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I am interested to learn where retirees have decided to retire to in NC and their opinion of that area. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks.
Don
I retired to Hickory and found the area to be wonderful for retirees but find the locals are not too receptive of outsiders, especially northerners.
As a Realtor and long time resident of the western NC region I can tell you that quite a lot of retirees are located in the Henderson (Hendersonville, Brevard and Flat Rock), Polk (Tryon) and Rutherford (Rutherfordton and Lake Lure) counties of NC. Unfortunately I do see some stand-offishness with "outsiders" especially northerners (which has always confussed and astounded me) but I can speak for my area only (Rutherford) as the county demographics shift so does peoples perception on those moving in.
Don't forget about the larger cities, either, or at least outlying areas of those cities. When (if) I retire one day, I would still rather be close to a city because of the various amenities offered that you wouldn't find in smaller towns or remote areas.
Since schools wouldn't be a concern, you would also have more selection than someone with children who only wants to live in a specific school district.
I think some people are retiring to the coastal areas of north carolina. My in laws live near ocean isle beach, and it seems that that "year rounders" are retirees. I think, on the coast, people are very used to tourists from all over the country, so they don't seem to care where people are from. But, it is definitely more southern on coast (as compared to the triangle area), but you get the benefit of great vegetable stands, fruit stands. The medical care is very good in wilmington, and it seems that most "major medical" situations are transferred to wilmington.
Many Floridians who retire to North Carolina (we're from Fort Lauderdale) head for the mountains. The most popular destinations are Boone, Blowing Rock, Lake Lure, Hendersonville, Brevard, Waynesville, Franklin and Murphy (and Highlands and Cashiers for the very wealthy). We know people who have wound up in all those areas.
We are not yet retirees, but we've bought land in Waynesville with an eye toward the future. We have nothing but good things to say about the area other than it ceased being a secret long ago and consequently, it's not cheap. We've not had a problem with standoffishness on our visits, but I suspect that those who come in with a "That's not how we did things in Florida" attitude will encounter difficulty. Just as "Everything is better back in (fill in the blank)" doesn't go over well down here with native Floridians.
We currently live in central Florida, but have been visiting the Waynesville/Sylva/Maggie area since about 1975 or so. Wound up buying some land a few years ago in Cullowhee, by Western Carolina University, just south of Sylva, for retirement. Bought there because of the reasonable price (at that time) and proximity to the university. Harris Regional Hospital and the usual Wal-mart and Lowes are just up the road in Sylva.
I can't really think of anytime in all our visits in the area that we ever had any problems with the attitude of the local people. I am convinced that how you approach people sets the tone for how they will respond. When we are there, we do our grocery shopping in the local owned supermarket in Sylva. Last year, the first time that I went in I smiled at the checkout lady and made a comment about what a nice day it was. We engaged in some small talk for a couple of minutes while she checked me out. When I went back two or three days later, she was there and greeted me like I was on old friend!
We took a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii a couple of years ago. People had tole us before we left that the locals really don't care for visitors, other than taking your money. We had a fantastic three weeks traveling around the island and everyone was great, even when they were not getting a nickel of our money. One of our fondest memories was sitting at a small restaurant eating a chili dog and ice cream and talking with a local UPS driver who was there having his lunch.
Just my opinion
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