Hello all,
Wife and I are going to Blairsville Ga in a few months.  We will be looking at Murphy too.  We're looking to escape the heat and Miami influx of SW Fl.
Tell me about Murphy.  Everything I hear from people is positive.  My wife has a friend that owns a cabin there.  They stayed in it during the covid lockdown.  They will be moving after the kids get out of school.

What is confusing is, stats you see on the net.  One site shows high crime.  The other shows it's a great place to retire.

Any inside info would be great !
Thx

I've live lived here for 67 years and seen a lot of change.
Some of it due to retirees/vacation/recreational increase and some due to the casino.
As with any area there are good and bad and fortunately the good still outweighs the bad.

Good paying jobs are few and far between but plenty of service related and I see help wanted signs everywhere.

As to crime, most are drug related such such as theft and distribution.

Real estate prices are high and rising as demand outstrips supply. Plenty of construction in process slowing down due to stupidly increasing material prices and folks waiting on govt money from COVID relief and not wanting to work manual labor. If it wasn't for Hispanics wanting to work building would grind to a crawl.

We have lots of outdoor recreation opportunities due to an abundance of mountains, rivers, streams and lakes with most lands being government such as TVA and US Forest Service.

There are many "self reliant/prepper," types who have tried to escape the masses.

There is a local saying that we are "two hours away from anything," as that is the approximate travel time to Knoxville, TN, Asheville, NC, Atlanta, GA, and Chattanooga, TN.

Don't want to paint a doom and gloom picture OP just trying to be "real world."