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I am looking for information about Hickory, NC. My husband has a job offer in Waco TX, Asheville, and Hickory, NC. After checking out Asheville, we thought Hickory be more affordable and have less traffic and there is a job closer for me to that area. What are your opinions if you know Hickory? Is it family friendly (we have two small sons, 1 and 4 years old), how is the education system, is there much to do, are drugs a problem in the area, where are the best neighborhoods to move to?
We used to live in Austin TX and loved it! We are from Bloomington, IN and the Asheville vibe reminds us of home. We are thinking we could easily do the 1 hour drive in to Asheville for weekends sometimes, etc. and love the idea of being close to the mountains and beach. Are homes for rent hard to find? There have not been many homes so far in my search.
I don't think Asheville and Hickory are very much alike. If there's a job offer in Asheville and you like Asheville I'd go with Asheville. Hickory is cut from different cloth.
I don't think Asheville and Hickory are very much alike. If there's a job offer in Asheville and you like Asheville I'd go with Asheville. Hickory is cut from different cloth.
They definitely aren't, but I didn't see the OP thinking they were. Sounds like there are good reasons that the OP is looking at Hickory (more affordable, less congested and closer to spousal job opportunities).
We visited hickory for a week last year in anticipation of moving there. I liked it alot. Tons of shopping , cute downtown and friendly people. Also gorgeous lakes. But we decided not to relicate there for fear of not finding jobs. We will be going in the other direction to the mint hill area. Good luck!!
I am looking for information about Hickory, NC. My husband has a job offer in Waco TX, Asheville, and Hickory, NC. After checking out Asheville, we thought Hickory be more affordable and have less traffic and there is a job closer for me to that area. What are your opinions if you know Hickory? Is it family friendly (we have two small sons, 1 and 4 years old), how is the education system, is there much to do, are drugs a problem in the area, where are the best neighborhoods to move to?
We used to live in Austin TX and loved it! We are from Bloomington, IN and the Asheville vibe reminds us of home. We are thinking we could easily do the 1 hour drive in to Asheville for weekends sometimes, etc. and love the idea of being close to the mountains and beach. Are homes for rent hard to find? There have not been many homes so far in my search.
Thanks so much for info!
I still live in the Hickory area. Let me know if you have any questions.
Yes, thank you! Is Hickory family friendly? Is it a good place to raise young children? Are there fun things to do? I've read some not great stats on drug usage. We were thinking Hickory might be a more cost effective place to move. We can always visit Asheville on the weekends since its just an hour away. The traffic, cost of living, and we'd like a bigger yard-all these things made us think Hickory might be a better fit. We like the outdoors, hiking, fishing, music, art, trying new food, libraries, sunny weather, and shopping. I've been watching Asheville and surrounding areas and have not seen anything post in my field for a job but Hickory does have some options.
Hickory is a great place to raise a family. My husband and I are from Asheville, lived in Georgia for several years and decided to move to the Hickory area (Granite Falls) instead of back to Asheville. We love Asheville and go there often, but Hickory is so much more affordable and so much less congested. There are plenty of things to do for small kids: the SALT block (library, art museum, science center, planetarium), various parks and splash pads, hiking, lake activities, biking, greenway, indoor trampoline park, downtown farmers market, etc. One of the things I appreciate is it’s central location to various larger cities and outdoor opportunities. It’s an hour north of Charlotte, an hour east of Asheville, 45 min south of Boone, 1 hr 15 west of Winston-Salem. Also under an hour to the Blue Ridge Parkway, South Mountains State Park, the Linville Gorge, Wilson Creek, and lots of great hiking around Boone/Blowing Rock. So when you’re in the mood for something more than Hickory offers, it’s easy to go get it. There are a lot of improvements happening and in the works including a new city walk and river walk, renovation of old mills, and new parks. There is a community of people working diligently to move the city forward.
The area is still working out of economic depression and stagnant job market. There are a lot of old ugly buildings in some areas. I don’t know firsthand about the city school system as mine are either homeschooled or go to Caldwell County schools. The real estate supply is low right now but very affordable. According to statistics, the region has very high opioid usage. This isn’t something I really ever see evidence of anecdotally, aside from occasionally seeing someone on the street who ‘might’ look a little off. (But certainly you see more of that in Asheville.) That doesn’t mean it’s not real, it’s just something that hasn’t intruded into my world firsthand.
Of course, an in person visit would be ideal. Everyone is looking for something different. You might also consider Morganton. Much smaller but really nice little town 25 minutes closer to Asheville than Hickory.
Born and raised just up the road in Lenoir/Hudson ive been living in Hickory since 2011. Big issue Hickory has, especially depending on the neighborhood is crime, break-ins specifically. A lot of homeless people and a lot of pill heads, this tends to lead to people trying to get quick cash or medicine out of cars. Some people like to pretend this doesnt exist but its every where around Hickory.
School system sucks (hickory public schools). Taxes are high.
Weve been renting the house we live in for the past 4 years, whenever we finally decide to buy were gonna move to Burke or Caldwell County, had enough of Catawba and Hickory as a resident.
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