Moving...Boone or surrounding area, where do I go? (Winston-Salem: real estate, renter)

[ramair5.7]

I may be attending ASU this fall to complete my Masters. I am trying to find a place that has affordable housing, low crime, decent employment opportunities, decent shopping, and an excellent school system for my 12 year-old daughter. I'm looking at Boone, Hickory/Lenoir, West Jefferson, Wilkesboro, and Johnson City,TN as communities that offer a reasonable commute to ASU. I have driven through these areas as a tourist once before, but I know I am only seeing one side of the equation. I do not possess the intimate knowledge that you receive after having lived somewhere. If someone can fill help fill in the gaps and make some recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it. This is a big move for my family and I and I want to try and get it right. Thanks in advance for your response.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by ramair5.7

I may be attending ASU this fall to complete my Masters. I am trying to find a place that has affordable housing, low crime, decent employment opportunities, decent shopping, and an excellent school system for my 12 year-old daughter. I'm looking at Boone, Hickory/Lenoir, West Jefferson, Wilkesboro, and Johnson City,TN as communities that offer a reasonable commute to ASU. I have driven through these areas as a tourist once before, but I know I am only seeing one side of the equation. I do not possess the intimate knowledge that you receive after having lived somewhere. If someone can fill help fill in the gaps and make some recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it. This is a big move for my family and I and I want to try and get it right. Thanks in advance for your response.

With the costs of gas and the winter weather Boone itself tends to get, I'd live in Boone or as close to it as you can. Besides, the public schools there in Watauga country are really good. West Jefferson is beautiful but VERY small and kind of remote for any employment or major shopping. Wilkesboro is great too, and larger so you would find the things you need, but again, the distance to Boone would really add up on gas costs. I do not think Johnson City is very practical, especially in the winter. Hickory and Lenoir would give you options for the things you want, but again, making it up the mountains in winter weather is sometimes not easy and you may miss classes.

My advice is to call a local Boone realtor and get some recommendations for who does property rentals there. And do it today! With the amount of college students there you will have stiff competition for a place. But if you start now you may find something available for the fall. Best of luck to you!

[cafetbird]

Originally Posted by lovesMountains

My advice is to call a local Boone realtor and get some recommendations for who does property rentals there. And do it today! With the amount of college students there you will have stiff competition for a place. But if you start now you may find something available for the fall. Best of luck to you!

Very good advice. School is out for the summer, and there should be lots of properties available at the moment....

[AshevilleNeighbor]

To figure out the best area for you, given you have a child who needs a good school, I'd check the following sites for school info and reviews:

www.NCReportCard.org (the state's school-data site)
www.GreatSchools.net (the best school-review site I've found)

Knowing what school districts look good will help you narrow the geography of your home search. Good luck!

[ramair5.7]

Thanks to all who have contributed so far! This is exactly the type of information I am looking for.

[flipster]

Originally Posted by ramair5.7

I may be attending ASU this fall to complete my Masters. I am trying to find a place that has affordable housing, low crime, decent employment opportunities, decent shopping, and an excellent school system for my 12 year-old daughter. I'm looking at Boone, Hickory/Lenoir, West Jefferson, Wilkesboro, and Johnson City,TN as communities that offer a reasonable commute to ASU. I have driven through these areas as a tourist once before, but I know I am only seeing one side of the equation. I do not possess the intimate knowledge that you receive after having lived somewhere. If someone can fill help fill in the gaps and make some recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it. This is a big move for my family and I and I want to try and get it right. Thanks in advance for your response.

Except for Johnson City, I am pretty familiar with the other towns you ask. For all the amenities you are wanting, I think you best bet would be the Hickory/Lenoir area. Hwy 321 would be your route to Boone and there has been construction there that delays traffic, so check to see when that would be completed. There is also construction planned starting in April 09 to widen the main street of Boone on Hwy 421. There will be a new high school built in the next couple of years but I don't know when or where.

To check school report cards, here are the counties for each town:

Ashe: West Jefferson
Caldwell: Lenoir
Catawba: Hickory
Watauga: Boone
Wilkes: Wilkesboro

Best to you as you reach a decision.

