Any comments on Jackson County Georgia (Jefferson, Braselton: houses, construction, private school)

[Ran973]

In was wondering if anyone can share some information on Jackson County Georgia. My family and I are relocating to Hoschton. We have visited about 4 times and it seems very nice. It is much more layed back then our current hometown in New Jersey. The schools seem good also. Any information or comments would be greatly appreciated.

[dtmcintyre]

Less than 30 miles from Athens, it is a nice family town. Great schools and the area is growing. Great place to live.

[Georgia]

Jackson is a nice county and becoming Gwinnett Jr.
Within the last 2 years Jackson has been invaded by the developing hordes.
From Exit 129 to 137 you will find in excess of 30 new developments currently under construction.

The issue has became so far out of hand that heading north on I-85 has become bottleneck city at the 113 mile marker (85/985 split) from 5-7pm nightly.

The issue that will be facing Jackson over the advantaged Gwinnett is infrastructure support from the commercial tax base. Currently Jackson has the Dairy, Haverty, and a few other commercial outlet bases on 124, but the tax base ends there with Chateau sharing Hall and Barrow. If they don't place the developers under control soon the general population will be paying through the nose with increased millage.

This is why I refer to developers as Seagull's, which you will find on many of my posts.
Seagulls are mangy beasts who fly in, destroy and pooop on everything in sight, take what they need, then leave the mess for everyone else to clean up. All one needs to do is look at the constant gridlock, trailers beside schools, and wall to wall bodies in Gwinnett to see what may be in store for Jackson. Hopefully, the Jackson elect will wake up soon.

[AthensProf]

I believe Jackson County is one of the fastest growing counties (as far as residential development) in Georgia. Much of the residential development is due to the high ratings of the Jefferson City schools. The county schools are rated slightly lower. In fact, a collegue of mine pulled their kids out of private school to send them to Jefferson High School because of the math and science programs. At least that was his story....

There are many areas of Jackson county that are still quiet with reasonable housing values. Hoschoton is a nice area with increasing house values. Just have to be careful of what is going in around you and the ever present chicken houses (although not as bad as some other neighboring counties!). Lots of horse farms. Trailer parks are scattered around the county. Proximity to Athens makes SE Jackson a viable option for UGA professors and staff.

I do not live in Jackson, so I cannot adequately comment on property taxes.

[jhsrichards]

I grew up in Jackson County, and I can tell you from experience that it is a great, fairly quiet area, but, as people have told you from other posts, it is changing quickly. This is noticeable even from one side of the county to other - the southwestern parts of the county (Hoschton, Braselton) are much more developed and busy than the mostly rural areas of the northeast part of Jackson County.

All of Jackson County's schools are good, but the best are definitely the city of Jefferson's (the county seat). Jefferson schools are some of the best in GA. However, be prepared to wait a little bit to pick up/drop your child off. The traffic situation around the city schools is not the best in the world.

I don't agree with the view that we are becoming the next Gwinnett, though. There are too many long-time locals in Jackson County who have seen the error of Gwinnett's ways. These people are willing to fight whatever political wars they have to in order to try and preserve some of Jackson County's history. And so far, they have done a pretty good job.

Just be prepared to drive some if you need to shop or eat out. Jackson is getting more restaurants and shopping, but right now, if you are looking for something unique, you will have to drive to Athens or Gwinnett - not bad commutes from anywhere in Jackson County (30 - 40 mins max.)