Do people feel safe living in the Mountain Region area? (Charlotte: home, neighborhoods)

[cooperwx]

Originally Posted by Woodstocksnoopy

[color=black]...I’ve watched too many Gilmore Girl episodes and want to have a happy fulfilled life. Black Mountain sounds like a nice place that would be good for me except for the job factor.

Stars Hollow is the place to be!! Have you considered opening up or buying an Inn in western NC?

[BadTiger64]

WSS
This may come as a surprise to many non-natives on this board. But many many natives "pack heat" either on their person or vehicle. It's far better "To have it and not need it and to need it and not have it". However as posted above most if not all of the small towns in WNC are very safe with only petty crimes being the norm.

BadTiger

[Woodstocksnoopy]

Originally Posted by cooperwx

Stars Hollow is the place to be!! Have you considered opening up or buying an Inn in western NC?

I would love to do what she does, but don't have the funds to buy or open an Inn...but it sure looks like fun

[Asheville Native]

I just have to ask, what is it you imagine there is to fear? The rednecks, Indians, pirates, wild life, sasquatch?

[Woodstocksnoopy]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

I just have to ask, what is it you imagine there is to fear? The rednecks, Indians, pirates, wild life, sasquatch?

There is crime everywhere. I live in a smallish town and some guy broke into a women's apartment and shot her (she thankfully survived). I am a woman who lives alone and that is a strike against me. I want to feel safe where ever I end up living, that is why I asked my original question. It was not to insult people but I am someone's daughter and sister and they want to be sure that I am as safe as I can be. I am not a person who lives in fear - but I also try to do my part on not being a victim and not asking that question would bring on a huge lecture from my father (it doesn't matter that I am an adult - I am still his little girl and he worries if he doesn't hear from me every 2 days or so).

My father was a cop in New Jersey (not far from NYC) and he has seen some terrible things and no matter where I live or how old I am, he still tells me to be safe and watch out.

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by Woodstocksnoopy

There is crime everywhere.

Yep, and there are parts of town I would not live in here, as I am sure you have similar feelings about the town you live in now. To generalize it to "is it safe to live in the mountains" is painting with a very broad brush, like everywhere, yes and no.

But I asked because the house up the street was about to be closed on, when the soon to be new owners were at the house prior to going to the closing that afternoon. They walked next door to introduce themselves to their soon to be new neighbor.

During the conversation the neighbor mentioned the bears, and they would likely see a huge black male bear, or a sow with her 3 cubs come through from time to time. This is not out in the boonies, but about a mile from what is considered downtown.

The buyers freaked, and backed out of the deal.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

Yep, and there are parts of town I would not live in here, as I am sure you have similar feelings about the town you live in now. To generalize it to "is it safe to live in the mountains" is painting with a very broad brush, like everywhere, yes and no.

But I asked because the house up the street was about to be closed on, when the soon to be new owners were at the house prior to going to the closing that afternoon. They walked next door to introduce themselves to their soon to be new neighbor.

During the conversation the neighbor mentioned the bears, and they would likely see a huge black male bear, or a sow with her 3 cubs come through from time to time. This is not out in the boonies, but about a mile from what is considered downtown.

The buyers freaked, and backed out of the deal.

Funny, that story would make me want to move in even faster

[Woodstocksnoopy]

Well, bears do scare me - I don't actually want to see one close up - but I doubt they would keep me from buying a house. We have all kinds of wildlife here - I have had coyotes run in front of my car and you can hear them at night. We also had a bear not too far from my office - which is not in the boonies either.

[SIZE=3]Too bad there aren’t enough jobs in Mountain area – I might have ended up there, but I need to go where the jobs are. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]If anyone knows of a nice smallish town, not too expensive, has nice people and is close to a larger town that has employment I would love to hear about them. I probably won’t be moving for another year, but I want to do my homework and try to pick an area first before I start sending out my resume.[/SIZE]

[Asheville Native]

Bears are a bit of an annoyance at times. They make a mess of the garbage, thus we have to time when we put any food stuff in the trash for garbage day.

Last year several dogs in the area were killed by bears, so we are always mindful when letting the dogs out. Common sense goes a long way into not having problems with bears. I take the dogs out for a last "outing" late every night. The other night I could smell the bear, and so could the dogs (duh! of course they could). Shined a flashlight around, and spotted him maybe 100 feet down the street on a bank. It then ambled on up the hill into the woods, and I finished walking the dogs. Once I spot one I know they won't be back for at least 5 days as they cover other parts of their territory.

The most dangerous situation is to not be paying attention, and find yourself between a mother and her cubs, they are very protective. They are not aggressive or threatening otherwise and I have found myself within 15 - 20 feet of a 300+ pound bear. They watch for a moment them move on.

I am also annoyed with those that demand that the bears be captured/killed to get rid of them. No, I'm sorry, they were here first, and if you are going to move into their habitat deal with their presence. This also confirms that this is not where some people should move.

And as any of the locals will tell you, you don't have to be able to out run the bear, you only have to run faster than whom every you are with

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

Bears are a bit of an annoyance at times. They make a mess of the garbage, thus we have to time when we put any food stuff in the trash for garbage day.

Last year several dogs in the area were killed by bears, so we are always mindful when letting the dogs out. Common sense goes a long way into not having problems with bears. I take the dogs out for a last "outing" late every night. The other night I could smell the bear, and so could the dogs (duh! of course they could). Shined a flashlight around, and spotted him maybe 100 feet down the street on a bank. It then ambled on up the hill into the woods, and I finished walking the dogs. Once I spot one I know they won't be back for at least 5 days as they cover other parts of their territory.

The most dangerous situation is to not be paying attention, and find yourself between a mother and her cubs, they are very protective. They are not aggressive or threatening otherwise and I have found myself within 15 - 20 feet of a 300+ pound bear. They watch for a moment them move on.

I am also annoyed with those that demand that the bears be captured/killed to get rid of them. No, I'm sorry, they were here first, and if you are going to move into their habitat deal with their presence. This also confirms that this is not where some people should move.

And as any of the locals will tell you, you don't have to be able to out run the bear, you only have to run faster than whom every you are with

I am dying to know which part of the Asheville area that you live in that you are seeing bears (or worse yet, SMELLING them!!!) so often? If you don't mind sharing...