User Panel
Posted: 6/18/2022 3:13:18 PM EDT
I am considering a new job/move to the Atlanta area. Office will be downtown, but flexible hours/days will mitigate some of the traffic issues. Understand Atlanta metro is the urban jungle and a big mess, so I'm looking outwards.
From those familiar with the area, I'm seeking recommendations for areas to buy or build a home. Seeking the following (in a perfect world): Would like to have enough land/space to shoot on at the house (avoid suburbia, prefer small town feel) Decent schools Be able to access a grocery store/basic amenities within 15-20 min. Red/conservative local government - tired of my neighbors considering me the enemy and not being represented by my elected representatives. Targeting a max 1:10 min drive to downtown Take budget out of the equation for the sake of this exercise For those in the know - are these things possible to find? If so, where? |
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I'm still new to the area, I live in the Stone Mountain area but if you want avoid liberal government control I would automatically exclude anywhere in Gwinnett County. Although we've not had any issues with them, we don't have the land available to shoot on so we fly under the radar. Gwinnett County aka Atlanta and it's surrounding area are subject to whatever liberal nonsense is the flavor of the day. I highly recommend just omitting anything inside Gwinnett county.
I will say that the area where I live is beautiful and the people are nice. We just didn't have the time or funds to pick a place with acreage outside of this county. If we had, we would have done exactly what you're talking about but outside the Gwinnett County line. |
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Quoted: OP, you might want to look at Pickens and Cherokee counties. View Quote These 2 plus Meriwether or Heard counties on the south and west. Avoid Dekalb, Fulton, Clayton and Henry hard. Also is goes without saying avoid anything inside of 285. Cobb, Gwinnett and Fayette are sliding the wrong way at various speeds. Traffic is everywhere. Buy a dash cam. it will save you. Learn the secondary roads |
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If you're right leaning come to Cherokee. Depending on when you move the housing might be trending to sane levels.
Cobb county drivers suck. |
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Accounting for tracking. Probably four or five blocks from ur job. ??
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Quoted: These 2 plus Meriwether or Heard counties on the south and west. Avoid Dekalb, Fulton, Clayton and Henry hard. Also is goes without saying avoid anything inside of 285. Cobb, Gwinnett and Fayette are sliding the wrong way at various speeds. Traffic is everywhere. Buy a dash cam. it will save you. Learn the secondary roads View Quote This. I handled a case where I believe someone is avoiding prison because they had a dash cam. Metro traffic can be insane. |
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Quoted: These 2 plus Meriwether or Heard counties on the south and west. Avoid Dekalb, Fulton, Clayton and Henry hard. Also is goes without saying avoid anything inside of 285. Cobb, Gwinnett and Fayette are sliding the wrong way at various speeds. Traffic is everywhere. Buy a dash cam. it will save you. Learn the secondary roads View Quote I would say to avoid Gwinnett. Where I lived in Suwanee went to shit at a rapid pace. |
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I had heard good things about Cherokee (as has been said) - not too far a drive?
Copy on avoiding Gwinnett (and the other heavy metro counties). Fayette is moving the wrong way? How is Coweta? Aside from politics, is the land/elbow room available anywhere? |
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Cherokee County. The commute depends on what time on the rush hour you are on the road. I just retired and escaped Atlanta - for the reasons you listed we picked Canton near Waleska 10 years ago. However, look at Cobb County now and that is what Cherokee will be in 10 years or so.
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Quoted: I would say to avoid Gwinnett. Where I lived in Suwanee went to shit at a rapid pace. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: These 2 plus Meriwether or Heard counties on the south and west. Avoid Dekalb, Fulton, Clayton and Henry hard. Also is goes without saying avoid anything inside of 285. Cobb, Gwinnett and Fayette are sliding the wrong way at various speeds. Traffic is everywhere. Buy a dash cam. it will save you. Learn the secondary roads I would say to avoid Gwinnett. Where I lived in Suwanee went to shit at a rapid pace. 45+ year Gwinnett resident. Can confirm. |
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Bought 2 bed 1 bath house on 6.5 Acres for Dad in Paulding County (Dallas) in Jan '21....
