help! looking for safe nice small town in ga mountain area (Dahlonega: for sale, homes)

[pretty_in_pink4]

Hi and Thanks for looking!
We are a small family of 3, we are currently on the Eastern shore of Mobile , AL and would like to relocate to a mountain view home or a historic downtown area.
I have a successful small portrait studio here at my home, but my hubby wants to move north.
Unfortunately...according to city-data stats most of the small towns have income levels around half of the state average and much lower than where we live now.
It took me many years to build my business to a "upscale" clientele.
I am very scared to let that go, but we would like to go someplace that has art, antiques, kind hearted people and a slower pace of life.
Can anyone recommend a very pretty small town that could use a fine portrait photographer?
Thanks in advance for the info!!!

[Ollie1946]

DON'T DO IT!!! I am amazed that anyone who is not independently wealthy even remotely considers giving up a job or a successful business for a 'grass is greener' move. It isn't greener. It is the same grass. Try to take long vacations in N. GA. Learn about the area first hand. No one knows your business like you know it.

With that said, the only upscale area I know of that has people who might afford your services is Highlands, NC and maybe Brevard, NC.

Good luck.

[go falcons]

I'm going to second the areas that Ollie mentioned and maybe throw in Clayton in Rabun county as well (not far from Highlands ).

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by Vicki the portrait photog

Hi and Thanks for looking!
We are a small family of 3, we are currently on the Eastern shore of Mobile , AL and would like to relocate to a mountain view home or a historic downtown area.
I have a successful small portrait studio here at my home, but my hubby wants to move north.
Unfortunately...according to city-data stats most of the small towns have income levels around half of the state average and much lower than where we live now.
It took me many years to build my business to a "upscale" clientele.
I am very scared to let that go, but we would like to go someplace that has art, antiques, kind hearted people and a slower pace of life.
Can anyone recommend a very pretty small town that could use a fine portrait photographer?
Thanks in advance for the info!!!

Ironically, to me that describes the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay.
Highlands has been suggested, but any business there is by and large going to be seasonal...it's pretty dead there in the winter. There are communities that have become popular retirement havens in north Georgia: Young Harris, Blue Ridge, Hiawassee, Ellijay, Jasper, Clarkesville and Dahlonega to name a few. You could try testing the waters there. I don't think you're going to have the same concentration of potential clients in any given community as you would in Baldwin County, however. Asheville, perhaps.

[Georgia1113]

Jasper, Cleveland, Helen.

[atlantagreg30127]

Actually, when you go to Dahlonega, you see every arts/crafts studio around there except for any kind of photography studio. There are none in the main square area at all. It's a more blue collar area (as far as regular residents go) There are however, more upscale homes being built in that area so the demographics are changing - only more slowly these days.

The catch: Due to the fact Dahlonega is a small tourist town, you would have to adapt the business. A "fine portrait studio" alone probably would not cut it there. Tourists taking day or weekend trips there are not going usually for fine portraits, and again, it's a blue collar area income wise, so people typically will not be spending $$$$ on portraits. So.. now hold on to your monitor... you MIGHT have to resort to things like High School Senior and Baby portraits and if in the square (hold your breath), doing those "old time" themed portraits as well as offer the fine photography services, too. Yes, I know, that's like suggesting to walk through dog poop barefoot (I do photography on the side so I do understand), but it's an OPTION, and overall Dahlonega really is a nice little artsy-themed town without being tacky.

Otherwise, if you want a "ready-made" upscale clientele, yep, Highlands NC is more appropriate.

[Ollie1946]

Helen is dead. Several studios there; the type where you dress in costume---dead.

I would think wedding photography might still work. People still have dreams.

[ebe8528]

We took several trips to the GA mountains the fall 2010. We felt like we were in the boondocks, and visited Jasper, Dahlonega, Clayton, etc.. There were some nice people, but they are all really struggling financially.

GA has so many homes for sale that they will take years to get rid of this inventory. The mountains were pitiful at best, and not sure where there are "upscale clientele." A very uneducated population in GA overall. Supposedly, there are some nice retirement communities, but with dwindling assets, many of these upper middle class retirees are not spending money on photography.
I agree - bypass GA and look at Charleston, S.C., or upwards into N.C..

[DreamKeeper]

Originally Posted by ebe8528

We took several trips to the GA mountains the fall 2010. We felt like we were in the boondocks, and visited Jasper, Dahlonega, Clayton, etc.. There were some nice people, but they are all really struggling financially.

GA has so many homes for sale that they will take years to get rid of this inventory. The mountains were pitiful at best, and not sure where there are "upscale clientele." A very uneducated population in GA overall. Supposedly, there are some nice retirement communities, but with dwindling assets, many of these upper middle class retirees are not spending money on photography.
I agree - bypass GA and look at Charleston, S.C., or upwards into N.C..

You do realize that the post you dredged up is from 2009 right? And you also realize that by the very nature of being in the mountains you are in the boondocks right? The population in Georgia is uneducated by whose standards, yours? You appear to be the uneducated one here and quite a snob to boot...