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We're considering moving to the Asheville or Greenville area from Denver. My wife and I (mid-40s) have lived here for almost 13 years now and are getting itchy to leave. What appeals to us about these metro areas are their smaller size, proximity to outdoor activities, climate, and access to other metro areas and the coast.
What we're looking for:
- walkable neighborhoods with a sense of community and a few stores and restaurants
- newer homes (I'm on my third pre-WWII house and have had my fill)
- easy access to outdoor activities, like less than a 30 minute drive
- 3 bedroom/2 bath house 1500-2500 sq ft - I think our price range is around 600k, and we could go as high as 800k if it was something phenomenal.
- decent schools - we have a 10 year old and we're open to looking at private school if that makes the most sense
Sounds like Denver, I know. We're just ready for a change, and we're aware that we'll need to be flexible on things.
Our plan is to fly into Atlanta this weekend and spend four days driving around Asheville and Greenville to get a feel for the area.
What neighborhoods are worth checking out in the city limits of Asheville and Greenville? We may check out or at least drive through Simpsonsville, Greer, Travelers Rest, Black Mountain, Weaverville, and Hendersonville while we're in the area.
<crossposted in the Greenville/Spartanburg city-data forum too>
The Greenville and Asheville areas are completely different. The smaller WNC towns you mentioned are ‘mountain towns’. Greenville is about 40-45 minutes from the mountains. Completely different. Depends on your preference. Greenville has a cute downtown, but other than this, could really be anywhere. It is within about a 40-45min drive to lakes and the mountains. Travelers Rest is growing and is closer to the mountains. The towns cities in WNC you mentioned (I would also include Brevard and Waynesville) are really special. There is really nothing comparable in SC. As you drive up toward Hendersonville on Hwy. 25 and cross over into NC, the variety of trees and landscape changes and is just beautiful. Summer temps. in WNC are going to be somewhat cooler than those in upstate SC. You have easy access to outdoor activities in WNC. You should not have a problem finding a house in your price range. I would take a close look at the smaller towns in WNC as they offer much of what you’re looking for.
Four days is not a lot of time to cover this area. I would suggest narrowing your focus to Greenville and Hendersonville, Brevard, and Black Mountain in WNC. You could also take a drive up to Asheville and Weaverville, time permitting. It is possible you will rule Greenville out pretty quickly. What you’re going to find is WNC is closer to what you’re use to in Colorado (in terms of landscape, climate, outdoor activities, etc.). You’ve got to know where to look to find the nicer residential, more scenic areas in these towns. For example, in the Hendersonville area, I would visit downtown, and the residential areas south of downtown toward Flat Rock, west of downtown toward Laurel Park, and southwest of downtown out Kanuga Rd. Brevard also has a very nice downtown. You will see lots of new retail on Hwy 280 headed into town. Black Mountain also has a cute, but small downtown. Driving toward Montreat you will see some nice residential and scenic areas.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. We are used to larger cities and while we appreciate small towns and have spent a decent amount of time in some of the mountain towns in Colorado, I'm not sure if we'd be happy living in a town with a population less than 10k or so. We'll start in Greenville and Asheville and probably work our way outwards, looking at these other towns.
My job might allow me to work remotely from NC since we have a tax agreement set up there already, so I lean more towards NC over SC. Hendersonville looks interesting for sure.
Lizap, thanks for the specific neighborhood suggestions.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. We are used to larger cities and while we appreciate small towns and have spent a decent amount of time in some of the mountain towns in Colorado, I'm not sure if we'd be happy living in a town with a population less than 10k or so. We'll start in Greenville and Asheville and probably work our way outwards, looking at these other towns.
My job might allow me to work remotely from NC since we have a tax agreement set up there already, so I lean more towards NC over SC. Hendersonville looks interesting for sure.
Lizap, thanks for the specific neighborhood suggestions.
