Ex "City Boy" years to become a "Country Boy"

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Tdiddy0027

for a more POSITIVE perspective......

Atlanta does not have a ghetto black culture. There are many black people like that but they are only lil Jon wannabes. There are many many professional black people in the area. Our metro is one of the top metros for African Americans to climb the corporate ladder. There are many upper class black neighborhoods

I'm not going to fight about this - it's a matter of two opinions, but I'm cutting your quote short above to address what's in it. You mention "there are many lil jon wananbes".. well, ok, Atlanta has "many" of this wannabe types - hence to what many observe on the outside, this would APPEAR to be a "ghetto" type atmosphere (hence, "many") WITHIN the city.

You go on to say that there are a lot of professional black men and women "in the area". This is very true. But the areas you list are not IN ATLANTA. They are the outer suburban areas. In the area, is not "Atlanta" proper. I have known as I've mentioned many professional and highly educated black people who make me look like Homer Simpson as far as our educational backgrounds are concerned - they have LEFT "the city" of Atlanta.

This doesn't directly relate to someone who wants to avoid the city and move outside to a more country atmosphere, I'm just making my point that when it comes to talking about "rough black areas", people keep mixing up just what Atlanta is, compared to the AREA AROUND Atlanta. All of the negative comments I've ever heard from other blacks who moved here from other areas of the country was about ATLANTA (as in within the city), not the surrounding areas - other than the standard complaints about traffic, etc.

Frederick, I'm sure you're going to fit in, in whatever community here you decide to move to. You sound like someone who can strike up an intelligent conversation with just about anyone, without falling into the political correctness traps so many do today.

[veganwriter]

Ain't this a little slice of ... "heaven"?

The thought came to me ... with all these people moving all around the states looking (as TriciaK57 said...) for an affordable place to:

"... drive to the grocery and back within a 30 minute period, take a walk at dusk, go on vacation and come back with my home intact, sit on the porch and read a book, plant flowers, watch the rain, go to the theater occasionally.... just breath.... peacefully."

Personally, you can make that drive to the grocery an hour's time away... but like I started to say, with everyone running around the SAME country looking for the same thing... too bad we can't all get together and repopulate one of those "almost empty" small towns and bring it back to life! But, in less than a generation, everything would change there too ... ... so, I guess I'll just say thankyou to everyone that posted a reply.

And if I can be so bold ... may I post a small prayer that you Georgians will ... continue exercising patience with each other? Viewing you from the outside ... all of you look better than you may think. (smile)

Each of you (regardless of skin color) has given me more pieces of insight to put in my travel kit. (I still think our major delimmas are the things that keep us alienated ... the spiritual and emotional baggage ... and that "racism" is just a tired old worn mask we hide all the other stuff behind ... or try to...) so, again ... thank you.

Oh, and one more thing I heard that still holds true ... and that kinda freaked me out when I was living in Atlanta back in '81 ... something that another black person told me was ... "If you're not from the South, you're going to be surprised to learn that Black Southerners and White Southerners have more in common with each other than either of them will have with you."

You know what? Still is true I suspect. It's a regional country. Values. Have fun folks.

See you on the highway.

fred

[kennesawmatt]

Tdiddy is very right. There should be very few worries about klan attacks or small racist towns in Georgia. As it does (very rarely) exist in Georgia, it also exists in every state in the country. I have lived in Kennesaw, Ga, in Cobb County for 18 years. if your looking for a long term country lifestyle, I recommend anything south of Macon, Ga. Southwest Georgia is the home of only small family farms and a few big towns like Albany, Bainbridge, and Cairo. I would suggest the following counties... Miller, Early Seminole, Mitchell, Colquitt, Thomas, Clay, Lee, and Dougherty. Good Luck! You'll love Georgia, I've never been out of the south, but I know I'd rather be nowhere else!!

[baily]

Tricia, We Our Also Looking To Move To Ga Were In Fl Now . Were Lookinginto Canton
Andcumming

[TriciaK57]

I haven't researched Cherokee County as yet, but have checked out Forsythe somewhat. I curently live in a city with a population of 150,000. I consider it a mid-size town, actually. Everything is starting to spread out, geographically... so it seems to be sprawling. Cumming may be a bit tooooo small .
What type of city are you leaving in Florida?

[AshlynB]

I think South Georgia will be the place for you. Try Fitzgerald GA it actually has a wal-mart in the town so you want have to drive so far. There are many houses for sale in Fitzgerald and you can grow a garden in your back yard and watch your corn grow. I believe you will love it, there are no traffic jams here. The only thing that may slow you up is a tractor that is moving from field to field but they usually pull over and let you go on by. It is a slower pace of life. I hope you will move here, I believe it will be a good choice.

[firelady]

Frederick

I'm going to insert my two cents here, if I may. I am familiar with some of the towns mentioned, though not all (I grew up in Cairo, and Thomasville is where my parents currently live). If I could add one more suggestion? If you are looking for quiet (and don't mind the heat, which I guess you don't or you wouldn't be looking at S GA), the little community of Fargo is about as quiet and rural as you can get. We moved here 7 years ago from Tallahassee, to get back to a place where our children can play outside without constant supervision. The town has a population of about 300 (as of 200 census), many are folks whose families have been here for generations. Others are families who came here during the 40's to work at the CCC camps, and there are even some who are recent "transplants". I couldn't begin to tell you what our "black to white" ratio is...we just all kind of are here together. Fargo is 30 miles from its nearest neighbor, Homerville, to the north or 45 miles south to Lake City, FL or west to Valdosta. We are surrounded by Timberlands, are 17 miles west of the Okefenokee Swamp's West entrance, and a very community oriented town. I don't know what your "business projects" might entail, but we are pretty isolated. Also, if you are allergic to yellow flies, this might not be the place for you. Our mayor said something about a year ago which pretty well sums us up "Teamwork is not an option, it's a lifestyle". Locals pretty well take to people who show good common sense, rather than political correctness. We're not perfect; there are definite drawbacks to living here. But to me, and most of us here, it's well worth it.

If this sounds interesting to you, just contact the Fargo City Hall for whatever information you can't find elsewhere. The people are wonderful here.

Good Luck to you.