another relocation post ... have you had enough of them yet?? (Asheville: how much, new home)

[happymac]

We are looking to relocate to NC in the coming year and want to start looking around and narrowing down where we want to move to. We are ... My wife and I and three boys (age 11, and twin babies), and our most important criteria is to find a great community where we have similar interests with other families.

We have given this a lot of thought and really are shooting for the stars in what we are looking for … in fact … that is probably why we haven’t moved already, because we have a good house in a good area (in Los Angeles and we would have to give up too much to move … so we have sat when we pondering moving in the past.

We are looking at two possibilities, and ideally the two will merge together … but I have a feeling they won't … we want a home with some land around it … not necessarily a huge amount of land, but we also don’t want to hear our neighbors sneeze. Ideally we want a decent view from the house, mountainscape is better than cityscape. Really, it is more about having unobstructed views and less about the amount of space we own.

Although we understand that getting the above with the following is unlikely … we also have a desire to be in a true ‘community’ where kids hang out in the streets after school and there is a small 4th of July parade that the entire town takes part in, etc, etc. We want to be apart of a community (in Los Angeles, most people keep to themselves).

If we could have both, then great, but if we had to make a decision between the two, we would take the land and views over the community feel.

In terms of closeness to a city … we can technically be somewhat far out in ‘the country’. My work is mostly internet based, so as long as I can get high speed internet (this is a must) … I can pretty much be anywhere. In fact, if we can't find a community that also has a bit of land … then being remote would probably be great.

We also would entertain building a house if we couldn’t find what we were looking for.

At this stage, we want to focus more on the area than on specifics of which house we want, but regardless I want to give you a little feel for the type of house we like. First off, coming from California (if you’ve ever been here), my wife and i feel that most of the houses here are really ugly exterior wise, and from what we have seen in Colorado … we aren’t overly impressed as well. Curb appeal is important to my wife. We really like the look of older homes (turn of the century, back east looking) … traditional, bungalow, ranch … really anything but stucco. But we want it to be a new home so we don’t have issues with drafts and weather. So, newer home that looks old. In terms of interior, probably 4000 sq ft. minimum, 5 – 6 bedrooms. Definitely on the larger side. And the ever important question … how much? We want to keep it under 750k after all costs ideally. I do realize that there aren’t a lot of younger families that are shopping in that price range … which creates the problem I mentioned above about maybe not being able to be in a place where there is a community feel with other families.

It is important to find out about the private schools in the area as our kids will be going to one … our oldest is going into 6th grade this year … so we will probably be looking at an upper school for him (7th – 12th grade) and Kindergarten in a few years for the babies. Non denominational ideally. This would be one reason why we wouldn’t want to be too far out of town … we shouldn’t be more than 10 minutes from the school ideally (20 minutes on bad weather/traffic days).

We also need to be somewhat close to an organic supermarket (although that could be close to the school) … so 10 – 20 minutes would be fine.

Other than school and markets … we don’t mind being remote (again … as long as we have high speed internet).

Weather wise … I think we would prefer to be in a place where the weather is milder. I am very nervous about the muggy summer's, so ideally want to minimize that. Ideally … if there are areas that are cooler during the summer (and ideally warmer) during the winter, that would be ideal.

We are very outdoor oriented, my wife and I run about 20 miles a week, and we love walking and hiking and biking. In fact, if the weather is good … we probably would be outside more than inside. I'm a little nervous about ticks ... although may be it isnt as scary as I think ... i'm pretty wimpy

Bars, clubs, sporting events, cultural … art, theater events … are not really important to us. We would prefer to hang out at our house with friends any day over going somewhere.

So, hopefully that gives you a little info (probably too much) about what we are looking for. If you have some thoughts for us in terms of cities, or neighborhoods and/or private schools … it would be most appreciated!! Any website links that you want to share in terms of trying to narrow down the areas, would be wonderful as well.

thank you ~ we look forward to becoming your neighbor

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by happymac

We are looking to relocate to NC in the coming year and want to start looking around and narrowing down where we want to move to. We are ... My wife and I and three boys (age 11, and twin babies), and our most important criteria is to find a great community where we have similar interests with other families.

We have given this a lot of thought and really are shooting for the stars in what we are looking for … in fact … that is probably why we haven’t moved already, because we have a good house in a good area (in Los Angeles and we would have to give up too much to move … so we have sat when we pondering moving in the past.

