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My wife and I have the opportunity to move anywhere in the U.S. She is in the medical field (primary care) and I have a home-based business. We are in our early 30's, no kids, 2 dogs. We would like a warm climate, eclectic downtown, good restaurants, dog-friendly, outdoor activities, culturally diverse, etc... We are considering Asheville, NC...Austin,TX...and Charleston,SC. Of those three, which would you choose? We want to be able to walk to restaurants, coffee shops, bakery, post office, food market, etc... Are there any other cities you would recommend?
I would go for Asheville. From what I understand, Asheville is what Austin was about 20 years ago. Move there now before it becomes the next "in" city and everyone comes and ruins it.
Asheville: More "Appalachian" feel to it. Artsy/boutiqueish downtown area. Diverse in the city but can be more conservative/homogenous in the burbs. Four distinct seasons, gets snow in Winter, but has nice summers. Tons of outdoor things to do in area especially if you like hiking, lake activities, etc.
Charleston: Coastal vibe. "Old South" vibe. Extremely busy with tourists during people seasons and events. If you're into water related activities, it's a good choice. Can be very humid/hot in Summer. Very nice historic district but does have it's share of rundown areas outside of it (maybe moreso than the other two per capita).
Austin: Music, bands, funky. A little bit hippy. A little bit Texan. A little bit everything else. Younger vibe overall. Can also get very humid/hot.
Ten people would pick a variety of these, so there is no one choice. For ME (a 40-something guy who grew up in Appalachia), I would migrate to Asheville. But I know people who would almost kill to live in both Charleston or Austin, too. None of them are considered "bad" places to live by many. As with anything, your best bet would be to try to somehow squeeze out the time/money to visit all three places even if it's just for a few days each to get a feel for them first hand.
As long as your employment is secure, I'd go to Asheville. If there is a chance your wife or you would need to find additional income, I'd go with one of the other two options.
If I was in your situation, I'd try to have my permanent residence in the Asheville area and a condo in downtown Charleston. They're only about 4 hours apart. Another option for the condo would be Savannah...about an hour longer drive from Asheville but with considerably cheaper real estate.
In my opinion, downtown Asheville would best fit your criteria. It's a compact, walkable area with some beautifully restored neighborhoods, the bungalow style homes in particular. Check out the Grove Park or Montford neighborhoods just to the north of downtown. The West Asheville neighborhood has emerged as the new funky-hip area of town with a lot of renovation going on (arts and crafts bungalows galore), new businesses opening, a great food coop, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. It's definitely a more diverse area as well. Asheville overall is culturally diverse, has a very good variety of restaurants for a city it's size, an eclectic downtown area with the second largest collection of art deco architecture in the US (Miami's South Beach is #1), has a mild four-season climate without smoldering humidity and is geared more toward thirty-somethings in my opinion than the twenty-something-like scene in Austin. Good luck to you!
Charleston. It would be a great choice, and you could still cool down with a condo in Asheville during the summer.
Charleston has lots of hospitals that would be good for your business. Just in the downtown area, there's 4: MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina), Roper, the VA hospital, and Kindred Hospital.
You could very easily start a office here in the area. There is a shortage of primary-care physicians in the area, especially if you move in and live inland. There's several other hospitals all around the area (East Cooper, Trident, Summerville, St. Francis).
Downtown is good, but there's only a few grocery stores in the area. Almost everything else is easy to find, except for the post office, as there are only two downtown, one on East Bay St and the other in the middle of town on Broad St.
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