Has potential to be awesome, but a long way to go.
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10/10/2020
Clayton is the largest town in mountainous Rabun County, the most northeastern part of Georgia before crossing into North Carolina. It is less than 2 hrs from Atlanta. My review is divided into the good and the bad.
THE GOOD: More than half of the county is a national park with absolutely gorgeous mountains and clean rivers & streams. A plethora of hiking trails and beautiful valleys. Clayton has a very small historic downtown in which transplants began opening new restaurants and shops a few years ago to grab the weekend Atlanta crowds as an alternative to Highlands, NC which is another 30 min drive. Another factor in it’s transformation are nearby historic Lakes Burton & Rabun. Weekend homes there cost several million and is populated by the very wealthy including CEO’s, Sports celebrities (Nick Saban), and the Music industry (Alan Jackson). Now that Clayton has evolved with good restaurants, shops, & services the “lake people” come into Clayton frequently to shop and dine.
Another plus is that many organic farms and roadside farmers markets have sprang up to supply these new farm to table restaurants. Hopefully this gentrification will continue as many urbanites are now building second homes in more affordable areas off the lakes bringing in much needed diversity.
THE BAD: Clayton & Rabun county is still a very poor area with most locals being uneducated and extremely right wing. Trump and confederate flags fly everywhere that make it very clear that non-white people are not welcome. Clayton has a confederate merchandise store (when is the last time you saw one of those!) and a confederate memorial. The movie Deliverance was filmed here in the early 70’s, you get the picture.
Another negative is driving on roads outside the Federal lands you will see clear cut hills selling dirt with junk cars and ran down abandoned buildings everywhere. There appears to be little to no zoning. When they built the “new” Home Depot and Walmart a few years ago they just clearcut the side of a beautiful hill..bulldozed and paved everything then did not plant 1 single tree, They just took the dirt to the other side of the highway and dumped it. Again, not planting one tree, just a huge Georgia red clay parking lot with big trucks parked on it. Unfortunately, they see this as progress.
CONCLUSION: The area has major potential but too many negatives. We did not want to wait for a transformation that may or may not happen so we moved across the border to North Carolina a few years ago. They seem to appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds them, have better zoning and less confederate flags which we all know what that means. Pre-Covid we still traveled to Clayton to meet friends for dinner and will do so again when over.
Good luck Clayton…you have the potential to be an awesome place one day.
Rutger | Clayton, GA