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I have been reading posts about Asheville and surrounding communities. I may had a job opportunity in Marion. What would be a good community to live in with a teenage girl who longs for "civilization?" Thanks for any help you can give.
I have a lot to say about Asheville, so here goes. Don't know Marion though.
We moved here a year ago from Palm Beach County, Fl. We Live in South Asheville, Beautiful development, great neighbors. As a matter of fact, I am extremely impressed with nearly all of the people in of Asheville. These people are considerate, polite, helpful, and just plain nice. Southern hospitality reigns here.
On a sour note, there is a serious drug problem here. Very high personal crime rate, very high violent crime rate, for such a small city. Go to CnnMoney.com and read about Asheville. 70% and higher of the crime is drug related. Where the national average is 1100, we are at 177 for personal crime.
The socioeconomic differences between people here is absolutely astounding. All walks of life are gathered here. Very diverse racially, as well. You can walk out of a beautiful neighborhood, and be in a low income, or trailer park area instantly. Buncombe County (Asheville) has more trailer parks and trailer homes than any other in NC.
As far as a job here, I think there is a lot of whining going on. Being an entrepreneur, I see several opportunities here that are overlooked. There are many people here with superfluous amounts of money to spend. For example the area in South Asheville, Biltmore Park, Biltmore Forest, The Ramble, ..these people buy, eat, use...etc. Why not open your own business here! A restaurant would be a good start! We are lacking in S Asheville of a decent Italian restaurant, as well as many others(plenty of Mexican). If you don't get to a restaurant by 5, you can expect to wait a long time. The decent (few) restaurants are jammed....literally. Sunday after church...forget about eating anywhere...the places are packed. Carrabas opened in Arden/Fletcher recently, and they are so busy, you cannot even stand int here. People bump into you. The wait there, by 5:15 is 45 minutes to an hour.
How about a specialty store, a bakery (an Italian Bakery cannot be found), a clothing store (nothing in S Asheville, nowhere to shop), a baby furniture store, a deli, any service...any service ...would do well. A spa, a decent nail place,...use your imagination. This place is ripe for decent commerce. Oh, and what about a day care center? Huge over crowding problem there too!!!
Better yet, come here and work out of your house! An ecommerce store, and ebay store, an organizing service, a house cleaning service, a personal chef service...again, the sky is the limit. Forget about the 9-5 BS, and having a boss. Who needs it anymore? Teachers and counselors don't get paid enough anyway.
Schools--Sore subject with me. No better than Florida. Again, the socioeconomic differences between the kids poses a HUGE problem. Additionally, the way that many teachers speak, (southern drawl is fine) using improper English, is unsettling. Not all teachers, but many. The education here is nothing outstanding, nothing unusual. Very common. Kids here are practically failing in math and reading, particularly the African American children. It is very sad, but the stats show it to be true. Many children don't have parents together, single Moms...etc. So, the kids are not getting the attention and discipline at home, therefor they "act out" in school in very upsetting ways (sometimes criminally). Much of the time at school is spent waiting for a teacher to finish corrrecting yet another kid who cannot behave. We were in the "best" school system (Estes,Valley Springs, TC Roberson) Look them up online and see greatschools.com, or on the site North Carolina Report Card, We are sending our kids to private school now.
Taxes- They are very high. (property). City is annexing towns on the outskirts of the city as fast as they can. Look on a map, and find Biltmore Lake, in Candler. Yep, they are annexing that too!! Then there is the water Bill -way too high! There is a cap gains tax on it, because the City needs to replace their 100 YEAR OLD UNDERGROUND cast iron pipes.!!!!!! Yes, you read that right. The pipes are giving way, and it is a huge problem. Water bill here is double what our FL bill was, and we HAD A POOL in FL. Lastly, there is a .29 gasoline tax!!!!! And the sales tax is high. OOps, forgot state income tax. (unlike FL)...oh, no and here is the real kicker...an automobile tax, EVERY year, that you HAVE to pay. Whether your car is leased, or you own it!!!! For one of our cars, it was $800!! And again, to be clear, it has to be paid EVERY year, on the same car. (it goes down a little each year, as the car ages)
Drivers license- You have to take an entire test, and have lots of documentation. Don't go there with your LAMINATED Social Security Card. Uh uh..no no, they will not accept it in lamination!! And if you are a husband and wife, the wife needs a bill in her OWN name. The husband needs a bill in his name. OK, I am bitter. I had to go there 3 times before I had all my docs in a row!
