Georgia Yes or No? (Atlanta, Kennesaw: live, areas, business)

[WanderingImport]

Have you thought of just moving inland in Florida? I hear the areas around Lake Okeechobee (Clewiston) are really conservative and rural. Not a far move either.

You can have your chickens and eat 'em too.

No, when Georgia is the question, yes is not always the answer.

[makle]

First, DJDeadParrot, I never use the "nervous twitch: LOL". I think people just do that like nervous laughter, however I did chuckle at the "touchus" comment. I will certainly take your information right to google and research.
WestCobb, I respect your insight. You my friend, speak from experience, so I will take it to heart when we make our decision.
WanderingImport, no, we didn't think of Lake Okeechobee (Clewiston), now we are. Have my chickens and eat'm too! Now you're talking my language.
Well now we have more homework. Will check out all of them. Funny, don't know if anybody is interested, but in case you are, I'll let you know where we go.
THANK YOU EVERYBODY!

[DanielAvery]

I think finding a "live-and-let-live" kind of place in south Georgia may not be that hard. I grew up in the rural area around Savannah and found that when you have enough empty land around you, either in cultivation or just lying fallow/wooded, no one's going to be able to get in your business. Many of the more established areas (my hometown was founded in 1838) still hold high regard for those who pull their weight and show self-reliance. Unincorporated parts of some counties still let people keep livestock, hunt on their property, etc., honoring the past when we were so poor that this was a necessity, not a quaint hobby.


As for the LakeO region of South Florida, I'm sure there are exceptions, but from my limited travels around Lake Okeechobee, it is a fairly impoverished and depressing area. Belle Glade, South Bay, Pahokee....I will say land will be inexpensive, but you may want to read up on the decades-old dikes that are (barely) keeping the lake from flooding that area. Several counties surround Lake O, but out of them all I'd only recommend Martin County (which is where I currently reside). The county government is actively "anti-development", seeking to keep land developers from turning Martin into another asphalt jungle like a lot of South Florida. It's also an island of Republican/conservative voters in a sea of Northeast-style Liberal governance in Palm Beach County, St. Lucie and Broward. Much of western Martin has horse ranches, small commercial farms, and even palm tree and sod farms, while coastal Martin has the typical suburban shopping centers, fabulous oceanfront condos, and low-rise retirement communities you expect in Florida.

[makle]

DanielAvery,
Funny you would say impoverished and depressed areas. I felt the same way. Looked in Jacksonville, Dunellen and Tampa and I got very depressed myself being in those places. And to anybody that lives there, I'm sure there are outstanding places there, but unfortunately, we missed them. Hey, thanks for the "decades-old dikes" paranoia. Forewarned is forearmed, so thanks for the insight. Every day Georgia is looking better. After all these responses, you know what my wife and I decided? ********** politically correct/politically incorrect world we've been forced into! We're moving where we want to and don't care who our neighbors are. If they are courteous and polite and want to stay together to keep our neighborhood a quality place for us and our grandchildren, well then great. If not, get out of our faces. Life is short and we have no time for any B/S. And as stated so many times, "home is where the heart is"!!

[ellie]

I would add that South Georgia is much less crowded than north Georgia is becoming. Seems most people on this board are headed to the hills and the outer orbit of Atlanta.

You might look into places around Tifton, Moultrie, Thomasville, Valdosta, or even Montezuma and Hawkinsville which are small cities that are still thriving to some degree.

I've known good people from all of these places over the years.

[Southern man]

As I said before, Carrollton is a nice place. However if you would prefer to live in South Georgia, then Vidalia, home of the onion is a nice town. I have lived there and I liked it.

[Ross Carnegie]

I honestly think you had it right with Kennesaw. We're close enough to the city that if you want to spend the day there you can conveniently do so. We do have the University- but student life really isn't a big part of this town- many students come from surrounding areas. The mentality is rather neutral- I would not call it liberal and I would not call it conservative although both kinds of people can be found here. There are many trails at Kennesaw Mountain to go jogging as well- its overall a beautiful place I really like living here.

[GaPlanner]

I feel like most of the "liberal" areas of Georgia... by Southern standards that is... are where the "live and let live" types reside. Again, this is relative to the Southern view of what constitutes liberal. I live in midtown Atlanta which is not at all like the areas you described, but no one asks me which church I attend upon introduction like they do in the non-lib areas. I lived in a couple smaller cities in South Georgia and if you don't go to church, people get mad at you and in some cases, if you don't go to the "right" church, people get upset.

Savannah has a good mix of liberal and conservative values with carefree attitudes comparable to Charleston and New Orleans. Savannah is a liberal city by Georgia standards, but probably not by any other standard.

Kennesaw is probably a good pick for you - liberal(ish) with a large college, sizeable gay population and exposure to some diversity and arts but also quite conservative with an odd gun law, Muslim-haters with posters, its in Cobb County and plenty of tea party folks - also borders on the coveted East Cobb school district.

I dont know if you will find many true "live and let live" areas outside of certain urban neighborhoods or college towns.

[makle]

Wow, thanks again for all the insight. Got to thinking, apparently all of the comments regarding "getting along with your neighbors" stuff, would pertain more to someone opting to move into a "subdivision". I don't want to live where there are rules of vanity and houses so close together, you can stretch out your hands and touch your neighbors house. Not that I want to live in a messy house, but let me be the judge of just exactly when the roof needs cleaning. I hate to say it, but that opens up some options. Apparently, I'm unique to some degree, most people want to live in a subdivision. Go figure. So I will generalize all of the Georgia comments into "don't really worry, move, enjoy. Georgia would be a great place to call home". Now to get past my paranoia of ticks.
Thanks again.

[makle]

Alright, so here's the final plan. We are definitely moving. And we want to thank everybody for their input and great information.
Where? Well after reading replies on this thread and many others, we won't say where. The reason? A lot of people would love to recommend the areas where they are living, but in doing so they are inviting unknown people into their quiet and serene neighborhoods and my wife and I totally agree. So if the "best" areas are well kept secrets, how can anybody know for sure where they are moving?
I've noticed many misleading comments. People telling us to stay in Florida, or to move to areas not suited for us. Yes, there were plenty of "honest" replies, however how does someone distinguish the truth from the false replies? I don't know. So we're going to gamble with areas we visited and thought were nice.
Once again, thanks for the great information. There are really nice people out there, however there are less of them in South Florida.