Your opinions please on my relocation list (Charlotte, Asheville: crime, new house)

[BeckyBH]

City data and this forum have been a great help in narrowing down such a beautiful area of the country. Now I need opinions from locals. I am headed up to the mountains mid October to explore the top contenders for our future new hometown. This is a long post, but I am trying to be really specific. Thanks for your help!

These are our preferences:
*Mountainous area with large river and or lake
*No constant 90+ degree summer temps, no snow chains needed in winter
*Fishing/canoeing/kayaking/hiking within 20 minutes
*Skiing, off-road trails (ATVs/rockcrawling) within an hour or so
*Everyday shopping (groceries/pharmacy/hardware) and a few restaruants within 20 minutes
*Better selection of restaurants/shopping within 30-40 minutes
*Larger city with malls and an airport within 1 hour to 1.5 hours
*Good hospital within 30 minutes, great hospital within 1 hour
*Mountain festivals, flea markets, farmer's markets, local galleries, antique shops within 30 minutes
*Within 30 minutes of a popular and or growth area, we will either buy or start a small business at some point
*An area not full of yankees unless they are fully converted (this request from my husband)
*Schools and jobs are not a deciding factor

We are both native Southerners originally from rural areas, so we're not too worried about fitting in. We are friendly, respectful of the local folks, culture, morals and land wherever we go.

My current choices:
West Jefferson---do y'all recommend anywhere else in Ashe Co.?
Jefferson
Todd?
Burnsville
Bakersville?
Spruce Pine/Little Switzerland
Marshall
Black Mountain (on the fence--costs are high and bad air quality, but so cute!)


Eliminated (either too spendy, too much rain, pollution or crime--however add your two cents if I should reconsider!)
Boone
Flat Rock
Blowing Rock
Banner Elk
Cnaton
Waynesvile
Brevard
Saluda
Arden
Maggie Valley
Mars Hill
Bryson City
Warrensville
Weaverville

[Cofga]

I'd say take another look at the greater Weaverville area, especially between Weaverville and Mars Hill. Black Mtn is nice but the prices may get you there although you didn't mention the price range. Good luck, right now its a buyers market down there and there are thousands of house on the market. Just beware of houses sitting empty. We visited 9 houses last sat and 4 of them we eliminated as soon as we got a whiff inside. All 4 were empty as a result of the owners either dying or going into nursing homes and the AC/ventillation system had been shut off. The humidity in the area had been too much and the mold ran wild. In one house you could literally scrape the mold off the kitchen cabinets! Now I see why so many of the new houses are built on a slab or crawspace--no moist basements to deal with.

[BeckyBH]

Thanks. We will actually be looking for land to build on as opposed to a house. In the 100k or less range and minimum 2 acres (if it's on water), otherwise the more the better. Right now I am trying to focus on what area would be best and will wait for the right special piece of land to come along. I had eliminated Mars Hill and Weaverville because cost of living was higher than some of the other areas and Weaverville had less than desirable pollution ratings. However, I will be in that general area so will check out the area between the two.

[lovegirl2]

Well done for such an exact list. I cant be of any help because i am not a local but i am a another person looking to relocate and just wondered how you managed to narrow it down? I find this task near to impossible and am in awe of your short list!

Did you do most of your research on the internet or have you visited some of these places? How are you finding the search for land going?

Good luck!!!

[riadkins]

Bakersfield!!! definitely not, that is in the desert, you're gonna get hot temps in the summer. So i gather that you want something kind of country such as North Carolina but in CA? Santa Barbara is perfect choice for that, it sits right on the beach. Average high temp in the summer is about 72 degrees. It's only about about 45 minutes from the big city L.A. and as far as mountains, you're gonna be satisfied in any city you live in, in southern CA because all the cities are surrounded by mountains, a lot of valleys out here. I live in Riverside and i love it, it's about 45 minutes from the beach and about 20-30 minutes from big bear, so in early spring i can surf in the morning and go snowboarding in the afternoon. but the temp in the summertimem gets in the 90's. or if you want to live on a mountain, you're gonna get snow, the temperature on mountains out here are drastically cooler. Lake Elsinore is OK, it's a big lake on a mountain, forest area, doesn't really snow there because the elevation is not high enough, and it's about an hour from San Diego. and if you're not really into big city/entertainment kinda life then San Diego is definitely a plus over LA. It's like any other big city in America, slow, mellow, people are cool. LA is too rush-rush on the go. Anyway, hope that helps

[NeoLvr]

Bakersville, NC (in Mitchell Co I think) not Bakersfield,CA is what was being asked about

[BeckyBH]

Lovegirl2--We have visited western NC in the past and knew it was a beautiful area, but never focused on relocating until now. Basically, I have spent hours reading through the forums here and writing down other's recommendations that fit my criteria. Then I researched those areas further looking at city profiles, demographics and visiting chamber of commerce sites for each. After narrowing further, I did full side by side comparisons on bestplaces. net (not sure if I can post that name?). It really helped with everything from crime statistics, pollution, climate, and cost of living. Hope that is helpful!

Riadkins: I posted in the Western NC forum with the assumption that everyone understood I was only looking in that area? The Bakersville in NC gets around 10 inches of snow, population like 500 and is famous for the Rhododendrum Festival. Probably much different from the one in CA!!

[cooperwx]

Every option on your list except Blk Mountain and Marshall is eliminated by your airport requirement. You can't get to Tri-Cities, Asheville, Charlotte or any other commercially-served airport from Ashe Co., Burnsville, Bakersville, or Spruce Pine/Little Switzerland in under 1.5 hours.

So that narrows it down to two...

[fmors]

Originally Posted by cooperwx

Every option on your list except Blk Mountain and Marshall is eliminated by your airport requirement. You can't get to Tri-Cities, Asheville, Charlotte or any other commercially-served airport from Ashe Co., Burnsville, Bakersville, or Spruce Pine/Little Switzerland in under 1.5 hours.

So that narrows it down to two...

I can get to the Asheville airport from Burnsville in 1 hour.

[myanvita]

You will be hard pressed to make it to the Asheville Airport from Burnsville in an hour because of construction and traffic.