Relocating to Asheville "area" (Greenville, Hickory: to rent, condo, townhome)

[Colin's Mommy]

Hi all - thank you in advance for any replies - my husband and I (along with our 3 y/o) are looking to relocate - Asheville "area" being one of our picks - we were both immediatley drawn to this general area - I am sorry if this is more detail than needed but I figure the more info I can share the better...

1. Budget --> looking to rent for first 6months-year around $1,000+

2. House/Condo/Townhome? --> detached "something" preferred

3. Employment Status(commute/work from home) --> I am a nurse my husband will be an entry level accountant

4. Children(public school vs. private) --> either or - as long as they are safe and serve their purpose

5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two --> Suburban

6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? --> Nope

7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood. --> Middle-upper class, safe

* late 20's early 30's professionals with an expanding family
* Within 25 minutes of a decent sized hospital - any names would be great
*45 minutes (or so) to major airport
*Good library within 10 minutes or so
*Farmers market within town
*Parks, parks and more parks
*Walk able downtown that isn't a ghost town - even if it is only a few blocks long/wide - as long as it has some "life"/"charm"/history
*depending on job markets we will probably be looking to spend around 200K when we purchase a home - in a "perfect world" it would be 1+ acres very, very close to a small/medium downtown area within close distance to amenities (grocery store, target [I know!] etc
*We are pretty laid back individuals that enjoy being outdoors and being able to walk around our small downtown with a variety of local restaurants, park etc - our zip code consists of approximately 70,000 people while our "downtown" has about 7,200

Thank you so very much for any and all suggestions

[Tanya Donaghy]

Based on the criteria that you listed, you actually have a lot of options in Western North Carolina...

Asheville itself is a very nice area. Though it has a great farmers market, there are a few more people than the 7,200 in your current "downtown"... For a place that's a little smaller, but still within a reasonable distance from hospitals and the Asheville Regional Airport, I would suggest that you look along I-40 between Asheville and Hickory.

Here are some of the hospitals in the area...
Asheville - Mission & Park Ridge
Marion - Mission
Morganton - Grace (Blue Ridge Health Care)
Hickory - Catawba Memorial & Frye Regional
There are also several medical centers that might be of interest to you

Here are a couple of suggestions of small / medium towns...

Black Mountain - About 15 miles east from the center of Asheville. Population = 7,910. It has a great walkable downtown area with a lot of small "shops". They have a tailgate market every Saturday during the summer months. Several restaurants and parks to choose from.

Old Fort - About 24 miles east of Asheville and 33 miles west of Morganton. Population = 960. This is the smallest of the areas that are listed here. As you can imagine, there are few local amenities, but it's not a complete ghost town. There are some nice restaurants and parks. Though they do have a local grocery store, you would most likely end up shopping in Black Mountain or Marion for groceries etc.

Marion - About 36 miles east of Asheville and 22 miles west of Morganton. Population = 6,998. It has nice walkable downtown area with several small shops. They have a small farmers market every Tuesday and Saturday during the summer months. Several restaurants and parks to choose from.

Old Fort and Marion are in McDowell County... Housing prices and property taxes are a lot lower in this area than those in the surrounding areas.

Morganton - About 23 miles west of Hickory. Population = 17,029. It has a nice walkable downtown area. There is a somewhat large "flea" market / farmers market not too far away.

There are several great parks and outdoor attractions all across Western North Carolina, so no matter where you move to you'll be able to enjoy the outdoors.

My husband and I moved to McDowell County about 4 years ago after researching this same range of locations that I listed above. We chose this area mostly due to its central location to both Asheville and Hickory as it gave me more employment oppotunities to choose from. We really like the area and are still glad that this is where we chose to live.

I hope this helps...

[QuilterChick]

Originally Posted by Colin's Mommy

Hi all - thank you in advance for any replies - my husband and I (along with our 3 y/o) are looking to relocate - Asheville "area" being one of our picks - we were both immediatley drawn to this general area - I am sorry if this is more detail than needed but I figure the more info I can share the better...

