Things Locals Hate About Living in Gainesville Area

Let’s face it most towns have their downsides and there’s always something you wish you would have known before you move to an area. Today, I’m giving you the things locals hate the most about living in the Gainesville hall county area. One of the things I get asked the most for people relocating from out of town is “What do people not like about your town?”. I recently asked my friends who lived in Gainesville what they did not like about living here. They gave me their list of grievances and today I’ve compiled them into a list to tell you things locals hate about Gainesville.

1. Urban Sprawl

One of the selling points of towns in Hall County, like Braselton, Flowery Branch, and Hoschton is the small-town feel they have. Although, these small towns are expanding fast. Flowery Branch has gone through so much change and expansion over the years. If you ask people who have always lived here, they will tell you that Flowery Branch used to be a tiny, quaint town with a two-way road and a four-way stop that has turned into a huge retail area with lots of traffic. It used to be tons of wooded areas with a few small neighborhoods, and it has gone through some major growth over the last decade or so.

By using my Facebook to ask, the number one comment that I got from my friend “Carl” is that, well, people are fed up with the urban sprawl that we’re experiencing here in Gainesville, and more specifically and south hall county were growing fast like really fast. As I mentioned before, we’ve been here for about six years and in that short amount of time, the number of new construction developments industrial parks in the area has exploded so we used to rent a house off of Mac Ever road which connects Oakwood to Fiery Branch come south hall area.

The people are talking about its new construction and development after new construction development. The land is being cleared left and right, and you had more industrial parks going in with many residents and guests. Then, a county seems to be growing out at an unexpected pace and they feel that the proper planning has not been taken into consideration especially when it comes to the amount of traffic our ruins can handle. So while this growth is great for the local economy residents like myself, we feel the headaches every single day from that growth. Primarily, we’re battling traffic on these roads that can’t seem to keep up with the pace and the demand of the neighborhoods.

This is still a hugely popular area to live in, with its close proximity to Atlanta and being close to the lake. Some people in the county are afraid the area is becoming an extension of Atlanta and losing its small-town charm, but others are happy that the area is growing and all of the new opportunities it brings.

2. Lack of Diverse Food Options

Another complaint that locals and myself have is that we found that there’s a lack of dining options in our area that are not chain restaurants. So sure, we had you know some local restaurants but there’s always room for a lot more. It seems as if some areas and other towns nearby have much more local restaurant options. Gainesville has beautiful weather almost year-round. You can enjoy being outside many many months of a year, far more than what you would want to stay inside. You often find yourself wanting to take advantage of the beautiful weather and perhaps dine outdoors.

Well, there aren’t that many options to go outside and enjoy a nice meal on a great patio or something overlooking the lake. Surprisingly, there are just not that many options here. We are in desperate need of more you know kind of rooftop dining options and more great patios, with great ambiances. Hopefully, as the county continues to develop and bring in more restaurants, maybe it will attract some of those entrepreneurs that will give us what the locals want. A lot of people also mentioned that they thought Gainesville was missing a really good, quality Italian restaurant. There are some awesome pizza places, like Atlas on the Square in Downtown Gainesville, but I think people are really missing some delicious pasta and bread that doesn’t come from Olive Garden.

Where Gainesville lacks in Chinese and Italian food, it definitely makes up for it in Mexican food. I could list amazing taco stands, sit-down restaurants, a little hole in the walls- all that serve some of the best Mexican food you’ll ever try. There are tons in Gainesville that I recommend, I have favorites in Oakwood and Buford, so if you ever need a recommendation on where to get a bomb taco, I’ve got you covered.

If you know me, you know that I’m a fan and I love tacos! We have really great authentic Mexican restaurants here, but locals like myself, wish we had more options for cuisine like Chinese food and often take Italian. Look, I love the Olive Garden, just as much as the next person gives me all of the unlimited breadsticks, so I eat at least two baskets myself. But, I wish we had options for more authentic Italian and if you want that right now you’re looking at getting in the car driving a good 30-45 minutes away to find another Italian restaurant.

3. Lack of Organic/ Diverse Grocery Stores

Another drawback about Gainesville is the lack of more organic, health-conscious, or unique grocery stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe, or Sprouts. There are tons and tons of these grocery stores all over Atlanta, and in Athens which is southeast of us here in Gainesville. But unfortunately, we don’t have any of these options this far north in Gainesville.

Here in the Gainesville hall county area, we have plenty of options as many Publix grocery stores. We have several Kroger and you have plenty of options as well, but if you’re hoping for some more specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods, well, good luck. Right now, you’re going to be looking at least a 30-45 minute drive to reach the nearest Whole Foods. As you can see from all of the comments from my Facebook post, Trader Joe would be a welcome addition to our area. And again, the nearest one you can reach us at about a 45-minute drive possibly an hour to the nearest Trader Joe. So during the summer months, you can visit the downtown farmer’s market that they have every single Friday on the square. You can also visit the popular Jaemor Farms for fresh produce. As far as like one-stop shopping for organic options and getting meat and all that kind of good stuff all at the same place, well, Gainesville hasn’t grown that much for these big retailers to open up a shop here. 

This means you have more limited accessibility to a wide variety of organic or vegan options that these grocery stores give you. Don’t get me wrong, we have a lot of grocery store options, from Kroger to Walmart, to Aldi, to Publix- so there is no shortage of places to buy groceries, but I know a ton of people love all of the healthier options that Whole Foods have to offer, and who doesn’t love Trader Joes and all of their fun treats? Some of the regular stores like Walmart and Aldi have a smaller assortment of organic or vegan options than you would find at Whole Foods, so there is a limited variety but you still have some good options.

4. Chicken Plant Smell

Gainesville is crowned the “Poultry Capital of the World” because there are so many chicken plants. It’s not uncommon to get stuck behind a big rig that’s hauling chickens down the road with a flurry of feathers floating around your car. One of the big complaints about the chicken plants is well, they stink!

We even have a lighting of the chicken at Christmas, where we light a giant Chicken. So, we are the Chicken capital because our biggest industry is chicken farming. If you’ve ever been anywhere around chickens or behind a chicken truck, well, it stinks.  There are some parts of town that you will drive through and think yep, that’s the smell of chicken poop.

Sometimes the chickens go rogue and somehow manage to get out of the chicken trucks and just kind of stand in the middle of the road, and I know of several people actually who have stopped and picked them up and now subsequently, have pet chickens. Welcome to Gainesville. But these chicken plants are some of the biggest employers in our town which allows families in our area to put food on the tables for their families, so I think the unpleasant smell you get a waft of while driving through certain parts of town is definitely worth it.

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