It's surrounded by 400 ish undeveloped acres. We shoot out there all the time and are building the homestead up. You're about an hour into ATL and 10 mins into downtown Dallas. I will say, IMHO .....if you are looking to buy (especially w/cash) v.s. rent...... I highly suggest you wait for the collapse in housing (which is coming soon). The price of the place I bought is up 50% in the 1.5yrs I've owned it. It's beyond insanity and cannot be sustained. |
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Cherokee is nice but developing fast. For that reason we sold last year and moved out to Bartow. 15 minutes from I75 so commuting isn't a problem but was able to get 10 acres for what we sold 0.3 in Cherokee for. Doubled my commute to work but worth every second of it.
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Lumpkin County, maybe Dawson country depending on how long you plan to stay. I moved from the area a year or so ago and miss it dearly.
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I've been a resident of west Georgia since 1978. Douglas county from 78 til 2012. Paulding county from then til now. West Paulding isn't what it used to be. I'm in 15 acres and it's hand grenade friendly. I work all over metro Atlanta and if I leave on time I can be downtown in 45 minutes. Looking further west is in my realm of retirement.
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Quoted: Lumpkin County, maybe Dawson country depending on how long you plan to stay. I moved from the area a year or so ago and miss it dearly. View Quote Lumpkin is probably too far for the OP. My wife has to go to her company's downtown office once every few months and it takes her 90 minutes from the very south end of Lumpkin. |
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Walton is a great county. We moved there 4 years ago and don’t regret it. It may be a different place in 10 years but our local govt is great. We were one of the few that didn’t shut school down the last 2 years because of rona
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Quoted: I will say, IMHO .....if you are looking to buy (especially w/cash) v.s. rent...... I highly suggest you wait for the collapse in housing (which is coming soon). The price of the place I bought is up 50% in the 1.5yrs I've owned it. It's beyond insanity and cannot be sustained. View Quote Agreed - this is why I asked to remove price as a consideration for your recommendations. Good info here - thanks all. Lumpkin and Dawson do seem a bit far. Possibilities (or limiting factors) in Carroll or Coweta counties? |
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Quoted: Bought 2 bed 1 bath house on 6.5 Acres for Dad in Paulding County (Dallas) in Jan '21.... It's surrounded by 400 ish undeveloped acres. We shoot out there all the time and are building the homestead up. You're about an hour into ATL and 10 mins into downtown Dallas. View Quote I hear ya, but it's developing fast out here. The last 30 min of my commute is usually the last 3 miles to my house and it doesn't matter if i come 92, Macland or a different way. We moved out here in '05 to 'get away'. That ship has sailed. |
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Quoted: Bought 2 bed 1 bath house on 6.5 Acres for Dad in Paulding County (Dallas) in Jan '21.... It's surrounded by 400 ish undeveloped acres. We shoot out there all the time and are building the homestead up. You're about an hour into ATL and 10 mins into downtown Dallas. I will say, IMHO .....if you are looking to buy (especially w/cash) v.s. rent...... I highly suggest you wait for the collapse in housing (which is coming soon). The price of the place I bought is up 50% in the 1.5yrs I've owned it. It's beyond insanity and cannot be sustained. View Quote i dont think a collapse is coming. this isnt 2008. there is no mortgage credit bubble. what IS gonna happen is a major slowdown in new home construction and a continual increase in costs to rent. there is a shortage of houses, which is forcing folks into rentals and there are lots of corporations sharking up homes to be used as rental properties and raising rents. i would say, figure out what your budget can handle, with increasing mortgage rates, and start looking in areas you want to live. do not rush. take your time. i expect a recession. therefore i expect some foreclosures. what i dont expect with this current situation is the fallout from home prices decreasing leaving folks out of a job underwater on their mortgage. this will happen in some areas i expect, but not places like ga where folks are coming from all over to get out of more liberal states, expensive areas and colder rust-belt states. |
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This is very true.
