Located 30 miles North of Atlanta up GA 400, Dahlonega is at the base of the North Georgia Mountain.  For anyone moving from Metro Atlanta Dahlonega is worth a visit and consideration of a place to move to.   It is far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the city, yet your could meet your Atlanta friends for lunch. With the way the growth is heading north, you should be right at home sooner than you like.

I will to going to Burlington VT next week to seek the leaf foliage.  I know Vermont has a lot of small towns that would be a great place to live and would like to visit some.  We plan to do a lot of driving, maybe up hwy 100 and then one day up to the North toward Montreal. 

If you know of any good small towns that I could review while in VT, please let me know.  If you have retired in VT, let us know where you live and what the area has to offer.

Virginia is a diverse state and has some very good small towns to relocate or retire to.  Great farms and rolling hills, river and coastal areas, and areas near metros.  I hear Charlottesville VA is an attractive place to live.

If you know of any Virginia small towns that would be good to retire, please post a description here so we will all know about it.

Have you retired to Virginia?  Tell us about it. The more descriptive the better but even just a name will help and we can look in to more details.  What do you like about it? 

When you traditionally think about retiring to some place, that place is Florida. Florida has some very best small towns to relocate to.  The FL weather and beaches are wonderful!  If you know of any Florida small towns (or even parts of metro areas) that would be good to retire, please post a description here so we will all know about it.

Have you retired to Florida?  Tell us about it. The more descriptive the better but even just a name will help and we can look in to more details.  What do you like about it? 

North Carolina has some very best small towns to relocate to.  Such a varied state is NC. You have the Western Mountains which are beautiful, the Beaches, the large metro areas and more. If you know of any NC small towns that would be good to retire, please post a description here so we will all know about it. The more descriptive the better but even just a name will help and we can look in to more details.  What do you like about it? 

Arizona has some very good small towns to retire to.  If you know of any AZ town you like, please post a description here so we will all know about it. The more descriptive the better but even just a name will help and we can look in to more details.  Why do you like it?  I have heard that some ghost towns around Arizona are being settled again by retirees. Anyone know of any of the towns that this is happening?

When it comes time to retire in Georgia, many people just look North to the Georgia Mountains, a short distance from Atlanta.  You are still in your home state and can easily visit the metro Atlanta area to visit friends or attractions.  Also you can get to know the new area where you will be living full time even before your move by making frequent visits to get to know the area. 

 My friends Jim and Jean did just that.  Knowing they would like to move to the North part of the state, Jim got a transfer to the Gainesville office a few years before his retirement date.  This put them in a perfect situation to go ahead and move up to Banks County Georgia, where they build a perfect retirement home with screen porch overlooking a stream on five areas.  This worked out so good Jim even delayed his retirement since he almost felt he was retired.   This transition to a new area by relocating his job worked out for the best. 

Jim and Jean visit us in Alpharetta or we just meet in Gainesville dinner,  half way for each for us.  Really it is not harder to get together with them now than it was when they lived in DeKalb County. 

They both live living in the North GA mountains even thought there are some inconveniences.  Jean says the water supply line has broken many times to their home and the major just keeping making repairs rather than run new lines that are needed.  She says he has a “small town mind” about things and just looks as people like them as complaining “wealthy people from Atlanta”, which she says they are not.  However building a barn and getting a horse, chopping your own firewood from your property and just listening to the crickets perform a symphony from your swing on your screened in porch makes in all worth it.

Jim and Jean knew what they wanted and went for it.  I know I and others who envy them.

South Carolina has many interesting small towns and places to live away from the city.  please leave give us your assessment of the area. Places like:

Myrtle Beach - Grand Strand SC, Georgetown, Charleston, Hilton Head

Aiken has mild Winters and is horse country. Summerville, Columbia, Cheraw, South Carolina to name a few.

What towns in South Carolina do you have an interest in or knowledge about.  Please share your comments.

Is there really any one best small towns list.  I don’t think so.  It would be different for each person.  How I plan to post links to several of these Best Small Towns to live in articles as I run across them.

Georgia has many interesting small towns and places to live away from the city.  North Georgia mountains especially have appeal for many people.  If you are familiar with any of the towns in North Georgia, please leave give us your assessment of the area.

Setting up this blog was easy.  We have a lot of small towns to cover.  I will be setting up categories for each state so comments can be made for any small towns.  Comments from folks who know the area and comments from folks want to know about certain towns.