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Illinois has finally pushed us to our breaking point. The brutal winters AND hot and humid summers are just becoming too much.
We would like a less mild winter, we don't mind a little snow. In exchange we'll take a warmer summer where we might stay in more than we would currently in Northern IL.
My main worries are humidity and allergies. Is it really that different? We can take a slightly worse summer for nicer months the rest of the year.
I work from home but would like to be in driving distance of Walmart type stores and shopping. 20-30 minute drive is fine.
We LOVE small town feel and small shops and local restaurants.
I personally love bass fishing so on or near a lake is ideal but it can't be outrageously priced like Lake Rabun.
Any thoughts? Any current transplants from my same area?
p.s. Sorry for posting ANOTHER weather question. I promise I did search first.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
3,997 posts, read 4,145,129 times
Reputation: 2677
Quote:
Originally Posted by crc863
Hi All!
Illinois has finally pushed us to our breaking point. The brutal winters AND hot and humid summers are just becoming too much.
We would like a less mild winter, we don't mind a little snow. In exchange we'll take a warmer summer where we might stay in more than we would currently in Northern IL.
My main worries are humidity and allergies. Is it really that different? We can take a slightly worse summer for nicer months the rest of the year.
I work from home but would like to be in driving distance of Walmart type stores and shopping. 20-30 minute drive is fine.
We LOVE small town feel and small shops and local restaurants.
I personally love bass fishing so on or near a lake is ideal but it can't be outrageously priced like Lake Rabun.
Any thoughts? Any current transplants from my same area?
p.s. Sorry for posting ANOTHER weather question. I promise I did search first.
Originally from deep south Illinois but perhaps I can help. If you've spent any time down near Carbondale/Marion and the Garden of the Gods area..... that's North Georgia weather with GA only slightly warmer. Up here in the GA. mountains at least. Currently in Union County (between Blairsville and Blue Ridge). Humidity here is easier than in a 100 acre cornfield in July I guarantee! Allergies are worse here for hubby (the pines bother him here in the spring) whereas I don't seem to have near the trouble as I did.
There is a Walmart in Blairsville, Blue Ridge, and Dahlonega. None in Hiawassee. Each one has Dollar Stores that you can throw a rock and hit however. LOL. Each of them also has a different "feel" to them. Hiawassee is probably the most expensive of the lakes. Chatuge is beautiful and large. Dahlonega is the home to The University of North Georgia and more diverse. Closer to Atlanta by virtue of being south of the Mountain (Blood Mountain). Easy to get on GA400 (four lane highway also known as the GA autobahn) and be in all the suburban sprawl which is creeping is way up to Dawsonville, Cumming and points south. Blue Ridge is touristy. Think small version of Gatlinburg. Quaint downtown shops (more expensive) designed for vacation and weekend getaway tourists. Blairsville seems to be the "retirement" community. Median age is older, and is very tight knit although about 1/2 the residents now seem to be move-ins.
The best advice I can give....come down...spend some time visiting and visit each to get a sense of what you want. And I'll be glad to give any other info I can.....
Illinois has finally pushed us to our breaking point. The brutal winters AND hot and humid summers are just becoming too much.
We would like a less mild winter, we don't mind a little snow. In exchange we'll take a warmer summer where we might stay in more than we would currently in Northern IL.
My main worries are humidity and allergies. Is it really that different? We can take a slightly worse summer for nicer months the rest of the year.
I work from home but would like to be in driving distance of Walmart type stores and shopping. 20-30 minute drive is fine.
We LOVE small town feel and small shops and local restaurants.
I personally love bass fishing so on or near a lake is ideal but it can't be outrageously priced like Lake Rabun.
Any thoughts? Any current transplants from my same area?
p.s. Sorry for posting ANOTHER weather question. I promise I did search first.
One of the ironies of your comments is that the areas in the Blue Ridge and Southern Appalachian mountains of North Georgia that you are inquiring into (Blue Ridge, Hiawassee, Dahlonega, Blairsville, etc.) may actually feature summers that might be slightly COOLER than the Chicagoland area... That is particularly during the month of July when Chicagoland (despite its northern location) can sometimes be hotter and more humid than nearby metro Atlanta (even with its southern location).
That is because the higher elevation of the area (at about 1,400 feet above sea level and higher) in question in the Blue Ridge/Southern Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia retards the summer heat and humidity that can be much more intense at lower elevations.
Winters will unquestionably be more mild in North Georgia than in Northern Illinois... Though, because of the higher elevation, much of the North Georgia mountains region features average nightly lows under 30 degrees through the months of December, January and February. Snow also is not an unusual occurrence during the winter months in the North Georgia mountains region.
Allergies are a legitimate concern to have because of the exceedingly lush vegetation of the North Georgia mountains region.
The bad news is that pollen counts can reach as high as 6,000 during the spring months.
The good news is that pollen counts often only reach that high when the air is dryer and/or during dryer periods (particularly during extended periods of drought or reduced precipitation)… Which is something that can be somewhat rare in a region that averages between roughly 65-85 inches of precipitation each year.
(… By comparison, Chicago receives about just under 37 inches of precipitation each year on average.)
More good news is that it is often pine pollen (which is generally the least harmful of the tree allergens) that accounts for most of the pollen in the air during the (generally dryer) seasons and periods when pollen becomes an issue... Though one should still be prepared to deal with any allergy complications that might arise when pollen counts are high during the spring months.
