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First & foremost, so grateful for this forum on which I've spent hours and hours, and hopefully can write a meaningful post in order to warrant your time to respond and provide input.
I am planning a 5 day trip to WNC, hopping on the cheapest flight available in the next 4-6 weeks. This is a trip to see the places that I have researched virtually, mostly via this forum, as potential relocation spots for me. After that, I would plan a longer trip, but would love your help on the initial go around. I plan to move within a year or sooner.
I'm 45, single, female, currently living in Vermont but, after trying for 9 years, do not feel it is my "forever home." I think this is in most part due to the 6 months of winter, followed by humid summers. Also, FWIW, I had a powerful, ridiculously vivid dream in which I was told to move to Asheville area. Hmmmm!
I'm an avid hiker, I have two dogs and 3 ducks and some chickens. I work from home, so finding a job is not an issue. What I do like about Vermont is the mix of people, from farmers to philosophist, gays & lesbians, tons of musicians and artists, as well as some blue-collar, and a little white collar. Drastically lacking in diversity of color, however. I live just outside of Woodstock, VT which is a quaint but almost fake touristy town with a few good bars & restaurants. I have to drive 30 minutes to get to my favorite grocery store, which is a big and fabulous co-op near Hanover, NH.
What's important to me is to find a town I can live near to (can be 10 minutes outside of town no problem, biking into town would be fantastic) that is not laden with box stores, strip malls, etc. I would love a lively, vibrant, eclectic community which has a couple of great organically inclined grocery stores, easy to access local meat & veggies, lots of great restaurants (more local than chains, some upscale options for discerning tastes), book stores, live music, and that is also visually appealing with lots of character. Beautiful setting and surrounding areas are super important to me.
Socially, I get along with all sorts of people, but do enjoy hanging with people who lean towards authentic communication, intellectual as well as soulful discussions...folks who like to delve deep and get vulnerable. I'm a cross between an intellectual farmer hippy introvert/extrovert business person! Not at all religious, but not at all anti-religious either.
Enough about me!
I think elevation might be important (I've read a lot of Motor David's posts) because I'm not a big fan of too much humidity. I can tolerate fairly cold winters if they aren't too long, don't mind snow, but days on end in the negatives are why I want to leave VT. I'm used to driving on treacherous roads. I'm very used to heating with a wood-stove alone. I need a longer gardening season and shorter winter, in short! I would also love to be able to take my dogs on hikes right outside my back door (e.g: next to hiking/conservation land/land it's ok to hike on) and it would be really wonderful to live close to a place I could swim (with my dogs). Dogs are a big deal to me, so off-leash options are a must.
From reading all the posts (well, not all) it sounds like living close to Black Mountain, Brevard, or Blowing Rock might be good contenders for me? What are your thoughts?
I would rent for a year to be sure, but my price range will be around $250-300k for a home, but am also considering purchasing land and building (I have a friend who is a great builder). Would need to be on a minimum of 2 acres. I don't want to be in a development.
Brevard? Black Mountain? Blowing Rock? Or.... And....?
I think Blowing Rock is a neat little town, but I don't know that it meets what you are looking for. It's pretty small. It's also close to an hour and a half from Asheville. I've never been to Black Mountain, so I can't comment on it. I love Brevard. It's very close to Pisgah National Forest and Dupont Forest. I can't remember which one the ranger told us our dogs could be off leash, but to be very careful because they can fall off a cliff in a blink of an eye (I didn't take our dogs off leash because of this). It's a great little town, in my opinion.
First & foremost, so grateful for this forum on which I've spent hours and hours, and hopefully can write a meaningful post in order to warrant your time to respond and provide input.
I am planning a 5 day trip to WNC, hopping on the cheapest flight available in the next 4-6 weeks. This is a trip to see the places that I have researched virtually, mostly via this forum, as potential relocation spots for me. After that, I would plan a longer trip, but would love your help on the initial go around. I plan to move within a year or sooner.
I'm 45, single, female, currently living in Vermont but, after trying for 9 years, do not feel it is my "forever home." I think this is in most part due to the 6 months of winter, followed by humid summers. Also, FWIW, I had a powerful, ridiculously vivid dream in which I was told to move to Asheville area. Hmmmm!
