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Communities from the north Georgia mountains to the north Atlanta suburbs were not immune to the recent downturn in housing construction; but they certainly have had a protective buffer provided by the steady flow of retirees and commuters building or buying existing homes there.

"You have a lot of affluent people moving into areas like Big Canoe and Bent Tree," says Ed Abrasley, an instructor at Appalachian Technical College in Jasper-Pickens County. "People are getting away from that Atlanta traffic hodgepodge; they're moving out to get a little elbow room. Those people are buying houses and they're remodeling houses."

Big Canoe was designated as one of the 2007 10 Best Places to Retire in Georgia by Retire in Georgia magazine.