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I have lived in Canton, GA for 4+ years, having relocated from 10 yrs of mostly hell & disappointment in the Raleigh/Durham NC area. Previously, from most recent backwards, I have lived in both northern & southern CA, Dallas, TX, northern Jersey (Morris & Bergan County), on the Sound in Connecticut, the Mohwak Valley region of NY, and NYC where I was born. In my 60+ years I have experienced what it's like to live in many locales - mostly in part due to employment relocations and searching for that special place to just end up for good.
We have found that in Cherokee County, GA. Sure, it's not on the beach nor in the mountains, but the topography of mosty rolling hills, thick forests, horse farms, areasonable cost of living, friendly people, and contrary to what I've read on this particular thread in this Forum, low crime rates.
re: locale
- 45-75 minutes from Canton (most of the time) to Atlanta and the airport.
- less than 90 minutes to Chatanooga, TN - great place for a weekend trip
- decent shopping and getting better within Cherokee County
- upscale shopping in Kennesaw (20 min), Alpharetta (30 min), north Atlanta (<60 min), and terrific outlet mall in Dawsonville (75 min). And, being that metro Atlanta is huge, it's possible to find just about anything you want to buy in the area.
- Quaint towns w/ neat refurbished downtowns abound all over north Georgia
- Canton is situated on I-575 w/ easy hook up to I-75. Roads in Cherokee County are in good-excellent cond, and there's new road improvements all over to handle the growth in the County. Traffic on I-575 is seldom bad, except for a couple of bottle-necks, and the worst one in Woodstock has been (almost) fixed. In the very near future a car pool lane will be added to I-575 (rumor has it that it may be a 'Lexus Lane'). The Marietta and Alpharetta/Roswell area only wish that could ever have the lack of heavy traffic that wqe enjoy here, as traffic in those cities really suck almost all day long and into the late evening.
- Canton is situated very close to Lake Alatoona, a very large reservoir that offers camping, boating, water skiing, fishing, etc. And, as I write this in mid June, 2008, the water level is at the 100% level, in contrast to Lake Lanier that is close to Gainesville & Cumming, GA. (Alatoona was dry earlier in the year but after a few decent rains, it's filled to the brim)
- One can be in the rural and quite beautiful north Gerogia Mountains in less than an hour, as Cherokee County is considered being in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mtns.
re:Housing -
there's something for every taste and every budget. Someone moving here from CA, as well as many other pricey areas may be shocked as to how much house and land one can get here. Even custom built houses not in a sub-division ($200-$250) will have 2000 sq ft or more, approx 3/4 to 2 acres, and the houses will be probably less than 15 yrs old. One can also get into some nice lower cost but much newer subdivisions for much less than that, although the houses will be less than 1800 sq ft usually. And, if one is after a McMansion, we have them too, although most are on larger tracts of land (5-10 acres); for $800.000, one should be able to get 5000-6000 sq ft, 4+ car garage, and lots of pricey upgrades inside & out. And, the majority of houses have full basements - not crawl spaces - and that sq footage is not included in the figures written above. . .However, if Obama gets his way, the ability to avoid all or most capital gain will be a thing of the past, so the time is right to consider purchasing here, as prices are also flat at the present. There will be an upsurge when the market rebounds, as the area is ripe for that (based on my lengthy prior experience as a realtor, and my wife's involvement in that industry as a branch manager of a mortgage company) I'd avoid any house described as 'contemporary', as they were that 25-30 yrs ago, and are dogs on the market, and typically situated in less desirable areas. There's lots more to Cherokee County and specifically to Canton, than BridgeMill and the other sub-divisions mentioned already. Rather than try and recommend any particular neighborhood, I'd strongly encourage one to interview several Realtors who really specialize in this area. Mostall of the household names in the business have one or more offices in Cherokee County. Once you're sold on this area, I'd urge you to not use an out of county real estate office and/or a Realtor who doesn't live in Cherokee County! There's lots of new growth - mostly positive stuff - about to happen here, and you may not get the complete skinny from an out of area Realtor.
