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Great thread! I just moved to Knoxville from Denver last September and I'm impressed with how many fun day trips to beautiful places I can take, both in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. I'm enjoying Knoxville, but still think I'll end up in a smaller town/city in the near future.
I have visited Johnson City a few times, and Jonesborough and Erwin once. I like all 3 of those spots, and they are in good proximity to Asheville. Here's a good article from a few years ago on how the mayor used millennials to help revive Erwin: https://www.governing.com/topics/mgm...llennials.html
Having said that, I'm so impressed with the number of beautiful small mountain towns in WNC. I've visited Boone, Blowing Rock, Bryson City (and Asheville), so I have a lot more to explore. I especially loved loved the summer temps in Boone and Blowing Rock. Coming from Colorado where I was the last 9 years, I forgot how much I really dislike the hot and humid summer temps ( I grew up in VA).
I have a mobile job so employment is not an issue for when (and if) I decide to move to a smaller town.
Having said that, if job wasn't an issue, what would be everyone's first choice of places to live in WNC and why?
Probably the city of Asheville itself. It's close back to where my family is from in the Tri-Cities and to points further south and east.
Scottcoolby Job was part of my issue and why we moved to Yancey county NC . We vacationed in wnc for years before we had all we could stand of SW FL and movied to Yancey County 23 years ago . Continued to build or remodel homes till I retired .
n We on the west side of our county so asheville is a 30 minute ride away , weaverville is 20 minutes away but that does change with were a person lives . We have Mission-Blue Ridge Medical here , good fire /rescue and emt with a great small sheriffs department to keep the problem folks under control . Ha Good high speed internet and still not many tourist !
Burnsville is a good small town that fills most needs . We also have Prices Creek General Store thats the real thing . No touristy mast general store junk . No worry's about heat with 85* being a summer high in a sunny valley . Winter temps and snow depend greatly on were you pick to live too .
Not like it matters much to WNC but you should research how many nuclear power plants , naval fuel rods production , waste , storage and disposal and future nuclear testing is in eastern Tn . Wow
If it were me I’d be more concerned with the paper mill in Canton that’s been polluting the airways in and around Asheville for generations (you can smell and see it from the Biltmore) or the DE combined plant in Arden / Lake Julian (a “lake” consisting of wastewater that’s used to cool off the plant). Wanna go swimming or eat some fish from it?
Don’t even mention the homeless population, human trafficking and shootings happening in AVL now, or the Oconee nuclear plant just to the south of Brevard.
Erwin, TN has a small facility that produces nuclear fuel for the Navy from decommissioned nuclear weapons (Nuclear Fuel Services) and the majority of nuclear plants in TN are all located near / south of Knoxville, or the same proximity to JC and Erwin as they are to Asheville and surrounding.
The plant in SC (Oconee) is even closer to AVL at 85 miles / 40 miles from Brevard and there’s also the plants to the east of AVL heading towards Charlotte (100 miles). So yeah, they’re all around and everywhere if you look hard enough.
If it were me I wouldn’t feed into the misinformation and fear found here and on the net or you’ll become old, angry and disillusioned about life and where you live. Nowhere is perfect, not even WNC.
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 07-30-2020 at 09:03 AM..
Great thread. Looking to move to this area, as well. Of all the small towns in WNC or ETN being discussed, which is best for a family with young kids? Trying to avoid strictly retirement areas. Even seasonal influxes of young families would be a plus. Thanks!
Moved to Franklin, NC from the Tampa area 12 years ago and never looked back, especially after we finally sold the Florida house. Being self employed and working out of the house made looking for work here a non-issue, but the area is growing albeit more slowly than towns closer to Asheville. The town has a rep as a retirement area, but that doesn't explain the explosive growth in the local school system. For outdoor and nature lovers the area is really tough to beat, so much to do within a 30 mile radius you'll never get bored. If you like sports cars or motorcycles, welcome to Nirvana.
DP79 Not many real retirement areas in rural WNC but plenty of us older folks scattered around the mountains but few all clumpped together !! . Try to spend some time researching the smaller towns .
I like Yancey county and our town Burnsville , its close enough to Weaverville for those big box store needs or Asheville to fill those occasional nights out or other needs and return to your more rural home and area thats not a touristy hot spot . Grow a garden , ride a bike or motorcycle , take the sports car out for a ride or build a hot rod to enjoy but at a slower pace .
Great thread. Looking to move to this area, as well. Of all the small towns in WNC or ETN being discussed, which is best for a family with young kids? Trying to avoid strictly retirement areas. Even seasonal influxes of young families would be a plus. Thanks!
