We want to move to the Mountains...Is this possible?

[drfranklin]

Mt Airy, NC is very close to the NC Triad. I was actually offered a job in Danbury, NC over 5 years ago. I LOVE that part of NC - very scenic, with rolling hills, and fantastic fall colors. My wife is from Greensboro. I would consider this area in economic transition - textiles and tobacco used to dominate - of course, no more.

Greenville, NC is very close to the NC coast - unfortunately, I know little of this area - I think I've visited once - it has East Carolina University and has a medical school there - their geography is completely different than the Piedmont, Upstate, and Western NC.

Greenville, SC sits one hour south of Asheville in far Upstate SC. It's very close to the mountains. The Upstate has more than 1 million residents and has several international companies with North American headquarters: BMW and Michelin. Thus, there are LOTS of German and French folks. (My daughter has a french girl on her soccer team.) Interesting notes about this area: Greenville/Upstate SC has more engineers per capita and has more foreign investment per capita than anywhere in the country. I would characterize this area as "exciting" and "up and coming". I'd much rather live here than Atlanta, Charlotte, or even Asheville. Of course downtown Greenville (with Falls Park) is the pinnacle of renaissance in the Upstate.

Asheville, NC - what a great area, scenic, near perfect weather (although too cold in the winter for me), mountainous. On the other hand, the economy is quite restricted: nearly all based on tourism, healthcare, service, and gov't. I've heard that BMW first approached Asheville - after Asheville declined any incentives, BMW approached Upstate leaders and the rest is history. BMW has transformed the Upstate.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Mikim36

Ha, yes and Loves Mts. has been very helpful!

So, is Greenville a good place to find cabin rentals?

Is there a Greenville SC AND NC?

As DrFranklins post said, yes, there are two Greenvilles. (In fact, every state in the south has a "Greenville", LOL)

I don't think you'd find cabins in Greenville itself, but between Asheville and Greenville you would find vacation rentals at least (just not necessarily cabins). I know of some neat ones in Mt. Airy is you decide to go that direction. I think you may want to consider starting some job searches in both Greenville and Winston Salem and see what options you come up with to help you decide which area to concentrate on

[Mikim36]

All of this information is truly helpful.

One of the first places we were considering was Greenville, SC.

We want to make sure there are some mountains in view first. LOL.

I am not so sure we'd want to live right in the city, maybe somewhere just outside of it but where we are from 75,000 is much like our larger cities and that is just too much. Our traffic is terrible here and we'd love to move somewhere with a little less of that.

On the other hand, if there are a lot of engineers and such does that mean the area is a little more high end?