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My husband and I are looking to relocate to NC in the next 12 to 18 months. The problem is, we haven't settled on where to go. We've heard good things about Chapel Hill and Carrboro, as well as Asheville.
Here are a few things about us: My husband is in health care and lived in Ann Arbor, MI for many years. He's very liberal and enjoyed the community there very much. I work in marketing for the arts. Although I'm not adamant about another job in the arts, I do love it and want to do something I feel does good or creates beauty in the world. I've also enjoyed the presentation aspect of my job very much and would welcome a change to a career in training or some other type of presentation work.
My husband and I love the outdoors. We currently enjoy long bike rides, as well as camping and hiking. We would love to live in a place where those opportunities are close at hand.
It feels like a tall order, but I welcome your input as to places you could recommend.
I'm from Ann Arbor too! I've been here almost 15 years and we love to hike and camp as well. Check out the Mountain to Sea Trail and the Appalachian Trail. I would recommend anywhere in the Triangle including Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Wake Forest. Depending on your price point will determine where you live. But according to your wants you will love anywhere in the Triangle! Good luck and if you'd like additional info. please feel free to send me a direct message.
My husband and I are looking to relocate to NC in the next 12 to 18 months. The problem is, we haven't settled on where to go. We've heard good things about Chapel Hill and Carrboro, as well as Asheville.
Here are a few things about us: My husband is in health care and lived in Ann Arbor, MI for many years. He's very liberal and enjoyed the community there very much. I work in marketing for the arts. Although I'm not adamant about another job in the arts, I do love it and want to do something I feel does good or creates beauty in the world. I've also enjoyed the presentation aspect of my job very much and would welcome a change to a career in training or some other type of presentation work.
My husband and I love the outdoors. We currently enjoy long bike rides, as well as camping and hiking. We would love to live in a place where those opportunities are close at hand.
It feels like a tall order, but I welcome your input as to places you could recommend.
Asheville sounds like the place for you . . . the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area is certainly very nice, but the natural beauty there pales in comparison to Asheville in my opinion, and the range of outdoor activities is far greater in Western NC. Asheville also has a thriving arts scene, it's very liberal, and has one of the largest hospitals in the State (Mission Hospital).
On the other hand, Asheville is more remote and has less access to more suburban/metropolitan amenities (outside of downtown Asheville, which is fairly small). For example, if you drive a short distance outside of Asheville, you will find yourself in dramatically more rural areas than the Triangle, and the culture in these smaller towns is quite different from Asheville. Drive a bit outside of Carrboro/Chapel Hill and you will find yourself in Raleigh or Durham or Cary, which is very different than Fletcher, Arden, or Weaverville, for example.
Also consider that Asheville is only about 70,000 people, whereas the Triangle area overall is well over a million. The Triangle is more racially diverse, but Asheville is more diverse in other ways (Asheville tends to attract the young hippie crowd, new age followers, and gay/lesbian community). Also, considering the Triangle area is much larger, you're naturally going to find a bit of everything, but it's clearly more white collar than Asheville, since Asheville's economy survives mainly on tourism and the health care industry. The Research Triangle Park is sort of the Silicon Valley of the South with many biotech and software companies.
I'm sure you'll want to visit both place several times, but this should give you a basic idea. Good luck.
Chapel Hill is higher in murder, rape, and assault rates than Asheville. But Asheville is higher in robbery, burglary, theft, and auto theft rates; Asheville also is higher than Raleigh in those areas.
Durham, on the other hand, is substantially higher in murder, rape, robbery, burglary, theft, and auto theft than Raleigh, and about equal in assault.
(Cary rates are low because it is a magical place.)
These are form 2006 FBI stats. (Except the part about Cary being magical; that's just something we all know deep in our hearts.)
My husband and I are looking to relocate to NC in the next 12 to 18 months. The problem is, we haven't settled on where to go. We've heard good things about Chapel Hill and Carrboro, as well as Asheville.
