Settling in Asheville, a few questions. Talk to me about your city!? (Durham: 2013)

[wildandfree]

I've kind of been all over the place the last few years (grew up in Northern VA (HATED IT), moved to Austin (LOVED IT), and now I'm in Atlanta (not a fan), and I'm finally feeling ready to settle down. I absolutely love Asheville, I love that it's kind of a hippie town (which I absolutely need), the mountains (even though I hate ice & snow.. oh well) and the fact that it's only one state away from my nieces (the biggest reason we left Austin). At first I was thinking Durham because it's only four hours from my family and five from my fiances, but I just didn't get that "feeling" when I was there that I would be happy living there.

I know that jobs are tough to come by, but I work in esthetics/skin care/spas and I'm wondering if those are fairly stable jobs in Asheville. I figure it's something tourists probably do so hopefully it's something that I can be somewhat successful in. My goal is to be there by spring 2013, work for a few years, and then open a small spiritual shop with a room for esthetics/waxing/natural healing/etc. Does this seem plausible? I don't expect to make tons of money, I just want to be stable enough to eventually buy a house and have a kid and raise them in a small city where there's a great community feel, nice people and good energy.

I'm not totally sure if I'm asking for advice or just kind of looking to talk about the city and whatnot. I've been all over this board for months but I still felt like I should make a post. Just talk to me about your city I guess?

[gypsygal4]

I've been north of Asheville (Weaverville) for six years. Lived all over the states and this is the best area to live in as far as attitude, happy people, outdoor things to do, great restaurants, etc.

You said that your are interested working in the spa business and natural healing. Lots of that around here. If you get a chance to come up and visit again, I recommend going to Greenlife grocery store (owned by Wholefoods) and Earthfare grocery store and grab some free local magazines. That will give you an idea of those types of businesses in the area.

Asheville as a downtown is very popular with tourists. It is a mix of the happy hippie attitude but there are lots of businesses downtown and you really get a sense of the variety of people for such a small place. As you go north, you have more of the country attitude but again, everyone is sooo nice and very happy. If you go south of Asheville, that is where a lot of the doctors live who work at Mission Hospital.

That is just a small example of what you'll find here. As far as the "feeling" you get when you are here, that is real. Asheville's motto is, "Altitude Effects Attitude".

Hope it works out for you.

[wildandfree]

ah, this is exactly what I wanted to hear thank you gypsygal! I'm so excited to get out of this dumb big city and finally be with great people again.