Which way does the wind blow in Canton? (Asheville, Hickory: real estate, homes)

[HickoryBound]

I have heard that the smell from the paper plant in Canton is very disturbing, and that Canton is not a place to look to move. Now, my question is that Canton bigger than I thought so does this smell affect all areas? I would imagine that it affects the areas the wind blows it to... What are the prevailing winds in that area? Any input on the schools in North Canton?

Thanks for the help...

[Carolina_native]

Originally Posted by HickoryBound

I have heard that the smell from the paper plant in Canton is very disturbing, and that Canton is not a place to look to move. Now, my question is that Canton bigger than I thought so does this smell affect all areas? I would imagine that it affects the areas the wind blows it to... What are the prevailing winds in that area? Any input on the schools in North Canton?

Thanks for the help...

I know they have a paper mill there, not sure about the smell, (never really been there) Thats in Haywood county. Did you change your mind about moving to Hickory (as your name implies?)

[roxors]

I live in South Asheville and occasionally (once or twice a month), we can smell it all the way over here. I can't imagine how bad it is in Canton itself. I think your best bet for schools in the mountains would be in Buncombe or Henderson Counties.

[lovethebigcity]

You can smell it when you are driving on I-40 but not all the time. I went to WCU for undergrad & drove I-40 on many occasions. If I remember correctly it seemed to be worse during summer. I'm not sure where I-40 is in relation to Canton though (I want to say north of Canton but I'm not 100% positive).

[mom2hn]

I remember visiting when we lived in Asheville and the smell was pretty bad. But, the area was so pretty ... some of the surrounding areas in the hills were like something out of a storybook.

[goldfire99]

The smell can be pretty bad. I'd take I-40 to Sylva and gagged everytime I drove by. Some are used to it, but I could never get used to that putrid smell.

[renlacher]

I have worked in Canton about 4 weeks at different times of the year. It is at the base of Cold Mountain, the namesake for the movie. It is beautiful to the eye; on occasion it is disturbing to the nose. The paper mill is in town, and is the primary income prducer for the area. It is 2-3 miles south of I-40 as I recall. The wind shifts in the mountains, but prevailing is West to East. The odor varies as well, so if you are 4 - 5 miles from town, the sulfurous smell will not be much of a problem. Real Estate is going up fast with many Foridians moving there or summer homes. The locals are wonderful people in my experience. The High School is very good. If you live there, you get used to the smell, or you say, "It smells like money to me!" It is a safe community in one of the most beautiful regions of the United States.

[angieterp]

Reading your posts about Canton and the paper mill....so Cullowhee would be a good, safe, toxic free place to settle?

[gigimac]

Long time ago, I used to commute daily to work in Canton, and it does indeed smell rather strong, all over the entire town, but I got used to it. I took a tour of their factory, amazing place, their workers are well-paid and thus the mill is the lifeblood of the community.

The winds don't carry it too far out of town too often, altho you can occasionally (maybe once a year) smell it all the way here to Asheville, depending on which way and how hard the wind blows. I also used to also work in Waynesville once a week and it's a lot closer to Canton than Asheville, but I didn't notice it there, but I wasn't there every day.

Then some years after I worked up that way, the paper mill had to put in some expensive clean-up machinery, but I think it was maybe just for their wastewater release into the river there. So, I can't say right now how the smell is, and plus I've moved to a diff part of town in Asheville, don't ever smell it at all now, for whatever reason.

But I will say that Canton is a fairly good small town, and nearby Clyde is growing. Waynesville is really nice and much larger than Canton, but way smaller than Asheville. I really like city living here in Asheville, lots of different neighborhood areas, convenient, beautiful, interesting. I suppose if I had to pick a really small town up here somewhat the size of Canton, I'd go to Black Mountain, possibly Weaverville, or I'd live in either Hendersonville or Waynesville for the next size up. But I personally would not live in Canton specifically because of the smell, unless a job was there. Then, like any community, you wind up embracing it... lots of hard workers, good families, school activities, and the mill is absolutely beautiful at night, with all their lights and even the smoke gives it a visually mysterious atmosphere.

[Zooropa]

The smell in Canton can be very bad at times. At the local high school it seems to always be present. If you're west of Blue Ridge Paper Products you'll avoid the smell most of the time, but also keep in mind the air quality in WNC is nothing to brag about, and as a general rule, when you get further west and closer to the TN border it gets worse as you go. WNC gets a lot of pollution from the TVA. No matter what side of the political fence ya sit on, no one democrat, republican, or libertarian or anything else you can imagine....no one wants to have to deal with another state's problem as if it were their own.