Tell me about Georgia

oh well then georgia is a step up for you then...

why not keep on walking north a few 100 miles?

North GA does get ice storms. Sometimes pretty bad ones and other's not so bad, but most time the electric goes out so you will need to make sure you have a alternate way to heat. And you have to be super careful if you have to drive around during or after a ice storm.
The area around Rome is very beautiful. Pine trees everywhere, so you have pollen tons of it everywhere and it covers everything so you can't have your windows open, sap, pine needles and pine cones.
Tons of illegal aliens everywhere at least the closer you are to Atlanta. Lots of gangs too, don't know about the North GA area but probley there too.
I personally do not like GA, but then we lived outside of Atlanta in Gwinnett County. We moved to Kentucky almost 3 yrs ago and love it...beats GA all to heck...at least IMHO. No offense to anyone who lives in or likes GA.

I hope you like to sweat, and you like hurricanes, and mold on your siding, and termites, and fire ants.

You couldnt pay me enough to live in the southeast.

To bad the nice people and great food have to be in that armpit.

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We get remnants of hurricanes , not the actual canes. Rome is easy 300 miles inland in one direction 500+ in the other...
Mysticdreamer, if Gwinnett county is what you are judging the whole state by, then no, you don't have a good feeling about the state. I wouldn't either. However, Gwinett is on the other side of the world from Rome, in more than one way. You would have to pay me a whole lotta money to even make me think of living in that cess pitt, and provide machinery to erect barricades. Ugghh



Let me tell y'all about Bartow and Floyd Counties-quiet sleepy town atmosphere with enough going on to be interesting, and still small enough that more than likely, you're gonna meet someone you know (or several someones) in town. We still have farm machinery on the roads, old men in overalls and brogans in town, church on Sunday is a big deal, and if you need help, neighbors will come running to help. We do get the occasional ice storm and you are in the hills. Life shuts down at that point for a day or 2, but its a good time for peace and solitude and having family time.

Floyd is better than Bartow (though my hubby's roots in Bartow are about 8 generations deep or better) because Floyd has been able retain more of the country atmosphere than Cartersville has because lately, Cartersville has gotten an influx of people who saw the first country town and county outside Atlanta and hopped on the band wagon. I am trying to make them go back to Atlanta, lol

Tell you what, come to GA for a visit-I will take a day off from work and show you the area. I fought for 11 yrs to get back to this part of the country from west TN (where my people are from originally) and N. MS (which is kinda home too), and I love it. I would love to share my home town area with you and share the beauty and grace that is the North Ga Mountains. I promise I am not a weirdo-a mom with 4 kids, ages 19 to 11, a lineman hubby, and of the homesteading mindset, just not quite there yet due to having to start over....oh well, that is the price I paid for coming home.....

have to agree with Ginger there regarding Gwinnet county..jeez what a place...no wonder y'all took off to Kentucky..

don't judge the whole state by that county..lol..

got some real nice places in Ga. and some really trashy ones too..but if you're thinking about the Rome area - I've been through there many times and it is a beautiful place in the hills (can't really say mountains..lol)

Berry College campus is gorgeous too.
and don't be scared of a little ice storm, why it's our way of getting unplanned vacations..towns shut down and we spend our time with family and catching up on indoor hobbies and chores or reading and relaxing by the woodstove. Don't last more'n a day or two most of the time, though once! I was without power for a week as the lines were down and at that time, well let's say the population count on my road was six..not a great amount of folks to worry about getting power to when you got a whole town without..

long growing seasons, most of the time you don't have to feed hay till November and can quit about April..so not too bad if you have some pasture. No worry much about busting ice out of troughs - you "might" get some temps down in the teens for a few nights, but they don't last.

come on over and see for yourself! Ga. can be a nice place to live long as you like hot weather. That is the worst thing about living here, heat and humidity..but then there's some folks that like that. I don't mind the heat, it's the humidity that makes me think twice about staying here. Older I get, the harder it is to deal with. But I'm still here after all..been here for a long while now and can't say that it is any worse than anywhere else..everyplace has it's good points and bad. (some worse than others though if you are homesteading - like Los Angeles or places like that).

take care!

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Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!

You acclimate. I've got many friends who grew up in Michigan (and even had a Wolverine play trivia with a Spartan on our team for a couple of years). Not a one of them will move back North. Several have had their parents move down too, once they visited their kids here. If you were to remove all the "Rust Belt refugees" from my building, we'd have to close the place down.

The ice isn't an issue. We lived in Caribou Maine for the last 4 years and NH before that. The humidity will be an issue. I near died this summer in Arkansas and everyone said it was a "mild" summer.

I have been looking at land and houses in Rome and 20-30 minutes west and north. Prices seem decent so far from what I can tell. We would live across the border in AL, too, if we found the right place. We have looked at some houses there and I liike what I see so far.

I'd like to know what the average price is for low grade gas right now? What about a gallon 2% milk? A cord of dry wood? Gallon of home heating fuel?

Thanks again!