My parents moved out to Canton 15 years ago and is much more built up today. Much of the change has taken place over the past 5 years. |
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People were moving to my neighborhood in west Canton, almost Waleska, from Woodstock to escape the growth. Of course, they were just adding to the growth in our part of Canton. Cherokee today is what Cobb used to be - Cherokee is 5/10 years is what Cobb is today.
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I'm in Bremen. Love it out here. Still feels very rural then we have Carrollton close by if we need things not found in Bremen. Only thing is not many restaurants but I don't care. Rather live in the country.
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Quoted: I had heard good things about Cherokee (as has been said) - not too far a drive? Copy on avoiding Gwinnett (and the other heavy metro counties). Fayette is moving the wrong way? How is Coweta? Aside from politics, is the land/elbow room available anywhere? View Quote Fayette has been going the wrong way slowly for years but it's not too bad if your well away from from close proximity to I75, Coweta has a serious drug problem , a lot of DWI's and property crimes and being right on I85 doesn't help with the drug trafficking . They keep quite about it because they don't want drive away new business and new home sales . The growth has made the traffic almost as bad as the north side of Atlanta . |
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Quoted: I had heard good things about Cherokee (as has been said) - not too far a drive? Copy on avoiding Gwinnett (and the other heavy metro counties). Fayette is moving the wrong way? How is Coweta? Aside from politics, is the land/elbow room available anywhere? View Quote I'm in Coweta. Parts can be fairly rural. not sure what your budget is, but i paid $250k for a 1600sqft 3/2 on 1.6 acres. I'm zoned rural conservative (good for my homebased FFL) and shooting in my backyard. About 10 mins to downtown Newnan. Downside of Coweta are emissions (but easily fooled), no liquor stores (yet). I'd say Carrol County (where I work) or Heard will be more rural, but further from ATL. No idea on land prices. |
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Quoted: I had heard good things about Cherokee (as has been said) - not too far a drive? Copy on avoiding Gwinnett (and the other heavy metro counties). Fayette is moving the wrong way? How is Coweta? Aside from politics, is the land/elbow room available anywhere? View Quote Coweta is going to be expensive and higher taxes than many of the southern neighbors. Traffic is a disaster due to 30 years of poor planning. Newnan is building apartments and townhouses at an alarmingly fast pace. I just sold my six acres in Coweta. My former rural area is being swallowed by development with a planned 225 house on 120 acre subdivision coming down the street from me. The county commission is full of realtors and developers as is the city council and it shows. In the west side and south of Moreland there is still some cheaper land. |
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I’m really happy in west Cobb/Marietta. Small town feel with decent amenities.
