Checking out the area this weekend - Need help!! (Greensboro: housing, rent)

[NewlywedsNeedAPush]

Hi! My husband and I are in our 20's and looking to get out of Michigan! We have considered some different states and like the sound of Greensboro and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We are taking a 3-day trip this coming weekend and need some help forming an itinerary. Neither of us have been to North Carolina before, so any advice you can give would be of great help to us. We plan to visit 3 or 4 different cities, therefore, only leaving us with around a half of a day in each city.

We are interested in a safe, suburban area within approximately 20-30 minutes of downtown. We are looking to buy a home within the next year in a growing area with good home appreciation. We would like to be in a nice neighborhood and stay within the range of $140,000 to $170,000.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could recommend a handful of must-see residential areas that fit our description above. Also, if you have recommendations for places we should check out downtown - parks, shopping districts, etc - that would be great as well. Thank you in advance!

[Splinter]

good move...my wife and i just went to michigan 2 weeks ago considering a move which was job related. we decided to stay here.

for homes in that price range, you could definitely get more for you money in greensboro, or the surrounding areas. greensboro doesn't have quite as much "stuff" to do...but it has a great downtown with a new ballpark and several restaurants. much less traffic and far more affordable makes it the best, in my opinion. raleigh is 1 hour away...charlotte is about 1.5 hours away...so you can go to either if you get bored.

[renlacher]

I've lived in NC most of my life and spent time in the mountains, the piedmont, and the coast. I lived uin Wisconsin for ten years, so I understand why you want to leave Michigan! For your interests, I would recommend Asheville. A beautiful city with outstanding arts culture for its size, a decent university (UNC-A), and amazing diversity for its relative remoteness. Tourists like the Biltmore House.

In the Triad (which is my hometown), check out Old Salem in downtown W-S. There is a little arts district on Trade Street (WS) and the downtown revitalization is really progressing. There are fancy downtown lofts now, and a good thai restaurant on 4th St (Downtown Thai). Stratford Road and Hanes Mall Blvd are like any shopping district in America; you'll find every major chain in existence. I like Sakura for good sushi on Stratford Rd. Nawab for Indian food. Village Tavern on Hanes Mall Blvd and Stratford is excellent American cuisine.

High Point is a medium-sized city, but small town in terms of old families and gossip. The furniture industry is dying with jobs going to Asia, and the market going to Vegas. Textiles are almost completely gone. They are trying to get more tech industry, and some is starting. A new Fed Ex hub in the area will bring jobs. Several other large companies have moved here lately, including Dell.

Cost of living in the Triad is very low, compared to the rest of the country. The triad is about 1.5 hours to the mountains (deopending which range) and 4 hours to the coast.

I don't know Greensboro very well. There is little to draw me there from W-S other than larger acts which play at the GSO Coliseum and War Memorial auditorium. Education in the Triad is fair in the public schools, but exceptionally good for colleges (eg. Wake Forest)

The job forecast and economy in the Triad looks good. High-tech jobs and bio-tech industries are moving here, thanks to a supply of educated workers and local/state tax incentives.

For housing check out Lewisville, a suburb of W-S. VERY quaint, affordable, safe, a nice park, great school district, close to town by Hwy 421. Also see Kernersville. A fast growing town half-way between W-S and Greensboro.

SECCA is a modern art gallery in W-S across from Reynolda House on Reynolda Rd. It is a museum in the old Reynolds mansion, as in Reynolds Tobacco.

[superk]

Take the time to stop by Little Richards BBQ (Country Club Rd.) for some of the best BBQ in the state.