NE Georgia anyone? Gathering information.

[1bassoon]

So, for you long-timers, let's play another round of "Who will my dh work for next fall??" (Too long of a story to share. Trust me, you don't want to know.)

He's being considered for a job in NW Georgia, at Toccoa Falls College. We are going there next week for an interview and to scope out the area. Can anyone familiar help? Here are the things I'm wondering:

 

1. I think we will need to live in a larger town than Toccoa ;) So. . .South Carolina or Georgia? How do they compare taxes and homeschooling?

 

2. My girls (currently 9th and 5th) are currently in a 2-day/week co-op/tutorial. Does anyone know of options like that near either Clemson, SC or maybe Mt. Airy, GA or even Athens, GA?

 

3. And super random - my 9th grader will be looking for a ballet school. Thoughts on that?

 

I know this is a 'needle in a haystack' kind of question, but if anyone will know it's the Hive. Thanks!

Edited January 13, 2016 by 1bassoon

[zoobie]

Toccoa is very pretty. And tiny. I wouldn't consider Athens to be commuter distance. Theoretically it's a bit over an hour, but it's a long drive. (We lived in Athens and DH had an interview at a firm in Toccoa, granted over 15 years ago, but the drive was awful. Plus they wanted us to live there and be part of the community, which makes sense, but it was not for us!) I love Athens and would live there in a heartbeat, but not if it meant commuting to Toccoa. Greensville SC has really boomed with the BMW plant and so forth coming to town. Clemson would be close enough to that to give you lots of options I would think.

 

Does the college want/expect you to live in Toccoa?

[1bassoon]

I don't know if they would - I know they mentioned that some folks lived in nearby communities. They also mentioned that there might be a 4-bd house on campus for us to rent for very little $$ while we get to know the area, so that's a plus.

 

I'm just worried about finding a good community for my kiddos, ya know? I'm not even averse to putting them in a (good) school setting, but the first year there I'd like to keep their lives as consistent as possible as what we've got now.

[1bassoon]

Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD. . . it's northEAST GA, not northwest like my original post said.

OK, let's try again. How about Gainesville? Looks like there might be some good options there, including a ballet school.

[zoobie]

Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD. . . it's northEAST GA, not northwest like my original post said.

OK, let's try again. How about Gainesville? Looks like there might be some good options there, including a ballet school.

Gainesville would be worth looking at certainly. If you want the more liberal flavor of a large university, you won't find that in Gainesville. Liberal isn't quite the right word, but Gainesville is going to be very typical Deep South small town. It would be a not bad drive to Athens and then to more urban things in Metro Atlanta.

 

And yes, I figured you meant NE. ;)

[ashfern]

I'm on the other side of the state so I'm not as familiar with the towns on the east side. I would probably try to rent the place on campus and then drive around to the closer towns and see what they're like. 

[*lifeoftheparty*]

Flame suit on.... here goes...

 

We moved to Dahlonega in 1990, or 1991... I was in 6th grade. I left when I gardiated high school and NEVER looked back. You couldn't pay me enough money to raise my kids in North Georgia.

 

I am sorry if that offends people who live there, YMMV.

 

My sisters both live down there, my one sister lives in Gainesville. I am extremely familiar with the area. I would never ever want to move there, soley based off if my experiences living there and visiting once in a blue moon.

 

If you are a traditional white conservative Christian family, you will probably have no idea what I'm talking about and love living in "God's Country." If you are anything else- be wary.

 

The racism up there was and is ridiculous. I dated a black guy(s) in high school, and was called a whore, and had friends who were not allowed to be friends with me anymore. My dad lost work because his daughter was dating a n*****. I saw my boyfriends cousin junped and beat up by rednecks for dating their white cousin. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

There is a high population of Hispanics in Gainesville, they are treated as second class citizens. Just so you know, ANY person with brown skin- is Mexican. Doesn't matter if they are from Peru, Guam, Costa Rica, or Spain. In NE Georgia, they are Mexicans- and ALL Mexicans are illegals- and treated as such.

 

Lumpkin County had the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the state when I was in high school.

 

If you send your kids to school, that's the kind of culture they will be immersed in. And they'll have a great time if they are accepted into the cool kids, good ole boy club....

