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I am interviewing for a job where the office is in Marion but my territory would be Hickory or Asheville. We currently live in N Western Colorado so we would like to stay in the mountains. What are commute time from Boone or blowing Rock area? Also any school recommendations my son will be starting 7th grade. Thanks for any input.
Asheville and Boone are 2 hours apart with at least an hour being windy two lane mnt roads. Not a doable daily commute. Hickory isn't really in the mountains.
When you do the interview you need to spend a weekish driving around and get a feel and then go from there.
School info would be worthless to try and give you at this point as you are looking at such a large area and multiple counties.
Thank you for the reply. We don't wish to live in Hickory or Asheville so I'm looking to see how far north would be a hour or so commute. We will probably rent something near Marion for now. Long term we wish to purchase 5+ acres. My current commute is 45m - 1hr on a two lane CR we get an average of 12" of snow a day in the winter. I'm not sure but I am assuming the winter conditions we be mild in comparison. We are looking to stay a bit cooler in temperature to be honest. I was raised in Savannah, GA and lived in Texas too long to want to deal with super heat and humidity. We have even though possibly west of Asheville. Thanks again all information is appreciated.
Look at Weaverville, Swannanoa, Fairview, Black Mountain, anything west of Marion and you will be in the mountains with nice weather and easy commutes via I-26 and I-40.
West of A'Ville is a possibility: Waynesville, Canton, Clyde, Maggie Valley, et al.
All of which have real elevation potentials from ~2800 ft (hot in summer), to almost 6,000 ft.
Less than an hour to Asheville area from any of those places, (usually 45 mins door to door), any/every day of week, and mostly I-40 once one has gotten to the Interstate. This all assumes your territory is Asheville, not Marion...
Haywood County, (Waynesville/MV, Clyde & Canton), is the highest mean/average county west of the Rockies. While none of this is Rocky Mtn high, elevation is one's friend if you are looking for similar to your situ and want to avoid warm to hot summers. If one were to look at 3,000 to 3,500 or higher the May to late Oct temps are much less warm than below that elevation.
No dawg in the fight, just pointing out that while many think of 'western NC for cooler temps' the usual metro areas have little elevation, are considerably warmer/as are winters, and everyone's comfort zone varies.
Renting first is good, though not cheap and agree on your first visit allowing for some driving around/looking stuff though western NC is a large area and initially very confusing with so many places to look.
GL, mD
Do you need to be within commuting distance to the office in Marion, or one of the two territories you mentioned? Very different advice for each of the three.
It really depends on if you will be in either Asheville or Hickory, or if you are working both.
If you will be in Hickory, Boone or Blowing Rock could be a possibility if you are already used to snow, mountains and commuting an hour, but it'd be a bit more of a drive to get to Marion. If you'll be working in Asheville, Black Mountain would be a good option. If you have to cover both Asheville and Hickory, you might consider Morganton.
I lived in Marion and hated it. It is a very small town with nothing to really do.
One thing to consider is that, yes we do get snow ( the mountains more so then other places)and take it from a girl who is from CT, they do not clear the roads all that great here. So those winding 2 lane roads you would be driving from Boone or somewhere else may not be cleared that day or the next. I used to work for Baxter in Marion (Baxter supplies most of the IV bags used in hospitals) and there were people who lived up the mountain in Spruce Pine, Boone, and Burnsville and could not make it to work because of how bad the roads were. I have driven the road going to Spruce Pine and it can be very steep and curvy, with no place to really stop you from going over the side of the mountain.
Morganton is not bad, it's bigger than Marion, Black Mountain is nice too and Fairview.
I also know a little about the schools in Marion, Clyde, and Asheville (North, West and South). My oldest went to school in Clyde, Marion and North Asheville. My 2nd child started school in Marion and went to Schools in North, West and South Asheville. My ex-MIL worked in the schools in Marion and still has friends who work there.
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