Asheville NC, the good, the bad, and the ugly (Durham: environment, relocating)

[njkate]

Originally Posted by Caveman

Be careful if you have a house built! I have seen some of the worst built house's on the face of the earth in this area. They may look good from the outside but beware of what you can't see!

yes and ask how FAR down they need to drill for a well
A friend had to go over 900 feet before they hit water

[Father John]

This has been a great thread; I appreciate all the input, both positive and negative.

In January 1981, my wife and I moved to Mesa, Arizona, partly because of the weather, partly because of the economic climate (growing) and partly because of the affordability (1300 sf, 3 BR home for $65,000).

Now, 26 years later, it is crowded (Mesa increased 250% in size), pollution is awful (ozone exceeds federal limits and the brown smog over Phoenix is visible all winter), and housing prices doubled in just the last 3 years. Water is going to be a major problem in the future (we are in year 8 of a 20 year drought) but we keep building houses, water parks, pools, and planting grass and trees in the desert. Drugs and gangs are everywhere and the crime level is unacceptable.

I retired Jan. 1 and my wife will retire before the year is out. We are coming to NC in August to look for a place to live.

We will visit Asheville because it pops up at the top of our "Find Your Spot" survey results, but I had my doubts before I even read this thread. Asheville sounds so much like Mesa and Tempe Arizona 26 years ago: growing so fast that roads and zoning and old power structures can't adjust quickly enough. I hate to see that happen anywhere, having witnessed what it did to this area.

The same things will happen in your surrounding areas like Maggie Valley and Brevard and Waynesville. Towns around Mesa like Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek went from sleepy little country towns to massive cities with crowded roads, high taxes, and Wal-Marts every 3 miles. I fear similar things for the Asheville area.

My wife and I liked what we read about Maggie Valley until an honest Real Estate agent told us that Maggie Valley is becoming a "bedroom suburb" of Asheville, growing like a weed in June.

We have looked at Burnsville, Boone, and many other towns, but haven't settled on anything yet.

We, too, know that a few days will not be enough to discover all that needs to be discovered about a town, but we will take 10 days in NC to see what we can and bring our impressions back here for more research and a decision.

My wife and I attended Central Michigan University in the early 1970s when it had 12,000 students in a town of 15,000 (Mt. Pleasant). ASU in Boone sounds much like that same scenario that we remember fondly. We both worked for ASU here (Arizona State University) and enjoy a college climate, too. That is a positive about Asheville. But Boone, despite 40 inches of snow a year, sounds more intriguing.

Especially after the posts here.

Thanks again for all the great input.

[Father John]

Originally Posted by njkate

yes and ask how FAR down they need to drill for a well
A friend had to go over 900 feet before they hit water

LOL. Can't get a "well" here (Mesa, AZ) at all (not legal except on farms) and any water is more than 1500 feet down anyway. We have to import it from northern rivers like the Colorado.

I also laughed at the post about the high water bills. Try them here. Water, sewer, and garbage collection is $100/month without a pool (just 2 of us, too). Car registration has an annual excise tax based on car value. A new Camry runs a little over $400 a year to register. A 12 year old 4' Toyota PU Truck runs under $100 a year.

Everything is relative...

[carolinadreamin']

Originally Posted by gypsychic

That's because those stats are from year 2000. Prices have tripled in Ashe since then.

Actually according to this site I was right. Not sure where you get your info
but nowhere has had a 300% increase in home values since 2000.

Real Estate - USA - North Carolina - Asheville - Compare Prices, Value Any Home, And View Price History At NexTag

[carolinadreamin']

gypsychic: More proof on how wrong you are. No big deal but people come on here looking for true facts about places their considering to live. I feel like we owe it to them
to be as accurate as possible so they can make the best educated choice on where to live. After all, that's one of the main things this site is all about.