re: Ethinic Diversity & Crime -
Cherokee County is predominately Caucasion with a growing Hispanic and African American presence as is the case almost everywhere in GA. We still have our share of rednecks - and some are what could be considerd white trash (as someone else wrote). But, show me any community anywhere in the USA, and there will be their version of a redneck. The worst thing that most of the rednecks do is drive their pickup trucks too fast and too close behind one who's doing the speed limit. Sure, some are jerks, but to characterize Cherokee County residents as being redneck or white trash is simply unfair, inaccurate, and demonstrates the judgemental opinion of a truly snooty and very unrealistic person. Did I also write - sheltered, and one full of themselves? Contrary to what someone else wrote, the illegal immigration situation is not much different here than in Anywhere, USA these days. Crime was an issue in the minority neighborhoods (mostly amongst Hispanics), but local law enforcement has really cracked down hard and is making serious progress. There was a meth and other drug problem, but the cops have been going after that element w/ a vengence the past couple of years. Violent crime is very rare in this County, thankfully. And, let me add that many minorities just plain behave themselves, send their kids to school while they go to their jobs, and they're starting small businesses, and buying homes. The Hispanics tend to reside in mostly Hispanic neighborhoods. And, do not confuse the crime statistics and news stories associated with Atlanta with that in Cherokee County, as a significant portion of Atlanta - esp the south side - is completely out of control. I'd strongly suggest that one read the "Cherokee Ledger" - a weekly free newspaper that's far better than most of its kind. It's a reasonably unbiased view ofCounty - its schools, crime, new developments, real estate, political happenings, social, cultural, and fun events. And, I think that it's so very important to add that most everyone gets along here - all races & nationalities & religions. Sure, there's always the exception, but Cherokee County is fast becoming a melting-pot, and with that, a tolerance for most everyone. People will respond pleasantly when a stranger nods or says Hi, and that's so different than most all of the locales I have lived in before moving here. Folks will wave you in in front of them when you're trying to merge onto a highway. They'll hold the door for you, or will acknowledge when you do that for them. Sir, Mam, Thank you, You're welcome are the norm, and not the exception. It's hard to assess a value on that stuff, unless it's been absent where you live now.
re: Restaurants, bars, coffee shops -
Most of the big chain restaurants are well represented in Canton and around the County. Bars as bars only are almost non-existent in Canton, although there are some in other parts of the County. Starbucks and other competitors are all over the County in Canton & Woodstock, and are open to 11PM. There's a Waffle House at most every other exit on every Interstate in GA including here, if you need coffee after the others close (but bring your fly-swatter!). There aren't any liquor stores in Canton due to legislation, but there are several very well stocked ones nearby in Holly Springs and Woodstock. They're closed on weekends state-wide, and prices in GA are typically lower than in most other states. Smoking is banned in all restaurants and coffee shops, although the state law allows smoking in certain bars if they do not allow those under 18 after a certain time of night.
Cleanliness of Canton -
It's improving as new businesses bulldoze down the older ones and many of the new shopping centers are very clean and tidy. There's still some junky looking shops here and there, but the value of the land that they're sited on should soon make them desirable for a tear down and for new shops to occupy that space. Like everywhere else for the most part. . .The key word is that it's improving at a steady pace.
re: Schools -
Our kids have left the nest, so I can only defer to the school stats and what has been written here thus far. There is a new location for Appalachia Tech that's opening in Canton and there's many colleges & universities in Atlanta and Athens, as well as in other GA communities. Cherokee County has a large public school system with an equally large school bus fleet. Many of the schools are new or nearly so. Test scores are apparantly quite decent. School athletics are important here, and Canton's teams perform better than most. There's hardly a mention of any bad news coming out of the local schools. Suggest that you contact the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce located in Canton for more specifics. Also learn about GA's Hope Grandts and the Hope Scholarships that are available for everyone after they've been a GA resident for one year.
Employment-
Too broad a topic for this thread, and since most everyone typically work in a town other than where they reside, one would be best to look at Atlanta as their job market, and then finetune it dependant on how long of a commute they'd have to that job from Canton.
It's the combination of the things that I've described that made Canton our choice when we escaped from the Raleigh Durham area. We could have located most anywhere as we were not bound to a particular employer, nor are our areas of expertise limited to only certain markets.
Hope this helps!
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02-26-2008, 01:04 PM
That is really what I was thinking
lol
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