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Staff illustration by Art Roche
Who is this average guy?
By Lindsey Kelly
Staff writer
fjlhe average Forsyth Countian is: (pick one):
A) a Cherokee Indian
B) a chicken or a soy bean farmer with two pick-ups parked in
front of the bam.
C) a briefcase totin’ Yuppie heading off in his black BMW to
the 9-to-5 world in a glass tower down Atlanta way.
D) somewhere between b and c.
The most fitting answer is “D,” but another acceptable re- i
sponse could have been “it’s anybody’s guess.” 1
Some eight years since it officially became part of metro I
Atlanta, Forsyth County is smack in the middle of a major I
transistion. Three percent of the county’s homes are still I
without plumbing and there are about 140 miles of unpaved I
roads, but the rumbling of the urbanization rolling up Ga. I
400 keeps getting louder all the time. I
Everyone seems sure the county is moving in some di- I
rection, but no one seems to be able to say yet just what I
direction that will be. Will it become another industrial
center, another commerical and business haven like North FuK
ton and Gwinnett, or another surburban paradise for the Yups,
sort of a Dunwoody North? It’s a wait-and-see question.
As the face of the county changes, so do its inhabitants, making
it tough to generalize about who the “average” citizen is any
more. What’s worse, the statisticians are no help. The most
recent figures they can offer are at least two years old, and some
date back to 1980.
Thus perhaps this piece could best be called “Who the Average
Forsyth Countian Was.”
But for what it’s worth, the typical Forsyth County citizen is,
was, and may still be:
• Around 30 years old. The median age for county residents is
31. Average age for residents of Cumming is 32. Do you suppose
that means city residents are wiser? Hmmmm...
• Married. No, our median person apparently has not been
INSIDE
DAY CARE page 9
HISTORY page 9
LICENSES page 4
MOVING IN page 7
NEARBY page 3
NUMBERS page 2
PERMITS page 4
ODDS & ENDS page 5
ROADS page 6
FACTS & FIGURES
A special section of the Forsyth County News
HISTORY
The days when the
land belonged to the
Cherokee Indians are
far in the county's past
but still part of its rich
heritage, which has
changed more rapid
ly since the lake was
built and Highway
400 found its way here.
STORY, page 9
I
MOUNTAINS
Unspoiled scenic
beauty including Vo
gel, Amicalola, a Na
tional Forest, historic
Civil War battle
grounds is within
easy driving distance
in the mountain area of
North Georgia.
STORY, page 3
afflicted with the “who needs a piece of paper, anyway?” syn
drome. According to 1980 census figures, only 5.2 percent of the
9,395 households in the county were headed by a divorced parent.
Less than 1 percent of the single-parent households are headed
by women.
• A parent. Roughly half of those households (4,597 to be
A exact) have children under 18. On any given Friday and
Saturday night, a considerable number of those kids
can be found practicing an ancient driving ritual
known as “cruising.”
• A High School Graduate. 30 percent of the
/ county’s population has completed high school. A
/ little over 11 percent has completed one to three
\ years of college. Eight percent of the population has
\ completed four or more years of college. The “pro
fessional student” category has not been added, yet.
• Owner of the Castle. Of the 9,395 housing units
S in the county in 1980, 8? percent of those were owner
occupied, leaving only 17 percent for the renters.
• The Lone Commuter, Statistics show that over 70
percent of the county’s work force works outside the coun
ty, wherever they can get to in 30 minutes time, which is
the mean commute time (an intentional adjective choice been
on 1-285 lately?) for our average citizen. Our work-a-day traveler
also tends to ride alone. This is perhaps an indication that the
average Forsyth Countian likes to sing along with the radio and
doesn’t like to deal with reviews from fellow carpoolers. We’re
checking this.
• Becoming More Fond of Cars Than Pick-up Trucks. 56.7
percent of the county’s 39,385 drivers drive cars. A little over 30
percent drive trucks. It’s rumored that some county car owners
have begun experiencing a strange yen for expensive German
manufactured autos. In fact, there have been a few of the three
letter variety spotted within county limits. We are also following
this fast-breaking story.
• Working in Manufacturing. Specifically in some nebulous
category (according to the Georiga Extension Service) known as
“precision production, craft/repair.” Eighteen percent of the
Please see AVERAGE, page 2
WHAT'S WHAT
Just moved in? You
could use electricity?
Water? A Cumming
phone book? Maybe a
hunting license? The
how-to, where-to and
how much are all
there for you.
LIST, page 7
E
Wednesday, March 2, 1988
THE FACTS
Forsyth County, with
about 38,000 people, is
considered to be in
the foothills of the Appa
lachians. Cumming,
the county seat, is about
45 miles north of
Atlanta.
FACTS, page 6