In the immediate greater North Georgia Mountains region, Walmart Supercenters are located in Blue Ridge, Blairsville, Dahlonega, Clayton and Ellijay. Foothills towns like Jasper, Cleveland, Cornelia and Toccoa, and nearby Southwestern North Carolina mountain towns like Murphy, Franklin, Sylva and Waynesville also feature Walmart Supercenter stores.
Gainesville is considered to be the 'big city' of the greater North Georgia Mountains region and has become an area of exurban geographical/social/cultural transition between the relatively much more sparsely populated and rural foothills and mountains areas to the north and northeast and the increasingly heavily developed and more heavily populated parts of the greater Atlanta metropolitan area (or metro Atlanta) to the south.
Because Gainesville is so close to Atlanta (Gainesville is only about 50 miles or so from Central Atlanta), is located on a major exurban commuter spur route to and from Atlanta (Interstate 985), and is located on the shores of a major source of water supply and recreation for the greater Atlanta metro area (Lake Lanier), Gainesville (which has become a major hub of business, industry, commerce and politics for the Northeast Georgia mountains region) has basically been overtaken and swallowed up by the sprawling development patterns of the fast-growing and ever-expanding nearby Atlanta metropolitan area.
If there is any item, service or amenity that one needs that they can't find in a small town or less-populated part of the North Georgia Mountains region, one can usually find it in the Gainesville area, which features numerous restaurants, shopping centers and retail outlets, including two Walmart Supercenters and two Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery stores.
All of the above-mentioned areas in the greater North Georgia/Southwestern North Carolina Blue Ridge/Southern Appalachian Mountains region feature small town shops, restaurants and lifestyles.
And if one ever wants/needs/desires to visit a larger city, big city/major metropolitan amenities are available in the nearby greater Atlanta metropolitan area (metro Atlanta) south of a line starting at Gainesville and west over to Dawsonville and Canton.
Athens is a large major college town (home to the flagship campus of the University of Georgia) that features many amenities, including shops, restaurants, retail, entertainment, etc., and is a relatively short drive away from the North Georgia Mountains region.
Other cities in the Southeastern U.S. region like Chattanooga, Knoxville, Asheville, Greenville, etc., feature the amenities of a larger city within a relatively short drive of the North Georgia/Southwestern North Carolina Blue Ridge/Southern Appalachian Mountains region.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
3,997 posts, read 4,145,129 times
Reputation: 2677
Quote:
Originally Posted by yellowboy7
If I can jump in here how the health care in this area of mountain towns ?
There's good and bad. I can only speak about the care in Blairsville. A small community hospital with an abundance of doctors. GP's and specialists. A lot of specialists hold office hours up here also while practicing mostly in Gainesville. A small cancer center associated with Northside out of Atlanta. A beautiful new physical therapy and workout center associated with the hospital. It is growing exponentially. With that said.. is it a trauma hospital? No. Blairsville will get you stabilized and airlift to Gainesville, Atlanta, or Chattanooga. A friend was recently in a bad car accident. Taken to Blairsville, airlifted to North Georgia in Gainesville. With that said, she said the care she received in Blairsville was excellent and she was well taken care of. Her problems were believe it or not in Gainesville. Hours after she was flown and admitted, we (including her then panic'd husband) were still trying to find out exactly where she was. (For some unknown reason the police and hospital here knew her name but NGH registered her as a Jane Doe???)
All and all, if you are used to small town medicine you'd be pleased. If you're only used to being in a major center with 24-hour trauma hospitals, it'll be a change.
There's good and bad. I can only speak about the care in Blairsville. A small community hospital with an abundance of doctors. GP's and specialists. A lot of specialists hold office hours up here also while practicing mostly in Gainesville. A small cancer center associated with Northside out of Atlanta. A beautiful new physical therapy and workout center associated with the hospital. It is growing exponentially. With that said.. is it a trauma hospital? No. Blairsville will get you stabilized and airlift to Gainesville, Atlanta, or Chattanooga. A friend was recently in a bad car accident. Taken to Blairsville, airlifted to North Georgia in Gainesville. With that said, she said the care she received in Blairsville was excellent and she was well taken care of. Her problems were believe it or not in Gainesville. Hours after she was flown and admitted, we (including her then panic'd husband) were still trying to find out exactly where she was. (For some unknown reason the police and hospital here knew her name but NGH registered her as a Jane Doe???)
All and all, if you are used to small town medicine you'd be pleased. If you're only used to being in a major center with 24-hour trauma hospitals, it'll be a change.
Had a place in Blue Ridge for about 10 years. Loved it dearly. Healthcare was just fine - had to visit the hospital on an occaision or two and received fine care. Now, if I had a massive heart attack I would have wanted to head to Atlanta, but short of something catastrophic, the Fannin County Hospital was perfectly fine for us.
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Location: St Simons Island, GA
23,466 posts, read 44,115,130 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yellowboy7
If I can jump in here how the health care in this area of mountain towns ?
Because of the heavy migration of affluent Atlanta retirees to N GA, many Atlanta doctors maintain offices in the resort towns.
The air ambulances are pretty efficient as well. They got my uncle to Emory in Atlanta from his home on Lake Chatuge in 45 minutes door to door.
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