Living In The North Georgia Mountain's Versus Coastal Georgia

Where you grow up is like your family in that you never really get to choose for yourself where it is. So, when the candles on top of your birthday cake finally say "18," and you've tripped across the stage in academic regalia, and the flowers of spring wilt, replaced with the smell of a new start, the question comes to mind for the first time: "Where do I want to live? " Growing up, all I knew was hilly, winding roads and trees stretching higher than the eye could see. I knew dirt paths between trees, shaded so heavily by the branches overhead, you would need a flashlight to get around just before dark. I knew stores, not by their names, but by who from town ran them. So, when I asked myself, "Where do I want to live? " the answer came immediately: the coast. The biggest difference between the North Georgia Mountains, where I grew up, and the Georgia Coast, where I started college, is the population. But more people also means more money, and more money means the sunlight and beaches weren't the only thing different about the Georgia coast.

The North Georgia Mountains, like most other mountain regions, inhabit more trees than people. In fact, the largest age demographic in the area consists of a group of retirees, returning to the mountains to live out their days of unemployment in peace and quiet. The retirees are usually the only people who ever visit the Mountains. The rest of the town consists of locals, who provide the labor and capital to keep the town running. Locals have the greatest impact on the community, contributing to the economic growth of their towns by donating to small businesses. Through their donations and close knit communities, mountain towns take care of themselves. When a road needs repairs, or a park needs cleaning, everyone in the community involves themselves somehow. Nothing gets done without everyone knowing about it, so, even if the landscape doesn't change too often, no new shop or residential area goes unnoticed.

The Georgia coast, on the other hand, doesn't have a single mountain in sight. With all the extra space and flat land, coastal towns naturally attract more residents, which means greater diversity in demographics. The appeal of the beach brings in both the youth, with its potential for summer activities, and older generations, with its accessibility to boats and fishing. Beaches also mean tourists, driving from inland during the warm seasons to get a bit of sun. With people coming in from multiple locations, coastal towns possess less of the camaraderie found in the mountains. Community decisions are made and executed without much notice, especially during the tourist seasons, when most of the capital coming in gets sourced through temporary residents. Still, although mom and pop shops are few and far between, the sheer number of businesses compensates for the lack of involvement in their development. With so much money, coastal towns change from year to year, constructing new houses, shops, and sidewalks, so that, as more and more people pass through or move in, the coast never gets old.

Typically, you don't understand the value of what you have until you no longer have it. When you leave your hometown for college, you might find that, although bonfires by the ocean make for great get togethers after the semester's finished, campfires by the local trails back home have an appeal of their own as well. When you leave your hometown, you might learn that, in your youth, surrounding yourself with people from all over the country helps cultivate culture and expand your horizons, but settling down in a quiet town in the hills when you're older doesn't sound too bad either. When you leave your hometown, you might realize that where you live isn't necessarily worse than any other place, simply different.