Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
hi, i've been reading some of these threads and it's funny how so many people, (myself included) are looking for that "perfect" town. In my few wanderings through western NC, I can just remember thinking to myself "this is just the most beautiful place i've seen in my life". Hopefully, and with a little luck we will be looking into moving there in the next 3 or so years. Plenty of time to look around, but, it would help me out greatly if some of you could help me out in the meantime. what we are looking for is a woodsy, hilly place where we can buy a little cabin on 2or3 acres. Not quite "in" the mountains, but very close, and with a view of them. preferably 20 or so minutes outside a town/small city that has cool funky restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, book stores, a place with character-- asheville sounds to fit the bill, are the surrounding areas nice? how about hickory, hendersonville? Any help would be great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we are probably looking to buy for a vacation place for a few years and then move in permanently after that.
Well there are plenty of knowledgable people here who can fill you in on Hendersonville or Hickory, but we ended up buying in Madison County, north of Ashville. Our Post Office is Marshall, NC....a funky wonderful town. Nearby you have Mars Hill, Weaverville, and a little bit further up the road is Hot Springs.
These are all on the edge of the mountains, near Pisgah National Forest, part of what was once George Vanderbilt's (Biltmore Estate) property.
Hendersonville is very nice. We always stop in for lunch on our way to Sapphire Valley. There are many nice restaurants, general stores, art galleries and shops. The hospital is very close to the center of town, which should be a consideration to anyone retired. About 25 minutes away is the DuPont State Forest - http://www.dupontforest.com/accommodations.asp (broken link)
This is a very nice city with a small-town country feel to it.
The topography is much different between Hickory (Catawba County) and Hendersonville (Henderson County). Hendersonville is located in the Mountain Region while Hickory is in the Piedmont Region. The highest elevation in Catawba County is 1,780 feet above sea level while the highest point in Henderson County is 5,280 feet.
The Mountain Region is an area of steep ridges, inter-mountain basins and valleys that intersect at all angles, giving the region its rugged character. The NC region contains the highest mountains in eastern North America. Around 125 peaks exceed 5,000 feet in elevation.
The Piedmont Region consists of generally rolling, well-rounded hills and ridges with a few hundred feet of elevation difference between the hills and valleys.
thanks ya'll, this is just the kind of stuff i need to know, the best thing is to get out there and look, but waiting for spring/summer to start. am looking forward to getting to know this area better.
How much snow do you want to deal with in the winter? The higher you go the more snow you get. We moved to Lenoir. If we want snow we drive up to Boone. If this makes sense to you check out Lenoir, Morganton or Marion.
Hickory is much larger than Hendersonville. I believe Hendersonville has a population of around 10,000, while Hickory is around 40,000 - according to the 2000 census.
Havent been to Hendersnville too much, but its downtown area is nice. According to wikipedia, as well as my own account, its a retirement area. Also has a noted illegal alien problem. But the influx of transplants from up north and retirees heavily dilutes the illegal population.
If you search this forum you will find alot about Hickory, believe I posted a bit on it recently. But Hickory is revitalizing itself and is also trying to become a retirement area as well. Google and the Target Corp. will build service centers in the Hickory area that will add hundreds of jobs, so thats good for the economy. The city is pretty well established, and many of the older shopping centers are being torn down and replaced with newer stores.
wow!!! you guys are informative. I like snow in moderation, so, yes, i would rather go to the snow than have it come to me, it sounds like hickory is more of the rolling hills that we're looking for, can you see the mountains from there? is it a far drive? i would love to be able to hop right into the mountains whenever for hiking, skiing, whatever. thanks for all your info.
ps, are there really that many peoplel moving down from up north? into the western part of the state? I guess NC's been discovered.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
