Foothills? W. NC or GA? (Asheville: house, safe area, purchasing)

[LindaIL]

We're considering purchasing some land to eventually build a house on for retirement in 10+ yrs. Any preferences between W. NC and N. GA, how do they compare? Looking for Mtn. views, maybe foothills, somewhat rural, good safe area, good schools and healthcare. Within 10-15 min. of shopping.


Thanks!

[BuzzBear]

Hi LindaIL.

As you may recall, we're on parallel paths, moving from IL to the mountains...eventually.

Others will have more knowledge than me, but I did make a visit to the N Georgia mountains after a business trip in Atlanta. I believe I checked out Ellijay and Blue Ridge. Some impressions (versus the Asheville area):
- The entire northern area "felt" more rural and undeveloped compared to the towns surrounding Asheville. Politics and mindsets were clearly different from those in the Asheville area. The GA small mountain towns had local residents and weekenders from Atlanta, but did NOT seem to attract weekend tourists, as Asheville area towns do to some degree. It DID feel different to have the closest big city be 2 hours away, versus 45 min away.
- Some of the n ga towns appear to have some industry (e.g. chicken processing) that attracts migrant, non-English speaking residents. When I visited, there was quite a bit of controversy in their local papers about this.
- The actual mountain views are similar, but not quite as impressive as those I saw in the Asheville area. As in the Asheville area, elevation affected temperature, but on the whole, it seemed quite a bit warmer than Asheville at the lower elevations.
- There is at least one large established development in the area calle "Big Canoe". As in the Asheville area, there are other developers coming in, but not at the same pace...at least not to my eyes.

Those are my subjective observations. You can pm me if you'd like me to share some links (e.g. realtor sites) from my visit.

Good luck.

[LindaIL]

Originally Posted by BuzzBear

Hi LindaIL.

As you may recall, we're on parallel paths, moving from IL to the mountains...eventually.

Others will have more knowledge than me, but I did make a visit to the N Georgia mountains after a business trip in Atlanta. I believe I checked out Ellijay and Blue Ridge. Some impressions (versus the Asheville area):
- The entire northern area "felt" more rural and undeveloped compared to the towns surrounding Asheville. Politics and mindsets were clearly different from those in the Asheville area. The GA small mountain towns had local residents and weekenders from Atlanta, but did NOT seem to attract weekend tourists, as Asheville area towns do to some degree. It DID feel different to have the closest big city be 2 hours away, versus 45 min away.
- Some of the n ga towns appear to have some industry (e.g. chicken processing) that attracts migrant, non-English speaking residents. When I visited, there was quite a bit of controversy in their local papers about this.
- The actual mountain views are similar, but not quite as impressive as those I saw in the Asheville area. As in the Asheville area, elevation affected temperature, but on the whole, it seemed quite a bit warmer than Asheville at the lower elevations.
- There is at least one large established development in the area calle "Big Canoe". As in the Asheville area, there are other developers coming in, but not at the same pace...at least not to my eyes.

Those are my subjective observations. You can pm me if you'd like me to share some links (e.g. realtor sites) from my visit.

Good luck.

Thanks again, BuzzBear!!!! It sounds like the W. NC area might be a bit more advanced, as far as development, than W. GA. I wonder where they'll both be in ten years?

We'll be checking out W. NC in June. Hopefully we can get to N. GA on the same trip.

[jbird22]

I lived for 17 years in a Northern Suburb of Atlanta. I have made many trips to N. GA. in my years there. I was never impressed by the area. Pleasant? Yes. Bad experiences? No. I just wasn't impressed. The N. GA scenery (in my opinion) pales in comparison with the Smoky Mtn and Blue Ridge vistas in Western NC. It can't be helped... it's just geography... the lay of the land.

I visited Western NC for the first time in 2001 and was astonished by the beauty of the land, and the wonderful, hardworking people. I bought a piece of land in Western NC in 2002 to hang on to and eventually build a "getaway". I eventually sold the land and bought a full-time home in the area in 2004.

I love it here and am so happy I came. I wish you much luck in whatever you seek. Visit both areas and then decide. Buzzbear made some good observations regarding contrasts between the two (again, in my opinion).

As I have said before - the beautiful thing is that everyone has different tastes and can make their own informed decisions. There are plenty of places to explore and decide upon before you actually decide to do anything... or nothing at all. Best of luck to you.

[LindaIL]

Originally Posted by jbird22

I lived for 17 years in a Northern Suburb of Atlanta. I have made many trips to N. GA. in my years there. I was never impressed by the area. Pleasant? Yes. Bad experiences? No. I just wasn't impressed. The N. GA scenery (in my opinion) pales in comparison with the Smoky Mtn and Blue Ridge vistas in Western NC. It can't be helped... it's just geography... the lay of the land.

I visited Western NC for the first time in 2001 and was astonished by the beauty of the land, and the wonderful, hardworking people. I bought a piece of land in Western NC in 2002 to hang on to and eventually build a "getaway". I eventually sold the land and bought a full-time home in the area in 2004.

I love it here and am so happy I came. I wish you much luck in whatever you seek. Visit both areas and then decide. Buzzbear made some good observations regarding contrasts between the two (again, in my opinion).

As I have said before - the beautiful thing is that everyone has different tastes and can make their own informed decisions. There are plenty of places to explore and decide upon before you actually decide to do anything... or nothing at all. Best of luck to you.

Thanks so much jbird22 for your perspective. We will be visiting the areas this summer so I hope to get a good idea of which suits us best. I GREATLY APPRECIATE everyone's input!!!

[chisoxfan]

With Atlanta growing like crazy, one thing I'd wonder about north Georgia is how long the rural lifestyle will remain. We've driven through there on several of our trips from Florida to North Carolina and did look at some land in the Ellijay and Blue Ridge, Ga., areas before we purchased in Haywood County, N.C. It seems that the Atlanta suburbs push a little further north every time we pass through, which might not be an appealing long-term scenario if you're looking to move there.

I agree wholeheartedly with Jbird (as usual) -- while north Georgia is quite pretty and makes for a very pleasant drive on our way to western North Carolina, the Smokies and Blue Ridge are considerably more breathtaking.

The one possible advantage with north Georgia is that if you need a Chicago-type big-city fix frequently for shopping, major-league sports, etc., it's only about two hours to Atlanta from the northernmost part of the state.