We aimed to answer all these questions and more via the 1st Annual Lake Lanier Survey.
Read on to find out the results...
| Lake Lanier turned 50 this year which means that there are still a large number of people who remember North Georgia before the lake built. However, the survey tells us that newcomers are nearly as common as long-term residents. It really is possible to say that Lake Lanier has been attracting people throughout its half-century.
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![]() Lake Lanier in 1957 |
| Not surprisingly, nearly half of the people answering our survey were born around Lake Lanier, and another 25% are from Georgia. Large numbers of people come from up and down the East Coast and theres even a notable contingent from elsewhere in North America.
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![]() Lake Lanier |
| You can probably scroll down to question 10 to find the reason why most visitors to Lake Lanier don't actually live on the lake. Note that nearly one-third of visitors come from outside the local region.
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![]() Living Around Lake Lanier |
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Add boating and jetskiing together and you find that more than 50% enjoy racing around on the lake. Not surprisingly, a lot of people come here to do nothing but relax :)
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![]() Boating on Lake Lanier |
| The south end of the lake draws nearly all of the visitors. Around 20% enjoy the north end but the Cumming / Buford area attracts the vast majority of visitors to attractions such as the Lake Lanier Islands and the large marinas.
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![]() Buford Dam |
| Wow - this was a very, very close competition. Dockside Grill attracted almost 1 in every four votes but it fell just behind Big Creek Tavern and the eventual winner, Cocktail Cove Bar and Grill. All three restaurants are within a few minutes drive of each other - could make for a great night out!
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![]() Big Creek Tavern |
| In contrast to the close restaurant vote, we had a runaway winner in the marina competition. Holiday Marina proved to be almost twice as popular as its nearest rival Aqualand Marina. Congratulations to Holiday Marina! | |
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![]() Holiday Marina |
| We saw earlier that the south end of the lake is extremely popular, but doesn't have a monopoly over fishermen. When it comes to fishing almost 50% prefer the lake's top end.
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![]() Fishing on Lake Lanier |
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Boating is the most popular activity on the lake and so its natural that people also voted it to be the best thing about Lanier. Other answers included:
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![]() Boating on Lake Lanier |
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This question prompted more write-in answers than any other. Overall the worst thing on the lake is the cost of real estate, but other suggested answers included:
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![]() Lake Lanier Real Estate |