Town of Salisbury, NC? -- any feedback? (Charlotte, Raleigh: condo, homes)

[kmway]

Salisbury is quite "arty." I'll give it that. And I did post that it is a lovely small town. But you can't find decent shopping and for someone relatively young and coming from a LARGE city, it would, nevertheless, be a big change. I think OP should be ready for that.

[GaMe2005]

Originally Posted by kmway

Salisbury is quite "arty." I'll give it that. And I did post that it is a lovely small town. But you can't find decent shopping and for someone relatively young and coming from a LARGE city, it would, nevertheless, be a big change. I think OP should be ready for that.

I would agree that Salisbury does not have the shopping options of a large city.

Salisbury does have a number of major chain stores:
Super Walmart, Circuit City, Lowes, Belk's, JCPenny, Marshalls, Harris Teeter, and Im sure there are more I can't recall off the top of my head.

The downtown is getting some major revitalization with 2 new high end clothing/gift shops and another should be opening for the Christmas season. There is a Natural foods grocery store, saltwater fish store, coffee shops, and music store to name a few that might be of interest to someone relatively young all within walking distance of one another.

If by shopping you mean going to the mall for the day and hitting numerous national brand places then Concord Mills is less than 30 minutes away or Hanes Mall in Winston or Greensboro in under an hour. I would say someone coming from a big city would find these drive times similar to what they currently have.

And I would agree Salisbury is a big change for someone coming from a big city. If you want to live in a big city, Charlotte is the closest thing we have.

[SunnyKayak]

If someone was looking for a laid back town then the city is ok the downtown has potential and probably was a real cool downtown in 60's and 70's and early 80's but there is also alot of sketchy areas surrounding the downtown that choosing a rural home in that area would be a better option.

It is very prevelant if you drive past any of the rail road tracks that surround the downtown. It surrounded by sketchy low income housing on all sides.

It will take more than sprucing up a downtown but a genderfication of the neighborhoods that surround this city.

I think the city has hope and when Cabarrus county gets pricey then maybe people will look into this area but it still in recovery phase from the loss of manufacturing jobs.

If I was interested in that area I would stick to the right of I85

[GaMe2005]

That's a mighty big blanket statement SunnyKayak...

If someone was looking for a laid back town then the city is ok the downtown has potential and probably was a real cool downtown in 60's and 70's and early 80's but there is also alot of sketchy areas surrounding the downtown that choosing a rural home in that area would be a better option.

This was true in the 60's and 70's and early 80's. Salisbury, like many other established towns of it's size is seeing people moving into the city centers from rural areas as well as retirees and job relos. There are a number of condos within walking distance to downtown, either built or restored within the last 5 years ranging in price from 100k - 250k.


It surrounded by sketchy low income housing on all sides.

West square historic district composes about 6 city blocks and is directly adjacent to downtown. I don't think there is a home less than 2,500 sqft or under $300k. Fulton Heights is a well established neighborhood (10+ square blocks) of 1920s bungalows from 100k-250k, close to downtown. This to me does not qualify as "low income housing"


If I was interested in that area I would stick to the right of I85

If you are overly concerned you could choose to live in the Country Club of Salisbury, conveniently located on the left side (west) of I85. (the two nationally registered historic districts I mentioned above are also to the west of I85)


I'm not trying to paint a perfect picture of Salisbury so everyone will think this is the best place in the world to live. In fact I would have never signed up on these forums in the first place if after reading the thread I felt Salisbury got a fair review.

Sure Salisbury has some areas that relocating people will not want to live, but what city does not? I guess you could answer by saying a new town located outside of Charlotte with all new homes priced from 250k, townhomes from 100k, clubhouse, convenient to the interstate, (insert generic new home marketing material here). For people considering living in this type of town I would agree with you, Salisbury is probably not going to be a good fit.

[jaynarie]

I work in Salisbury, but make a 45 minute commute each way from the Lake Norman area, because I was not comfortable living in Salisbury. There are some nice place, and I love the down town, but overall, it is not somewhere I could live. I don't always feel completely safe there. Yesterday I had a man following me asking for money at Office Depot. To ask is one thing, but to follow me to my car definitely freaked me out!
There are some amazing old houses off on Inness!

[birdsey]

My wife and I compiled a list of our priorities and visited most of the towns from the Atlantic coast to extreme western North Carolina and from the southern part of Virginia into Northern South Carolina.

Were were looking for a small historic oriented town with conveniences of brand name stores and restaraunts. We also wanted to be relatively close to the mountains and the coast. We recently retired and needed somewhere nice that has a lower cost of living than the mountains or the coast!

We found Salisbury to be a perfect fit for us. We purchased a home in the Park Avenue historic district which is perfectly located being about 6 blocks in one direction to the historic downtown and about 6 blocks in the other direction to the newer chain restaraunts, and shopping (Lowes, Walmart, Office Depot, Outback Steakhouse, Starbucks, Ihop, etc.)

We have found the people to be very friendly, and the pace slow. We are hoping that more and more fellow baby boomers will "discover" Salisbury and it will continue to improve. We have found plenty of activities in the local area. If we get bored we just visit Charlotte, Winston-Salem, or take a jaunt to the mountains or the coast!

[kja25]

I worked in Salisbury for six months and it was absolutely dreadful. I lived in Concord and the drive was about 30-40 minutes. Granted, I didn't spend much time there outside of work hours but just driving through and around Salisbury depresses me. Then again, I prefer the big(ger) city lifestyle in Charlotte.

If you like the small-town feel, go for it!

[GaMe2005]

For example, tonight in Historic Downtown Salisbury we are having 70's night out. The plans are to close off the 100 block East Fisher St. to cars and have a 70's themed event with dancing and a live band. This block was recently redone in all brick to match the way it was in the 1920s with street lamps and other little details to match. There's also a restaurant that just opened called Uncle Bucks that I hear great things about. Shops will be open late and it should be a good time.

Is it going to be woodstock, saturday night fever, or the biggest thing to happen in Salisbury since Cheerwine or Food Lion? Not even close. But it is something that WE as a community can be proud of and is another step in the right direction.

for more information
DowntownSalisburyInc

[mullman]

Salisbury is a darling small town which I am quite fond of.
My great-grandmother lived right on Faith Road (near the Tinsel Town development) for over 60 years until her death in the early 1990s. Several of my favorite BBQ restaurants are in and around Salisbury and we go often.

Having just returned from Maine (annual vacation with the in-laws) last night I can say with certainty that small towns such as Salisbury are no different than their NE counterparts. You just need to decide if small town living is right for you.

[Boss]

Salisbury is a great place to move to as mentioned above.One thing that is not mentioned is the people. Most people are there to help and answer any questions. Catawba College and Livingstone grads are all around the area.