Woodstock GA and Surrounding Areas Homes for Sale – Update by Red Hot Atlanta Homes

August 23, 2010

More Change Coming to Downtown Woodstock GA

Filed under: North Atlanta, Woodstock — Tags: , , — Kathy and Ben @ 11:51 am

More change is coming soon to Downtown Woodstock GA.  Glassbaker, a maker of handmade glass beads for jewelry sold worldwide is soon moving to the current location of Priest Home Furnishings on Main Street.  According to the Cherokee Tribune, the company, which currently employs eight staff members and 80 artists that make the beads, will be moving into the 24,000 sq ft location and will have a retail storefront to sell merchandise.  According to owner Mary Guay, Billy Peppers of the Downtown Development Authority, “was unbelievably helpful” in coordinating the deal and assisting the company in obtaining a low-interest loan to help the company purchase the building.

Along with the move, Glassbakers will undergo a name change to Woodstock Arts Glass.  Peppers believes that companies like this will bring more artists downtown and “be the next wave of entrepreneurship in our downtown area”.

Interestingly, Glassbaker started after Guay took a took a two-hour class on making glass beads with her future daughter-in-law.  They soon began making beads to sell on eBay before having their products offered by New York jewelry distributor Chamilia.  Now their merchandise is sold world-wide with the company producing thousands of beads per month.

Priest Home Furnishings will undoubtably be missed- the company has been a Main Street fixture since 1963.  Herb Priest, the store’s owner, said he and his family is undecided about whether they’ll reopen in another location but will begin reducing prices at the store in order to liquidate their inventory.

In other news affecting Downtown Woodstock, Executive Director Peppers gave an update on the DDA’s Facade Improvement Program.  According to the Tribune, the program involves a matching grant of up to $5000 for downtown businesses to help them update their storefronts.  According to Peppers, about eight business owners have inquired about the grants.  “It’s a great opportunity to invest back into their buildings.”  Peppers stated.   Canton and Waleska in Cherokee County have also started similar programs.

We applaud the continued efforts of DDA and others to continue Woodstock’s progress as a thriving downtown area!

August 13, 2010

Woodstock GA FREE Concert Series Continues August 21

Filed under: Woodstock — Tags: , , — Kathy and Ben @ 7:56 am

Another concert in the Woodstock Summer Concert Series is just around the corner at the City Park in downtown Woodstock.  Mark your calendar now for August 21.  Country star Chuck Wicks will be entertaining.  The concert starts at 7:30 so come early, find a spot, and enjoy this young country star.

If you are a country music fan, you will know Wicks got his start on the reality show “Nashville” in 2007.  Signed by RCA, his debut single was “Stealing Cinderella”.  He has had several Top 40 songs since then including “All I Ever Wanted” and “Man of the House”.

Wicks grew up in Smyrna, Delaware on the families’ potato farm.  Baseball was his first love.  Wicks played collegiate ball at Florida Southern.  During college, music became is dominate love.  Moving to Nashville, Wicks honed is craft and wrote songs.

You may recognize the name or face also from the reality show “Dancing With the Stars” where Wicks danced with then girlfriend, Julianne Hough.

Pack the picnic basket and cooler, find the lawn chairs, and come enjoy another great free Woodstock GA concert.

July 30, 2010

Rebates for New Toilets in Woodstock GA

Filed under: North Atlanta, Woodstock — Kathy and Ben @ 8:17 am

Here is another reason to replace that old toilet that uses lots of water.  The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District is offering rebates for new toilets.  The rebates are $50 and $100.  To qualify for the rebate:

  • own or rent a home-built prior to 1993
  • purchase and install an approved toilet after September 28, 2007
  • agree to complete a program participation survey
  • have an individual residential water account with a participating water system

Participating agencies include the City of Woodstock, Cherokee County Water & Sewerage Authority, City of Roswell, Fulton County Department of Public Works.  The entire list of cities and counties participating can be found at www.NorthGeorgiaWater.org. 

With the drought from several years ago, if you have not replaced your toilet with a flow toilet now is a perfect time while money is available for this program.