We are looking at two possibilities, and ideally the two will merge together … but I have a feeling they won't … we want a home with some land around it … not necessarily a huge amount of land, but we also don’t want to hear our neighbors sneeze. Ideally we want a decent view from the house, mountainscape is better than cityscape. Really, it is more about having unobstructed views and less about the amount of space we own.

Although we understand that getting the above with the following is unlikely … we also have a desire to be in a true ‘community’ where kids hang out in the streets after school and there is a small 4th of July parade that the entire town takes part in, etc, etc. We want to be apart of a community (in Los Angeles, most people keep to themselves).

If we could have both, then great, but if we had to make a decision between the two, we would take the land and views over the community feel.

In terms of closeness to a city … we can technically be somewhat far out in ‘the country’. My work is mostly internet based, so as long as I can get high speed internet (this is a must) … I can pretty much be anywhere. In fact, if we can't find a community that also has a bit of land … then being remote would probably be great.

We also would entertain building a house if we couldn’t find what we were looking for.

At this stage, we want to focus more on the area than on specifics of which house we want, but regardless I want to give you a little feel for the type of house we like. First off, coming from California (if you’ve ever been here), my wife and i feel that most of the houses here are really ugly exterior wise, and from what we have seen in Colorado … we aren’t overly impressed as well. Curb appeal is important to my wife. We really like the look of older homes (turn of the century, back east looking) … traditional, bungalow, ranch … really anything but stucco. But we want it to be a new home so we don’t have issues with drafts and weather. So, newer home that looks old. In terms of interior, probably 4000 sq ft. minimum, 5 – 6 bedrooms. Definitely on the larger side. And the ever important question … how much? We want to keep it under 750k after all costs ideally. I do realize that there aren’t a lot of younger families that are shopping in that price range … which creates the problem I mentioned above about maybe not being able to be in a place where there is a community feel with other families.

It is important to find out about the private schools in the area as our kids will be going to one … our oldest is going into 6th grade this year … so we will probably be looking at an upper school for him (7th – 12th grade) and Kindergarten in a few years for the babies. Non denominational ideally. This would be one reason why we wouldn’t want to be too far out of town … we shouldn’t be more than 10 minutes from the school ideally (20 minutes on bad weather/traffic days).

We also need to be somewhat close to an organic supermarket (although that could be close to the school) … so 10 – 20 minutes would be fine.

Other than school and markets … we don’t mind being remote (again … as long as we have high speed internet).

Weather wise … I think we would prefer to be in a place where the weather is milder. I am very nervous about the muggy summer's, so ideally want to minimize that. Ideally … if there are areas that are cooler during the summer (and ideally warmer) during the winter, that would be ideal.

We are very outdoor oriented, my wife and I run about 20 miles a week, and we love walking and hiking and biking. In fact, if the weather is good … we probably would be outside more than inside. I'm a little nervous about ticks ... although may be it isnt as scary as I think ... i'm pretty wimpy

Bars, clubs, sporting events, cultural … art, theater events … are not really important to us. We would prefer to hang out at our house with friends any day over going somewhere.

So, hopefully that gives you a little info (probably too much) about what we are looking for. If you have some thoughts for us in terms of cities, or neighborhoods and/or private schools … it would be most appreciated!! Any website links that you want to share in terms of trying to narrow down the areas, would be wonderful as well.

thank you ~ we look forward to becoming your neighbor

Given that your job comes with you - you'll have lots of choices of places to check out A few I would recommend you start reading up on, which I love are:

Taylorsville
Town of Taylorsville - Taylorsville, NC

Brevard
Welcome to BrevardNC.com | Brevard NC

Mars Hill
Town of Mars Hill, North Carolina

And over the NC line in SC - Landrum:
Welcome To Landrum South Carolina

[eek]

how do your son feel about a change that drastic??

going from los angeles to a very rural setting (like the one you're describing in your post)?

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by eek

how do your son feel about a change that drastic??

going from los angeles to a very rural setting (like the one you're describing in your post)?

His son is 11, not 16 or 17 - he'll cope and be happy if his homelife is happy.

[eek]

not necessarily.
consider that he's about to lose all of his friends and possibly be away from family.
also there will be a huge cultural change for everybody involved. he's 11, not 1.
there's a three hour time difference. he'll call his friends for a good month (if that) before they lose contact. watch.

family will be really far, as well. things you could easily find in cali won't be present in nc.

