relocating to North Carolina- Hickory (Charlotte, Shelby: travel, jobs, hospitals)

[ymalaroo]

I'm hoping to get some direction on a place to move in NC. I have visited Hickory, Shelby, Belmont, Cherryville, Lincolnton, Conover, Maiden, am researching Taylorsville.
We are looking for a nice place to raise our children-Think Mayberry with amentities.
also, safe, beautiful, non-crowded schools and within 45 minutes- hour of Cherryville. Family lives there but does not know the area.
We love Hickory, but are concerned about a job for my husband. He is a graphic designer. Any ideas?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[mbeckoff1]

Originally Posted by ymalaroo

I'm hoping to get some direction on a place to move in NC. I have visited Hickory, Shelby, Belmont, Cherryville, Lincolnton, Conover, Maiden, am researching Taylorsville.
We are looking for a nice place to raise our children-Think Mayberry with amentities.
also, safe, beautiful, non-crowded schools and within 45 minutes- hour of Cherryville. Family lives there but does not know the area.
We love Hickory, but are concerned about a job for my husband. He is a graphic designer. Any ideas?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

We are moving from NJ to Taylorsville. It seems like a great place to live

Melissa

[ymalaroo]

Why are you moving there? What made you choose Tay-ville?

[groove1]

Is that near where Google is going to be? Someone can answer that for me. I may have the wrong area.

[ymalaroo]

Do you know anything about these areas

[hapaleeretired]

The new Google facility will be about 22 miles west in Lenoir.

[groove1]

They are really nice areas. Close to Charlotte, close to the mountains, friendly people.

[DaBears]

do you mind not having much to do in taylorsville? my sister lives there now & if they want to do anything of sorts...have to go to hickory (still not much there) OR charlotte....i can honestly say i hate visiting there because of the lack of things to do...

[mbeckoff1]

Originally Posted by DaBears

do you mind not having much to do in taylorsville? my sister lives there now & if they want to do anything of sorts...have to go to hickory (still not much there) OR charlotte....i can honestly say i hate visiting there because of the lack of things to do...

I am looking forward to Taylorsville very much. In Taylorsville,we plan to do the same type of things we do in NJ plus some.We do scouts, church ,going to the library,eating out. We will be joining a lake club so we can use Lake Hickory. My children will be able to horseback ride 5 minutes from our home in Taylorsville. In Hickory,there are all the same stores that we have in NJ plus some new ones.In Hickory,we can go to the movies. bowling, eat out. Within a short drive, there are many outdoor things to do in NC.We enjoy historic places and plan to explore the area.

I don;t know what kinds of things you are wanting to do that you cannot find to do in the area.

MElissa

[Carolina_native]

Hickory is the largest city of all the ones you have named. Hickory is located is the north western area of Catawba county. To the north of Hickory is Taylorsville (nicknamed by some "trailorsville", havent really been there myself though). Taylorsville is in Alexander county. When I have been to Taylorsville, it seems like a small city, pretty nice actually.

Conover and Maiden are the closest towns to Hickory, Maiden more to the south, and Conover is actually connected to Hickory on the east side of Hickory.

Lincolnton is located in Lincoln county, Cherryville is just south of Lincolnton. Both of these towns are south of Hickory.

Shelby is in Cleveland county, kind of by itself.

Hickory itself is a growing medium sized city (by NC standards) with a population of around 40,000. Hickory os located in the Catawba Valley, nicknamed the "Unifour", for the surrounding communities. Hickory has also just been named this week as an "All American City". It is the third time Hickory has won this award, once in 1967, then in 1987, now in 2007.

Hickory is home to its own Baseball team, the Hickory Crawdads, Hickory Motor Speedway, Lenoir-Rhyne college, Catawba Valley Community college, two main hospitals, (Frye and Catawba Memorial).

Hickory has all the amnemities of a city, a 2 story mall, Valley Hills Mall, all the shopping and eating places you would need. The downtown area of Hickory is reminiscient of a much smaller city, called Union Square, which is home to many small shops and restaurants.


Hickory was experiencing quite a bit of growth in the mid to late 90's. However, the economic woes from the textile and manufacturing jobs packing up and moving or simply shutting down around 7 years ago slowed the cities growth dramatically.

Hickory area leaders have worked hard to turn the area around economically. In 2006, Target Corporation announced plans to open a distribution center in neighboring Newton, and the big name Google, will open a data center in nearby Lenoir. The city manager has said that since Google announcement last year, many businesses and server farms have expressed interest in locating Hickory area. Hickory definitely is on the road to recovery.

Hickory also has a booming medical field, mainly located on the Tate Blvd area.

I do not live in Hickory, but I travel to Hickory frequently. Many new businesses are opening, and there is quite a bit of renovating to aging shopping centers. There is plenty of land still available in the major retail corridor of Hwy 70 and Catawba Valley blvd which will be interesting to see what is planned in the future.

After all this, you may wonder if Hickory is a "Mayberry". Cant say. Mayberry imo is a small town, not growing much, I dont think that really applies to Hickory, but Hickory is a community friendly city. It still has its small southern feel and charm to it.. I feel very safe in Hickory. To me, it sounds like the place you are looking for.