It’s a true example of a vicious cycle when it comes to housing in Habersham County.
“We don’t have enough housing,” some say.
“We don’t want more people here, there will be too much traffic.”
“But what can we do to keep our students from leaving for jobs outside the county after they graduate?”
“But there’s nowhere for them to live.”
This cycle rinses and repeats as Habersham County continues evolving. No one wants this place to be Gwinnett or Cobb County, but we do have a major lack of housing availability in the county. For that matter, we also have a major lack of housing regionally.
At the same time, developers seem to put their massive undertakings right on major road arteries that are already under stress from traffic. And of course, having people live in those places creates more congestion. But we must remember, development always follows infrastrature which supports it.
Like with all things, finding balance is key. We need the sweet spot between progress and preservation of the quality of life that makes Habersham County a beautiful place to live in the first place.
The sentiment in the community has grown stronger over the last year to protest new growth in all its forms. Baldwin is set to add some 700 units over the next five years, and the 138 unit apartment complex on Historic Highway 441 is closer to completion every day. Cornelia will see development along Chase Road.
But Mt. Airy residents drove off the massive development that was headed their way, and citizens are trying to push development specifics, such as traffic control, for the development near Harvest Church on Highway. 17.
It is good to hear the voices of the citizens on these matters. This is our county, and we moved or stayed here for a lot of good reasons. We want Habersham to stay an incredible place to live, but growth is inevitable. Managing the growth positively is necessary.
We must also consider how new, large housing developments, and their locations, could inadvertently destabilize our school system student distribution without cooperative planning and foresight.
Balance is the key.