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Old 11-13-2012, 10:44 AM
 
54 posts, read 110,111 times
Reputation: 80

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Hello everyone,

My wife and I (early 30s) have been contemplating moving to Asheville for quite some time now. We visited (just 1 day) a while back and liked the climate and atmosphere. I've been reading quite a bit of posts on this forum about the trials and tribulations of newcomers, so I'll address the number 1 issue: jobs! We would not consider a move without a good, secure job. I have 2 opportunities that I am working on currently.

That being said, before making this move, we would like to give it a good visit, to see what's out there, not as a tourist but as a local. One of the concerns that my wife had was that the city is a bit small. We went down College St. and it did feel limited. I'm thinking and hoping we're wrong on this. So I would like to ask the community, if you had a weekend to really explore the "living there" aspects of Asheville, what would you do? What places should we see, what restaurants should we eat at and what shops should we visit so that it makes us think we won't be bored in a couple of years?

Thank you very much for your input!
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Old 11-13-2012, 11:38 AM
 
Location: Santa Fe, NM
679 posts, read 1,453,168 times
Reputation: 1115
Well, let me answer your questions with questions (no, I am not a member of Congress).


What is it you like to do with your time, what type of restaurants do you enjoy, and what types of surroundings make you comfortable? Everybody has their own path to beat, and we might as well try to focus you on yours, particularly if you only have a weekend to get answers.
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Old 11-13-2012, 12:49 PM
 
54 posts, read 110,111 times
Reputation: 80
well you sure sound like a congressman haha!

Ok, so to give you a little more information...

1) things we like doing - we have a 4 year old and new twins, so we like family oriented things to do. We LOVE outdoors, forests, etc. That's much of the reason we're wanting to move away from Florida. For one thing it's so hot, we're never outside (even today) and you can't really go out in the wilderness because there are gators, snakes, bugs, panthers, etc. When we come to visit it will just be the two of us so we won't need to spend a lot a time doing kid things, but it would be nice to pass by and see what's out there.

2) restaurants - the more variety, the better. We love all kinds of foods, from ethnic, to tex mex, to BBQ, and we despise chain restaurants. We saw that Asheville is pretty free from those and that is extremely attractive. I guess, it would be nice to have a recommendation for a place where we can eat outside, or a cafe, something in the "European style of restaurant", not in terms of food but instead where it's more communal, outside and diverse. So in this respect, I would love to hear what everyone likes.

3) shopping - I guess in this section I would need to sell Asheville to my wife. I think she would love to see boutiques, little shops, big shops, mall, etc. I think as long as there is more than she can browse in one day, then she'll be happy. She's not huge on buying lots of things, but more on the experience of browsing, comparing, etc... So if you could point us in the direction of shops, then that would be excellent.

4) downtown - one last thing is that although I've read that there are "drum circles" or other festivities downtown when we came we did not see that. One thing we really like is when there is a good group of people that unite in a common place for festivals, music, food, etc... Does Asheville do that?

Thank you very much.
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Old 11-13-2012, 03:24 PM
 
5,544 posts, read 8,270,569 times
Reputation: 11141
wife is right. city is small. Asheville mall is OK by me but it may not be enough for a day's activity. some boutiques in biltmore and here and around. restaurants abound to suit any taste, but it is a tourist town so that is the point. there are shops, stores, galleries, etc all around but how often do you need to buy stuff at tourist shops.

if you are asking what do local do? they work, canoe, hike, ride the parkway, climb, just enjoy nature however it suits them best.
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Old 11-13-2012, 03:46 PM
 
11,113 posts, read 19,422,994 times
Reputation: 10172
Quote:
Originally Posted by monkeychemist View Post
Hello everyone,

My wife and I (early 30s) have been contemplating moving to Asheville for quite some time now. We visited (just 1 day) a while back and liked the climate and atmosphere. I've been reading quite a bit of posts on this forum about the trials and tribulations of newcomers, so I'll address the number 1 issue: jobs! We would not consider a move without a good, secure job. I have 2 opportunities that I am working on currently.

That being said, before making this move, we would like to give it a good visit, to see what's out there, not as a tourist but as a local. One of the concerns that my wife had was that the city is a bit small. We went down College St. and it did feel limited. I'm thinking and hoping we're wrong on this. So I would like to ask the community, if you had a weekend to really explore the "living there" aspects of Asheville, what would you do? What places should we see, what restaurants should we eat at and what shops should we visit so that it makes us think we won't be bored in a couple of years?

Thank you very much for your input!

It just dawned on me that I should copy and paste the information in my following post where I responded to previously which is very comprehensive for the area and generally will answer most folks' questions:

First, we are here to help you, and it makes it easier if we know where you will be moving from:

You don't have to live "in" Asheville proper, Asheville is merely a city within a very large County, Buncombe County. Do your real estate searches for the County, there are many many lovely towns within Buncome and Henderson Counties. Jobs are not plentiful and depending on the cost of living where you are relocating from, you will have to take your income into consideration; cost of living could be more or less in WNC and drive times to jobs could be longer. Don't listen to the naysayers who came with an attitude and took it back when they left the area. The area has a lot to offer.

For the most part, we find that many come for a short vacation and decide to "move to Asheville" without giving it much thought, or doing serious homework. You need a minimum of one full week to look around, it cannot be done in a day or a few days; and possibly two trips. The area is vast. Consider renting first to get the lay of the land and activities. As in any relocation, do not move without having a job to go to -- especially in this economy, or any economy.

