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Western North Carolina The Mountain Region including Asheville
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View Poll Results: Best Place to Call Home
Biltmore Forest 3 42.86%
Biltmore Village 0 0%
Swannanoa 0 0%
Black Forest 0 0%
Ridgecrest 0 0%
Woodfin 1 14.29%
Weaverville 3 42.86%
Voters: 7. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 10-22-2019, 12:32 PM
 
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So I am making the move to Buncombe County. I have done a fair share of research and have narrowed down my possible landing site between Asheville (28803, 28804, 28805, 28806), Swannanoa, or Black Mountain.
They will all be a tolerable driving distance from my new employer. And from my online searches, all have homes within my price range.
I am leaning towards Black Mountain, but only because of its smaller size and proximity to mountains.


When I purchase a new home, I will be looking for a older home (70+ years) with unique architectural features. No more than half an acre, and away from busy highways and roads.


Is there any reasons why I should not be leaning toward Black Mountain? Are there advantage to living in east Asheville?


From past threads on this site there does seem to be strong opinions on the subject, but I still would like to read everyone's opinions on living in eastern Buncombe county.
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Old 10-22-2019, 12:43 PM
 
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I would suggest Black Mtn..close to I-40 and Blue Ridge Parkway not far into Asheville. Think you should find older home with abit of elbow room easier in Black Mtn/Swannanoa maybe even a little out on country off of US 70.
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Old 10-22-2019, 01:20 PM
 
Location: Asheville, NC
12,626 posts, read 31,949,629 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasRoadkill View Post
So I am making the move to Buncombe County. I have done a fair share of research and have narrowed down my possible landing site between Asheville (28803, 28804, 28805, 28806), Swannanoa, or Black Mountain.
They will all be a tolerable driving distance from my new employer. And from my online searches, all have homes within my price range.
I am leaning towards Black Mountain, but only because of its smaller size and proximity to mountains.


When I purchase a new home, I will be looking for a older home (70+ years) with unique architectural features. No more than half an acre, and away from busy highways and roads.


Is there any reasons why I should not be leaning toward Black Mountain? Are there advantage to living in east Asheville?


From past threads on this site there does seem to be strong opinions on the subject, but I still would like to read everyone's opinions on living in eastern Buncombe county.
I would still choose Black Mountain over all of those. I just like the small downtown and vibe it offers. If I were in East Asheville, I would lean more towards Biltmore Forest. I also like Montford since you mentioned Woodfin or Weaverville. It's located in North Asheville. Montford | Asheville's Historic Neighbourhood You can't go wrong with any of the areas though.
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Old 10-23-2019, 03:37 AM
 
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Property and other tax levels might be a selection consideration for living in the City of Asheville versus Swannanoa or Black Mountain, you should check. All 3 areas have a good supply of quaint houses to pick through.
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Old 10-23-2019, 05:41 AM
 
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Be careful of the area around the Swannanoa Women's Correctional Facility on Lake Eden Rd. in Black Mountain as it's quite the eyesore, unless you enjoy seeing beautiful country encased in 20' high barbed wire fences. On a positive note, drive past the eyesore and visit Camp Rockmount on Lake Eden for a fun experience. Reminds us of every cool kids summer camp that we've ever seen in a movie.

Many areas along the 70 corridor between BM and AVL are fairly ratty, although as a whole the areas to the east of AVL are ok. Swannanoa can be pretty good or pretty bad depending on the route you take. BM is a great town that many people flock too, with the areas in between there and AVL being hit or miss. Many in BM take 40 to get to AVL for convenience and to bypass all of the blight in between.

On a side note, there's all kinds of homes here. Many have garages, some have carports and some don't. Most have driveways and parking of some sort, but not all are paved and many are gravel. Gravel is also very expensive here, costing $400+ per truckload (personal experience) not including spreading. Our biggest shock was the amount of smaller homes here, with many being under 1000 square feet and with a single bathroom. Some are bordering on being what people consider to be "tiny homes" but priced well into the $200 - $300k range, which to us is comical.

Best bet is to leave your expectations behind and realize that keeping your sanity here will mean re-evaluating your "needs versus wants" in a property, unless you have deeper pockets than most. Renovating here can also take 3x longer or more than expected (with questionable craftsmanship), and new builds can be pretty steep too when adding in property and improvements. Took my buddy 6 months just to get his $2k water filtration system installed in his house. Lol.

Either way, bring a healthy budget with you as nothing here is cheap anymore no matter what side of Asheville you end up at .. and get used to seeing $300k+ homes next to trailers as they're everywhere. Good luck!

Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 10-23-2019 at 06:20 AM..
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Old 10-23-2019, 02:28 PM
 
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Many thanks for all the advice.


I just know I don't want to live near the airport or any of the papermills. And Hendersonville doesn't seem to have the same charm of towns east and north of Asheville.


And even though I think Asheville is amazing, I don't want to live with the tourists, traffic and its other trappings! It's a great place to visit, just not sure I would enjoy living in the middle of it all the time.


BTW - I have always lived just outside tourist towns (Santa Barbara, San Francisco, San Antonio, Galveston)
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Old 10-24-2019, 02:54 PM
 
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I vote for Black Mountain. Ten years ago we had a part time residence in Asheville, but I really wished it had been Black Mountain - it is charming and beautiful and doesn't have the crowds that Asheville does. If not Asheville, then maybe Weaverville.
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Old 10-24-2019, 07:24 PM
 
Location: Carolina Mountains
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For what it’s worth, I used to live maybe 5 miles from the airport and I would only hear noise for a few seconds on take off landing. Now I live in what I thought was the middle of no where Fairview. The Greenville airport has changed it flight path to be directly overhead for their cargo planes. I find it much more noisy then it ever was to live near AVL.
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Old 10-25-2019, 12:33 PM
 
858 posts, read 671,826 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saucystargazer View Post
For what it’s worth, I used to live maybe 5 miles from the airport and I would only hear noise for a few seconds on take off landing. Now I live in what I thought was the middle of no where Fairview. The Greenville airport has changed it flight path to be directly overhead for their cargo planes. I find it much more noisy then it ever was to live near AVL.
That is good to know - Thanks
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Old 10-27-2019, 03:24 PM
 
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If attempting to avoid Asheville and don't plan on utilizing any of it's amenities often (or at all), a place like Black Mountain is probably best. Otherwise as Beckycat mentioned areas to the north like Woodfin puts you in a quieter area minutes from North Asheville and a bit further into downtown, minus loads of traffic which tends more to the south side in/around the Biltmore. If in budget, it would be pretty hard to beat Montford or a property up along Town Mountain Road or Beaverdam Road.
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