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Quoted: I'm in Coweta. Parts can be fairly rural. not sure what your budget is, but i paid $250k for a 1600sqft 3/2 on 1.6 acres. I'm zoned rural conservative (good for my homebased FFL) and shooting in my backyard. About 10 mins to downtown Newnan. Downside of Coweta are emissions (but easily fooled), no liquor stores (yet). I'd say Carrol County (where I work) or Heard will be more rural, but further from ATL. No idea on land prices. View Quote Coweta has an ordinance that states no shooting within 100 yards (300 feet) of an occupied dwelling. With 1.6 acres, your legal shooting depends entirely on your neighbors and how many houses get built around you. Even 10 acres might have a hard time with shooting if they build houses right up on your property line. |
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Quoted: I am considering a new job/move to the Atlanta area. Office will be downtown, but flexible hours/days will mitigate some of the traffic issues. Understand Atlanta metro is the urban jungle and a big mess, so I'm looking outwards. From those familiar with the area, I'm seeking recommendations for areas to buy or build a home. Seeking the following (in a perfect world): Would like to have enough land/space to shoot on at the house (avoid suburbia, prefer small town feel) Decent schools Be able to access a grocery store/basic amenities within 15-20 min. Red/conservative local government - tired of my neighbors considering me the enemy and not being represented by my elected representatives. Targeting a max 1:10 min drive to downtown Take budget out of the equation for the sake of this exercise For those in the know - are these things possible to find? If so, where? View Quote Do you have kids? I ask because I don't really think what you are asking for is readily available, unless you are pretty wealthy and can buy a lot of land, which is expensive within a driving distance to Atlanta. As you get far enough from Atlanta to make even a horrible daily commute unfeasible, the price of land drops quite sharply, but then education systems are by and large bad - not usually places you want to choose to have your children educated. The best public education is in higher income areas and highly populated. The best private schools are unfortunately in the same areas (and uniformly expensive). Just look at all factors that are applicable to you and your future self. I did a 44 mile commute to Atlanta for many years. I foolishly tore up several cars from high value to 500 bucks in value, not to mention high maintenance costs and my sanity. I mostly work remotely now, and I am not sure that if I had to commute I would choose to live this far from work again. But, I can shoot in my yard, although that was rare when I was working long hours and spending three hours on a good day commuting and just hoping to get home early enough to tuck my kids into bed at night. |
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I don't know if you've considered living south of Atlanta, but anywhere from Monroe County's southern border with Bibb to its nothern border is a good area and where we live currently.
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Quoted: I had heard good things about Cherokee (as has been said) - not too far a drive? Copy on avoiding Gwinnett (and the other heavy metro counties). Fayette is moving the wrong way? How is Coweta? Aside from politics, is the land/elbow room available anywhere? View Quote Ex Fayetteville now Newnan person here @TyrannyOfTheMinority I love it in Newnan. Interstate 85 is right here, lots of golf courses, pretty much anything you can think of chain wise and some good lock stuff (especially down town Newnan) I am in a big neighborhood, that part I hate but you can still find houses/land fairly easily, especially down on 16 or even going an exit or two down to Hogansville/Luthersville area. but if you have any questions let me know. Been here for a while now. |
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Quoted: Coweta is going to be expensive and higher taxes than many of the southern neighbors. Traffic is a disaster due to 30 years of poor planning. Newnan is building apartments and townhouses at an alarmingly fast pace. I just sold my six acres in Coweta. My former rural area is being swallowed by development with a planned 225 house on 120 acre subdivision coming down the street from me. The county commission is full of realtors and developers as is the city council and it shows. In the west side and south of Moreland there is still some cheaper land. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I had heard good things about Cherokee (as has been said) - not too far a drive? Copy on avoiding Gwinnett (and the other heavy metro counties). Fayette is moving the wrong way? How is Coweta? Aside from politics, is the land/elbow room available anywhere? Coweta is going to be expensive and higher taxes than many of the southern neighbors. Traffic is a disaster due to 30 years of poor planning. Newnan is building apartments and townhouses at an alarmingly fast pace. I just sold my six acres in Coweta. My former rural area is being swallowed by development with a planned 225 house on 120 acre subdivision coming down the street from me. The county commission is full of realtors and developers as is the city council and it shows. In the west side and south of Moreland there is still some cheaper land. |
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Yeah, it's gonna be tough to meet your requirements. Going north, Gwinette County is simply too packed to be able to shoot, plus too liberal. Hall county(Gainesvillle) would most likely have to go all the way to the extreme north. Habersham or White counties are both rural, but north of the 1 hour drive.
