I am interested in any info on living in central/western NC. My husband and I are thinking of Ashville. We are 30 and 33, with a 3 year old and a 10 month old. We live in Pensacola, Fl now and plan to leave in a little over a year. We have lived in Peoria, IL and Atlanta, GA. My husband is a mechanicl engineer with tons of experience. The problem is, he gets bored or we hate the area we chose to live in. We love the mountains and small towns. We do prefer to live semi-close to a larger town for some shopping, arts, fun, ect. We have also thought of virginia. Not familiar at all with Virginia. Need a fun amd family friendly town we can grow old in. We no longer want to move around and are looking for our new home sweet home.

Boy is this a reoccurring theme! The areas that you are mentioning are not exactly hot spots of economic growth and industry. I would strongly suggest you do some research on where your husband could find a job first and then go from there. You can look at www.findyourspot.com and it may help narrow down your choices.

I agree Leahinsc, this is a becoming common.

Sillybilly, how did you come up with Asheville? Was it from something like findyourspot.com or a friend's recommendation?

I wouldn't move without a job, but that's my style.

Lawsy, is everyone moving to the mountains of NC/GA?

Go: Well, I'm not, but it sure seems like it, doesn't it? I guess places like Asheville or Austin seem like cultural oases or something....

Most I know of are doing it because they're getting the cooler summer weather, while still enjoying the benefits of being in the south. They're also getting away from the hustle and bustle of larger cities while still having Asheville nearby for cultural amenities and a somewhat larger city feel, which includes incredible views.

First of all, what's wrong with wanting to relocate to a nicer part of the country. It sounds like we are trying to invade your space or something. We have lived in too many big cities over a ten year period and are tired of it. We always loved NC and we love the mountains. We have been to find your spot.com and Asheville did come up number one. That doesn't mean we will love it, but Asheville does sound nice and peaceful. We plan to visit over Thanksgiving break. We have always moved for the job and now we want to move for us. The job will follow. We want to make a good effort for our future and stop letting jobs, ect. dictate our happiness. NC is also a good location for us to stay close enough to family who are in FL. Thank you for your responses. I really do appreciate a helpful attitude.

Asheville is getting prohibitly expensive.

There is a new subdivision up the road from my mother in laws that isn't anything special and the homes start at $1 million.

This is at least the nine or tenth post on moving to this area.

Do a search on "moving" or "relocating" and you'll see what we mean.

sillybilly, glad to know findyourspot puts you in Asheville. I guess what Leah and I were getting at is your the thrid or fourth person recently asking about moving to Asheville.

The search function here is kind-of faulty (ok, it is faulty), but if you click under North Carolina you should see some other responses.

Good luck.

Sillybilly- There have been several posts recently from people seeking to relocate to Asheville, NC or nearby areas. If you do a search for Asheville, you can see what has been said. The posts have received many responses, and I think some fodorites may be tiring of them. The original posters often seem to have a condescending attitude towards the South even though they are interested in moving here. The typical post is something like this: "I want to move to Asheville from [insert northern state here], I want to live a simpler life out of the fast lane and where the cost of living is lower but I still want plenty of cultural opportunities, 5* vegetarian restaurants, excellent schools, lots of other liberals like me, and a high paying job."

Thanks everyone. I will do a NC search and see what comes up. One other alternative for us is Roanoke, VA. I have never been there, but it also came up on findyourspot.com. I have heard that Virginia is beautiful, But like NC, it is a big state to narrow down. Thanks again!!

I did want to mention that Pensacola is also expensive. We moved here in December of 2004. We bought a 2500 sqft brick house for 350,000K. We paid 80,000 more than what the previous owners paid when they bought it only eleven months before us. They sold due to all the hurricanes. It is a nice upscale neighborhood in the NE escambia county area. We just hate FL. We grew up in S FL. Housing is such a rip off right now and I know it's not going to get any better. It's hard to find that dream home now a days.

Sillybilly...Living in Asheville it seems that every morning when we turn on the TV we hear about another factory that is downsizing, closing or moving out of the country - occasionally, very occasionally, we'll hear about one moving in or expanding but it never seems to equal out. My husband and I feel very fortunate to have jobs. Asheville is THE most expensive area in NC, thanks to housing costs, utlitities, medical care, gas prices, etc. I live within walking distance of downtown Asheville in a nice but not fancy neighborhood that has issues with crime and drugs and a 1500sq ft house built in 1927 on .1 acre just sold for $265,000 - in ONE week.
As I have said before in these postings - while it is important to find a place that you like in terms of lifestyle, culture, weather etc - because of the economic conditions here it is just not a place to come without a job offer or at least some very good prospects. Some other areas that are relatively close by that you may want to check into - Greenville and Spartanburg SC, Hickory/Lenoir, NC. I have also heard good things about the Roanoke area and while I think N.GA is really beautiful I am not sure what there is going on in terms of jobs.
Best wishes to you and your family. I

Unfortunately, Asheville and the surrounding area is no different than most of the rest of the country when it comes to plants closing and jobs moving offshore. That's the world we now live in.

On the other hand, Asheville has consistently had the lowest unemployment rate of medium and larger-size cities in NC in the last few years. It has weathered many of these plant closings (many of which, to be honest, have occurred outside of Asheville). I will also say that I know experienced engineers are still in demand by some employers in the area. Your husband may not be happy with the cost of living and wages he finds in this area, but that's offset by the quality of life for many of us.

At the last second, my friend who was moving to Asheville changed her mind. The home owners (I was wrong when I said they bought it already) in High Vista made a counter-offer, so my friends were off the hook on their offer. Their reasons included, but were by no means soley based upon, the high cost of real estate.

SO...there is at least one engineering job still open in Asheville (The one my friend's husband turned down, sorry I don't know the company).

They've left their house on the market, and plan to build in northern G'ville, (S.C.) county in the future. Apparently all the driving back and forth to A'ville made them realize how close you are to the mountains if you live on the "right" side of town!

Litespeed - yeah...maybe they can look into Tryon/Saluda area...that's sort of midway. The worst time for traffic on 26 into Asheville is during leaf season for the lookers, Bele Chere or of course an accident on 40 heading west which will tie up things for miles. My husband sells round houses if they are interested in something like that.

Anyone know anything about living in Blacksburg, VA? Is it a nice family town? I came upon it while looking around the mountain regions of NC and VA. I still have hopes for Asheville, but we do need a backup if it doesn't work out. Also, what are the major professional companies in Asheville? What are these people doing for a living in order to pay for these exspensive houses.

Blacksburg is a university town, home to Virginia Tech. It's nice, but it's definitely a college town. It is relatively close to Roanoke, however (about 45 minutes' drive).

The major employers in the Asheville area that might be most likely to hire mechanical engineers are Eaton Cutler Hammer (I know several who work there), Volvo Construction Equipment (which has its headquarters and a plant in Asheville), and BorgWarner (which just announced an expansion last week).

Thank you very much. My husband has informed me that he is a software engineer. I guess there is big difference between a software engineer and a mechanicl engineer. Who Knew...

What about Charlottesville, VA?

Sillybilly - while I find it rather strange/curious that you didn't realize your husband was a software engineer and not a mechanical engineer I'll go ahead and answer a couple of your questions...As to how people are affording these expensive houses in Asheville 1. They lived here before they got expensive and now they can't afford to move; 2. They can't afford them and live in outlying areas like Madison County; 3. They move from more expensive areas like the North/New England/California and then this area seems relatively cheap
As far as employers for your husband in software engineering...you should look into local papers and their on-line classified ads for employment or look at monster.com.