Hendersonville has about 14,000 population and Flat Rock, which is adjacent within a few miles has about 3,000, but the town/area feels much larger, as it is so near Asheville. Much of Asheville’s retail is south of the city toward Hendersonville. The airport is close to Hendersonville. We have many banks, grocery stores, specialty shops, and restaurants. We have 2 hospitals and many physicians. Hendersonville is a great town in which to raise a family. . We have one of the prettiest Main streets you’ll find anywhere, with plenty of al fresco dining and festivals throughout the year. The area has a lot of apple orchards and a number of wineries. We have 4 distinct seasons and average about 6-8 inches of snow a year. Given your desire to live somewhere with at least 10,000 people, you might decide to rule out several of the other smaller WNC towns mentioned, including Brevard, Burnsville, and Black Mountain. We seriously considered Boulder for retirement, but the natural beauty and lushness of this area won us over. Although housing prices have risen greatly here in the last couple of years, coming from Colorado, you should be able to get more house for your money here. Best of luck!
Both are good options. So, looking at your list, I feel NC is going to have more of what you are requesting. The biggest thing will be less than a 30 minute drive to outdoor things. The closest thing that Greenville has to offer is Paris Mountain State Park. You will have to travel up to an hour to anything else. There are several outdoor things in and around Asheville, less than 30 minutes away. We have plenty of trails along with the Blue Ridge Parkway. You can swim/tube/kayak/etc in the river. Housing will be less in Greenville but your budget still works in WNC. Greenville has a very nice, walkable downtown with a waterfall going through it. Downtown Asheville also has a very walkable downtown. West Asheville is very walkable as well with shops, breweries, restaurants, bars and more. It has a younger crowd with hipsters, hippies and everything else in between. As for schools, they both have their fair share of good schools. You will just have to do your research to make a choice. The topography is different in both places. It's much more hilly in Asheville. It is also going to boil down to the vibe that you are seeking. They are 2 different places for sure. This was a big thing for me to make my final decision. I agree with Lizap that WNC is going to feel much more like Denver. I lived in both places and can give you my honest input, if you want to pm me.
If you don't want a small town feel, I suggest you live in Asheville or Greenville proper. If you are looking in Greenville, I highly suggest the North Main Area. You might also like Simpsonville, SC in the Five Forks area. There are walkable towns in Greenville but they are going to be smaller. Greer, Travelers Rest and Simpsonville are the ones that come to mind.
In NC, I think the biggest walkable town, outside of Asheville will be Hendersonville. Hendersonville has most of the retail you need and good hospitals. It's also between Asheville and Greenville. It's quieter than Asheville. Hendersonville is about 30 minutes to Asheville and 40 minutes to Greenville. I also like Black Mountain for a walkable town but it's smaller. You would end up in Asheville for a bigger city feel. It's going to be about 20 minutes to Asheville. West Asheville, Charlotte Street area or Montford are good choices in Asheville. You can walk to downtown from Charlotte St or Montford. East Asheville has a decent amount of big box stores and the mall but it's not walkable. The nice thing is that everything is basically 10-15 min each way, outside of rush hour. I like Asheville just because it has the most going on with being closer to trails for hiking and the river.
Following up on my initial post, my wife and I checked out Greenville on Saturday. We drove through downtown and about five or six close-in neighborhoods, went for a hike in Paris Mountain State Park, and went out to dinner in downtown Greenville that night. While it’s a nice town, it’s probably not for us. We appreciated the size of the metro area and some of the neighborhoods could work for us, but we also didn’t see a compelling reason to move there from Denver. If we moved to one of the neighborhoods we liked, we’d be further from outdoor activities than we are here in Denver, and with way less to choose from. And as Lizap said, apart from the downtown area Greenville could really be Anywhere USA. That’s not a knock on it, but also not what we’re looking for.
On Sunday morning we left Greenville and headed north, stopping in Hendersonville. We loved the drive up and being in the mountains. I liked Hendersonville's smaller size, quieter feel, and proximity to forests, but my wife prefers more urban areas so she was less enthused.
