Friday March 29th, 2024 9:52AM

City spotlight: Oakwood

Y'all. I just made the most fulfilling and also maybe dumbest decision.
 
I bought a house and moved to Oakwood.
 
I say dumbest because I decided to do it during the holiday season, and yes, I realize now that was an insane idea considering how much money goes in to both buying a house and moving and the holiday season in general. But I got a great little house and it already feels like home. I turned in the keys to my apartment and rallied a few of your favorite on-air personalities to help me move the heavy stuff. Almost a month after I signed the papers and popped the champagne, I was officially all moved in.
 
I've done a few other city spotlights, like on the famous Alpine Helen or the gold rush town Dahlonega. North Georgia is filled with cool places to visit and things to see - tourist hotspots - but it's also filled with cool places to live.
 
So why not learn a little more about my new hometown? I met up with City Manager Stan Brown and we chatted about Oakwood's history and what makes it special.

First, he told me the city came about thanks to a railroad from Atlanta to Charlotte when the trains would stop to refuel at O'dell's Crossing. "This was a location where people would bring their goods and load up on the train," said Brown. "The name Oakwood came from the fact that they would take wood for the engines to be able to run those and this is where they would pick up oak wood." 

Trains still go through Oakwood, however Brown said they don't stop now. "Probably back in the 1980s was the last time that we had anything that actually came off the railroad here in Oakwood. The mail was still being deposited out on a pole out here next to the tracks. Then they would pick up the mail from the bag and then take it to the post office. That was back in the early '80s but now the train goes right on through, about 20 times a day."

Brown told me that since the city was chartered in 1903, it's become known for it's industry and business. "I think the city has been really blessed over the years, based on our geography, being close to Lake Lanier, having the railroad, also having Interstate 985, State Route 53 coming through. A lot of effort went in to bringing sewer to the community back in the '80s and with that you've seen a tremendous amount of growth in Mundy Mill Road. The retail developments, the restaurants, the banks, the retail with Sam's Cub, Walmart, and of course the University of North Georgia - the expansion of the campus there has really been phenomenal.

"We're only about 4,100 in population but during the day were somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 because of all the employment that we have in the city of Oakwood. We have more jobs in Oakwood than we have population. So we've really focused on taking advantage of our location with the rail, interstate, and the proximity to the lake and just of being sort of in this northeast Georgia hub to bring about good industry and provide good jobs for the community."

One of those businesses is the King's Hawaiian plant. "A lot of people don't realize that when you eat a Kings Hawaiian roll, there's a 70% chance that that roll was made right here in Oakwood," said Brown.

Another industry that calls Oakwood home? Education. Aside from multiple grade schools, including the new Mundy Mill Academy nearby, the town is also home to the current campus of Lanier Technical College and the Gainesville campus of the University of North Georgia. The college was formerly Gainesville State College and remains more of a commuter campus, however, Brown thinks as the college expands, the need for residential housing for students will too. With that means a need for some nightlife is in order.

"We don't have a lot of outside attractions. We are close to Road Atlanta and the lake, so we benefit some from that, but as far as having some destination to come to in Oakwood, we don't have that. That's one thing we really would like to see is some sort of entertainment center here, we would love to have a movie theater, bowling alley, fun center, something like that, that could attract night time visitors," said Brown. "For us really once you get to about  6:30 at night, it's almost a ghost town because we don't have student housing on campus so a lot of the students that come to UNG and Lanier Technical College when they finish up their day they go back home somewhere else. So that's one thing that we're really lacking that we would love to see over the next few years with the growth of the campus is more of that student life and activity."

A lot of Oakwood residents travel to Gainesville, Flowery Branch or Buford for shopping, dining and to catch a movie, but Brown said they aren't quite sure what they want to add. However, they're taking a look at their options.

"We have looked at that in the past and I think our challenge is that we're a little bit too close to Atlanta and inbetween with Gainesville, where we have a movie theater in Gainesville and we've got the one down at the Mall of Georgia. Its got to get to the density where we have enough rooftops to justify it, but I think you're saying with the growth of the Gainesville development of Mundy Mill, that subdivision with a couple thousand houses being built out there and the elementary school, you'll have more population here, I think that'll help us all."

There's more to Oakwood than just things to do, too. The city has a focus on environmentalism as part of it's Oakwood 2030 program. And last but not least, every year the city hosts a Christmas in the Park event at City Park. Check the city out, have some winter snacks and get your pictures made with Santa on Friday, December 9 from 5:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. with Santa available from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Back to the personal reflection for a second. I moved to Gainesville after I graduated from Brenau in 2013, prior to that I lived on Brenau's historic campus beginning in August 2009. I started this blog because I didn't want to miss out on the cool stuff around me. The unexpected isn't limited to the quirky or unexplainable, it lives in the relationships between your neighbors, in the dark drives to the grocery store, the weathered marquee signs, the ancient cemeteries behind a church. I had never bothered to explore Oakwood in my time at Brenau or even before I moved here, so I'm about to embark on a fun little adventure. I might not find much... or I might watch ideas turn in to reality, one thing turn in to another, or maybe I'll just go see how the rolls are really made.

Oh, and the trains really do run, like, 20 times a day. I didn't know that when I moved. But can you imagine how excited I was when, the first time I was in my new house, I got to hear one of my favorite sounds? A train, meeting a crossing, off in the distance.

Until next time,

Stay curious.

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