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2003 Healthy Hall Focus
Group Report - South Hall

South Hall Discussion Group
6 Participants

Overview of the Group

This small group met in the Common Grounds coffee shop in Flowery Branch. It included some prominent residents of South Hall, including members of the Flowery Branch city government, the director of a Hall County agency and two officers in the area homeowners association. As might be expected, those in this group are well informed of issues affecting the southern part of Hall County.

There were four men and two women in the discussion, most of them of retirement age. In fact, most in the group are already retired or semi-retired. They selected the lakeshore areas of South Hall County for their retirement homes. One younger resident of about age 30 to 35 also participated. All participants were white.

Four of the six in the group are relative newcomers to Hall County, having moved there from Atlanta. They were attracted to South Hall by the lake and other quality of life attributes such as cleaner air, less traffic and attractive, upscale neighborhoods.

Priority Issues Affecting Life In Hall County

Most in the group see South Hall as an area struggling to cope with its growth and success. Many in the group fear that the quality of life that attracted them to the area will diminish if growth is not managed effectively.

They also worry about property values. A priority concern seems to be that new housing construction meet certain minimum standards so that property values will not be diminished by low cost housing developments. It was noted that in order for South Hall to generate enough property tax to pay for necessary infrastructure, new home values have to be at least $225,000.

Development of infrastructure and services like fire protection, police, libraries and schools are a high priority in this group. There is concern that schools are running out of space. There is also concern that taxes for existing residents will rise too much if county leaders do not manage growth well. To those in this group, managing growth well means restricting development of housing that attracts lower-income residents, who need more infrastructure but do little to increase the tax base.

Health Care Issues

Most in this group have few personal problems accessing health care services. They are older, upper income, insured and welcomed by most health care providers.

This is not true, however, for one member of the group who was laid off from a job in 2002. This participant said he found health insurance to be unaffordable, even for a middle class income earner.

It was noted that there are many middle and low income families in South Hall now, and struggles to afford health coverage and medical care are common. Most of these families work, so they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid. Yet they don’t make enough to purchase health insurance at work or on their own.

All in the group are aware that the upscale demographics of South Hall make it attractive for health care providers. They support efforts by Northeast Georgia Health System to build a new medical campus in South Hall. One in the group also noted the Longstreet Clinic and other physicians have opened offices in South Hall. All of this is seen as welcome development.

It was noted that transportation to health care and other essential services is already a need in South Hall and could become an emerging critical issue as the population ages. There is little or no public transportation active in the community now. One participant opined that churches could be a partial solution to the transportation problem by providing transport for needy elderly.

This group does see a need for increased access to wellness services and preventative services for people living in South Hall. New medical construction may help fulfill these needs. It was noted a wellness center for seniors is now open in Chicopee.

Safety & Security Issues

The quiet, pastoral qualities of South Hall translate to a heightened sense of safety and security. Participants in this group feel safe, but they don’t take the feeling for granted.

For example, one participant noted the newspaper publishes a weekly list of arrests and the number seems to be growing. Another said there has been an increase in home break-ins in South Hall in recent months.

Those in this group do believe their police and elected officials are doing a good job to address crime and protect the community. The Sheriff was singled out for praise. One person noted the Sheriff is visible in the community, that he has met with homeowners groups and that his officers are highly professional. Another in the group expanded on these comments to say he is impressed with Hall County employees in general. They are hard working and ethical.

An issue of security and safety important to this group is water quality. One participant called the situation a “water war” and said there are seven sewage treatment plants already discharging waste into Lake Lanier, and that Gwinnett County wants to dump even more. There are citizen groups working to stop new water treatment discharges into Lake Lanier.

Another participant noted that water runoff from construction areas and paved developments is an even greater water quality issue. Large developments of large homes on small lots will increasingly threaten lake quality. One participant noted that developers have built private water treatment plants that will likely deteriorate over time and then be handed over to government to fix.

Community Connections

A key topic of discussion was whether those living in South Hall consider themselves to be residents of Hall County or residents of greater Atlanta. Clearly there are multiple perspectives on this question, but the consensus of the group was that those who move to South Hall from Atlanta are more likely to see themselves as connected to Atlanta, not necessarily to Hall County. One man described South Hall as “Buckhead North.”

All four of the six in the group who moved to Hall County from Atlanta said that their professional and social lives continued to focus on Atlanta after they moved, at least for a while. Two forces led them to become more involved in Hall County-concern over growth and need for health care.

Two in the group said that after moving to South Hall it became too inconvenient to continue to seek medical care in Atlanta. They transferred to doctors in Gainesville, which in turn led them to reorient other interests toward Gainesville. One member of the group became one of the early patients in the new Ronnie Green Heart Center.

This group of civically active citizens stays plugged into the news of Hall County by reading the Gainesville Times, as well as the Atlanta Journal Constitution. They claim to be well informed of Hall County politics, business and other news, but admit they may not represent the norm in South Hall.

Participants in this group are highly plugged in to life in South Hall, however-serving in the homeowners association and volunteering at church and for other civic causes.

Views of the Future

When this group looks to the future, they tend to see it in terms of the issue that means the most to them-managed growth. As one participant put it, “If we can just control what gets built here, we’ll be all right.”

Schools are important. This group wants to see school growth to support the growing numbers of families moving to South Hall. They would also like to see a library. One woman observed that the Hall County library system has 1.2 books per person in the county, a ratio that is well behind other counties.

Traffic is worrisome to this group, but they anticipate road improvements to handle increasing traffic. They see traffic as a problem, but a manageable one.

Finally, this group looks forward to the development of health care facilities in their part of the county. They see new doctors offices and medical services increasing the quality of life for older residents of South Hall. The new facilities will also have a favorable impact on transportation problems.


 

Minorities

Purpose

Seniors

South Hall

Youth