Buncombe, North Carolina Home Values, Buncombe Homes for Sale, Buncombe Real Estate Agents

Wake, North Carolina Home Values, Wake Homes for Sale, Wake Real Estate Agents

New Hanover, North Carolina Home Values, New Hanover Homes for Sale, New Hanover Real Estate Agents

Mecklenburg, North Carolina Home Values, Mecklenburg Homes for Sale, Mecklenburg Real Estate Agents

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by carolinadreamin'

gypsychic: More proof on how wrong you are. No big deal but people come on here looking for true facts about places their considering to live. I feel like we owe it to them
to be as accurate as possible so they can make the best educated choice on where to live. After all, that one of the main things this site is all about.

Buncombe, North Carolina Home Values, Buncombe Homes for Sale, Buncombe Real Estate Agents

Wake, North Carolina Home Values, Wake Homes for Sale, Wake Real Estate Agents

New Hanover, North Carolina Home Values, New Hanover Homes for Sale, New Hanover Real Estate Agents

Mecklenburg, North Carolina Home Values, Mecklenburg Homes for Sale, Mecklenburg Real Estate Agents

I'm so glad I was able to amuse you - have a nice day!

[carolinadreamin']

Originally Posted by Father John

This has been a great thread; I appreciate all the input, both positive and negative.

In January 1981, my wife and I moved to Mesa, Arizona, partly because of the weather, partly because of the economic climate (growing) and partly because of the affordability (1300 sf, 3 BR home for $65,000).

Now, 26 years later, it is crowded (Mesa increased 250% in size), pollution is awful (ozone exceeds federal limits and the brown smog over Phoenix is visible all winter), and housing prices doubled in just the last 3 years. Water is going to be a major problem in the future (we are in year 8 of a 20 year drought) but we keep building houses, water parks, pools, and planting grass and trees in the desert. Drugs and gangs are everywhere and the crime level is unacceptable.

I retired Jan. 1 and my wife will retire before the year is out. We are coming to NC in August to look for a place to live.

We will visit Asheville because it pops up at the top of our "Find Your Spot" survey results, but I had my doubts before I even read this thread. Asheville sounds so much like Mesa and Tempe Arizona 26 years ago: growing so fast that roads and zoning and old power structures can't adjust quickly enough. I hate to see that happen anywhere, having witnessed what it did to this area.

The same things will happen in your surrounding areas like Maggie Valley and Brevard and Waynesville. Towns around Mesa like Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek went from sleepy little country towns to massive cities with crowded roads, high taxes, and Wal-Marts every 3 miles. I fear similar things for the Asheville area.

My wife and I liked what we read about Maggie Valley until an honest Real Estate agent told us that Maggie Valley is becoming a "bedroom suburb" of Asheville, growing like a weed in June.

We have looked at Burnsville, Boone, and many other towns, but haven't settled on anything yet.

We, too, know that a few days will not be enough to discover all that needs to be discovered about a town, but we will take 10 days in NC to see what we can and bring our impressions back here for more research and a decision.

My wife and I attended Central Michigan University in the early 1970s when it had 12,000 students in a town of 15,000 (Mt. Pleasant). ASU in Boone sounds much like that same scenario that we remember fondly. We both worked for ASU here (Arizona State University) and enjoy a college climate, too. That is a positive about Asheville. But Boone, despite 40 inches of snow a year, sounds more intriguing.

Especially after the posts here.

Thanks again for all the great input.

Asheville should have no problem handling the rate there growing at now. There are 11 counties growing faster than Asheville in North Carolina alone.
Years 2000-2006
1)Brunswick County (Coastal NC south of Wilmington) (Growth 21,823)
2)Carbarrus County (Concord, Noth of Charlotte) (" "26,146)
3)Durham County (Durham,RTP,Triangle Area) (" "23,519)
4)Forsyth County (Winston-Salem,NC,Triad Area) (" "25,807)
5)Guildford County (Greensboro,NC, Triad Area) (" " 28,023)
6)Iredell County (Lake Norman area North of Charlotte) (" " 22,568)
7)Johnston County (Triangle Area,SE of Raleigh) (" " 29,689)
8)Mecklenburg County (Charlotte, Queen City,Carolina's biggest City) (" " 131,470)
9)New Hanover County (Wilmington, SE Coastal NC) (" "23,789)
10)Wake County (Raleigh,NC Triangle Area, Stae Capital) (" " 162,104)
11)Union County (East Of Charlotte) (" " 48,356)