Our family of five left the Weaverville / Asheville area earlier this year (spurred by a great job offer just over the hill in TN). TBH living there was highly overrated not to mention expensive, especially for those with young families and was the best decision we ever made since coming to the area in 2017.
The school system surrounding AVL is simply lousy. Weaverville Elementary was the exception as we had one in elem, middle school and high school at the time. Everything found in the AVL area can be had for half the cost when moving “over the hill” into TN, a short 30 minute hassle free and beautiful drive away.
My wife still works in Weaverville and brags to me about the beauty of her commute everyday at dinner or when we come into NC to explore. Lol.
For families I’d either check out Jonesborough or Erwin, TN. Erwin is located in what’s called The Valley Beautiful and Jonesborough is the oldest town in TN with a cute downtown strip and surrounding farming community.
Both offer great proximity to all things Appalachia with Erwin having the best proximity to the mountains, an outdoor whitewater adventure center and a 150 acre mountain bike park in the works. There’s also a cute downtown strip that has lots of potential, with a great bakery (Whisk), coffee shop (Steel Rails) and tap room (Union Street).
Here’s some details on both areas ...
Erwin - Located at the base of the mountains, great property values, family area (conservative), gigabit fiber internet, up and coming walkable town, 30 min to Weaverville, 40 to Asheville, 15 to Johnson City, TN tax advantages, beautiful open and mountain roads for motorcycles and bicycling, Appalachian Trail passes by town with lots of AT hikers, hiking and water nearby.
Jonesborough - 15 minutes to the mountains with beautiful mountain scenery, gorgeous “rolling hills”, super cute walkable downtown strip, surrounding family and farming community, greater concentration of retirees, higher price tags and property values the closer to DT you get, 10 min to Johnson City, 20 to Erwin and 60 to Asheville, beautiful winding roads for motorcycles and bicycling, better schools on average (best schools are in JC) and TN tax advantages.
If mountain activities are your thing then Erwin can’t be beat. If a little more usable land (with a higher price tag) is doable then Jonesborough is a great choice too. Both are located near the Nolichucky River and Watauga Lake, two of the areas premier waterways and the high country surrounding Boone, NC is under an hour.
Come with employment or employment options though as ETN / WNC (Appalachia in general) isn’t a place to come looking for a career or career change, or even above average schools. Be involved and you’ll be alright though. Good luck.
Last edited by VinceTheExplorer; 08-03-2020 at 10:53 AM..
Not like it matters much to WNC but you should research how many nuclear power plants , naval fuel rods production , waste , storage and disposal and future nuclear testing is in eastern Tn . Wow
I guess that's just your hear-say because most locals do not even know about these. Come on, nuclear testing? Like what they did back in the 50s on Marshall Islands?
... For outdoor and nature lovers the area is really tough to beat, so much to do within a 30 mile radius you'll never get bored. If you like sports cars or motorcycles, welcome to Nirvana.
Great thread. Looking to move to this area, as well. Of all the small towns in WNC or ETN being discussed, which is best for a family with young kids? Trying to avoid strictly retirement areas. Even seasonal influxes of young families would be a plus. Thanks!
In TN, I'd really consider Johnson City and Washington County only. Here's why.
Johnson City has among the best schools in the state and likely the best north and east of Knoxville. Washington County schools are a bit behind Johnson City, but still pretty good. A lot of middle class and above families with small kids have moved to Washington County/Johnson City because it's really the only part of the area that has natural net population growth.
The city of Johnson City is actually quite vibrant with a lot going for a city its size between it attracting most of the younger, more affluent area residents, as well as having some decent growth over the years from the VA, Ballad, and ETSU.
If you are a city resident, you pay city + county property taxes, but that gives you access to paid city services like firefighting (instead of volunteer firefighting common in the counties), water and sewer at a "discounted rate" compared to the county areas that are on city services, city schools, etc.
Jonesborough is a good option if you want a smaller town feel. With that said, "land" like Vince mentioned really isn't possible in the town of Jonesborough. You may find land with a Jonesborough address, but I'd be very diligent about what kind of services a property like that offers. The land between Jonesborough and Greenville between 321 and the Nolichucky River is fairly expensive - it is the best farming land in the region.
The "issue" is that anything below $200k or so is just flying off the market. A "decent" 3BR/2BA, built in the last twenty years or so and zoned to Johnson City schools, is probably going to start at around $250k. While not WNC insanity, housing prices in Washington County are really out of line with area payscales.
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