[hymnsinger]

Sorry I have to disagree with this one. Lenoir (or Hickory!) is WAY too far for a commute to ASU. It's 18 miles and 2000' in elevation from Lenoir just to Blowing Rock. That makes it over 25 miles, probably closer to 30 miles to campus. Highway 321 will be under construction until at least Christmas '08, possibly into '09. Not that's it a bad commute, but it's a LONG commute. I commute to Blowing Rock almost daily, with gas at 3.75 it costs me nearly $10/day. That long pull up the mountain uses a LOT of gas!

In my opinion, get as close to campus as possible and ride the Appal-cart (public transit). It's free! The slightly higher rent will be offset by your savings on transportation costs.

Boone has a very low crime rate, decent shopping (though better is only an hour away), GREAT schools, and the housing, though high, isn't out of reach. I've lived in Boone, Mountain City TN, West Jefferson, and now Lenoir. Though West Jefferson is my favorite, there's no way I could afford to commute to Blowing Rock or Boone (25 to 30 miles).

Check out the Mountain Times for rental info.

Good luck!
Tracey

[OconeeMountains]

You are doing the right thing seeking advice, the 'Boone' area is made up of many small communities which form the general 'High Country'-

To let you know my background, my family lives outside Boone and my sister recently graduated from ASU. My father and mother work in downtown Boone as a Dentist and Nurse Practitioner respectively.

My personal advice would be to find a place within Watauga County (very good schools) that is slightly outside the 'town' of Boone. The College folks keep the rent up in the 'town' itself, and it largely has an 'undergraduate' culture. Most of the folks who work in Boone commute in from the beautiful surrounding area.

As far as where in the surrounding portions of Watauga county, I would look for rentals in the area West of Boone off Hwy 321 going towards Sugar Grove or South of Boone off 321 going towards Blowing Rock. In either direction the Hwy provides good access with few stop signs/lights to the town and allows you to escape to your mountain paradise after work or school each day. By the way, my father owns a nice little cabin he rents to ASU professors/grad students in the Sugar Grove area if you are interested ('Personal Message' me if you want more info on this). In any case, I don't provide this info to try and find my father a renter, but that is my honest opinion on where to search. There are plenty of real estate offices that can provide information on available houses/cabins for rent on an annual basis. I hope this is helpful, go Mountaineers!

[NCN]

As a couple of the posters have said, the weather will be one of your biggest worries. Popular saying is that the first item any ASU student should buy is a good pair of boots--snow boots. So think of how difficult it may be for you to get to school and get your daughter to school.

My favorite shopping in your area are the Shoppes on the Parkway right outside of Blowing Rock. North Wilkesboro and Wilkesboro would be second. After that, one usually goes to Winston-Salem for special shopping trips.

You didn't say what kind of employment you are seeking, but if you happen to be a teacher, you may opt for a school in Wilkes called Millers Creek. In my opinion it is the best school in the best area of the county. I don't know what the report card statistics say about it, but I grew up in that area and a majority of the people are good clean Christian living people. It has been rumored that Lowe's moved their offices from Wilkes because of the lack of night life. Good place to raise children, but not a swinging place. The most popular activities there would probably be going to church, ball games, and PTA with a little fishing, hunting and boating thrown in. Just don't ask your next door neighbor over for drinks, unless it is iced tea. You will turn into an outcast really fast.

The rent in Wilkes will probably be lower. My sister bought our homeplace and rented a three bedroom brick house in very good condition to a young man for $500 per month. I told her she was not charging enough and her reply was that she would rather have a good renter for that amount than one who paid more that she was not sure about. She just wanted to recover the taxes and upkeep. Sorry that one is taken, but if you check around there will be others.

[leaves]

I would consider Boone first. It is going to be the easiest for you with the high gas prices and the unpredicatable weather. You've got the Boone Mall, Shoppes on the Parkway, several different grocery stores, Kmart, WalMart, Staples, dollar stores and Big Lots to cover most of your immediate needs. The schools are great. Try checking out communities like Blowing Rock (a little pricey), Foscoe, Seven devils. Mountain City TN is also an option for cheaper prices with an OK commute, although Boone def. has more in the way of amenities.