1. Budget --> looking to rent for first 6months-year around $1,000+

2. House/Condo/Townhome? --> detached "something" preferred

3. Employment Status(commute/work from home) --> I am a nurse my husband will be an entry level accountant

4. Children(public school vs. private) --> either or - as long as they are safe and serve their purpose

5. Suburban or Urban lifestyle preference or a mix of the two --> Suburban

6. Easy access to public transit, important or not? --> Nope

7. Preferable demographics of desired neighborhood. --> Middle-upper class, safe

* late 20's early 30's professionals with an expanding family
* Within 25 minutes of a decent sized hospital - any names would be great
*45 minutes (or so) to major airport
*Good library within 10 minutes or so
*Farmers market within town
*Parks, parks and more parks
*Walk able downtown that isn't a ghost town - even if it is only a few blocks long/wide - as long as it has some "life"/"charm"/history
*depending on job markets we will probably be looking to spend around 200K when we purchase a home - in a "perfect world" it would be 1+ acres very, very close to a small/medium downtown area within close distance to amenities (grocery store, target [I know!] etc
*We are pretty laid back individuals that enjoy being outdoors and being able to walk around our small downtown with a variety of local restaurants, park etc - our zip code consists of approximately 70,000 people while our "downtown" has about 7,200

Thank you so very much for any and all suggestions

Asheville NC and Greenville SC are totally different. I believe you posted this in duplicate for Greenville? One huge difference is cost of living and jobs. Anothr would be the weather.

[Colin's Mommy]

Originally Posted by Tanya Donaghy

Based on the criteria that you listed, you actually have a lot of options in Western North Carolina...

Asheville itself is a very nice area. Though it has a great farmers market, there are a few more people than the 7,200 in your current "downtown"... For a place that's a little smaller, but still within a reasonable distance from hospitals and the Asheville Regional Airport, I would suggest that you look along I-40 between Asheville and Hickory.

Here are some of the hospitals in the area...
Asheville - Mission & Park Ridge
Marion - Mission
Morganton - Grace (Blue Ridge Health Care)
Hickory - Catawba Memorial & Frye Regional
There are also several medical centers that might be of interest to you

Here are a couple of suggestions of small / medium towns...

Black Mountain - About 15 miles east from the center of Asheville. Population = 7,910. It has a great walkable downtown area with a lot of small "shops". They have a tailgate market every Saturday during the summer months. Several restaurants and parks to choose from.

Old Fort - About 24 miles east of Asheville and 33 miles west of Morganton. Population = 960. This is the smallest of the areas that are listed here. As you can imagine, there are few local amenities, but it's not a complete ghost town. There are some nice restaurants and parks. Though they do have a local grocery store, you would most likely end up shopping in Black Mountain or Marion for groceries etc.

Marion - About 36 miles east of Asheville and 22 miles west of Morganton. Population = 6,998. It has nice walkable downtown area with several small shops. They have a small farmers market every Tuesday and Saturday during the summer months. Several restaurants and parks to choose from.

Old Fort and Marion are in McDowell County... Housing prices and property taxes are a lot lower in this area than those in the surrounding areas.

Morganton - About 23 miles west of Hickory. Population = 17,029. It has a nice walkable downtown area. There is a somewhat large "flea" market / farmers market not too far away.

There are several great parks and outdoor attractions all across Western North Carolina, so no matter where you move to you'll be able to enjoy the outdoors.

My husband and I moved to McDowell County about 4 years ago after researching this same range of locations that I listed above. We chose this area mostly due to its central location to both Asheville and Hickory as it gave me more employment oppotunities to choose from. We really like the area and are still glad that this is where we chose to live.

I hope this helps...

Thank you so much, this helps alot!!! It is so hard when you have a dozen areas in several states and they all appear lovely - it's so hard to narrow it down, but this was very helpful

[Colin's Mommy]

QuilterChick I did post this in several areas in several states in the South - we are trying to narrow it down even more and will hopefully have it done to 4 general areas in a few months so we can start taking some trips

[QuilterChick]

Originally Posted by Colin's Mommy

QuilterChick I did post this in several areas in several states in the South - we are trying to narrow it down even more and will hopefully have it done to 4 general areas in a few months so we can start taking some trips

Aah, that explains it then ... NC is such a beautiful state, here is a great website for checking out the various areas/segments according to quality of life here:

www.carolinaliving.com

Hope this is helpful to you.

[Tanya Donaghy]

Originally Posted by Colin's Mommy

Thank you so much, this helps alot!!! It is so hard when you have a dozen areas in several states and they all appear lovely - it's so hard to narrow it down, but this was very helpful

Glad to help...

Your best bet is to visit to get a better idea of each area and get a good feel for what would work best for you. Here is a link to a great relocation guide for McDowell County that gives you a lot of great information... http://v.calameo.com/2.0/cviewer.swf...36bf&langid=en