We both liked Asheville much more than Greenville and feel it’s likely a better fit for us. I liked the eclectic nature of the city – it reminded me a bit of Boulder and Bend, OR. While not hipsters or tree hugging dirt worshipers ourselves, we don’t get bent out of shape about their presence so that wasn’t a bother. It was great to have so many outdoor recreation options just 15-20 minutes away in the mountains, and being surrounded by mountains on all sides was a great feeling. We drove through a bunch of neighborhoods to the west and north of downtown that day and liked pretty much all of them, although the steep grades, narrow streets, or lack of sidewalks would make some of them no-gos when it comes to walkability.
On Monday we drove up the Blue Ridge parkway, went on a hike, and then checked out Brevard before heading back to Asheville. Brevard was really nice but a little too far from either Greenville or Asheville for our liking. On Tuesday morning, my wife worked from a coffee shop for a bit and I drove around south Asheville, down towards Arden. This area felt a little more spread out than the areas north or west of downtown and looked to have more recent development. What I appreciated was that it only took 15 minutes mid-morning to get from south Asheville back to west Asheville where my wife was working.
We left with a great impression of the area and we’re continuing to talk about moving. The next questions are about schools and if we can find a house we'd be excited about in Asheville in our price range.
Last edited by mundele; 05-05-2022 at 04:46 PM..
Reason: removing asterisks
Following up on my initial post, my wife and I checked out Greenville on Saturday. We drove through downtown and about five or six close-in neighborhoods, went for a hike in Paris Mountain State Park, and went out to dinner in downtown Greenville that night. While it’s a nice town, it’s probably not for us. We appreciated the size of the metro area and some of the neighborhoods could work for us, but we also didn’t see a compelling reason to move there from Denver. If we moved to one of the neighborhoods we liked, we’d be further from outdoor activities than we are here in Denver, and with way less to choose from. And as Lizap said, apart from the downtown area Greenville could really be Anywhere USA. That’s not a knock on it, but also not what we’re looking for.
On Sunday morning we left Greenville and headed north, stopping in Hendersonville. We loved the drive up and being in the mountains. I liked Hendersonville's smaller size, quieter feel, and proximity to forests, but my wife prefers more urban areas so she was less enthused.
We both liked Asheville much more than Greenville and feel it’s likely a better fit for us. I liked the eclectic nature of the city – it reminded me a bit of Boulder and Bend, OR. While not hipsters or tree hugging dirt worshipers ourselves, we don’t get bent out of shape about their presence so that wasn’t a bother. It was great to have so many outdoor recreation options just 15-20 minutes away in the mountains, and being surrounded by mountains on all sides was a great feeling. We drove through a bunch of neighborhoods to the west and north of downtown that day and liked pretty much all of them, although the steep grades, narrow streets, or lack of sidewalks would make some of them no-gos when it comes to walkability.
On Monday we drove up the Blue Ridge parkway, went on a hike, and then checked out Brevard before heading back to Asheville. Brevard was really nice but a little too far from either Greenville or Asheville for our liking. On Tuesday morning, my wife worked from a coffee shop for a bit and I drove around south Asheville, down towards Arden. This area felt a little more spread out than the areas north or west of downtown and looked to have more recent development. What I appreciated was that it only took 15 minutes mid-morning to get from south Asheville back to west Asheville where my wife was working.
We left with a great impression of the area and we’re continuing to talk about moving. The next questions are about schools and if we can find a house we'd be excited about in Asheville in our price range.
I thought you might like Asheville. Sounds like West Asheville might be a good fit for you. Glad you liked it here and had a good time. We also like Boulder and Bend; both of these were on our short list for retirement, but WNC won out.
Following up on my initial post, my wife and I checked out Greenville on Saturday. We drove through downtown and about five or six close-in neighborhoods, went for a hike in Paris Mountain State Park, and went out to dinner in downtown Greenville that night. While it’s a nice town, it’s probably not for us. We appreciated the size of the metro area and some of the neighborhoods could work for us, but we also didn’t see a compelling reason to move there from Denver. If we moved to one of the neighborhoods we liked, we’d be further from outdoor activities than we are here in Denver, and with way less to choose from. And as Lizap said, apart from the downtown area Greenville could really be Anywhere USA. That’s not a knock on it, but also not what we’re looking for.