[happymac]

lovesMountains and eek ... thank you for your posts! Our children are really the number 1 consideration in this whole evolution of moving. Being in Los Angeles, our whole lives we realize that there isnt much of a community in most areas here. Generally speaking people keep to themselves here and are in too much of a hurry to get things done. Our experience has been good here, but we really want to be in a place where we they can feel apart of it all. Really the feeling that both of us had as kids. The idea of kids playing in the street together after school, etc. Your question abouty my oldest is a really, really good one, We obviously do not want to be sooo remote that he has no friends, but i think is ready for a change. He is going to a new school next year and is planning to lose most of his friends through that transition anyway (since he goes to a private school, the kids all go to different schools naturally). But more than that, he really has never had one or two 'serious' friends anyway ... he tends to play with everyone and serially changes playing with friends as time goes on.

Eek, I'm curious as to your thoughts on a 'better' alternative to the suggestions?? And lovesmountaints ... im Curious to know why you suggested those towns based on my crazy ranting post ... what elements do you feel would compliment our desires?

Thank you again!

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by happymac

lovesMountains and eek ... thank you for your posts! Our children are really the number 1 consideration in this whole evolution of moving. Being in Los Angeles, our whole lives we realize that there isnt much of a community in most areas here. Generally speaking people keep to themselves here and are in too much of a hurry to get things done. Our experience has been good here, but we really want to be in a place where we they can feel apart of it all. Really the feeling that both of us had as kids. The idea of kids playing in the street together after school, etc. Your question abouty my oldest is a really, really good one, We obviously do not want to be sooo remote that he has no friends, but i think is ready for a change. He is going to a new school next year and is planning to lose most of his friends through that transition anyway (since he goes to a private school, the kids all go to different schools naturally). But more than that, he really has never had one or two 'serious' friends anyway ... he tends to play with everyone and serially changes playing with friends as time goes on.

Eek, I'm curious as to your thoughts on a 'better' alternative to the suggestions?? And lovesmountaints ... im Curious to know why you suggested those towns based on my crazy ranting post ... what elements do you feel would compliment our desires?

Thank you again!

The towns I suggested are all known to be great little places. They will give you the views, landscape AND community you seek. Your most difficult challenge will be private schools - they will always be few and far between in more rural areas. Of course if you go with Mars Hill you could drive him about 30 minutes into Asheville which would have a few options, though none I have any first hand knowledge of to recommend. But don't feel you MUST have a private school, particularly in Brevard the local public schools are well regarded. I would at least check them all out.

I think Eek is about 21 years old and not even a NC native - I'd take his suggestions of "better alternatives" with a grain of salt myself.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by eek

not necessarily.
consider that he's about to lose all of his friends and possibly be away from family.
also there will be a huge cultural change for everybody involved. he's 11, not 1.
there's a three hour time difference. he'll call his friends for a good month (if that) before they lose contact. watch.

family will be really far, as well. things you could easily find in cali won't be present in nc.

Again, HE'S 11 - he'll adjust and probably thrive.

[eek]

i know how old the thread starter's son is. i assure you that i'm capable of reading.

lovesmountains sounds like he/she is thinking about themselves rather than everybody in the situation.

the thread starter sounds like he/she would like to move from one of the largest cities in our country to a very rural area. this can be a huge change for a child, especially when they have (assuming) a lot of friends...its already a huge change if one was to move from the north to the south...but we're talking about from west to east. there is a time zone change.

calling family and friends will be a lil different. its a 3 hour difference. the 11 year old is about to pretty much lose all the friends he had. it won't be easy to visit anybody either.

just a thought. consider the child's feelings too.

@ happymac: i'll have to think about alternatives. you definitely want to leave california, though? you wouldn't consider any other areas in the state?

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by eek

i know how old the thread starter's son is. i assure you that i'm capable of reading.

lovesmountains sounds like he/she is thinking about themselves rather than everybody in the situation.

the thread starter sounds like he/she would like to move from one of the largest cities in our country to a very rural area. this can be a huge change for a child, especially when they have (assuming) a lot of friends...its already a huge change if one was to move from the north to the south...but we're talking about from west to east. there is a time zone change.

calling family and friends will be a lil different. its a 3 hour difference. the 11 year old is about to pretty much lose all the friends he had. it won't be easy to visit anybody either.

just a thought. consider the child's feelings too.

@ happymac: i'll have to think about alternatives. you definitely want to leave california, though? you wouldn't consider any other areas in the state?

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