one problem we had was a couple of kids in school telling my son he was going to hell because he didn't go to their church, but we found ways to deal with that.

2) If there's one thing that rural folks can understand, it's the desire to keep to yourself and mind your own business. If a topic of conversation goes in an uncomfortable direction, you can always say that it's personal and you don't discuss it. Or, you can steer the discussion towards something you have in common, whether it's football or livestock or the weather. I had a super conservative neighbor whom I finally gently asked to stop bringing up politics with me, because we were on completely opposite sides. She was surprised (assumed everyone agreed with her, I think), but it wasn't a problem. We had a lot of other things to talk about, and we're still friends.

[Sound of Reason]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

I agree with BobKovacs - I think you're worrying a little too much about politics and religion, for two reasons:

1) Cherokee County is indeed predominantly white and conservative christian. However, there are all kinds of other people in Cherokee too -- black, hispanic, asian, jewish, catholic, unitarian, pagan, atheist -- they just don't make up the majority. If you go to Waffle House in the wee hours, you'll see tattooed club kids sitting next to bubbas in head-to-toe camo. If you look around a bit and get involved in the community, I think you can find people of like mind without too much trouble. In 12 years, the one problem we had was a couple of kids in school telling my son he was going to hell because he didn't go to their church, but we found ways to deal with that.

Seriously? "Tattooed club kids"? Not a common occurrence in Cherokee County.

Camouflage wearing bubbas? Not a common occurrence in Cherokee County, though you'd more likely see that to the north in Pickens County

2) If there's one thing that rural folks can understand, it's the desire to keep to yourself and mind your own business. If a topic of conversation goes in an uncomfortable direction, you can always say that it's personal and you don't discuss it. Or, you can steer the discussion towards something you have in common, whether it's football or livestock or the weather. I had a super conservative neighbor whom I finally gently asked to stop bringing up politics with me, because we were on completely opposite sides. She was surprised (assumed everyone agreed with her, I think), but it wasn't a problem. We had a lot of other things to talk about, and we're still friends.

Most of Cherokee County's population lives in the suburban south and suburban central spine of the county which straddles I-575 on up to north Canton. These are not rural folks, but are rather outer suburban folks. Only the far western parts of the county, along with Waleska, has a significant percentage of people that identify as rural, and even Waleska is "iffy". Most people in the semi-rural town of Ballground, in the far north of the county, are from other suburban areas of Atlanta or other suburban areas of the South. They aren't what you'd think of as "rural dwellers". This is because they've moved from elsewhere and into the larger subdivisions of Ballground.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by Sound of Reason

Seriously? "Tattooed club kids"? Not a common occurrence in Cherokee County.

Camouflage wearing bubbas? Not a common occurrence in Cherokee County, though you'd more likely see that to the north in Pickens County

Seriously. Next time you're at the Waffle House in Macedonia at three in the morning -- the one that was a cow pasture not that long ago -- take a look around you.

Originally Posted by Sound of Reason

Most of Cherokee County's population lives in the suburban south and suburban central spine of the county which straddles I-575 on up to north Canton. These are not rural folks, but are rather outer suburban folks. Only the far western parts of the county, along with Waleska, has a significant percentage of people that identify as rural, and even Waleska is "iffy". Most people in the semi-rural town of Ballground, in the far north of the county, are from other suburban areas of Atlanta or other suburban areas of the South. They aren't what you'd think of as "rural dwellers". This is because they've moved from elsewhere and into the larger subdivisions of Ballground.

Cherokee is indeed very suburban along the southern border and up the 575 corridor. But outside the pretentious subdivisions, the northern half of Cherokee (including Ball Ground) is more than semi-rural.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

Making Retired Friends in Cherokee County

We are a middle of the road type couple, and I'm concerned that the people in Cherokee County will be so much more politically and religiously conservative. I'm worried that we wouldn't fit in because it seems like the people there are VERY conservative in both ways.

My DH and I have close friends in Lake Arrowhead. He is white, a childhood friend of my DH from the west coast. She is Jamaican, black, and raised in London. They have gotten along fine there, and are quite social with their neighbors.

