It seems like Senoia is always making the news, including in stories outside Coweta County. Most recently the city was featured on the cover of the statewide Georgia Travel Guide. Now the city has been featured in the 2013 Economic Yearbook of “Georgia Trend” magazine.
The 2013 Economic Yearbook found in the April issue of Georgia Trend provided an overview of counties around the state. And in its Atlanta metro section, both Newnan and Senoia showed up in several places. While Newnan is rapidly becoming a medical mecca with the Cancer Treatment Centers of America and Piedmont Newnan hospitals and numerous healthcare providers claiming ground in and around the city, it was Senoia that featured prominently in a story entitled, “The Right Location.”
The idea of featuring Senoia in another statewide publication will come as no surprise to anyone who has visited the city in recent years. Perhaps the city’s biggest claim to fame is the increasing presence of Raleigh Studios (aka Riverwood) and the television and movie industry that continues to build a presence in south metro Atlanta. That presence, and a flock of accompanying tourists drawn to the city by the filming of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” that is set to begin its fourth season, is bolstered by the continued draw of a city that looks like a step back in time to a different era. That “look” is no accident, since the most recent buildings lining main street were constructed to “look” like they are 100 years old even though they were constructed only a few years ago and built to withstand an F4 tornado.
But the only tornado is the one caused by hundreds of shoppers and visitors as they take in the sights at local shops, grab a meal at one of the growing number of restaurants or stroll down Main Street on the way to Woodbury City Hall, one of the props for The Walking Dead.
That Senoia has become a magnet for a variety of people and for a variety of reasons is evident. A part of that evidence has resulted in a rare occurrence, one that is unusual for retail businesses anywhere in America. Imagine a small town of 7,000 that has doubled in size in the past few years. Imagine a town that just five years ago had only seven retail businesses in the downtown area and today has 49 businesses and a waiting list for others wanting to come in. If you imagined Senoia you were right.
Zombies notwithstanding, visitors to Senoia in the coming months and years should not be surprised to see a host of other venues operating in the city that has become a model of business-friendly and family-friendly transformation.