Asheville is beautiful, and the weather is good. Only REALLY cold for 2 months out of the year (20's and 30's). Even then, the sun pours down during the day. Other times of the year it is so pretty out, and not too hot. 70's. Hot in July and August. (80's)
You might want to rent at first, to avoid all the extra costs. The Real Estate Market is good here. No real decline, actually staying above most markets. A gradual increase each year of 7 - 10% is realized here. No real change in that.
If you are a Floridian, originally from the North, they will call you a "half back". But, not to your face :}
Anything else you want to know, please ask. I will try
I have been reading posts about Asheville and surrounding communities. I may had a job opportunity in Marion. What would be a good community to live in with a teenage girl who longs for "civilization?" Thanks for any help you can give.
The city of Asheville is too long of a commute if your employment is in Marion.
Marion is a nice, quiet small city with decent healthcare, restaurants (if you like BBQ), a few big box retailers and lovely people. I hope to retire there someday. However, last I checked it lacked a symphony, mall, coffehouses, etc. Probably not the best place for a bored teenager. You might want to check out Hickory. It would be a longer commute for you but there's a mall there and it's closer to the bright lights and big city of Charlotte.
I have a lot to say about Asheville, so here goes. Don't know Marion though.
We moved here a year ago from Palm Beach County, Fl. We Live in South Asheville, Beautiful development, great neighbors. As a matter of fact, I am extremely impressed with nearly all of the people in of Asheville. These people are considerate, polite, helpful, and just plain nice. Southern hospitality reigns here.
On a sour note, there is a serious drug problem here. Very high personal crime rate, very high violent crime rate, for such a small city. Go to CnnMoney.com and read about Asheville. 70% and higher of the crime is drug related. Where the national average is 1100, we are at 177 for personal crime.
The socioeconomic differences between people here is absolutely astounding. All walks of life are gathered here. Very diverse racially, as well. You can walk out of a beautiful neighborhood, and be in a low income, or trailer park area instantly. Buncombe County (Asheville) has more trailer parks and trailer homes than any other in NC.
As far as a job here, I think there is a lot of whining going on. Being an entrepreneur, I see several opportunities here that are overlooked. There are many people here with superfluous amounts of money to spend. For example the area in South Asheville, Biltmore Park, Biltmore Forest, The Ramble, ..these people buy, eat, use...etc. Why not open your own business here! A restaurant would be a good start! We are lacking in S Asheville of a decent Italian restaurant, as well as many others(plenty of Mexican). If you don't get to a restaurant by 5, you can expect to wait a long time. The decent (few) restaurants are jammed....literally. Sunday after church...forget about eating anywhere...the places are packed. Carrabas opened in Arden/Fletcher recently, and they are so busy, you cannot even stand int here. People bump into you. The wait there, by 5:15 is 45 minutes to an hour.
How about a specialty store, a bakery (an Italian Bakery cannot be found), a clothing store (nothing in S Asheville, nowhere to shop), a baby furniture store, a deli, any service...any service ...would do well. A spa, a decent nail place,...use your imagination. This place is ripe for decent commerce. Oh, and what about a day care center? Huge over crowding problem there too!!!
Better yet, come here and work out of your house! An ecommerce store, and ebay store, an organizing service, a house cleaning service, a personal chef service...again, the sky is the limit. Forget about the 9-5 BS, and having a boss. Who needs it anymore? Teachers and counselors don't get paid enough anyway.
Schools--Sore subject with me. No better than Florida. Again, the socioeconomic differences between the kids poses a HUGE problem. Additionally, the way that many teachers speak, (southern drawl is fine) using improper English, is unsettling. Not all teachers, but many. The education here is nothing outstanding, nothing unusual. Very common. Kids here are practically failing in math and reading, particularly the African American children. It is very sad, but the stats show it to be true. Many children don't have parents together, single Moms...etc. So, the kids are not getting the attention and discipline at home, therefor they "act out" in school in very upsetting ways (sometimes criminally). Much of the time at school is spent waiting for a teacher to finish corrrecting yet another kid who cannot behave. We were in the "best" school system (Estes,Valley Springs, TC Roberson) Look them up online and see greatschools.com, or on the site North Carolina Report Card, We are sending our kids to private school now.
