Finicky Mountain girl seeking New Mountain Town (allergies, to live in)

[Squink]

Hello friends!

I am originally from the beautiful mountain town of Flagstaff Arizona. I moved to Texas for work, but have been suffering horrid cedar allergies and really miss seeing mountains out my window. So I need help!

Here's the checklist:

Green Mountains!
WARM but still 4 seasons
Much less snow than Flagstaff (a little snow would be perfect)
Fresh air
Low allergies
City or town

Wish list:

Low property tax
Local restaurants
Good walking/run/bike areas

THANK YOU!

[creeksitter]

Have you had a chance to see how the pollen in the SE affect your allergies? If that's not a deal breaker look at Asheville, Boone NC & Roanoake.

Boone will have the highest elevation, Roanoake will be the cheapest. It is in a valley but the mountains are right outside of town.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by creeksitter

Have you had a chance to see how the pollen in the SE affect your allergies? If that's not a deal breaker look at Asheville, Boone NC & Roanoake.

Boone will have the highest elevation, Roanoake will be the cheapest. It is in a valley but the mountains are right outside of town.

^This or perhaps a town like Clemson SC, which is by the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson CSA.

[portlanderinOC]

I'd say Western NC is probably the best for you. If you go any further north it would probably be too cold for you. However, keep in mind that North Carolina 'mountains' are like hills by Arizona standards.
Colorado is probably out of the question if you don't want tonnes of snow. You could try Pueblo or Canon City, as they are slightly warmer than Denver, but it may still be too cold for you.
You could try Bend, OR, Redding, CA, or Reno, NV, as well, but those places probably have cedar pollen.

[NCN]

Low allergies in the mountains; that's a big request. I would suggest watching the weather channels pollen reports to find mountains without cedars. We used to always choose a cedar off our N. C. mountain property for a Christmas tree.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by portlanderinOC

I'd say Western NC is probably the best for you. If you go any further north it would probably be too cold for you. However, keep in mind that North Carolina 'mountains' are like hills by Arizona standards.
Colorado is probably out of the question if you don't want tonnes of snow. You could try Pueblo or Canon City, as they are slightly warmer than Denver, but it may still be too cold for you.
You could try Bend, OR, Redding, CA, or Reno, NV, as well, but those places probably have cedar pollen.

OP mentioned green mountains first on the checklist, which pretty much rules out Pueblo, Canon City, Reno, and to some degree, Bend. But I agree with you that Western NC is probably the best bet, and I would expand the search to GA and VA, because Roanoke and even Blacksburg are decent-sized cities that may fit the criteria. But realistically, I think Asheville is the place to be. Asheville definitely embraces its mountain culture and has a great vibe- tons of microbreweries, local restaurants, and quirkiness. Yes, I said mountain culture- I take issue with your 'mountains' comment because I'd say that by just about anyone's standards (including my own as a Coloradan), the land in Western NC is definitely mountainous! In any case, Asheville gets a little snow- not nearly as much as Boone or other, higher towns, but enough to keep it exciting when it happens. My biggest concern would be with allergies. There's no Mountain Cedar like she's having problems with in TX, but there's a tremendous amount of biodiversity and there always seems to be something in bloom. I lived in the area, and every year I was more and more affected by allergies. When I moved to the much drier CO, they seemed to disappear.

[danielj72]

Knoxville TN, it has everything on your list except the low allergies. You have to stay out west to avoid allergies. The Smoky mountains are beautiful, and yes they can be seen from Knoxville. The mountains of east TN and west NC are over 6000 feet high meaning this is the only part of the Appalachian mountain chain that a westerner may consider "real mountains" Base elevations at the foot of the mountains is only around 900 feet so they rise about 5500-6000 feet above surrounding areas. That is comparable to many areas in the west if you consider the fact that base elevations in flat areas out there is 5000-6000 feet and mountains rise to 10-12k feet. If you want to be closer to the mountains than Knoxville, there are towns to our south and east that are just a few miles from them. Knoxville proper is about 25 to 30 miles from the peaks as the crow flies. A few days ago I could see the snow on top of the mountains from Knoxville, very pretty. Visibility varies from day to day, some days are crystal clear, others are bad enough the view of the mountain range is gone completely. (mostly summer) Winters are usually mild here (were having a bad one this year though), summers are hot and humid in the valley. Higher altitude brings relief from that. Other posters mentioned Ashville over in NC, yes its a very very pretty town, but more expensive and its more artsy and liberal. If you prefer artsy or liberal you should look at Ashville. It is a cool town, and its more in the mountains than we are.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by portlanderinOC

I'd say Western NC is probably the best for you. If you go any further north it would probably be too cold for you. However, keep in mind that North Carolina 'mountains' are like hills by Arizona standards.

I didn't realize Arizona was so full of 6,000 ft hills....

North Carolina mountains and peaks • peakery

[creeksitter]

We need to find out if the OP wants to live IN the mountains or just near the mountains. Also what kind of work she needs and preferred size of town/city.

[Tex?Il?]

How some other towns in Arizona at a slightly lower elevation? What about Prescott?