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Does anyone have input on Lenoir?????? Would like to retire there.
It has been stated on prior threads that Lenoir is somewhat unwelcoming to newcomers, that the people there are kind of tight knit and not open. Is there a reason you settled on Lenoir?
To those of you thinking about moving to Lenoir, NC..take it from me. There is nothing here. We moved here 2 years ago thinking it was close to the mountains, & we'd love it..but we don't. In fact, after 2 long & hard years of struggling..we have sold our house & are moving on. There are very few businesses here, very few restaurants, & NO jobs. If a job does come open, there are HUNDREDS of people waiting to apply for that one position. The unemployment rate is one of the highest in the state..if not the highest & there are SO many depressing situations here. There are so many people struggling here. Yes, I agree the mountains are beautiful, but there are mountains elsewhere & you'd be much better off to move there. Google IS here, but we have heard from many reliable sources that it will be at LEAST FIVE years before they hire from the general public, & it will be AT LEAST TEN years before any new substantial businesses will move in here. The problem here is there are SO MANY OLD people that do NOT want change, & I'm not trying to be funny. I'm serious. They won't allow any change in the ordinances, & are very set in their very backward ways. Everyone that's visited us here says the same thing. It's like going back in time. So, if that's what you want, then I'd say move here, but if you'd like to live in a little more civilized place..then I'd definitely think twice about it. Good luck with whatever you decide!
We moved here several months ago and love it. maybe it is because hubby has a job that is out of state and can work from home. It took us awhile to find a plumber, electricion, landscaper but once we found people that did want to work they are hard workers but you have to look for them I mean really look. That was strange to us since we had lived in several states and never had encountered this. We did get past this. We found Hickory not that far away a place to shop and eat and also Boone we found two great places to eat. If you want to travel a bit futher charlotte has great shopping and food.
Are you retired or did you not have a job when you moved to Lenoir? Where do you plan on moving next?
We are originally from Asheville, but spent the last 8 years in Florida. We came back to the mountains to retire,(at a fairly young age) & thought this would be a good location, but we do not like anything at all about being here(except the mountains). I'm not complaining at all, just answering your questions & giving the view of our personal experiences here. We love the outdoors, but we also like to eat out quite often & occasionally shop, & there is just nothing here in Lenoir. We don't like driving 1/2 hour to Hickory every time we want to go out to eat, & worse driving up the mountain 45 minutes to Boone. It's so sad here. We've never lived anywhere where there are so many people and so few jobs. It has been very stressful for us, because we've heard so many depressing stories from the people that live here. It's really heartbreaking. This is all they know & it's almost like they've given up. Sadly, it's very backwards here. This has been our experience, & maybe you've had a different one..but for us..we can't get away fast enough. We also don't like that the only main hwy in & out is 321. My husband calls it Daytona 321, because it's like a racetrack instead of a highway...ALWAYS bumper to bumper, no matter what day of the week or what time it is, & ALWAYS full of 18 wheelers....& they are all driving like maniacs...it's just very stressful. It's amazing to us that there are SO many people living here, & there's nothing here! Our daughter & son-in-law moved here also, & needed to find jobs..& there just aren't any here to be found. I'm glad you love it here, but it's not the place that we want to spend the rest of our life...& it's definitely not the place for a young couple to be if they want to build a career..so we are all moving on!!
Tell me you don't enjoy Hannah's Barbecue! There is much good in Lenoir, above all the people. These folks that are generational here are survivors, and will survive the economic downturn very nicely. Hank Williams Jr.'s song comes to mind, Country Boy Will Survive! Call it "backwards" if you want to, but I call it real. I was raised in Miami Fl, and was in Broward Co., from 1982 until 1994. My roots however are in deep southern GA and AL. I have always appreciated "backwards" folks because of their wit, wisdom, and their will to live. They deeply love God and their country, and though they fight and bicker among themselves, they always pull together in hard times. Where the city has infiltrated, there are drugs and crime, and that's a crying shame. Most though are hard working, harder playing, and generous to a fault. I had a choice . . . after my husband died and left me a 34 yr old widow with two young children, I had to choose where I wanted to live. I asked myself, "Do I want to be dirt poor in the city, or do I want to be dirt poor in the country?" It's a choice I'll never regret. I love country life, and I love the rural people, in spite of all of our faults . . . and besides, I can't afford to eat out anyway! :-))
Blessings!
