Small town Georgia? (Atlanta, Savannah, Macon: environment, real estate, agriculture)

[eartheasy]

It's time to make the move out of FL. We'd love to come back to the South to our home state of GA, but not to northwest GA or anywhere too terribly close to Atlanta. Hubby's ideal spot is middle western GA, but land prices for most parts are higher than we are willing to pay. We don't desire to live in the mountains. We're looking for a good, laid back, friendly, country/rural small town. We want to expand on the life we're already leading so we're looking to get a minimum of 10 acres and have agricultural type zoning (allowed to have horses, goats, ducks, etc.) and no restrictions on things like a clothesline in the yard, a work vehicle parked on the property, and so on. We'd also like for our children to be able to build homes for themselves on an acre or two of our property when they are grown.

We don't mind driving a bit (up to 45 to 50 minutes) to do our major shopping or for hubby to work. We do need to be able to shop in a location that has stores carrying organics within a reasonable driving distance and we would love to support local organic/natural farmers as well. We intend to do some farming ourselves, but know that will take time to get established. Hubby is a GA state licensed master plumber so he should hopefully have no trouble finding employment, he just needs a large enough city within a reasonable driving distance where he can work and/or eventually open his own company.

We are homeschoolers so a homeschool friendly community is a plus and a good library system in the county or a neighboring county that would allow us membership is a must. Of course the location and availability of hospitals, doctors, dentists, optometrists, etc. all factor in as well since we have children. And like everyone else, we don't want to be in a high crime area or an area with a lot of environmental pollutants/hazards.

We've had Wilkes county and Washington county suggested to us, but haven't been able to locate any land there we consider to be a reasonable price. Hubby also had someone suggest Wilkinson county to him, but we haven't had a chance to find out much about it yet.

Does anyone have any suggestions of any towns or counties that would be a good fit for us?

Thanks for your help!

[eartheasy]

My bad - I meant to say middle EASTERN Georgia, not western.

[eartheasy]

Anyone have any suggestions?

[bgnzsavnh]

Bulloch County, Statesboro is a nice College town

[mattattack25]

Originally Posted by bgnzsavnh

Bulloch County, Statesboro is a nice College town

well i wouldn't choose statesboro unless you want to be around a LOT of kids, plus Statesboro is trashy... and the only thing people do there is drink...

[Milo Bloom]

Well, if you are looking in the $1-3k/acre range (like you said in the TN forum), then NE GA is probably out. Anywhere that is influenced by one of the interstates is closer to the $10k per acre range, and up from there. Your best bet for land prices like that is in the piney woods of south Georgia. Land around Baxley/Jesup can be had for next to nothing. Also places northwest of there, around Americus. As a general rule, you can use the census data to find the poorest counties in a state, and then you will find the cheapest land. Problem is that many of these places are desperately poor because of limiting geographic factors. Distance, roads, natural barriers.

[small town south]

I live in Greene County - and since you home school your children, I think it could be a good match for the other things you are seeking. This county still has alot of agriculture and you may be able to find affordable small acreage. Just stay away from the Lake Oconee area as land prices are high. We are close to Athens (about 1 hr away) which with UGA has some nice shopping and cultural activities (mind you, not high end, but nice). Also, Watkinsville is between Greensboro and Athens, and has alot of growth going on. This part of Georgia is the Piedmont; it is beautiful rolling land. Horse country and we still have rodeo and very active 4H and Farm Bureau. Several realtors - just do a web search. You may also want to look at the Madison area...

[MayorOfMacon2019]

Lizella, Georgia outside of Macon, Georgia. Lizella is located in Bibb County so you can recieve the amminities of The big city, along with Twiggs County, Monroe County, Jones County, Peach County, and possibly Bonaire in Houston County. All are surrounding the city of Macon which has a population of a 100,000 so things like entertainment, shopping, and recreation can be found easily. There are also small community within several of the counties i've mentioned.

[veljeaoq]

Originally Posted by eartheasy

It's time to make the move out of FL. We'd love to come back to the South to our home state of GA, but not to northwest GA or anywhere too terribly close to Atlanta. Hubby's ideal spot is middle western GA, but land prices for most parts are higher than we are willing to pay. We don't desire to live in the mountains. We're looking for a good, laid back, friendly, country/rural small town. We want to expand on the life we're already leading so we're looking to get a minimum of 10 acres and have agricultural type zoning (allowed to have horses, goats, ducks, etc.) and no restrictions on things like a clothesline in the yard, a work vehicle parked on the property, and so on. We'd also like for our children to be able to build homes for themselves on an acre or two of our property when they are grown.

We don't mind driving a bit (up to 45 to 50 minutes) to do our major shopping or for hubby to work. We do need to be able to shop in a location that has stores carrying organics within a reasonable driving distance and we would love to support local organic/natural farmers as well. We intend to do some farming ourselves, but know that will take time to get established. Hubby is a GA state licensed master plumber so he should hopefully have no trouble finding employment, he just needs a large enough city within a reasonable driving distance where he can work and/or eventually open his own company.

We are homeschoolers so a homeschool friendly community is a plus and a good library system in the county or a neighboring county that would allow us membership is a must. Of course the location and availability of hospitals, doctors, dentists, optometrists, etc. all factor in as well since we have children. And like everyone else, we don't want to be in a high crime area or an area with a lot of environmental pollutants/hazards.

We've had Wilkes county and Washington county suggested to us, but haven't been able to locate any land there we consider to be a reasonable price. Hubby also had someone suggest Wilkinson county to him, but we haven't had a chance to find out much about it yet.

Does anyone have any suggestions of any towns or counties that would be a good fit for us?

Thanks for your help!

Jesup/ Wayne County has everything you're looking for. Jesup is a laid-back, friendly town that's not too big but not too small. It is located 40 miles north of Brunswick/St. Simon's Island/Jekyll Island and 65 miles west of Savannah. The people are friendly and there's not much crime other than the occasional domestic disturbance and drug sales. Jesup has a Super Wal Mart, lots of privately owned shops and clothing stores, 3 major car dealerships, doctors, dentists, an orthodontist, and optometrists. If you want more to choose from Brunswick is 45 minutes away and Savannah an hour and a half. There is a good library and a place that sells organic food. There is a federal correctional institute, a technical college, and a paper mill (ITT Rayonier). There are the usual fast food restaurants and several very good privately owned ones. There are quite a number of people here who homeschool their kids and from what I hear they have frequent get-togethers with the kids for field trips and so forth. A new hospital is being built and I think it's supposed to be finished around September of this year. There are lots of new homes being built, and I only know of a few plumbers in town, so I don't think your husband would have trouble finding work, but even if he wanted to go out of town, Brunswick is 40 miles away, Waycross is 40 miles, and Hinesville is 28. The population of Jesup is 28,000. You can pull up Wayne County Chamber of Commerce for more info. Moderator cut: Removed

[pickleswanson]

I could recommend most any place in this area however Hawkinsville would be my first pick. Very small town growing slowly but fast by its standards. Some of the best historical homes in GA are found here. Land is cheap and so are the homes however real estate in this area is quickly gaining in price. Very much an equistrian town and I think I could trust the schools to do a fair job on teaching my children though I prefer to homeschool. Never checked out any of the private schools in the area but friends have good things to say about them and prices seem to be reasonable. Great river for fishing and though not mountainous at all it does have some rolling hills to add character. Saw a vote for Greene County and that is also a very nice place and is similar to Hawkinsville. Both have a fast growing mid sized city close by to make just about any business flourish.