asdaven

Currently I live in the Baltimore-Washington DC area and I am looking for an area with longer summers and shorter milder winters. I want to stay on the East Coast though for various reasons. I am looking for somewhere no farther north than Virginia, no farther south than Georgia, and no farther west than Mississippi. I am also looking for somewhere that has a lot of sunny days, and that is close to mountains. Atlanta or Charlotte come to mind. I would rather not live on the cost.
Thanks-

starrs

Do you need to work?
What kind of activities do you enjoy?
What will you miss about the Baltimore/Wash DC area?
Are you a "city person" or are you interested in small towns/small cities?

Ackislander

It is going to be hard to find places with warmer winters than Washington that are not within 100 miles of the coast. Despite last winter, Balto/Washington have pretty mild winters. The further inland you go, the less mild things are. In other words, you could go fairly far south without a lot of benefit.

What you need in terms of jobs, culture, and housing is probably key. What would you do in a warmer (hotter) place that you can't do in Washington? What can you do to pay for it?

asdaven

Yepp, and looking for a cheaper place to live. I enjoy outdoor activities, but also enjoy the luxuries of a city. Im more into small towns, but would also like to be near a major city. The only thing that I would miss is the sites in DC, but every place has its uniqueness. I would like to live closer to Florida to vacation in the winter and be near mountains to vacation in the summer. Places like Charlotte or Atlanta seem like they would be much warmer than here, are near mountains, and are closer to Florida. Even Asheville in the mountains, I think has milder winters.

starrs

If you want a big city, Atlanta.
If you're okay with a smaller city/big town, Asheville.
If you want to be on or near water, a lake near Atlanta or Asheville.
Those are my recommendations.

gail

Raleigh/Durham area?

asdaven

I was also looking into Macon, GA also. How are the winters in Atlanta or Asheville? And does it rain a lot? Or is it sunny most of the year? I think anywhere could have better weather than the Baltimore/Washington area. Atlanta seems like a really good location. Miami, Florida is only a little over 600 miles away. The coast is a daytrip away like Charleston and Savannah and Asheville and the NC mountains is also close as well as the mountains of North GA. Dosen't look like places in TN and AL wouldn't be too much of a hike either as far as vacationing.

starrs

I doubt you will like Macon, especially coming from the DC area. It's a bit small for you with not a lot of options.

Check weather.com for historical stats but Atlanta and most of the SE have temperate winters. Snow/ice is unusual. We don't really have the resources to deal with it and so everything pretty much stops until it melts in a day or two. Asheville will get more snow and the vehicles there remind me of cars/SUVs in Colorado. I have a place in N GA at a higher elevation and I'll get snow when there's virtually nothing 3 miles downhill. Last year there was 10 inches of accumulation after a snowfall. Again, everything melted within a couple of days. The big problem is ice and when an icestorm moves in we just stop and wait for it to melt.

A lot of folks are transferred to Atlanta for their jobs and opt not to transfer anywhere else. You can choose intown, suburbs or exurbs and be happy. You are right that TN, AL and NC are close enough by for a weekend trip. There's a lot to see within a 4-5 hour radius of Atlanta.

asdaven

I was also looking into Augusta, GA as well as Spartenburg, Greenville, and Columbia, South Carolina. And I was also mentioning Charlotte, NC. But, Atlanta sounds like a very good location.

starrs

As a general rule, the further you move south the less snow and cold weather you will experience. At higher elevations (Asheville and other locations in the TN/NC Smokies) you'll find cooler temps and more snow. Once you reach the Piedmont (the fall line) you'll pretty much be in areas that will not experience snow very often. It has snowed in Charleston, but only once in the last 20 years - in my memory banks anyway. Macon, Augusta, Columbia are small cities/ big towns that don't offer a lot of diversity in things to do, theatre, museums, etc. Greenville has blossomed recently and has rebuilt their downtown with restaurant and shopping options. Others can speak more to cities/towns in the rest of NC. I'm sure you'll plan a visit to the places you may be interested in. Good luck in your decision making process.

asdaven

If I moved to Atlanta, I would be near Asheville and Charleston, if I wanted to go to those places. Asheville's winters maybe too much though if I lived there. And I don't want to live on the coast, so Charleston's out. So, the Charlotte, Greenville, and Atlanta areas seem like the best choices.

2bamafan

Before making the decision, I recommend taking the time to visit Greenville, Asheville, Nashville, and south Birmingham. I lived in Atlanta for 5 years and I didn't like it near as well as Austin, TX and Birmingham, AL. Yes, Atlanta has more to offer in terms of theatre, sports and museums BUT I doubt these benefits exceed the "costs". The traffic situation is horrible. The population is very transient. The area (except for small pockets of the city) is like one giant strip mall and lacks charm.