Tracey
County Boy Can Survive
HW, Jr.
The preacher man says it’s the end of time
And the Mississippi River she’s a goin’ dry
The interest is up and the Stock Markets down
And you only get mugged
If you go down town
I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun, rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
I can plow a field all day long
I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too
Ain’t too many things these ole boys can’t do
We grow good ole tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Because you can’t starve us out
And you cant makes us run
Cause one-of- ‘em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn
We came from the West Virginia coal mines
And the Rocky Mountains and the western skies
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name, just hillbilly
My grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a businessman
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway nights
And I’d send him some homemade wine
But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For 43 dollars my friend lost his life
Id love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes
And shoot him with my old 45
Cause a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Cause you can’t starve us out and you can’t make us run
Cause one-of- ‘em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn
We’re from North Carolina and south Alabam
And little towns all around this land
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
We are originally from Asheville, but spent the last 8 years in Florida. We came back to the mountains to retire,(at a fairly young age) & thought this would be a good location, but we do not like anything at all about being here(except the mountains). I'm not complaining at all, just answering your questions & giving the view of our personal experiences here. We love the outdoors, but we also like to eat out quite often & occasionally shop, & there is just nothing here in Lenoir. We don't like driving 1/2 hour to Hickory every time we want to go out to eat, & worse driving up the mountain 45 minutes to Boone. It's so sad here. We've never lived anywhere where there are so many people and so few jobs. It has been very stressful for us, because we've heard so many depressing stories from the people that live here. It's really heartbreaking. This is all they know & it's almost like they've given up. Sadly, it's very backwards here. This has been our experience, & maybe you've had a different one..but for us..we can't get away fast enough. We also don't like that the only main hwy in & out is 321. My husband calls it Daytona 321, because it's like a racetrack instead of a highway...ALWAYS bumper to bumper, no matter what day of the week or what time it is, & ALWAYS full of 18 wheelers....& they are all driving like maniacs...it's just very stressful. It's amazing to us that there are SO many people living here, & there's nothing here! Our daughter & son-in-law moved here also, & needed to find jobs..& there just aren't any here to be found. I'm glad you love it here, but it's not the place that we want to spend the rest of our life...& it's definitely not the place for a young couple to be if they want to build a career..so we are all moving on!!
I do understand your fustration. We lived in CA for over 25 years and loved it. That to us was home. We made a stupid move to FL thinking we could save money and my husbands main Office is located there. Everything was higher living in FL like property taxes, Ins that we had to find after Allstate dropped us and most everyone else in FL. Food was even higher. I missed seeing the mountains and some of the 4 seasons that we had been use to in the bay area in CA. That being said we sold our home in FL and moved to Hudson NC. We wanted to get back to CA but the homes in CA were really to high to get back in the home market there so we choose NC. I do find that this is a depressed area but like in my last post we found that the work ethics here are nil to none. I do not understand this. We did find some good help and we are now in the process of looking for newcomers who do want to work to hire for jobs that we need to be done. I can see your point also about your daughter and SIL they do need to get out of lenoir and find good jobs.
My thoughts about just going to Hickory or Boone was that wherever we lived we had to travel at least 20 min for shopping or go to a great restaurant. IN Ca on the freeways 10 miles could mean a 45 min drive.
We would in a heart beat move back to the SF bay area but it is to late. We miss our daughter and grands but we get to go 2 - 3 times a year to see them not enough but at least we get to see them.
Lots of luck to you. tears in my eyes.
Lorrie
I'd have to agree with dandy218, and say look elsewhere. There's not much in Lenoir, and by the ever increasing job losses in the area, its just going to get even more depressing.
Google originally said they'd be hiring on about 200 locals, but in actuality it'll be less than 100, and it'll be years off yet before the jobs are available. In the meantime, what are people supposed to do? Heck, is even McDonald's hiring there?
Caldwell, Catawba, and Burke counties are all depressed and getting worse. If you want moutain living, check out Boone or Asheville or surrounding smaller towns around them. A bit more to do there. And they seem more open to newcomers. Lenoir certainly isn't, at least not in my experience.
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Nothing in Lenoir
