Acworth, GA, United States

A no-frills Atlanta suburb where a mandatory rake ownership law once mirrored its neighbor's gun requirement, this lakeside community of 22,440 has shed its Civil War scars and cotton-farming past for a more comfortable present. Located 34 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta, Acworth straddles Lake Allatoona and its namesake Lake Acworth, earning it the predictable "Lake City" moniker.

The town's transformation from a Civil War casualty (where Sherman's troops burned all but 13 structures) to modern suburb reflects metro Atlanta's evolution. Once strictly segregated by railroad tracks with separate movie theater entrances for whites and blacks until the 1960s, today's Acworth has diversified, though its 2000 census showed a still predominantly white population at nearly 80%. Three textile mills that once employed 800 workers have given way to suburban development, while ten public parks and interstate access make it a practical, if not particularly remarkable, bedroom community.