 

The whole place operated on the good ole boy system, so make sure you make a good first impression.

 

Was it pretty up there? Sure. Are the people extremely nice and friendly on the surface? Sure. Just be mindful of that... they can turn on you in a New York minute. That's gross generalizations of course, and there are always exceptions... I still have several friends there, and my sisters live there and all... but it is one of the last places on Earth I would want to raise my kids.

[1bassoon]

Hey, I'll take all information. I appreciate your willingness to be honest. Thanks.

 

[Liz CA]

No clue about the area but I hope you and your dh find a dream job. I remember your previous posts (somewhat). This state of suspension is always wearying.

[1bassoon]

No clue about the area but I hope you and your dh find a dream job. I remember your previous posts (somewhat). This state of suspension is always wearying.

 

Aw, thanks Liz. It's been a long strange journey, but at this point I'm really good at playing the waiting game at this time of year.

It's not a dream job by any stretch of the imagination, but it IS a college job, which is where he wants to be and where his gifts are. We'll see!

 

There's also a possibility here in town, which would be just - wow - amazing. So if you are the praying type, I'll take all prayers as well! They start reviewing apps on Friday, so the timing is interesting.

[Farrar]

I grew up in that part of the world and I second what lifeoftheparty said about the rampant good ol boy style racism around there.

 

I think it's gotten better in some ways, but it would have been hard for it to get worse. As a baseline, when I was a kid, they were still lynching people a few miles from where I grew up. And I'm not that old.

[zoobie]

Yeah, I didn't know how to say it without risking offending some lovely Boardie who might live there, but... Toccoa and Gainesville would not be on my list of places to live.

[Rebecca]

I lived very close to there for six years. It was incredibly lovely. Big however; I was very happy to leave. I was born, bred, and raised in the Northeast and the culture shock!!!

 

On the other hand, my DH loved it so much and misses the pace of life so so much.

 

I did make some incredible friends the like of which I haven't made since. :(

 

I would not move there without family within two hours or less. Would not.

 

Incredible good Ole boy system. Also, very poor.

 

I hope this helps and I haven't been offensive.

 

I did really love GA especially Atlanta. I think Gainesville would be nice but I do

not have personal experience.

 

I do have experience with Toccoa, Clayton, and just over the NC border.

[1bassoon]

:sigh: And now. . . . how to break this to my hubby. :doublesigh:

 

Well, we'll go there and check it out. They may not even offer him the job, so there's that.

 

He is "slightly" ethnic. . . our last name sounds rather Hispanic. . . . .so. . . . ugh. (He was also born & bred in the northeast - the move to B'ham was a HUGE shocker to him)

 

 

[1bassoon]

Would it be better if we looked more at Clemson area? Dh is willing to commute if it makes for a better living situation for us.

[housemouse]

Anything that is north of Dawsonville, Ga is very rural. Not much in terms of enrichment unless you are willing to drive 30-45 minutes each way to and from class.

 

Gainesville is smallish and yes, Hispanic population is very large and there are areas that are not pretty and have gang problems.

 

If your husband is willing to make and hour and a half drive then look for Cumming, Alpharetta, Johns Creek in Ga- high population, there are ballet studios, people are nice. Taxes are not that bad as long as you do not go too close to Atlanta.

 

Roswell, Alpharetta and Cumming all have hybrid schools geared towards homeschoolers all through high school, plenty of sports and dance studios and enrichment classes. There are also homeschool groups and field trip groups for homeschoolers that are active if you join in (free)to meet other kids as well for park days, library events, game days, bowling, roller skating, ice skating, all kinds of stuff.

Edited January 14, 2016 by housemouse

[MSNative]

Well Ill give the other side of the coin. My family has lived all over GA. Currently I have family in NE GA and in ATL. My family in NE GA live in a beautiful community of hard working people. They are somewhat reserved - rural mountain area communities can be that way wherever you are. My last name is Hispanic and I haven't experienced any racism there. Actually I have experienced more problems in the Northeast, especially Boston, than I ever have in Georgia.

 

My bigger concern would be finding something to do and a good fit for your kids. I don't know any homeschool communities up there and any that you would find near my family's place woudl be a long drive.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

Would it be better if we looked more at Clemson area? Dh is willing to commute if it makes for a better living situation for us.