On Sunday morning we left Greenville and headed north, stopping in Hendersonville. We loved the drive up and being in the mountains. I liked Hendersonville's smaller size, quieter feel, and proximity to forests, but my wife prefers more urban areas so she was less enthused.
We both liked Asheville much more than Greenville and feel it’s likely a better fit for us. I liked the eclectic nature of the city – it reminded me a bit of Boulder and Bend, OR. While not hipsters or tree hugging dirt worshipers ourselves, we don’t get bent out of shape about their presence so that wasn’t a bother. It was great to have so many outdoor recreation options just 15-20 minutes away in the mountains, and being surrounded by mountains on all sides was a great feeling. We drove through a bunch of neighborhoods to the west and north of downtown that day and liked pretty much all of them, although the steep grades, narrow streets, or lack of sidewalks would make some of them no-gos when it comes to walkability.
On Monday we drove up the Blue Ridge parkway, went on a hike, and then checked out Brevard before heading back to Asheville. Brevard was really nice but a little too far from either Greenville or Asheville for our liking. On Tuesday morning, my wife worked from a coffee shop for a bit and I drove around south Asheville, down towards Arden. This area felt a little more spread out than the areas north or west of downtown and looked to have more recent development. What I appreciated was that it only took 15 minutes mid-morning to get from south Asheville back to west Asheville where my wife was working.
We left with a great impression of the area and we’re continuing to talk about moving. The next questions are about schools and if we can find a house we'd be excited about in Asheville in our price range.
Here is the issue.
I'm from east TN and have spent a lot of time in Asheville recreationally over the past fifteen years. My girlfriend lives in a rural area about 15-20 minutes outside of downtown. She hates the city life. I like it. I can have my nice dinner downtown, go to a show at the Orange Peel, and be back in bed within a half hour of getting into my car. She has a few acres with a manufactured home (permanent foundation and basement - it is not a trailer) nearly equidistant between Weaverville and Marshall in Madison County.
Asheville itself is basically bifurcated with a small business owner and (much smaller) professional white collar upper class and a much, much larger, service-driven underclass. Locals, living on local wages, for the most part, are priced out of the city limits into surrounding areas or even surrounding areas outside of Buncombe County. Even then, it is not as cheap as one would think.
Asheville has been one of (if not, THE) the most expensive housing markets in NC for the better part of a decade. Its housing market is as expensive as the best parts of Raleigh, with a fraction of the jobs or overall prosperity.
I'll be honest. Even with all its issues, Asheville is still one of my most favorite places in the country. Within the last few months, I accepted a six figure offer in a tech role for a STEM firm with an Asheville area plant. I like both Greenville and Asheville. Greenville has better retail, a better downtown, and better winter weather. Dining is actually a coin flip, with maybe an edge to Greenville. Greenville has more and better minor league sports. Clemson is nearby. Asheville has a bit of scenery and summer weather edge. Greenville is more economical. I could get new construction in metro Greenville, for a townhome, for what I'd pay for a 2BR-3BR, <1800 sq. ft, needing updates, in AVL. I can stay at my girlfriend's any time I need to go to an AVL event.
It's really deciding on what is most important to you. With kids, I'd rather live in Simpsonville or Greer, but plenty of people make metro AVL work, but I think you would need to be more involved in your kids' education.
With that said, you might want to look out to Lake Keowee or Lake Jocassee. Better recreation, and if you can work remotely, why not? Lake property is still going to be cheaper than prime mountain property.
A wild card option would Johnson City, TN, north of Asheville, over the mountains. I'm from that area, but JC schools are excellent. Your budget would go much farther than AVL, maybe a bit more than GVL. No state income tax and more favorable tax treatment. JC is more along the lines of a little Greenville, but the south side of town is more liberal and crunchy like AVL.
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As for schools, they both have their fair share of good schools. You will just have to do your research to make a choice. The topography is different in both places. It's much more hilly in Asheville. It is also going to boil down to the vibe that you are seeking. They are 2 different places for sure. This was a big thing for me to make my final decision. I agree with Lizap that WNC is going to feel much more like Denver. I lived in both places and can give you my honest input, if you want to pm me.