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Quoted: Yeah, it's gonna be tough to meet your requirements. Going north, Gwinette County is simply too packed to be able to shoot, plus too liberal. Hall county(Gainesvillle) would most likely have to go all the way to the extreme north. Habersham or White counties are both rural, but north of the 1 hour drive. View Quote OP, anywhere in the greater metro area you would want to live is going to be brutal to commute from. Sorry to be a negative Nancy but all the Northern burbs are ballooning in population growth. If you have kids, the choices narrow even more if you want good public schools. This is what has driven Forsyth's growth over the last 15 yrs, the better schools in the area and thus south Forsyth has been saturated even North in the county is becoming untenable. Traffic locally is absolutely horrible just to get to GA400. I agree with some here, Cherokee is likely you're best bet but understand that commute will be rough. Anything further north is simply unbearable to commute into downtown. |
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If budget was not an issue, I'd have a lake house at Keowee or Hartwell and a place closer to town if I expected to be there much.
We have a member that has a good setup. House in North metro and an escape property about 2 hours out. We will be doing a street of dreams tour of it at the MOA shoot this fall |
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Housing market seems to be changing fast - real estate showings going down and interest rates going up. I would not buy in Atlanta market for a while and see if housing prices fall - seems like 2008 again to me when I bought a brand new foreclosure in Canton.
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Quoted: Ex Fayetteville now Newnan person here @TyrannyOfTheMinority I love it in Newnan. Interstate 85 is right here, lots of golf courses, pretty much anything you can think of chain wise and some good lock stuff (especially down town Newnan) I am in a big neighborhood, that part I hate but you can still find houses/land fairly easily, especially down on 16 or even going an exit or two down to Hogansville/Luthersville area. but if you have any questions let me know. Been here for a while now. View Quote You don't want to go to Luthersville. Trust me on that |
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Quoted: Coweta has an ordinance that states no shooting within 100 yards (300 feet) of an occupied dwelling. With 1.6 acres, your legal shooting depends entirely on your neighbors and how many houses get built around you. Even 10 acres might have a hard time with shooting if they build houses right up on your property line. View Quote Sec. 42-1. - Discharge of firearms. (a)It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge any firearm within 100 yards of an occupied dwelling without the consent of the owner. My neighbors are good with it and also shoot occasionally. |
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Quoted: Sec. 42-1. - Discharge of firearms. (a)It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge any firearm within 100 yards of an occupied dwelling without the consent of the owner. My neighbors are good with it and also shoot occasionally. View Quote They tried to increase the distance and add acreage requirements in Cherokee a year or two ago after some dipshit neighbors got into it. It looked like it was going to get approved and right before the scheduled meeting it was removed from the agenda and determined that the existing noise ordinance was sufficient. Not sure how or why, but I'm glad it was tabled. |
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Go northwest until you hit district 14, then go as far into that as you can stand to commute.
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Everybody and their brother wants to move north of Atlanta because that was the best move about 15 years ago. Your best bet is probably to go south and follow the main routes that aren’t receiving priority construction and the radio traffic report pays it no mind (because there’s less hordes of people going that way). If you go to work at 4-5 am and leave before 2-3 pm or after 7-8 pm you should be able to make your drive under your 1:10 time criteria as far as Newnan, Griffin, Villa Rica, Canton, Covington. I spent 25+ years in Griffin, and a good number of years recently driving downtown to work and class at GT, and then a good portion of it driving up to Jasper to shoot at the gun club. Rush hour from any of the above mentioned towns you are looking at a 1.5-3 hour one-way drive depending on construction, sporting events, and accidents. Sporting events clog up roadways at odd hours as well. My worst days would top 3 hours. Express lanes can help but that’s an additional $6+ a day depending on rates. The land and public schools are achievable goals but maybe not at the same time. Example: open and available land could mean smaller and maybe less desirable school districts. Private school may be the best option. My advice is open yourself up to an 1.5 hour radius, plan to be an early riser and early to bed, find a good private school, and spend the money to buy enough land you won’t have to depend on your neighbors not selling out to keep your shooting spot open because guaranteed in a decade you’ll be living amidst suburban hell. I would look along I 75 southside towards Jackson or Barnesville and you can find good tracts of land tucked away off the lesser known exits and smaller local highways.
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