Asheville relocation questions

[OMGosh Josh]

[quote=southernNE;18529748]

Originally Posted by MCNPA

Thank you very much for the great advice.



My questions with reference to being a northeasterner are more a concern whether we'll fit in down there, and it seems in Asheville we should. We have no problem with much of that and my wife and I love and embrace the culture of any region we were to settle in. Heck, even if I moved to Northern New England, they aren't keen on New Yorkers. Northern New Englanders don't even like Southern New Englanders. It's where the "flatlanders" moniker came from. The South is just a whole new animal for us.



I totally agree, people from Maine/NH/VT are not even used to being called Yankies, and we think that NY is the South! haha. Plus people from the South forget that "Yankies" to us is referring to the baseball team more than anything.

Go Red SOX.

Had to lighten up this tread, anyway

We (the Braves) will see you in October!

[eiafjam]

Originally Posted by QuilterChick

It was not a "very large" automaking plant. It was the Volvo truck plant, and they've been downsizing for the past 6 years, now they totally gone, to PA where I believe they've combined facilities. Volvo also has or had a large office building at Biltmore Park, not sure if that will be gone along with the truck division. Unemployment is alive and well in this area.

It was not a truck plant...Heavy equipment

[southernNE]

MCNPA when you get a chance, I sent you a message. Not sure if it went through, check it out on your profile, I guess?

Can someone tell me how to start a new tread?

[Green Irish Eyes]

Originally Posted by southernNE

Can someone tell me how to start a new tread?

You go to the main forum page and then click on the "New Thread" button.

[Tanya Donaghy]

Originally Posted by gigimac

Okay! Back to the subject! MCNPA, I rambled a little in my first post, sorry, but just a few more pointers. The community east of Asheville I was trying to recall is Eastmoor. The homes are very nice, recently built, plenty big, lots of views and woods everywhere.

You asked about Black Mt and other neighborhoods and you couldn't figure out what was what or where. A map would be helpful. Asheville downtown proper is laid out just like a compass, if you centered it on Pack Square there the Courthouse is, plus it's also about the highest spot in downtown, all roads going north, south, east, west MERGE in that one spot, and they really go exactly in those directions. If you go east, you wind up going thru a tunnel and onto Tunnel Road, which after a big traffic jam at the Asheville Mall, it goes east (there are shortcuts to get around the mall, tho). You go on out Tunnel, out past Haw Creek and Beverly Hills neighborhoods, plus the golf course and Nature Center and the VA Hospital complex, cross under the Blue Ridge Parkway, and just a little ways after that, you turn left and go up a hill and wind up at Eastmoor. Would take you around 15 mins to get to the hospitals back in town.

Now, Black Mountain, it is its own separate town and is a loooong ways further past the VA Hospital, where Eastmoor is, and past Swannanoa (another VERY small town), and you'll come to Black Mountain, my fav homes are just east of Tomahawk Lake, on a hill sort of overlooking it, they are between the lake and the cute little five block-by-five block downtown. BY FREEWAY, it's maybe 30 mins depending on where in Asheville you want to go.

Now, going north from Pack Square, you go up Merrimon Avenue, which a few neighborhoods to the west is Historic Montford Park, lots of old Victorians being renovated, lots of character, typical neighborhood feel with sidewalks and big trees, and you can ride a bike to and from town. If you take Merrimon on past a bunch of other neighborhoods, which east is Grove Park, which has been discussed, and keep going on up to Beaver Lake, you're still in town and there's a neighborhood that surrounds the lake on three sides, really nice homes, golf course nearby. But if you go north past all that, you wind up heading to Weaverville, which is also a separate town like Black Mountain is and about equidistant away from Asheville downtown proper.

The same thing goes for South Asheville, you go down Billtmore Avenue out of town, that takes you right past the hospitals, and there are a very eclectic bunch of homes ranging from $80,000 on up to $500,000 or so (the big homes on the west side of the lake....NICE way to live, close to hospitals), and then you keep going Bilt Av, go on down into Biltmore Village and where entrance gate is to Biltmore Village, and over to the right for a very long ways, and even over the freeway and further south, is Biltmore Forest. Peaceful, private, its own police department, and altho part of Asheville, it IS its own town. Again, convenient to hospitals. That same Biltmore Ave will turn into Hendersonville Road. That will take you right on down its multilaned city street to the "region" known as Skyland, Arden, and Fletcher. By the time you get to Fletcher, many outlying areas now have various suburb developments that are nice places, and then you cross over I-26 and wind up where the airport is and Hendersonville is, which is in another adjacent county and its own town, larger than, say, Black Mountain, completely self-sufficient, and plenty of folk commute from the west side of I-26 of Hendersonville to Asheville, but it's a loooonng ride on a busy freeway.

I'm out of time for West Asheville, but until they straigten out widening where I-26 and the French Broad River completely cut it off from the rest of Asheville, it's a pain in the neck to live out here (I live out here on the northwest side) because of all the awful traffic lights on Patton Avenue. However, I live closer to Candler and can get up on I-40 where Patton becomes Smoky Park, and go anywhere I want in a very short time. Well, gotta go. Just wanted to give you a primer on how things work around here, a few scenic tours of neighborhoods, and tell you the name of one of many small and newer developments that are worth a look-see. GG

My husband and I moved to WNC about 4 years ago from Vermont. I do have to agree with MCNPA that the cost of living in the north is much higher than what we are seeing here. And yes, that does mean that the salaries are lower as well. However, I've found that overall you end up better off in the end...

Just a little advise about choosing where you want to live and where to look for jobs... it took us about 5 years before we picked the place that we wanted to move to in WNC. We first started looking in the Asheville area as well. Then we started looking more and more in the surrounding areas. Black Mountain did become one of my favorites, but we ended up going even further east into McDowell County. First of all, you're able to get a lot more house for the price and the taxes are quite a bit lower than those in Buncombe and Henderson Counties. I got a job in Asheville and have a 35 to 45 minute commute, depending on the time of day and weather. Another reason why we chose McDowell County was because it gave me a lot more options when it came to looking for employment. I think that you'll find that you may find employment opportunities in Morganton and Hickory as well as in Asheville.

You may find that some places more outside of Asheville would also meet your needs. One area would be around Lake James (Nebo, NC) and another would be Gateway Mountain (Old Fort, NC). I'm sure that there are a lot of areas similar to these that you might find interesting that would meet your needs.

It's definitely hard to pick a place that you want to move to when you're only able to check out the areas during a short visit. That's why it took us so long to find the right place for us.

Good luck in your search.

[PaintedLady]

Originally Posted by garth

Yes, NC is a Buyer Beware state. Disclosures mean very little here in comparison to other states in this country.

After all of the above baloney, what do I suggest? Don't take my word for any of it. Just go get a lawyer, not a Realtor, and pay them a couple hundred dollars to tell you the truth. It'll be worth the investment and you'll be surprised - very surprised.

GREAT information & thanks so much for sharing. I am a REALTOR in Fl. so I only know the Fl. way of doing RE. This is an eye opener as my family & I will be buyers in NC pretty soon. Donna