I'm an avid hiker, I have two dogs and 3 ducks and some chickens. I work from home, so finding a job is not an issue. What I do like about Vermont is the mix of people, from farmers to philosophist, gays & lesbians, tons of musicians and artists, as well as some blue-collar, and a little white collar. Drastically lacking in diversity of color, however. I live just outside of Woodstock, VT which is a quaint but almost fake touristy town with a few good bars & restaurants. I have to drive 30 minutes to get to my favorite grocery store, which is a big and fabulous co-op near Hanover, NH.
What's important to me is to find a town I can live near to (can be 10 minutes outside of town no problem, biking into town would be fantastic) that is not laden with box stores, strip malls, etc. I would love a lively, vibrant, eclectic community which has a couple of great organically inclined grocery stores, easy to access local meat & veggies, lots of great restaurants (more local than chains, some upscale options for discerning tastes), book stores, live music, and that is also visually appealing with lots of character. Beautiful setting and surrounding areas are super important to me.
Socially, I get along with all sorts of people, but do enjoy hanging with people who lean towards authentic communication, intellectual as well as soulful discussions...folks who like to delve deep and get vulnerable. I'm a cross between an intellectual farmer hippy introvert/extrovert business person! Not at all religious, but not at all anti-religious either.
Enough about me!
I think elevation might be important (I've read a lot of Motor David's posts) because I'm not a big fan of too much humidity. I can tolerate fairly cold winters if they aren't too long, don't mind snow, but days on end in the negatives are why I want to leave VT. I'm used to driving on treacherous roads. I'm very used to heating with a wood-stove alone. I need a longer gardening season and shorter winter, in short! I would also love to be able to take my dogs on hikes right outside my back door (e.g: next to hiking/conservation land/land it's ok to hike on) and it would be really wonderful to live close to a place I could swim (with my dogs). Dogs are a big deal to me, so off-leash options are a must.
From reading all the posts (well, not all) it sounds like living close to Black Mountain, Brevard, or Blowing Rock might be good contenders for me? What are your thoughts?
I would rent for a year to be sure, but my price range will be around $250-300k for a home, but am also considering purchasing land and building (I have a friend who is a great builder). Would need to be on a minimum of 2 acres. I don't want to be in a development.
Brevard? Black Mountain? Blowing Rock? Or.... And....?
Thank you so much!!
Sue
Black Mountain could very well be your "place", definitely my favorite if I hadn't already settled in Hendersonville (from New England many moons ago).
Thank you QuilterChick and GoldenLove! Black Mtn's proximity to Asheville is appealing. Being single, it would be nice to be near somewhere with easy opportunities to meet people (some classes perhaps, or yoga, etc.). It looks like the elevation of BM vs. Brevard is about the same, around 2200'. I'm wondering if it's possible to get a higher elevation within 10 minutes of the town.
Dogs falling off cliffs sounds scary. Mine are used to hiking the VT mountains with me which do have "clliffy" edges in places so hopefully it won't be an issue.
What do you love most about Black Mountain QC? How, dare I ask, do you compare New England humidity to the humidity in Hendersonville, on the whole? Also, are there reasonably safe roads to bike on (bike paths are non-existent where I live!).
I'll do a lot more digging, but it might make sense for me to stay in Black Mountain for my 5 day trip and venture out from there.
Thank you for your input and I welcome anything further!
If you are going to stay in Black Mountain, take a day trip over to Waynesville. It's not too far (or too close) to Asheville. You can find higher elevations in the surrounding mountains and there's lots of hiking nearby. We live in Canton, actually about 10 miles north of Canton, which gets a bad rap because of the factory and the smell it can put out. Where we live, we very, very seldom smell it and when we do, it's not offensive at all. Of course, I came from Raleigh where there's a lot of cars which to me smell much worse than the Canton paper plant. Anyhow, what I was aiming to say was that we are at 4400 feet. We look down on the clouds. It's cool, we haven't had to turn on our A/C yet this year, and the humidity has been quite low.
So, if you get over to Waynesville, you should be able to find a place in the higher elevations that will stay cooler and have lower humidity. The town of Waynesville is quaint and has lots of the things you are looking for. It's about 45 minutes or so from Asheville.
