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Let me start with a little background info about me. As the titled stated I am a single mid twenties female with interests in relocating to North Carolina. I presently live in bustling NYC, but have lived in the small (but cold!) city of Boston, and I grew up in the boondocks of Maine. So I have had experiences with living from both ends of the spectrum. However, now I want to find something in the middle, but with plenty of energy and liveliness to look forward too. I have narrowed my search down to NC, but now I am trying to find the right city and neighborhood.
I have a stable career in health insurance that I can take with me when I move, because I will be working from home. North Carolina was suggested to me as a place to live as a close friend lives near Raleigh. I've been looking at the Raleigh/Chapel Hill area, but Asheville was also mentioned to me and over time has become very appealing to me. I am planning a visit near the end of summer, but want to narrow down some areas to check out.
I hope some of you can help me out. I've been researching on my own, and would like to hear from the locals perspective of some appealing areas I should check out. When considering a neighborhood to live in I like to keep in mind affordability, safety, and traffic/ease of getting around. Proximity to nightlife attractions is a plus too! If this helps (or if anyone knows what I'm talking about) I am an active member of the Hash House Harriers and would love to live in an area that makes it easy to attend local hash runs and make new friends.
I do not own a car, but know I will need to have one when I move. I also plan to rent when I relocate, with a budget of around 1000 +/-. As you can imagine, after living in NYC for a year I would like to live somewhere affordable and save my money for something bigger in the future.
If you have any helpful information or advice that would also be appreciated!
Thank you all very much for your time and consideration!
There are very few bad areas for a SF to live in Asheville. Imo, the 2 worst areas would be near the Pisgah View & Deaverview apartments. You can google map them. Asheville is so small compared to Boston, about 1/8 the size. If you consider Boston a small city, this will be like a small town for you, in the boondocks. I had to look up Hash House Harriers. haha And wouldn't you know, there is a meetup for them in Asheville. Sounds like a fun group!! Traffic is worse during tourist season here in AVL, but is never bad to me compared to Dallas, Atlanta, DC, any city really. There isn't an area you could live that would be hard to get in & out of traffic-wise. Merrimon Ave in North AVL & Patton Ave in West AVL are pains, but nothing compared to Boston or NYC. And both those areas have more young single people living there. Anywhere in AVL would be close to nightlife, because nothing is that far away in this small city....I used to live in Raleigh. Have you been there yet? I love all 3 cities of the Triangle. I'm sure you'll check them out too.
Something else to consider, a study last year ranked Asheville #8 in worst place for singles to live. Doesn't mean its true, but it could be. :-) I'm single but I'm not in my 20s & not looking, so I've no idea. You may find the discussion about it here interesting~
Regarding moving here as a single woman in middle-age...I have very definite opinions. For me, Asheville has been very, very difficult. If you read some of my other postings, this is not a good fit for me. I will be moving back to the Northeast eventually, but I love my job and that is why I am still here.
I am a dying breed, a moderate. I am neither left-wing, nor right-wing. This means I have NO PEER GROUP here in Asheville. I love Europe, I love Urban culture and Asheville is really only for would-be Hippies and Bible-banging Baptists. There is no middle ground. Wonderful restaurants. Great cafe-society downtown. But if you want to fit in, cover your arms in tattoos and get hair-extension-dreadlocks. Oh, and leave makeup up back up North because the people here will judge you if you don't adapt to the local costume (hemp, Birkenstocks beads).
I am a native and left to pursue my career and tend to agree with you startingover.
Now that I am ready to retire back home as was my intention, I find it hard to see where I fit in from the middle. Each trip I come back disappointed. it seems too uncomfortable.
Also mountain areas tend to be clannish or cliqueish; there is always that.
YOu might check out Carrboro, which is right next to Chapel Hill. Strong music scene, kind of the cooler, more eclectic part of Chapel Hill. Start with Weaver Street Market, the Station, and CAts Cradle. Still not too far from city stuff to do in Raleigh and DUrham. My 20 something daughter and her friends tend to hang out either in Chapel Hill/Carrboro, or Downtown Raleigh, or Downtown Durham.