Do some more homework about the lovely small towns outside of Asheville, as in a 15 or 20 mile radius. If you get 7 or 8 miles outside of the city, you can actually be in the country. Google is your friend; and there are plenty of threads on this forum about life in and around Asheville, in the NC mountains in general. Here are some good websites you may be interested in:

www.carolinaliving.com

www.downtownasheville.com

www.romanticasheville.com

www.citizen-times.com Asheville newspaper (Buncombe County)

www.blueridgenow.com Henderson County newspaper

www.realtor.com put in your search criteria and get an idea of home prices *
www.careerbuilder.com for jobs
www.apartmentguide.com
www.rent.com

etc. etc.

Major hospitals:

St. Joseph Mission Hospital, downtown Asheville

Par-Dee Hospital in Hendersonville

Park Ridge Hospital in Fletcher (1/2 way between Avl. and Hvl.)

Haywood Hospital, west of Asheville

Transylvania County Hospital, southwest of Avl., in Brevard


A good Realtor will give you valuable information about specific towns, rents, taxes, etc. if you plan on buying. If you plan on renting, you can check Craigslist but you won't know actually what the neighborhoods are like and so forth until you tour them. (And, if you get up with a Realtor and plan to buy, please be loyal.)

The best to you !
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Old 11-13-2012, 04:25 PM
 
Location: Santa Fe, NM
679 posts, read 1,453,168 times
Reputation: 1115
OK, that helps. I just emerged from the cave of a three-hour conference call, so I'll think of more later.

I would head to Sunny Point Cafe on Haywood Road in West Asheville. I'd go for breakfast, but be advised you will not be alone! But, it is well worth the wait. They have a semi-enclosed outdoor seating area (semi enclosed so it will be fairly warm and toasty if the weather is cold).
On a weekend, I would head to Luella's BBQ on Merrimon in North Asheville.
Heck, just read through this thread since it is mostly locals posting their favorites: WNC Restaurant Thread

Shopping may be a sticking point. Asheville Mall is less than compelling. Biltmore Village and Biltmore Park both have a decent array of shops. For big box stores, there is a strip mall that overlooks the airport with Target, Lowes, OfficeMax, Best Buy, Big Lots, Michaels (I think), Pier 1, and a few that I am missing. But if she enjoys shopping, good luck.

The NC Arboretum is a good place to take a walk through some wooded paths. There are also some trails on the back side that are more in the woods. There are so many trails in the area it is hard to know where to start. Our dog helps us find them.
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Old 11-13-2012, 04:44 PM
 
11,113 posts, read 19,422,994 times
Reputation: 10172
Quote:
Originally Posted by monkeychemist View Post
Hello everyone,

My wife and I (early 30s) have been contemplating moving to Asheville for quite some time now. We visited (just 1 day) a while back and liked the climate and atmosphere. I've been reading quite a bit of posts on this forum about the trials and tribulations of newcomers, so I'll address the number 1 issue: jobs! We would not consider a move without a good, secure job. I have 2 opportunities that I am working on currently.

That being said, before making this move, we would like to give it a good visit, to see what's out there, not as a tourist but as a local. One of the concerns that my wife had was that the city is a bit small. We went down College St. and it did feel limited. I'm thinking and hoping we're wrong on this. So I would like to ask the community, if you had a weekend to really explore the "living there" aspects of Asheville, what would you do? What places should we see, what restaurants should we eat at and what shops should we visit so that it makes us think we won't be bored in a couple of years?

Thank you very much for your input!

You definitely cannot explore "living there" in a weekend. There is too much to see, investigate, and to do. You will not get a "feel"for the area outside of Asheville either. There is way too much entertainment, restaurants, culture, beautiful scenery, etc. For a major relocation and a new lifestyle, at the very least a week is needed or you will be selling yourselves short.
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Old 11-13-2012, 07:29 PM
 
54 posts, read 110,111 times
Reputation: 80
Thank you for the advice and locations to try out. It's of course hard to know if we will love living there. One major thing going is that Asheville seems to be oriented towards outdoor living and that's our priority. Thank you for the advice Mule, Northstate... but Quilterchick, come on! I didn't say I wanted to know Asheville forwards and backwards in one weekend! That would be a very boring city if you could! I asked for your recommendations about what you like best about the city. I appreciate your copy paste but it's not really what I asked. I just asked, give me your top 5 fav places in the city so that I can check things out. I did mention I would not make the move without a job, so no need to emphasize it...
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Old 11-13-2012, 10:02 PM
RVT
 
367 posts, read 767,734 times
Reputation: 394
"you can't really go out in the wilderness because there are gators, snakes, bugs, panthers, etc." We got all that except the gators. Plus bears. Just have to know how to act while you're out there.
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Old 11-14-2012, 07:12 AM
 
54 posts, read 110,111 times
Reputation: 80
Look, I'm sorry Quilterchick for jumping at your message before. I didn't mean to be ungrateful and do appreciate everyone's comments. I think it was not something against your comments per se but more of an accumulation of frustration from this website. Over the past couple of years I've been working on job opportunities in different locations and every time I ask these kinds of questions there are always a good amount of people that respond: you should not move here, or how could you make a decision over one visit, or you have no idea what you're getting into... well, here's the deal, of course you can't judge a city by a couple of days, but given the lack of paid vacation in this country that all I get, of course I'm uninformed and that's why I ask for people's favorites on these message boards. Please understand that before posting in this board I read many many pages of previous threads, and I tried to up front address the main issue of "don't worry I'm getting a job before coming down.

So after this big rant, I want to apologize again, because my comments were not addressed specifically to you and I know there's a fair share of newcomers that ask the same questions over and over but I've tried to not be that way, I promise
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