The Lake is fed by streams coming from the pristine Blue Ridge Mountains.
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Posted on 08/19/2016 8:30:58 AM PDT by nuconvert
Thinking of retiring to western N.C. I'd love a log cabin in the mountains with modern amenities, but don't want to be too far from Dr's, grocery shopping, hospitals, etc., so a good mtn view would suffice. I've been looking north, west & east of Asheville and also in the Lenoir area and further south of Lenoir.
I'm watching the weather, and reading N.C newspapers and it seems like flooding can be a real problem.
Any suggestions/warnings from North Carolinians, especially regarding areas to avoid, would be helpful.
Thanks
Upstate South Carolina is only about an hour from Asheville too. Nice areas in upstate NC:
Clemson area (Lake Keowee)
Greenville area (Greenville is a nice small city)
Traveler’s Rest (close to Greenville and Clemson)
The Lake Jocassee area near the NC border is also pretty but doesn’t look to be near a city that would have major medical facilities.
I don’t know what the tax differences are between NC and SC that would interest retirees, but gasoline is much cheaper in SC.
I knew a girl in the early 90s who I suspected was a lesbian. She was actually very attractive, wore no makeup, played all the girls sports.
Nothing really wrong with all of that and she was perfectly friendly with boys but she somehow gave off that impression.
Out of curiosity, a year or so back, I looked her up on the internet. Sure enough she is living in Asheville and belongs to a lesbian group. Also works in a lesbian profession which I will not mention.
If you’re set on the Asheville area...console yourself with the knowledge that it’ll be a target-rich environment of libs for you once the SHTF.
Robbinsville
The Lake is fed by streams coming from the pristine Blue Ridge Mountains.
.
Dahlonega is very nice and quaint and would be close to the medical facilities in the north Atlanta suburbs and cities north of Atlanta. Lots of Atlanta folks like the Hiawassee/Lake Chatuge area too (further north - close to the NC border).
I talked to a local waitress once. She said some of the locals felt sorry for him and left food out. approx. 50 FBI agents failed to find him, but a rookie cop with one bullet in his gun caught him in a dumpster on a Sunday morning!
NC has very high taxes. Its a pretty state but the mountain people are pretty tribal. I have spent a lot of time in Maggie Valley and Waynesville because my Sister and BIL lived there. Asheville is fun to visit but libtard USA. I’m prejudiced because I love GA but I wouldn’t move there unless it was to the coast.
Bookmark
Spruce Pine offers a good hospital, plenty of shops, and yet still offers a country life. Down home people, no hippies like Black mountain and Asheville. It’s situated right on the Blue Ridge Pky, about an hour from the slopes (Boone) and a little over an hour from Asheville. I lived in Burnsville and Asheville for over 15 years. If I were to go back to the area it would be to Spruce Pine.
Lake Lure is my favorite spot for beauty, but you’re a long way from a hospital, and the road between you and the hospital is a long series of switchbacks.
Another fantastic area is Avery County. Never lived there but visited often. Lots of shops, entertainment, and a banging hospital.
Mountain people like to crow about how “cool” the weather is
in summer. However, an air-conditioner is still nice. It IS
beautiful over there. Mother & I drove over one autumn and
the leaves were turning just perfectly. I’ve always like the
Townsend area; but that may be getting more developed now
that the old ones are dying off & their kids selling land
to the developers. Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg are too big for
me now. We’ve always stayed at motels in Townsend. Less
expensive - or were last time we were up there.
The Black Mountain area was a little bit uppity for our
tastes. Mother & I were going to stop at an upscale
restaurant for lunch; but everybody was dressed to the
nines and waiting in a long line. Mother was in her
Bermuda shorts; so she didn’t want to go in. So, we went
to a Shoney’s and had a nice lunch in peace. (To me,
no restaurant’s food is worth waiting for an hour to eat.
I’ll take Subway over that foolishnesss.)
It’s horrible here in WNC. Over crowded, terrible traffic, high prices, mean people, over run with bugs and varmints.
The children are unruly, the women ugly, and men are lazy.
No jobs, poverty everywhere, and awful weather—sub zero winter temps with feet of snow in the winter and intolerable humidity in the summer.
I know you are hinting for people to stay away but a lot of what you say is actually true.
Not a lot of ugly women tho.
I forgot to mention the terrible wolf packs and infestation of rabid raccoons and possums that try to get into your house.
And the awful smells from the dairy, pig and chicken farms that permeates the air.
Oh, I forgot to also mention about the unpredictable flooding and the Brevard Fault which slices through the area. Just a matter of time before that thing goes off in an 8.0 Jolt that sends these mountains sliding into the Atlantic.
Downtown Asheville is the new land of “nuts and flakes”...I live in Polk County at approx 1,000 ft above sea level with a beautiful 180 degree view of the Blue Ridge and can even see the top of Mt Mitchell to the NE. We also have what is called the “isothermal” effect....Google it. Temperate nearly all year around, but is only in a few small pockets of the area....so when you are outside of it and at the higher elevations, you’ll get snow, ice and lower elevations means hot weather in the spring and summer and early fall. We looked for a few “specific” things......rolling established pastures for my horses, any and all water runs AWAY from house, barn and pastures (which it does) and we basically bought “the weather”. We’ve been really, really happy with our decision....our other “consideration” was Hawaii (Big Island), but as you might guess, it is extremely expensive to Fed Ex horses to the Big Island....lol. We have had zero problems with flooding and our area is not prone to it.....we are very rural and, as is the case with moving to an area which may have “different” building codes than what you may be used to in a more urban area, you have to know construction, know what you want and know what is correct. We built our house from 700 miles away, which I wouldn’t recommend, but my husband is VERY knowledgeable, knew what we needed/wanted and didn’t put up with any crap. All in all, it went pretty well....we DID travel back and forth ALOT over the period of two years it took us to build the farm...
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions & input. I’ll be doing a lot more research.
Thanks again!
At least at this point TN doesn’t have income tax. Not sure that matters in your situation.
Well, you might want to stay away from low-lying areas like creek beds and river valleys,eh?
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