Taxes- They are very high. (property). City is annexing towns on the outskirts of the city as fast as they can. Look on a map, and find Biltmore Lake, in Candler. Yep, they are annexing that too!! Then there is the water Bill -way too high! There is a cap gains tax on it, because the City needs to replace their 100 YEAR OLD UNDERGROUND cast iron pipes.!!!!!! Yes, you read that right. The pipes are giving way, and it is a huge problem. Water bill here is double what our FL bill was, and we HAD A POOL in FL. Lastly, there is a .29 gasoline tax!!!!! And the sales tax is high. OOps, forgot state income tax. (unlike FL)...oh, no and here is the real kicker...an automobile tax, EVERY year, that you HAVE to pay. Whether your car is leased, or you own it!!!! For one of our cars, it was $800!! And again, to be clear, it has to be paid EVERY year, on the same car. (it goes down a little each year, as the car ages)
Drivers license- You have to take an entire test, and have lots of documentation. Don't go there with your LAMINATED Social Security Card. Uh uh..no no, they will not accept it in lamination!! And if you are a husband and wife, the wife needs a bill in her OWN name. The husband needs a bill in his name. OK, I am bitter. I had to go there 3 times before I had all my docs in a row!
Asheville is beautiful, and the weather is good. Only REALLY cold for 2 months out of the year (20's and 30's). Even then, the sun pours down during the day. Other times of the year it is so pretty out, and not too hot. 70's. Hot in July and August. (80's)
You might want to rent at first, to avoid all the extra costs. The Real Estate Market is good here. No real decline, actually staying above most markets. A gradual increase each year of 7 - 10% is realized here. No real change in that.
If you are a Floridian, originally from the North, they will call you a "half back". But, not to your face :}
Anything else you want to know, please ask. I will try
I lived in Asheville for a few years. Some things I agree with you and some things I don't. Very expensive and if you are a "worker", not an "entrepreneur", you probably aren't going to make a decent salary there. Not all people are inclined to go into business for themselves. It takes money to make money. It is a tourist town or college town, and people that are wealthy there typically go there wealthy more often than not.
I wasn't aware of the drug problem there and it looks like that has changed since I left. But it makes sense to me because it is such a big college town, that drugs are going to be there, in addition to the typical drugs that a city that size has, anyway. So I can see a drug problem there easily.
As far as Italian restaurant, bakery, etc., I don't see it myself. I lived there for years and found very Italians few in the entire area. I also dealt with the public daily and just didn't see them. I can think of one Italian off the top of my head in my years living there and I don't personally think the area can sustain it, unless there has been a big influx of Italians recently. I've been gone for many years and I could be wrong, but I worked collections for years and the food business is no place to play. If the restaurant doesn't make it, you are held personally liable for the bills because of personal guarantee, which the food service will not accept the contract without it. Also the Mexican restaurant when I lived there folded. I do not believe the food suggestions for businesses are good advice but some others may be. Catering to areas like Biltmore Forest and such could be very lucrative if you find the right niche.
All of NC is the same as far as the drivers' license. They also make a big deal out of having a middle name as opposed to a middle initial. The only thing I had to take was the written test, they don't make you take the driving test from my experience. I've obtained my drivers' license here twice now, same thing.
I've been called a "half-back" to my face and it's really no big deal. I go where my husband's work is and if it takes us from NY to a couple different cities in NC to a couple different cities in FL and back to NC, so be it. It's hard to tell where we'll be next, too, because we follow his work. I don't let the "half-back" remarks bother me. I've also been called a "Damn Yankee" to my face, too. It's really no big deal and it's in teasing. I've never had anyone be nasty to me about it and I've been gone from NYS over 9 years now.
I don't remember where Marion is but I've lived in outside of Winston-Salem, Asheville, and now Charlotte... It sounds like it's the middle of no where from other posts and it's going to be a drive to get there from Hickory. I don't know if Marion is the right place for a teenage daughter. Kind of sounds like she'd be bored...
I live in Rutherford County which is south of McDowell (where Marion is). I love it but I love the rural life. I would also suggest closer to Hickory or Asheville with a teenage daughther. Much more to do.
JCAT does sound a little bitter. I too came from Florida. I realized up front there would be state income tax(as is with the majority of states anyway) and paying th auto tax each year. He must have a really nice car to pay $800 in auto tax. I pay around 80-90$ for a 2001 Expedition. I think the seasons as well as the scenery far outweighs the negatives as compared to Florida. But to each his own. I moved my kids here from a large Florida city to get them away from the huge amount of drugs. That is a strong success in my eyes. My property tax is a fraction of what I was paying in Florida. Same goes with the insurance rates. So yes, there are good points and bad points. You just have to list out all and determine what your priorities are. I find kids in my area are really into playing all types of sports. This too helps keep them out of trouble and off the streets. Good luck to you and your family.
I know Marion a little because we go to their downtown area every year to pay our property tax bill. The poor ladies who work in the tax office still operate on DOS computer systems. I know being 32 I would not want to move there, let alone being a teenager needing things to do. I'd pick Asheville instead.
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Asheville?