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Blessings,
Jean

gas right now is right at $2.69 +/-. The milk-I buy whole milk and pay $3.69 to $3.98 a gallon, and the home fuel-I assume you mean propane? I have not filled my tank this year yet, but last year, it was right at 2.40 from Blossman. I cook with gas, and have a gas heater (not central ) and 125 gallons lasts me a year.
Ingles is a good grocery store to buy from in this area. They tend to be cheaper on meat, but higher a little than WM on canned goods, but I like the fact that it is a smaller chain.

I'm getting milk a little cheaper than Ginger at Publix, if I buy their house brand. I just had the propane tank topped off for the Winter at 1.81 per gallon from Heritage Propane. No one that I'm aware of around here heats with fuel oil any longer, although it was once more common. I was just quoted a price of $2.39 per gallon for delivered off-road diesel for the tractors, which is the same fuel used for heating...I think. If you make a few friends or get the right piece of property, your wood will be free with just an investment of sweat equity. I haven't priced wood delivered in log lengths, but that is done here.

As for the heat, all the friends on this and other sites in the Arkansas area, especially the Ozarks, reported that it was a scorcher there. I was routinely seeing very high temps on the Weather Channel from there...when it wasn't raining. I think Arkansas got some of the deluge that hit our friends in Oklahoma and Texas so hard this year. It's either feast of famine with rain.

Oh, I realize there are nice areas in GA. Cartersville and the area around is a town I think I would have liked, but Gwinnett County My ex insisted we move there and when we did in 1994 it was a pretty nice place, but then the gangs and the illegals took over and then to top it off we had the neighbor from hell move next to us who called the county codes & ordinace at the drop of a hat. I swear the man would go out and measure his neighbors grass to see if it was 1" higher than it should have been.
I did meet a lot of nice people, and I didn't mean to insult anyone. If you like GA, more power to you. It just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.....

Rome is a nice city. Too close for Atlanta for me, but to each his own. Speaking of Atlanta, it is it's own State unto itself (full of transplanted Yankees). As far as laws as Atlanta goes so does the rest of the State regardless if it agrees or not.

Hope you like heat. We have two season, hot and hotter. I love the South, but I'm planning to "go West young man" when I retire. It's getting too crowded for me here. I'm thinking Wyoming... There's more cows than people there.

GR

I find it funny you say this.. People call it Hotlanta..
And maybe it is hotter then most places on the eastern coast.. but
For the most part I've found that its a lot milder then California, even with the humidity..

This summer was a killer for everyone, everywhere..
and I for one am glad its over.


As for transplanted Yankees, I've seen A WHOLE Lot of transplanted Californians.. Maybe its just a mixing pot? lol

Yep...and I think, originally anyway, Hotlanta was a reference to the nightlife, especially in Buckhead.

The BEST part of Georgia is where it touches Tennessee!

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates

Rome is a beautiful place. We live in the NE corner of GA where it touches NC and SC .I have an income producing farm for sale here check my web site
I have lived in Ga for 40 years. I grew up in Atlanta and wouldn't go back there! I have also lived and worked in Gwinnett county and wouldn't go back there! I like northern Ga. It is not as hot as the rest of the state(this summer was an exception) Property prices vary.In my little corner you cannot touch acreage for less than 15,000 an acre if you can find that. I just sold and old house and 10 acres here for 300,000$ and it sold in a heartbeat. Alabama sounds like a good option. Of course I am not familiar with land in the Rome area.We have been thinking of re-locating to Tennessee.

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Chris
http://aberryvinefarm.blogspot.com/

Oh See.. that makes MUCH more sense!

LOL

Thank you Ramblin Wreck!

georgia is split into two sections in my opinion down the piedmont line.
and is quite different on each side above and below this line.
Also different growing for farms.
You may want to check with Georgia Organics.
georgiaorganics.org
sometimes they know of people who have farm land for sale.
I dont know much about Rome except that its north of me and tooooo close to Atlanta for me.
I am closer to Macon, Byron, Warner Robins.
I'm in peach, pecan cotton and soybean country here.
We have several organic farms near us and more are coming online near Atl everyday.
Definately look around and check out places closely before buying where ever you decide.

I dont want to hijack the thread, but what about the eastern side of GA?? Near or in Savannah?? We went there to visit last weekend and it was just wonderful!! We loved everything about it.
I know, tons of tourists, but what about actually cost of living?? Personal property taxes, state taxes, anything else?? We dont have children so dont have to worry about that, and have a pension coming in so dont have to worry about jobs. Anything else I should know about??
Alice in Virginia

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I vacation at Jekyl Island and love the scenery and the fact that most of the island is unspoiled. Savannah has one of the largest St. Patrick's Day festivals in the nation..I've been and it was grand, lots of people, parades, and of course, green beer.

I don't know much about Savannah as a place to live, but I've known a couple of retired people who moved there who said OUTSIDE of Savannah it was a great place to retire to with lots to do, close to Florida, St. Simons Island and the Okeefonokee Swamp. They live about 20 miles outside of Savannah so no city taxes to pay, just the county taxes.

Savannah is a lovely city with great old homes and Bed and Breakfast Inns - the Plum House comes to mind - very good food there.

Good luck, maybe someone who lives closer to that area can tell you more.

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