Blue Ridge Georgia (Clayton, Lookout Mountain, Ellijay: crime, how much, felony)

[JOHNNYCOUNTRY]

Originally Posted by CabinFever

I vacation in Blue Ridge all the time and have no problem with the Home Depot going up.I guess I would say different if I lived in the area.I would imagine that the folks in Blue Ridge would be happy with the Home Depot and a Wal-Mart(if that happens).It would save on a trip to Blairsville and Ellijay.I have not heard if the Wal-Mart is going up behind the Home Depot in Blue Ridge but it looks like the land they have cleared out seems to favor so.I would much rather drive 5 miles to get something than have to drive 20(saves on gas).

No were not happy about it and the majority of the locals cant stand vacation home owners. Because of them the locals cant afford homes and have to move..it sucks.To many yuppies coming here.

[JOHNNYCOUNTRY]

Originally Posted by yinyang

First, the mayor of Blue Ridge is involved in a rooster **** fighting ring (darkest inhumane cruelty to animals), then the husband of a councilwoman threatens to kill another council member if he doesn't vote like his wife does.

What gives? This is the kind of political crap we thought we had moved away from. I'm thoroughly disgusted.

Dont worry about our politicians we like em just fine yuppy. Cruelty to animals give me a break there chickens some city yuppies dont belong here. Guess what we elected him again

[JOHNNYCOUNTRY]

Originally Posted by Prichard

There's only one way to stop people from moving to pretty areas of the country: High property taxes, and use the money to purchase land and development rights. The development in these towns in North Ga. is driven by the locals, not the outsiders. The locals are the only ones who have the clout to get the land through the development processes. You don't really think that people are moving up from Miami and convincing the local politicians to buy into their huge development plans so that they can make millions of dollars, do ya?

That is true and the first developer that sold out to a Floridian should have been hung by the people. This area is turning into North Florida fast and the working class locals without land are starting to actuall hate Floridians but it is a free country and even if there not liked here as long as its for sale theyll continue to come up here and ruin it.

[cnccoco]

I love visiting and vacationing in Blue Ridge. Do the locals really dislike the Floridians?

I find that very disapointing - I would think the more tourists that visit, the more jobs that are created for the locals, more money brought into the town, etc.
I understand the locals not wanting Blue Ridge to turn out as busy and crowded as Ellijay is getting, but a little growth seems ok.

By the way............any word on what's going in next to Home Depot?

[spunky1]

Originally Posted by JOHNNYCOUNTRY

No were not happy about it and the majority of the locals cant stand vacation home owners. Because of them the locals cant afford homes and have to move..it sucks.To many yuppies coming here.

Johnnycountry sounds like sour grapes to me. . .

[spunky1]

Originally Posted by JOHNNYCOUNTRY

That is true and the first developer that sold out to a Floridian should have been hung by the people. This area is turning into North Florida fast and the working class locals without land are starting to actuall hate Floridians but it is a free country and even if there not liked here as long as its for sale theyll continue to come up here and ruin it.

Showing a lot of class, developers "should have been hung by people" ?? Nice.

[Prichard]

As one of those "vacation owners" (not in Blue Ridge, though) in North Georgia, I can understand what Johnny Country is angry about. He thinks that it is the vacation owners that have driven prices so high that the children of locals that live in the area can't afford to continue to live there and buy houses.

Where Johnny and I part ways, is that I know that it's not really just the vacation owners that are driving up prices. The prices of houses and land across the nation have gone up greatly over the past 20 years. You can blame Microsoft, and the other highly successful high-tech companies for starters. It started in California, and then the North East, and then it swept through the western states, and now the southern states. If land/home prices trippled overnight through out the entire country at one time, you wouldn't see as much migration. But, when prices in California go from $80,000 to $900,000 for dinky 2br/1bth homes in the matter of 10 years, people who owned homes they bought at one time for $150,000 could figure out that they could sell out, move to Florida or Georgia and retire on the gains.

There are several other factors driving up prices in North Georgia. Atlanta went through a huge boom over the last 10 years, and wealthy Atlantians, more so than Floridians, are buying expensive homes in the mountains.