Also check out areas in and around Banner Elk..really offers everything on your wish list.....do a search look at real estate online...1 thing I eliminated immediately while searching online was homes built with decks on stilts....OMG with 4 dogs that terrified me! Good luck it is a fabulous place to live
PS. Can anyone recommend a realtor for the Black Mountain area? I've done plenty of searching on realtor.com, but would like to get a better idea within my parameters of what's available.
Thank you QuilterChick and GoldenLove! Black Mtn's proximity to Asheville is appealing. Being single, it would be nice to be near somewhere with easy opportunities to meet people (some classes perhaps, or yoga, etc.). It looks like the elevation of BM vs. Brevard is about the same, around 2200'. I'm wondering if it's possible to get a higher elevation within 10 minutes of the town.
Dogs falling off cliffs sounds scary. Mine are used to hiking the VT mountains with me which do have "clliffy" edges in places so hopefully it won't be an issue.
What do you love most about Black Mountain QC? How, dare I ask, do you compare New England humidity to the humidity in Hendersonville, on the whole? Also, are there reasonably safe roads to bike on (bike paths are non-existent where I live!).
I'll do a lot more digging, but it might make sense for me to stay in Black Mountain for my 5 day trip and venture out from there.
Thank you for your input and I welcome anything further!
Hi there. When you get here you will see the difference between Brevard, Hendersonville, and Black Mountain as far as elevation goes and things to do. As for size of town, smaller in this order: Brevard, Black Mountain, Hendersonville. Mountains close to towns: Brevard, Black Mountain, Hendersonville. (Black Mountain is a mountain, I'm not sure about the elevations of each, but you are a hop, skip and a jump in either of these towns for hiking and walking trails.) I'd choose BMtn. for the views alone. They are everywhere literally. However, BMtn. will be the most expensive for housing prices. Hendersonville probably has the most activities that you are seeking, but it is further from Asheville. My circle of friends and I don't go to Asheville much for shopping, we have plenty here around Hendersonville. We do go to the 'fringe' towns like Fletcher, Arden etc. for some shopping, and go to some of the good restaurants in/near Asheville. We are not into fast food, of which there is plenty everywhere you go around here. Just about every name of store you have up there you will have here, and much more. Another nice town you may want to consider is Waynesville, there are some outstanding views around Waynesville which is approx. 30 miles west of Asheville. To the north of Asheville, I'd suggest Weaverville (but pricey).
Traffic in and out of Asheville can be brutal. Black Mountain, however, is only about 16 miles on the interstate to Asheville; 'the mall' in Asheville is no big deal and I rarely go there because of the traffic and lack of major department stores. Lots of expensive 'boutique' stores in Asheville itself, especially in Biltmore Village. Asheville mall has a JC Penny, Dillards, TJMaxx, Belk's (comp. to Macy's), a Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. Nothing to write home about (imo). You won't find areas like No. Conway for 'discount outlets', a few outlets here and there, nothing exciting though. I am a quilter and a knitter, and don't have any problem finding good shops to feed my habit.
Humidity here? not an issue for me, I live halfway between Hendersonville and Brevard. Brevard is in Transylvania County which is a temperate rain forest area. This summer has been the worst since I've lived here, for humidity and summer temps that we had for a few weeks stuck in the low 90's. That is rare if you look up stats on reliable websites. Usually it is very moderate low to mid 80's. When it is humid in NH, MA, or RI, it is horrid ... not the case here. Important -
Here are a couple of good websites you might find helpful, local major newspapers:
Also of importance to you may be airports: Asheville airport is in Fletcher (Fletcher is partly in Henderson County and party in Buncombe County) and it is a great airport, I like that I can get there in about 15 mins. from my house. There is another nice airport in Greenville SC, about 45 mins. from Hendersonville, connections to BOS from either are necessary. You will have to drive to Charlotte (2 hrs. from Hendersonville) if you want direct flights to BOS from here.
There is always something going on in each of these towns (and several others), fairs, festivals, farmer's markets are everywhere. If you Google the names of these towns you will get 'bushels' of good information and photos of the surroundings.
Everything in relocation depends on lifestyle and wants/needs. Hope this helps, wishing you the best !
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