Political Climate Morganton, Hickory,Lenior (Asheville, Lenoir: houses, living in, price)

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Check out Root & Vine in Morganton, and the Smoked Ham Shank. You're welcome!

http://rootandvinerestaurant.com/wp-...inner1120F.pdf

Root & Vine. Oh, yes. Some of thew best food I've ever eaten in my life.

Fried green tomato topped with a crab cake. Shrimp n' grits that I wish I was eating right now. Wood-grilled salmon and trout, ... I don't care what the politics are, this food is damn delicious.

If I could, I'd move to Morganton so I could eat twice a day at Root & Vine.

[billj6]

Originally Posted by southbound_295

Fresh is the perfect description of Cawthorn, but I doubt that I mean it like you used it. It brought to my mind what my grandmothers meant 50 years ago. Rude and ill mannered as well as disrespectful to older people.

No one can tell someone's political leaning? I never ask people and while most reciprocate, I find the further right they are, the more they want to advertise that.

Actually it's the far left who plaster their cars with bumper strips advertising their political choices. Conservatives know their cars will be vandalized by sporting a Trump sticker.

[Lizap]

Originally Posted by billj6

Actually it's the far left who plaster their cars with bumper strips advertising their political choices. Conservatives know their cars will be vandalized by sporting a Trump sticker.

There is a political forum, where these type comments would be more appropriately discussed.

[ambrichard]

Thank you all for ideas and input. We're still working to make our home here in Oyster Bay sellable/showable. We are getting closer.
Morgantown has a slight edge, having most of what we like in a smaller town; but the home prices are higher than either Hickory or Lenoir. Some of the smaller towns to the southeast offer up possibilities. Boone would be a great choice but home prices are high as they are in Blowing Rock and they get more snow.
We soon will be driving around the area soon and possibly buy a home before we sell our present one. It makes for logistic problems, managing two properties distant from each other.
We are becoming less concerned with the politics of these areas. Most people are reasonable and live-and-let-live and can put aside the Love Trump vs Hate Trump stuff that has become a tiresome debate. Like most of the U.S. electorate, I would like to see the country move on to solving pressing issues at hand in a civil, bi-partisan manner. As I've said previously, I am more interested in my neighbors' recipe for BBQ sauce than who they voted for. Personally, I prefer more smokey/tangy to very sweet on my ribs and chicken.

[Francois]

Originally Posted by billj6

Conservatives in wnc pretty much live and let live.

I don't know how you can say that with a straight face with Madison Cawt***n as the house representative of Western NC. He is right up there with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boehbert on the Q Conspiracy list.

Appalachia is home to some of the fiercest Confederate-flag-flying Conspiracy theory Right-wingers in all of NC, particularly outside the cities and tourist towns.

[Francois]

Originally Posted by billj6

Actually it's the far left who plaster their cars with bumper strips advertising their political choices. Conservatives know their cars will be vandalized by sporting a Trump sticker.

[NC_Paddler]

The US is a tinderbox of racial and political division, and Asheville in particular is a polarizing place as a blue dot surrounded by a sea of red. Morganton/Hickory is more homogenous, so not as much tension (and not as much tolerance, generally speaking).

It's not a matter of if, but when the next bombshell will drop . . . the police aren't going to stop killing Black and Brown people, given the systemic nature of the problem, and the MAGA/BLM mutual hatred isn't going away.

[Lizap]

Originally Posted by NC_Paddler

The US is a tinderbox of racial and political division, and Asheville in particular is a polarizing place as a blue dot surrounded by a sea of red. Morganton/Hickory is more homogenous, so not as much tension (and not as much tolerance, generally speaking).

It's not a matter of if, but when the next bombshell will drop . . . the police aren't going to stop killing Black and Brown people, given the systemic nature of the problem, and the MAGA/BLM mutual hatred isn't going away.

I would not characterize the surrounding towns of Hendersonville, Brevard, and Black Mountain as a ‘sea of red’. They are fairly balanced politically, with Black Mountain being the most progressive of the three. Rural areas are more conservative.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Lizap

I would not characterize the surrounding towns of Hendersonville, Brevard, and Black Mountain as a ‘sea of red’. They are fairly balanced politically, with Black Mountain being the most progressive of the three. Rural areas are more conservative.

I get the sense that other surrounding towns like Weaverville, Saluda, Burnsville and Spruce Pine (although a bit further out) are similar. Is that accurate in your estimation?

[roadpony]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I get the sense that other surrounding towns like Weaverville, Saluda, Burnsville and Spruce Pine (although a bit further out) are similar. Is that accurate in your estimation?

I can't say absolutely firsthand, but I'd guess that Burnsville and Spruce Pine's social and political climates would be a bit more complex due to the presence of Penland School of Craft and the concentration of highly accomplished artists who live in the immediate area, many of whom are transplants. I'd also think that the presence of a Montessori school in Spruce Pine is unusual for a town of it size in WNC.