Here are a few things about us: My husband is in health care and lived in Ann Arbor, MI for many years. He's very liberal and enjoyed the community there very much. I work in marketing for the arts. Although I'm not adamant about another job in the arts, I do love it and want to do something I feel does good or creates beauty in the world. I've also enjoyed the presentation aspect of my job very much and would welcome a change to a career in training or some other type of presentation work.
My husband and I love the outdoors. We currently enjoy long bike rides, as well as camping and hiking. We would love to live in a place where those opportunities are close at hand.
It feels like a tall order, but I welcome your input as to places you could recommend.
Ashville will limit healthcare opportunities. In the triangle area, we have several large hospitals - UNC (Chapel hill), Duke (Durham), WakeMed and Rex (Raleigh). As far as the Cary bashing, no it is not a magical place but we love it. Just as the person from Brentwood is always touting her neighborhood.
My husband and I are looking to relocate to NC in the next 12 to 18 months. The problem is, we haven't settled on where to go. We've heard good things about Chapel Hill and Carrboro, as well as Asheville.
Here are a few things about us: My husband is in health care and lived in Ann Arbor, MI for many years. He's very liberal and enjoyed the community there very much. I work in marketing for the arts. Although I'm not adamant about another job in the arts, I do love it and want to do something I feel does good or creates beauty in the world. I've also enjoyed the presentation aspect of my job very much and would welcome a change to a career in training or some other type of presentation work.
My husband and I love the outdoors. We currently enjoy long bike rides, as well as camping and hiking. We would love to live in a place where those opportunities are close at hand.
It feels like a tall order, but I welcome your input as to places you could recommend.
Living in Ashville will definitely limit healthcare opportunities. Here in the triangle we have several major hospitals including 2 large academic healthcare centers. UNC (Chapel Hill), Duke (Durham), WakeMed and Rex (Raleigh). And, no, Cary isn't a magical place but we love it just as "lovesbrentwood" is always touting her neighborhood.
I lived in Asheville for 9 years. If you love the outdoors, Asheville is great. However, job opps will be better in the Triangle, especially for your husband (healthcare.) I wouldn't move anywhere without a job lined up though.
Thank you all for your posts. They are very helpful.
My husband and I will be visiting the Raleigh/Durham and possibly Asheville areas in a couple of weeks. Any suggestions as to what we should visit/look into?
Asheville is my ideal spot on the east coast due to climate, outdoor opportunities, etc... but there simply aren't enough jobs there. So, I live in Durham instead. If you want a liberal vibe with an emphasis on the arts and an emphasis on local (rather than big-box), then I'd suggest Durham or Chapel Hill/Carrboro. The biggest difference is that CH/Carrboro is a college town where almost everying revolves around UNC and real estate is the most expensive in the Triangle whereas Durham is a small city with an influential college (Duke) and some of the most affordable real estate in the Triangle. I don't know what kind of housing you'll be looking for, so it's hard to suggest neighborhoods.
The biggest difference is that CH/Carrboro is a college town where almost everying revolves around UNC and real estate is the most expensive in the Triangle whereas Durham is a small city with an influential college (Duke) and some of the most affordable real estate in the Triangle. I don't know what kind of housing you'll be looking for, so it's hard to suggest neighborhoods.
Speaking of housing, Asheville is also more expensive in that regard . . . location, location, location . . . plus you have a lot of wealthy retirees from Florida and such who have moved to Asheville and built their McMansions on the side of the mountains, defacing the natural beauty and driving up real estate prices (sorry, couldn't help myself).
The air quality is also better in Asheville than the Raleigh/Durham area -- something to consider.
Depending on how passionate you are about the outdoor activity aspect of your wish list, Asheville is only about 3.5 hours from Chapel Hill, so you've got that going for you. But living in the mountains is a totally different experience.
Asheville seems infinitely more interesting to me, but there are a lot fewer people there, which may be good or bad to you, depending on what you prefer. It goes without saying that there are more job opportunities in a place of a million and a half people than a place of 70K, but if you had to pick the single best opportunity for white collar jobs in the Asheville area, healthcare would probably be it.
Also consider that *many* people are willing to live (and move) there, accepting a lower standard of living in return for the lifestyle offered there. That should tell you something.
But as always, to each his own.
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Ideas on where to visit??
