Do areas like Rutherfordton (closer to the mtns, further from Clt) have less humidity and cooler summers than Charlotte? We have three dogs that are much better suited to cooler weather, 2 english mastiffs and 1 st. bernard. I worry that the heat and humidity might be too much for them at times. I believe the humidity is less the closer to the mountains you get?
A few other considerations....
We love boating on good size lakes (pontoon boats and relaxing rides) and swimming in the lake, so we want to be close (within 20-30 minutes preferably) to a decent lake, seems like Lake Lure is good for this???
We love camping in the mountains (used to the White Mountain Range of NH and Lakes Region) I also love motorcycling and have ridden the Blue Ridge parkway, I love those roads and the closer the better to good riding roads, especially some dirt roads or offroad trails.
Is there much of a difference in soil conditions throughout the areas we're looking at, regarding gardening and planting?
We want a good school system for our future children as we plan on moving for good and having a vacation home in NH for when we miss home. We are looking in the 225k-250k range as a rough starting point. We don't need a mansion, an average size home with garage is good for us. We come from a 1400 sq foot house so a little bigger is a little better.
Are full basements common down there? This would help a lot with the dogs in the summertime.
We want our children to be able to grow up in a nice neighborhood and not have to drive 20 miles to bring them to friends' houses, and on the other hand we don't want to look out our window into the neighbors' bathroom!
I guess we are looking for something between really rural, and really dense communities, sort of a happy medium.
We also want a low crime area where neighbors help one another, just like we're used to now, I enjoy helping my neighbors and the 'community' feel.
I know we won't find the perfect town but these are most of our main considerations and I figured the more info I can give the more you guys can help.
Thanks again everyone, it's really helpful going through all these posts and getting people's perspectives of different areas.
I've always said that I want to live somewhere where outdoorsy type people go for vacation, meaning that some type of natural attraction to the area is what makes it special. For any New Englanders reading this I'm referring to places like Lake Winnipesaukee in NH, but less snowmobiling and ice fishing and more summertime activities.
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