July 26, 2010

Recap of School Reporting Dates by City/County

Filed under: North Atlanta, Woodstock — Tags: , — Kathy and Ben @ 11:20 am

Wow- summer went by quickly this year.  If only the temperatures would drop accordingly!  If you have school-age children, you’re probably keenly aware of when your children report for school.  However, others may not be aware until they notice the buses and longer commutes with extra traffic on the roads.

To help you plan, we’ve compiled a list of the area school districts and when school starts:

  • August 2- Decatur City; Cherokee County
  • August 5- Cobb County
  • August 9- Atlanta City; DeKalb, Forsyth & Gwinnett Counties
  • August 12- Marietta City
  • August 23- Fulton County

So brace yourself for busier crowds at the malls the next couple of weekends and plan to leave for work a bit earlier once the schools near your workplace open and you’ll soon be back in rhythm.

July 23, 2010

Street Scape Improvements in Downtown Woodstock GA

Filed under: Woodstock — Tags: , — Kathy and Ben @ 7:25 am

Woodstock, GA. recently received a $1million grant from the Atlanta Regional Council .  The grant is for the Livable Centers Initiative Streetscapes Project.  Work started the first week of July to create a more pedestrian friendly downtown area and add about 30 parking spaces to Main Street.  Plans include new sidewalk and streetlights, angled parking for additional parking spaces, new landscaping and street furniture.

Funds for the project are coming from the federal stimulus program.  Work will be ongoing with numerous changes to enhance Woodstock’s residents experience downtown.

Other features of the project are a sidewalk along the railroad tracks and a connection to the new pedestrian crosswalk.

One additional note to Downtown Woodstock, J. Christophers has opened on Chambers Street.  This eatery serves breakfast foods, sandwiches, salads and burgers from 7am to 2pm daily.  If you are not familiar with this wonderful restaurant you will want to stop by soon!

July 16, 2010

Greenprints Alliance Update – Trails Open with More Coming

Filed under: North Atlanta, Woodstock — Tags: , , , — Kathy and Ben @ 12:13 pm

Work continues on the bike trail for Woodstock, GA. with Greenprints Alliance and SORBA Woodstock adding to more trails through volunteers’ efforts.  The Taylor Randahl Memorial trail now has 2.6 miles of trails.  This Saturday, July 17th,  there will be another trail building party starting at 8am until  Noon.

The Taylor Randahl Memorial trails are at the Olde Rope Mill Park off Ridgewalk Parkway just North of downtown Woodstock.  When completed there will be 6.5 miles of riding trails.

Additionally, the design process has started for 7+ miles of multi-use trails in and around Woodstock, GA.  This is being done by the City of Woodstock and Cherokee County with money from the 2009 Cherokee County Parks Bond approved in October, 2009 by voters.  These trails will include the Northeast segment of the Greenprints trail system connecting Olde Rope Mill Park via the Trestle Rock Trail to JJ Biello Park and Springfield Park where a new trailhead facility will be located.  When completed the  10 foot wide hard-surface trail will link three public parks for 4.5 miles of trails.

July 2, 2010

Free Concert July 10 – Woodstock GA

Filed under: North Atlanta, Woodstock — Tags: , — Kathy and Ben @ 12:51 pm

The Woodstock GA Free Concert Series continues on July 10 at 7:30 featuring The Atlanta Rhythm Section and 3 Hump Wump as the opening act.  The Atlanta Rhythm Section features music from the Southern Rock and the Classic Rock scenes.  Based in Altanta actually Doraville, ARS are comtempories of Lynyrd Skynyrd and other Southern Rock bands.  As accomplished studio musicians and in back bands of noted artists, ARS did not start our to be rock and roll stars.  Influenced by music coming for England, shared music styling with the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, they did break into the big time and became rock and roll stars.  Atlanta Rhythm Sections biggest hits included “Imaginary Lover” and “So Into You”.  My personal faviorite song….”Spooky”.

3 Hump Wump…well what can you say with a name like are three guys out to entertain you and have some fun.  Each member has played in bands all over the Southeast.  Their mixture of great rock and roll classics and newer country songs should be fun for everyone. 

Find the lawn chairs, bring a picnic, and come enjoy another great concert in Woodstock, GA.