I've only driven through the Clemson area, it is just SO rural- SO "out there"... I vaguely remember it being a little more built up around Clemson... I can't speak about it like I can North Georgia. I suggest you go and spend a lot of time driving around- check it out.... And then come back and tell us your thoughts, lol, I'd be interested to hear what your first impressions were.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

Well Ill give the other side of the coin. My family has lived all over GA. Currently I have family in NE GA and in ATL. My family in NE GA live in a beautiful community of hard working people. They are somewhat reserved - rural mountain area communities can be that way wherever you are. My last name is Hispanic and I haven't experienced any racism there. Actually I have experienced more problems in the Northeast, especially Boston, than I ever have in Georgia.

 

My bigger concern would be finding something to do and a good fit for your kids. I don't know any homeschool communities up there and any that you would find near my family's place woudl be a long drive.

Like I said, YMMV, many people who are accepted as "one of the club" won't have any idea what I'm talking about, or they choose to ignore it.

 

But it's there... you just might not notice it until you date someone of the opposite race, or have minority family members there- both of which, apply(ied) to me.

 

There was just last year some kerfluffle at my old high school because some FCA kids held skme kind of prayer group protest, for

like two hours, and it interfered with classes- or something.... and my FB newsfeed was on fire about it.... "This here's a Christian country, we can pray whenever we want," "They won't take God outta OUR schools!" Stuff like that, one of the news stations interviewed parents and they jnterviewed an Asian lady who had a slight Asian accent- and the whhhhoooooollllllle comment section was full of, "These immigrants need to learn how to speak English, this is Amurica jack!" comments.... which I think is pretty rich considering that their country accents are SO thick you can barely understand what they are saying!!!

 

Yeah- so glad I don't live there, lol... I am sorry, to offend people, who might love it there... I'm glad you are happy... I just... had/have a very different experience with that part of the country.

[TechWife]

I spent my teen years near Gainesville - when we went to "town," the town was Gainesville. My family still lives nearby and I am down there a few times each year. I have been away so long, though, that I have a bit of "culture shock" when I get there.

 

If we moved back to the area now, we would likely choose to live in Buford or elsewhere in Gwinnett county for a variety of reasons. 

 

Gainesville is still an old-fashioned southern town.  The city and county governments have not kept pace with the growth and offer limited services (for example, the city offers home trash pickup, the county does not). A lot of the county is unincorporated. My parents have city water, but not city sewer, there are areas that have neither and rely on wells and septic tanks. You would need to decide what services are important to you. 

 

Social activities revolve mostly around churches, of which there are plenty. 

 

You would easily find ballet schools there. 

 

You would need to be careful of where you live - the schools vary widely. There are two school systems - Gainesville City and Hall County. Both have their good and bad. You can usually get reassigned pretty easily if you have a reason, although schools in the western part of the county are more crowded (this is the "hot" area of the county). 

 

The public library system is very small and underfunded (they closed the branch closest to my parents house a couple of years ago). 

 

There is a hospital there and most specialists. 

 

Spanish is a helpful language to know or to learn. As someone said upthread, there is a large hispanic population there. They city/county still does not seem very integrated at all to me. When I lived there, it was predominately white with some african-americans. I think it is still predominately white, but the hispanic population has certainly grown by leaps and bounds. I don't want to say too much, because it's hard for me to be tactful, but I will say that prejudicial attitudes are prevalent.

 

I did have some good friends in high school that are still there and obviously my family is there. My great nieces & nephews are in the schools there in the western part of the county and are doing well. My nieces travel to work in Gwinnett and Dekalb counties. There are limited professional opportunities in Gainesville/Hall county. 

 

You might want to take a look at Braselton. It is smaller than Gainesville, but it is quickly becoming a bedroom community for metro Atlanta. There is a lot of development there near I-85. 

 

ETA: There is some beautiful countryside around there and the mountains are pretty, of course. I went to college in Dahlonega and loved every minute of it. Toccoa might be an interesting place to live, I haven't been there since high school, though, so I don't know much about it. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by TechWife

[TechWife]

Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD. . . it's northEAST GA, not northwest like my original post said.