Greenville is much more charming, close to the mountains, and not too far from Atlanta. As for Asheville, the Vanderbilts could've lived anywhere yet they chose Asheville. That speaks volumes for the beauty of the area. Plus you'd escape the humidity and hot summers in Atlanta. Nashville has made a lot of progress in the past 15 years and is very livable. Good luck!

bigbomoho

Im with Starrs--im retired corporate guy,lived in 10 different cities and settled here in Atl,after having lived here in mid 80s.Little known facts, Atlanta is second highest major city in country at 1050 ft,and because of that it cools off every night in the summer It was 80 here today,and should be in mid 40s tonight.2nd, Atlanta is actually west of Detroit,so if you travel, you can get almost anywhere in 2 hours,except of course West Coast .Mountains are 2 hours away , and we have a huge lake,just Northeast of town.We have all the major sports,pretty good food,and 5hours from the ocean, and 7 hours from Orlando, 8 to New Orleans--housing is reasonable.You should check out where your thinking of going first

TDudette

Why not near the coast? Storms???

DH and I loved Savannah.

Can you say what calls to you about the towns you mentioned above?

jent103

You'll find pretty polarized opinions on Atlanta (even just on this thread!). My personal feelings are pretty much in line with 2bamafan's, but I have family who live there and seem to really like it. You WILL have to be prepared to deal with traffic. Lots and lots of traffic. You seem to be pretty stuck on it, so I'd say to plan a weeklong trip or so down there and see how you feel about it after that.

The Raleigh/Durham area may have some of what you're interested in - lots of smaller towns close to a couple of larger ones, with plenty to do and pretty much any living situation you want. Within a few hours of the beach, Charlotte and Asheville (and I think about 5 hours from Atlanta, if memory serves me right).

Winters in the South - last year in Nashville we had two "major" snowstorms (by "major" I mean 3-4 inches), and that was the first time I remember that happening in Tennessee in years. Outside of the mountains, snow is pretty rare. We might get an ice storm every couple of years, but as someone mentioned above, the entire area will almost shut down when that happens. Same thing in Atlanta, Raleigh/Durham, etc.

jadeumbrella

Hate to bring this topic back from the dead or something, but if you're looking for warmth Georgia is def warmer than most of the southern states (excluding Florida). And Spartanburg and Greenville still get snow. They're quite chilly in the winter. I live in Columbia and it generally stays warm year-round. Our winters generally don't drop below like 30 degrees. And those temperatures only happen mid-winter. Or if it snows (A miracle).

So SC or GA are definitely the way to go.

Gretchen

AND in columbia you will have 100* in the summer with 110% humidity.
I'm in Charlotte so am prejudiced.
If you live in Asheville you really only "think" you are close to the coast and Atlanta. Live there for what it is, not for what it "seems" to be close to--it isn't.
I agree with Greenville. Furman University is there and will bring another layer of possibilities for cultural events.
And I don't know what AckIslander is saying about warmth in the winter. We have cold days--we had a whole week of freezing weather last winter. It was amazing.
Snow? Maybe once a winter because just 20 miles north of Charltotte is a "snow line"--a thermal belt. They will have 10 inches of snow north of that and we will have zero. It is a phenomenon to see. And Raleigh and Winston Salem are above that line--much more snow.
Charleston would be absolutely wonderful I think, if in the ability to just "choose".
Charlotte also has some lovely smaller towns in the vicinity that are really quite stunning, I think.
Also two large lakes if you want waterfront living.

npiazza

You might want to check out Marietta, Ga. It has loads of small town charm, but is only 30 minutes from all the excitment of Atlanta when you feel like going into the city. There's Kennesaw mountain nearby with hiking, and then all the ofhter features of Atlanta as far as having access to an international airport, big city arts events, etc. but get to live with the charm of a small town. There is a town square, lots of shops and restaurants, friendly people, and an active local arts community. Good luck where ever you settle!
Don't know if you have considered Birmingham, but it has several outlying areas that are very nice, such as Mountain Brook, Forest Park and Vestavia Hills.

lgnutah

I live in the northwest corner of SC. Have you looked at Greenville, SC?
My daughter lives in Atlanta and the traffic is enough to make anyone want to move away. I was there with her Friday and it took us 5 hours just to get a car insured, inspected and tagged because of the traffic (and some waiting time) as we moved around Atlanta (our total driving was less than 15 miles!!). That kind of thing turns me off from a place.
That said, Asheville meets a different kind of need. It is small but very Portland, OR or Seattle, WA in atmosphere (I am from the west coast).
As for weather, Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC and Asheville, NC are similar but here's my opinion-Asheville will have less heat and humidity in summer (A REAL PLUS). Daytime highs will rarely go above 90 and nightime lows in summer will almost always drop into the 60's. You will probably get up to 3 snows a winter, and they will usually melt in a few days (with an occasional unusual longer cold period). As it is at a higher elevation, the winter lows are going to be 5 or so degrees colder than Greenville or Atlanta.
Atlanta and Greenville will get more of the big thunderstorms (severe) than Asheville will. Even though all these areas get a fair amount of rain yearly, Atlanta and Greenville tend to get their rains over with quickly (it will hang around more in Asheville because the clouds get caught on the mountains)
All of these cities are on interstates, which means you can get to Florida quickly-within a day's drive. If you love mountains, and who wouldn't love the mountains of NC?, all three of these cities will have you quickly in the mountains of NC and Tennessee.