Another factor is when Florida got slammed by hurricanes a couple of years ago, many of us felt that we may need a small place on high ground within driving distance to escape to. Try living in sweaty, steamy 90 degree homes with no fans, air, leaky roof, and mounds of debris in front of your home for 3 weeks with no electricity. Until you actually live in a region that got slammed by a hurricane, you can't imagine what I'm talking about. Your food goes bad within days. Grocery stores are closed and delivery trucks can't even get near the place to deliver food. You might be able to tough it out for a few days, maybe even a week or two if you are really grizzly, but try toughing it out with a wife and a 1 year old child. Those who were very lucky were able to find and afford hotel rooms in areas where the electricity was on. Those who weren't so lucky simply had to leave the area to live with friends or relatives. We Floridians quickly figured out that Bomb Shelters are pretty worthless - what we really needed is a place to go to and live until things returned half-way to normal. Sorry North Georgian natives, but you have what some of us need.

Of course you can allways decide not to sell to us, but when it comes right down to it, ya'll ain't that much different than Californians. If you can get $350,000 for an cabin and a couple acres of land that you paid $40,000 for most likely you're going to sell out and become a "developer" and learn to love Floridiots! Or, if you really hate us, move to Eastern Kentucky, buy a larger house and more acerage. I wonder what all of those mountain folks in Eastern Kentucky think about North Georgian natives moving up there?

[JOHNNYCOUNTRY]

Prichard you bring up some really good points and I wasnt trying to be mean I just wanted to express how many locals and natives feel about how many wealthy Floridians are coming up here and changing this place for the worst. I couldnt really actually care because its over here and Im actually gonna be a southerner whose gonna move up north somewhere to get away from them. You hit it on the nail when youre talking about Kentucky folks and what they think of all the North Georia folks moving there..well were their Floridians. They cant stand us and for good reasons. A LOT of locals are going to Kentucky to get away from the Floridians but were doing the same thing to Kentucky as their doing to us. Its a shame really but land always changes hand and the Locals here are like the indians they just havent started scalping anyone yet. Im sorry if I ticked anyone off I just wanted yall to see the attitude that a lot of Floridians encounter when they come here and a lot of times they end up moving back down there. Well gotta run and go get supper at our know over crowded stores.

[JOHNNYCOUNTRY]

Originally Posted by cnccoco

I love visiting and vacationing in Blue Ridge. Do the locals really dislike the Floridians?

I find that very disapointing - I would think the more tourists that visit, the more jobs that are created for the locals, more money brought into the town, etc.
I understand the locals not wanting Blue Ridge to turn out as busy and crowded as Ellijay is getting, but a little growth seems ok.

By the way............any word on what's going in next to Home Depot?

Well they do thats just the way it is. No actually the more tourists we get not any real jobs are made. The last commisoner we had wanted Blue Ridge to be a vacation spot or a resort town if you will and didnt want any industry in Blue Ridge. Our pay scale is very low at most jobs usually under $20.000 to 30,000 a year and when the average acre is $35.000 to $200.000 well you do the math. Hopefully nothing is going next to Home Depot we dont need anything else to crowd up our town more then it is. When youre in Blue Ridge dont you notice all the Florida tags? Sometimes you cant tell if youre even in Georgia anymore. But like I said yall can have it,its wrecked now and only getting worse with all the subdivisions being built.

[Prichard]

I didn't take your comments as "mean" at all, Johny. I appreciate the candid discussion. I was born and raised in Central Florida - yes, we were once a Southern state, and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between an old Florida Cracker and most natives of Georgia, except in the mountains. I didn't notice this is Blue Ridge as much, but the natives in the northeast corner of Georgia mountians have a very distinctive accent and way of talking - much different than other Georgians.

I have to agree that Home Depot and Walmart don't bring any worthwhile jobs to these towns. The towns up there would be better off keeping these places out for two reasons: 1) less non-natives from big cities really want to be near HD and Walmart; and 2) they destroy local businesses and the local charm. It's easy to say that you won't shop at Walmart.....until you need a chainsaw and it's only 2/3rds the price of the one they have at Reeves. If Walmart wasn't there, I wouldn't mind spending the extra cash, but....

The smart locals have really capitalized on tourism. Local produce markets are packed during your growning and harvesting seasons! I don't care what the heck you grow up there, the tourists will eat it, rave about it and pay more for it at a produce market than at the Ingles or Piggly Wiggly. Small contractors have more work than they can handle. I figure I could retire, buy a hauler and a backhoe and re-rock driveways at $2000 a pop 6 hours a day and make a fortune. Or, what about a "cabin-care" service? Or lawn care service? Better yet, be a realtor and have your license in Blue Ridge and Florida - if you can't beat the, join them.

Johny, go ahead and get your land up in Kentucky...Do it now, before the price goes up. But, don't leave your home town - if you are a local, and industrious, there's gold up in them hills - just need to mine a little of it!