 

 

I wondered, but thought I might be starting to forget my Georgia geography! 

[1bassoon]

 

I did have some good friends in high school that are still there and obviously my family is there. My great nieces & nephews are in the schools there in the western part of the county and are doing well. My nieces travel to work in Gwinnett and Dekalb counties. There are limited professional opportunities in Gainesville/Hall county. 

 

You might want to take a look at Braselton. It is smaller than Gainesville, but it is quickly becoming a bedroom community for metro Atlanta. There is a lot of development there near I-85. 

 

This whole post is super helpful. Thank you!!!

 

[Farrar]

Yeah, I feel funny badmouthing that area a bit. My father and his wife lived there (she still does) and my kids love going to visit them - they're in a gated, rural community with lakes and lots of fun, relaxed stuff to do (people who know the area may be able to guess where). Everyone is talking about ballet and I remember taking ballet classes as a kid at the Gainesville Ballet and this year my FB feed had lots of pictures of a childhood friends' kids performing in their Nutcracker and it looked very cute. But every time I'm there, I also see the flip side of it... closed communities, poverty and wealth sitting right next to each other in uncomfortable ways, and racism.

[sarasue7272]

I live about 25 minutes south of Gainesville. I don't think I would call it a small town. It does seem kind of behind the times, especially compared to metro Atlanta which keeps getting bigger and bigger. I don't know that I would say all that lifeoftheparty did, but I can't disagree. Good ol' boys, racism poverty.

You wouldn't have any trouble finding kid activities like ballet or sports.

If I were you I would look at Jefferson. It definitely has more of a small town feel, but is not far away from everything. There are lots of homeschool groups around here. Jefferson is about 40 min from toccoa, 30 from Athens, 60 from Atlanta.

If you don't want to be in s rural area, you are going to have to go close to an hour south. I haven't been to Clemson, but the last time I drove that direction it seemed like there was nothing until Greenville.

[DragonFaerie]

I live in a very small town between Toccoa and Athens.  I work in Gainesville.  IMO, a lot of the places that folks are listing would be a LONG drive for your DH to get to work.  Alpharetta, for example, is a 90-minute drive, as is Roswell, and there's TONS of traffic in those areas.  Buford is a nice area, and the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center has a whole homeschool class program that is really good.  But, Buford is still an hour away from Toccoa. Jefferson is a great little town (with a really good school system), but even that is about 50 minutes away.  Toccoa is pretty remote, so anywhere is going to be a drive.  You just need to decide how much of a drive is worth it.

[PeacefulChaos]

My brother lives in Athens.  He grew up in Royston, just barely inside the GA border.  

 

I wouldn't live anywhere near there, or around Toccoa, not a chance.

 

Sure, Alpharetta is nice (we've got family there, too, on DH's side), but that's a long way.  And Alpharetta has traffic.  So.  There's that.  Much too far, IMO.

 

I can't speak to anything in SC.  

[Xahm]

One of my best friends is from there, and I'm not far off so I know a little. I'll be frank with my observations. If you are white and at least nominally protestant (id expect you would need to be more than nominal for TFC), you won't notice much bigotry despite a hispanic name. There are plenty of people around there who are reasonable, and those are the folks I would expect you'd be drawn to. If you are of a different race, some people might not like your dh holding a position of respect like a prof. The reasonable people would still be fine, but the obnoxious minority would be vocal from time to time. And if your family is black-white mixed race, I would stay away. That seems to stir up more anger than anything but atheism or communism.

My friend had a great childhood there with dedicated teachers and decent educational opportunities, like quiz bowl and hosting a radio show. She also didn't realize that any Jewish people live in America until late college. There aren't loads of jobs in the area, but she had no problem finding pt work in hs or over summers in college. She's living there no but looking for somewhere with more opportunities.

COL will be cheap there. I would not try to live somewhere else and commute in as anywhere in commuting distance is not going to be much better in regards to small town mentality. just be prepared to look around at a lot of small towns to find the one or two neat things going on in each. As long as the culture of TFC is okay with you (look at their rules! I think they've loosened up in recent years) I would live on campus, at least at first. It's beautiful and the neighbors would be more likely to be educated.