13)Buncombe County (Asheville Area) (" " 15,028)

With Charlotte and Raleigh having outlying counties growing 2 to 3 times as fast,Asheville barely shows growth. I've live in NC for over 40 years and barely
notice growth when in Asheville. Places like Raleigh, Cary, Charlotte and Wilmigton (to a certain degree), are a whole different story. I guess its all in what your use to but Asheville's slight growth is hard to notice when you live
in a state with areas exploding like the Raleigh and Charlotte areas.

Site with above info,BTW, all projections for the future show about the same
growth patterns for NC.

North Carolina State Demographics

North Carolina State Demographics

[fastfilm]

Question 1 (jobs): can an elementary school teacher with over twenty years' experience in the battle trenches of Los Angeles public schools actually find a job near Asheville? (That's the husband. I'm a freelancer who can flounder anywhere!)
Question 2 (animals): if we live in the areas surrounding the city, will we be run out of town on a rail for having show dogs that haven't been sterilized? We do not wish to have this mandated, one of the reasons we're leaving our state. Also, am I correct in assuming there is horse boarding the farther out one gets from the city center?

Pending the answers our enlightened native NC posters here give me, we are still intererested in your fair area because: as five decades' denizens of Southern California, we wish to avoid extreme weather in our mandatory relocation, and also, I've never lived anyplace where it's actually pretty. If you're our income level in L.A., you live in terrible neighborhoods.

[oldbuncombegal]

Originally Posted by Fliss

Now for the negative part: if you want to move here, I really hope that you'll consider NOT buying a lot on top of a mountain because development is fast outstripping our infrastructure, ruining our environment and our views and destroying the community.

And yeah, it's great that you made a whole lot of money and can buy a big fancy new house. It's not so great for the environment, unfortunately, and it's not so great when your right to a big fancy house ends up trumping my right to a small old house, since you're all moving here faster than we can think and you all seem to have more money than we ever will.

Asheville is filling up fast with retirees and wealthy people who seem bent on moving in and then announcing what they don't like and trying to change it. I don't understand staying here if you don't like it.

The argument that all of this development brings more tax money into the coffers is bogus: More money goes out for changes to the infrastructure/increased services/etc. than comes in from property taxes and impact fees.

My biggest complaint is that the people who want to escape to quaint, funky, "little" ol' Asheville and its surrounding environs end up wanting to bring all of the stuff that they're trying to escape! If you want to be accepted by the "locals" (whatever the definition of "local") then try becoming part of the Community. Don't cloister yourself behind the gates of your luxury community and look down your nose at the people who live in the trailer parks. Come down off of your high horse and you'll find that there are some mighty fine people living here ...

and they certainly aren't boring!!!

[tribe48]

I continue to be amazed by the tone of that response (and many others in this thread). Just because someone chooses the 'top of the mountain' (and actually worked hard and became successful) you assume they are not adding value to your community. Development is positive; these individuals DO add to the economy by purchasing from local stores; paying tax; eating locally; and by golly some actually DO care about the area and build green houses and actually plant flowers and vegetables and gee whiz, even trees (they like the environment). Places like Reynolds Mtn and the Cliffs reflect the strength of the area, not the downfall.

Can growth and development be bad, of course. But nothing is worse than an area that remains stagnant or moves backward.

Try working with the developers, and more importantly, your new neighbors rather than spewing all that negativity and making assumptions. We've decided against the area (the thread played a small role); you may not believe it but we (me, wife and the dogs) would have been terrific neighbors and members of the community...even though we would have lived in one of those 2 dreaded neighborhoods. Peace and love (oh, I'm also a Democrat..).