June 25, 2010

Senior Tax Breaks Can Save You Thousands!

Filed under: 55+/Active Adult, Woodstock — Tags: , , , — Kathy and Ben @ 12:05 pm

Seniors and Active Adults looking to buy a home in Metro Atlanta, particularly those relocating from out of state, may not be aware of two large tax breaks available for residents.  The first tax break is for all residents upon reaching age 62; at this age, you pay no taxes on the first $35,000 in retirement income each year ($70,000 for married couples).  Additionally, a new law has been passed that will phase out all state income taxes for seniors beginning in 2012- the full exemption will be reached by 2016.  This tax break alone can save thousands a year for most seniors.

The second tax break is for homeowners with their primary residence in Georgia and varies by county. Several counties in our marketing area allow exemptions on the school tax portion of your property tax bill.  Generally, these savings amount to $1000 or even more each year on your property taxes, depending on the value of your home. For example, in Cherokee County, the school tax exemption is available beginning once you turn 62 and exempts you of school taxes on the value of your home up to $358,475 of market value; in other words, you pay no school tax on homes below this amount, those valued over this amount would  pay school taxes on the additional value only.  Cherokee County also has additional tax breaks available based upon your income.  In Cobb County, you are exempt fromall school taxes after turning 62- again, other exemptions may also apply.  There are no income or home value restrictions to obtain the school tax exemption in Cobb County.  Forsyth County has an income based school exemption at 62 and a full school tax exemption at 65- there are other income based exemptions on your entire bill at 65.  Fulton County has a variety of exemptions available based on age, income and where you live in the county; the exemptions begin at age 62 with additional exemptions at 65 and 70 in some areas of the county.

Most other Metro Atlanta counties also have exemptions; generally if you are older, disabled, a veteran or have a limited income, it’s a good idea to research whether you are eligible now or will be eligible for exemptions in the future.  A little research could save you thousands of dollars!

June 16, 2010

More Improvements coming to Downtown Woodstock GA

Filed under: Woodstock — Kathy and Ben @ 2:45 pm

Soon you’ll see major work taking place in Downtown Woodstock GA.  According to the Cherokee Tribune, last Monday the Woodstock City Council approved nearly $1M in improvements with work to begin shortly after the Independence Day Parade on July 3.

The city won a Livable Communities Initiative grant which will pay for most of the work.  The project improvements include wider sidewalks, new streetlights, more trees and converting Main Steet parking from parallel to angled spots.  The new sidewalks will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and would include “bulb-outs” (perhaps similar to the photo), which extends sidewalks into intersections.

We suspect that downtown Woodstock merchants share the opinion of Tracy Wood, owner of LKT Sports Art on Main Street.  While looking forward to the finished project, he states, “I’m really nervous about what’s going to happen when November and December gets here”, since those are his peak months for business.  Wood, who started the business in 2000, added, “I’m all for it because it’s going to look nice” once the work is done.

For it’s part, according to Richard McLeod, Woodstock’s Community Development Director, the contractor is on track to complete the project before December 4, the date of the Christmas Jubilee.  ”We’re trying to be sensitive to the Christmas shopping season for merchants.”

We’ve blogged about numerous other exciting Woodstock developments, but it’s great to see so many signs of the city’s leadership and vision towards the future!

June 14, 2010

Visit Woodstock GA Farmers Market this Summer!

Filed under: Woodstock, Woodstock Neighborhood — Tags: , , — Kathy and Ben @ 7:03 pm

The 2010 Main Street Woodstock Farmers Market kicks off this Saturday, June 19 and will be open each Saturday this summer from 9am to noon excepting July 3rd.  The final Saturday for the market will be September 18th.  This year’s market is sponsored by Cherokee Bank and has secured a permanent location for the entire summer.  The market will be open just west of Main Street on Towne Lake Pkwy in the public parking lot, with lots of space for local farmers and customers to park as well.

The Farmers Market allows only local gardeners and farmers to participate and may have a sprinkling of craft vendors allowed each week.  In addition, management is working to have interesting and entertaining demonstrations each week at the market, starting with this week’s live demo of how to make a “living herb wreath”.

So check out the market- you’re bound to get fresh fruits and vegetables at a great price!

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