[Sound of Reason]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

Seriously. Next time you're at the Waffle House in Macedonia at three in the morning -- the one that was a cow pasture not that long ago -- take a look around you.

Macedonia is exurban and is not part of the area in which most of Cherokee's residents reside.

I will say that Macedonia isn't exactly rural, but it isn't very developed either. North of Highway 20 at Macedonia, it does quickly become rural. On the south side of Highway 20, it is suburban to exurban in nature, particularly along East Cherokee Drive. It does become more of a typical suburban once you get down to the Hickory Flat Community.

That said, most of the people living in that area of the county are fairly well-to-do and are not likely to wear camouflage. Outside of a few homes in the area that were built when the area was truly rural, most of the houses are rather large. A majority of the people in this area are native southerners, even Georgians, but it is one of the areas of the county that has a relatively high transplant population.

Certainly you realize that all it takes is one person to wear camouflage. This could have been a once in a month thing, but if you were there to experience this, perhaps you took with you the idea that such was common.

By the way, it is more likely that the Waffle House was built where a wooded area once stood, not a field, given the preponderance of trees in that vicinity.

Cherokee is indeed very suburban along the southern border and up the 575 corridor. But outside the pretentious subdivisions, the northern half of Cherokee (including Ball Ground) is more than semi-rural.

The northern half of Cherokee (above Canton) is rural, no doubt about that. In saying this, I'm more or less talking about the landscape. With the population, it's very mixed. Why do I say this? For one, take Ballground. Most of the homes in Ballground are relatively new, considering that a number of large new subdivisions were built which consists of perhaps a majority of Ballground's residents. Many of the people who live in these subdivisions originally lived in closer-in locales or in more suburban environments in other locations of the country. In Waleska, Reinhardt University has such a huge impact on the community that it decreases the "rural mindset" of the area. There are also newer subdivisions in Waleska where many similarly-minded people to Ballground live.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by Sound of Reason

Certainly you realize that all it takes is one person to wear camouflage. This could have been a once in a month thing, but if you were there to experience this, perhaps you took with you the idea that such was common.

By the way, it is more likely that the Waffle House was built where a wooded area once stood, not a field, given the preponderance of trees in that vicinity.

Certainly you realize that I said "If you go to Waffle House in the wee hours, you'll see tattooed club kids sitting next to bubbas in head-to-toe camo." This is the time of day when young adults are coming home hungry from clubs or parties, and when hunters have breakfast before heading off into the woods. I didn't say it was an everyday occurrence. My point was that it isn't particularly homogeneous and everyone manages to get along fine.

This has nothing to do with the OP's question, but since you brought it up -- the shopping center in Macedonia was a cow pasture for many years, until the Turner family cashed in on the property in 2001 and sold it to developers. There's still a tunnel under GA 20 where the cows used to cross underneath, from one side of the pasture to another. I will agree that before it was a pasture, there were probably a preponderance of trees there.

[Sound of Reason]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

Certainly you realize that I said "If you go to Waffle House in the wee hours, you'll see tattooed club kids sitting next to bubbas in head-to-toe camo." This is the time of day when young adults are coming home hungry from clubs or parties, and when hunters have breakfast before heading off into the woods. I didn't say it was an everyday occurrence. My point was that it isn't particularly homogeneous and everyone manages to get along fine.

This has nothing to do with the OP's question, but since you brought it up -- the shopping center in Macedonia was a cow pasture for many years, until the Turner family cashed in on the property in 2001 and sold it to developers. There's still a tunnel under GA 20 where the cows used to cross underneath, from one side of the pasture to another. I will agree that before it was a pasture, there were probably a preponderance of trees there.

Interesting history of the property. I suppose the pasture backed up to the current tree-filled area directly behind the shopping center. Thus, it appears that it was once tree-filled as opposed to a pasture. I never claimed it was, only that it appeared to be tree-filled. Thanks for the information.

I suppose I could see a few early Saturday morning hunters going to the Waffle House in that area before they head north to places in Pickens, Dawson, Gilmer, or Lumpkin counties.