Considering relocating to NC (Charlotte, Raleigh: sales, real estate, rent)

[Lend27]

My wife and I currently live in Massachusetts.
We are in our mid 50's, children married and on their own..
We have visited the Hickory and Asheville areas, spending a few days in each.
I am partial to the Asheville area (love the mountains), she is partial to Hickory(liked the neighborhoods).
We want a slower pace, out of the rat race. Due to the real estate appreciation here in the northeast, we will have enough money to settle pretty much anywhere. We will probably rent until we decide where to buy or build.
I am in an executive position and am tired of the rat race. We both would work, but not at high stress jobs, mainly for health insurance.
It appears to me that the Hickory economy and job picture is not as good as in the Asheville area.
With this in mind, what other areas should we consider with our main requirements being:
1. Slower pace
2. Safe neighborhoods
3. Reasonable real estate prices
4. Adequate employment with health benefits.
5. Minor league baseball nearby

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Len

[violetbee]

My husband and I are considering the same move ourselves. We are in our early 40's, have a 6 year old daughter and will be moving from Mass. We haven't been to the Ashville area but have heard a lot about it. I have done quite a bit of research online and it looks like a great place to live.

We are tired of working non-stop and barely making ends meet. We both have good jobs but I'd like to be a full-time stay at home Mom and this is impossible here.

Does anyone have any suggestions as far as school systems go?

Also, Len, can you tell me more about the Ashville area?

Blessings,
Vi

[Robojudge]

Though I now live in Chapel Hill, I lived most of my adult life in Hickory. But my work took me to Asheville for extended assignments (6 months in duration, with daily commute). Asheville is an artsy place, with a nice style of life. More expensive living costs by North Carolina, driven in part by location, repution, and influx of retirees to the North Carolina mountains. The mountains are beautiful, and mountain people are unique. In North Carolina, the eastern and western parts of our State are totally different. Though close to Hickory, Asheville does experience more cold weather and icy/snowy conditions in the winter because of the higher elevations. Asheville is the largest city in the western mountains, and most mountain towns are small and rural. Hickory and Asheville are approximately the same size po****tion wise.

If I had to choose, I would select Hickory. Highly industrialized, it does have some economic problems. Much of the Hickory economy was built on furniture and textiles. As many jobs have been outsourced, it has caused higher unemployment in those industries. On the other hand, Hickory has emerged as a leading manufacturer of fiber optic cable, and has solidly established itself as a regional center for medical care, entertainment, etc. It's proximity to Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem, all within slightly more than one hour's drive, make it an ideal place by location. Asheville has some nice residential areas, but I believe Hickory offers nicer residential areas. At the foothills, it is within easy driving distance of our greatest mountain scenery. Hickory has historically had a very progressive and entreprenurial leadership in business and government.

I'm not sure about the pace of life in Massachusetts, but the pace of life (with a few exceptions) in North Carolina tends to be slow across the State. With only a handful of metropolitan areas, most of the State is still rural. Hickory has grown more rapidly in recent years because of its diverse offerings.

Actually, you couldn't go wrong with either place, but I prefer Hickory to Asheville. Asheville is a great place to visit, but I would rather live in Hickory.

[sunshinedayy]

Originally Posted by violetbee

My husband and I are considering the same move ourselves. We are in our early 40's, have a 6 year old daughter and will be moving from Mass. We haven't been to the Ashville area but have heard a lot about it. I have done quite a bit of research online and it looks like a great place to live.

We are tired of working non-stop and barely making ends meet. We both have good jobs but I'd like to be a full-time stay at home Mom and this is impossible here.

Does anyone have any suggestions as far as school systems go?

Also, Len, can you tell me more about the Ashville area?

Blessings,
Vi

Hi,
Vi, I understand exactly where you are! My husband and I both in early 40's 2 small children are looking at North Carolina as a possible place to relocate. We will be taking a trip in Feb to the Charlotte area. I have researched the schools in Matthews and South Charlotte and made comparisions to our schools the results are quite pleasing. We did visit Hickory 2 summers ago to purchase furniture and it was lovely....friendly people and beautiful. Although we weren't looking at the area to relocate at the time. I have been working w/ a realtor he has been very helpful in providing information. My suggestion is to call a local realtor and continue to research and maybe plan a trip to visit. Wish you the best!
Cara

[violetbee]

Please keep me posted! I would love to know what you find out about that area.

We are very fortunate because we are in contact with a head hunter in the Carolina area. She will be scouting out jobs for my husband. I have recently been researching the Raleigh-Durham area as well and that looks promising too.

I was going to start looking at the Charlotte area this weekend.

Blessings,
Vi

[baily]

there a wonderful active community comming to cary by del webb www.amberly.com
there will be a 30,0000 square foot club house there's a number you can call on the del webb site go to map n.c when your on the www.delwebb.com
site . there a wonderful club house sales start in march check it out hope this helps baily

[cmac]

Really check those schools out first before you relocate. I am a teacher in San Diego, CA area (also considering move to rural NC). Two friends who were teachers here moved to NC to accept teaching positions in elementary schools and they just returned, begging for their jobs back (good luck). They were appalled at conditions in the public schools and said they would not put their children back into the schools, nor would they continue their teaching assignments. They loved the communities, but really hated the schools. We don't have small kids, so I am not worried, but be forewarned if you do have children.

[lovemaine]

Cmac, where in NC did your friends teach? I've always heard that Wake County's school district is supposed to be excellent. We're relocating to NC in April, and it would be helpful to know what areas to stay away from since we have 2 young children. Thank you!

[baily]

a great area as far as i heard wonderful schools really nice .have you checked out the new community www.amberly.com there's a retirement area and 4,000 other homes nice pools club house it's in cary checkit out. hot

[recruiter]

I live in Matthews and work all over the state. I moved from PA and NJ over 12 years ago and would never consider going back. Ask some questions and I will answer as best I can.