Let me start with a little background info about me. As the titled stated I am a single mid twenties female with interests in relocating to North Carolina. I presently live in bustling NYC, but have lived in the small (but cold!) city of Boston, and I grew up in the boondocks of Maine. So I have had experiences with living from both ends of the spectrum. However, now I want to find something in the middle, but with plenty of energy and liveliness to look forward too. I have narrowed my search down to NC, but now I am trying to find the right city and neighborhood.
I have a stable career in health insurance that I can take with me when I move, because I will be working from home. North Carolina was suggested to me as a place to live as a close friend lives near Raleigh. I've been looking at the Raleigh/Chapel Hill area, but Asheville was also mentioned to me and over time has become very appealing to me. I am planning a visit near the end of summer, but want to narrow down some areas to check out.
I hope some of you can help me out. I've been researching on my own, and would like to hear from the locals perspective of some appealing areas I should check out. When considering a neighborhood to live in I like to keep in mind affordability, safety, and traffic/ease of getting around. Proximity to nightlife attractions is a plus too! If this helps (or if anyone knows what I'm talking about) I am an active member of the Hash House Harriers and would love to live in an area that makes it easy to attend local hash runs and make new friends.
I do not own a car, but know I will need to have one when I move. I also plan to rent when I relocate, with a budget of around 1000 +/-. As you can imagine, after living in NYC for a year I would like to live somewhere affordable and save my money for something bigger in the future.
If you have any helpful information or advice that would also be appreciated!
Thank you all very much for your time and consideration!
Hey there, OnOnH3Harriet. A year ago, I was nearly the same as you: an exhausted late-twentysomething NYCer looking to relocate somewhere in the East. (Third-life crisis? Quite possibly.) I grew up in Baltimore, just a few hours from the Appalachians (its much more modest sections), and had visited Asheville and loved it. 10 months in, I can say it's gone pretty well. I like my job, have found a nice apartment, and continue to enjoy the city, the people, and the excellent biking opportunities.
I did, like you are planning to do, move here with a job in hand. Given the sky-high cost of housing here, I wouldn't advise anyone to move here who doesn't have a job or considerable savings. Coming from NYC, of course, housing prices will be a relief--but not one that will last for too long. Relative to median income housing rents are extremely high--perhaps the highest in the state--and, relatively speaking, not too far off from NYC insanity. That said, your budget of $1,000 should buy you a bit more wiggle room. Judging anecdotally, and from Craigslist and Reddit, I'd say peak demand lies within $600 - 800/month range.
As mentioned in other threads, Asheville punches far above its weight in terms of "cosmopolitan" amenities--food, music, festivals, film, etc. Still, while it’s definitely not Mayberry, it is a small town. (For me, this may be amplified by the fact that I live and work downtown, and see a lot of the same people everyday.) I’m not saying this as a judgment--being small or big is neither virtuous or unvirtuous--but just as an observation. Coming from NYC/Chicago/Mumbai, this is an adjustment, and maybe not as easy as of one as people tend to think. (Though, if you grew up in rural Maine, you’d probably have less of an issue.)
I can’t speak to the singles scene, alas; I arrived with my girlfriend, now my fiancee. That said, there’s huge population of people in their twenties and thirties; thus the occasional designation of Asheville as the Portland/Brooklyn of the South. Most of them are transplants, too, so meeting new people shouldn’t be difficult.
I’m a fairly vanilla dude: no neck tats, dreads, suspenders, patchwork pants, physically appended banjo, avowed political allegiance, etc., but almost everyone I’ve met down here has been neighborly.
Popular areas for the young and young-ish include downtown, Montford, North Asheville, and West Asheville. All of them are within walking distance of nightlife and restaurants. North Asheville somewhat less so, especially the farther north you get, but the houses in many parts of it are really nice. If you live downtown you’ll need a car only rarely; between the two of us we just have one, and in a typical week we drive just once, to get groceries. The bus system is pretty comprehensive, so theoretically you wouldn’t even need one at all. Taxi coverage is pretty decent as well.
I’ve been pretty lucky, admittedly. My transition has gone smoothly--still got the job, girlfriend/fiancee, and sanity--but for many it doesn’t. At any rate, good luck. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.
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My honest opinion
