life in asheville

“what's it like in asheville? we're discussing a move to either asheville or knoxville. we both like asheville better but i'm kind of afraid it'll be tougher to get jobs than it would be in knoxville.
the cost of living is pretty average compared to the nation. housing's slightly higher than average. i haven't really looked much at knoxville's cost of living yet. i imagine it'll be pretty close.
my fiance's an insurance underwriter and i'll soon get an accounting degree. think getting decent jobs will be tough?
also, what other areas around here might we want to look at?
last edited: 10/14/05 12:20:32 AM”

“I’ve only been to Asheville twice, but I liked it very much.

I can’t tell you about the job market. It’s not a big place so there won’t be as many opportunities as a larger city. From my observations, it appeared as if a reasonably large part of their economy is service oriented with tourism providing a large source of income. But there are people with money there. That may provide opportunity for folks with a financial background. The only thing you can really do is to put out feelers and do some research on the area.

The climate and foliage there reminds me very much of where I grew up in northern NJ, but it’s wetter. There appears to be quite a bit of humidity in Asheville. The undergrowth was thick, there was plenty of moss, and there were lots of ferns.

The opportunities for outdoor recreation are many. There’s great hiking, rock climbing, mountain bike trails, and whitewater very close to downtown. There appears to be a thriving arts community and lots of funky little shops.

I think it would be a great place if you’re young and either don’t mind living cheaply, or make lots of money.

Make some calls. Search the web. I would also suggest that you visit both places for about a week. A move is a big decision. Happy hunting.

Also: Blowing Rock NC was a cool little mountain town, Highlands Georgia has potential, and Linville NC appears to be growing.”

“You're probably right about jobs being a little tougher to find in Asheville, NC than in Knoxville, TN. Asheville is a great place. How about doing a job search first? Once you find a job, you may not like it and it may be tougher to find other jobs.

I ran into a similar situation when we moved to NH. There are just not as many IT positions in the Upper Valley area of NH. I've started my own computer and network security consulting business here. There are plenty of IT positions in the southern part of the state and into MA, but I don't want to travel that far every day for a commute.

The quality of life here is fantastic and I've found that a lot of people do whatever it takes to stay here rather than move where finding a position might be easier.”

“I have desided that if I am to ever be single again and move somewhere it'd Knoxville. Or really any place that close to the Smokies.”

“What's an insurance underwriter? Those are the folks that make the decisions about which policies to actually write? If so, that sounds corporate. You shouldn't have trouble at all. Even the smallest of towns have CPA's.

If I could choose based on town alone(not considering football either) I'd go with Asheville. I like smaller places and Asheville is actually in the mtns. Knoxville is not. It's in that valley between the Apps and the Cumberland plateu. Knoxville has great access to lots of cool places though.

Another thing is that Asheville is at a little higher elevation which will make it more tolerable to your Yankee constitutions. Heck, it would make it easier on me too.

End of the day, I don't think you'll go wrong with either place.”

“ductape, i'm in insurance too...i know there are a few insurance corporate offices in knoxville...i don't know about ashville though, it seems too small to me to hold an insurance headquarters...i could be wrong though...i'd probably start with the job search first, instead of picking a city and trying to make a job fit...look in both cities and the surrounding area”

“We need to arrange a hike with you two and Stove Stomper. Should be interesting!”

“Who two? thrifty, me, you, SS?”

“Knoxville cons- constant construction/traffic, Volunteer fans, and not being able to tell who is a fan and who is roadcrew”

““Who two? thrifty, me, you, SS?”

The two insurance shills, er, 'employees' and Stovie. LOL!”

““Knoxville cons- constant construction/traffic, Volunteer fans, and not being able to tell who is a fan and who is roadcrew”

I think it would be interesting to see what the percentage of white cars sold in this area compared to the rest of the country is. Seems like everybody and their brother buys a plain white car and covers the damn thing with as many orange Ts as possible. LOL!”

“Ahh, gotcha now. I'm slow this morning. Started work too early.”

“The two insurance shills

i betcha have insurance on that pretty little pt cuiser don't ya?!!...you'd be lost with out us ;)”

“Between the two cities I like Asheville a lot more IMHO. For not other reason then for the "feel" of the city.”

“"i betcha have insurance on that pretty little pt cuiser don't ya?!!...you'd be lost with out us ;)”

Nothing better than having a captive consumership, ey thrifty? And to think I was gonna ask you to go hiking with me this winter. Hey, wanna go hiking this winter? You can even bring me some quotes. :)”

“An honest opinion? Being a native Tennessean, I would never move to Knoxville in a million years. Yes, it is a very accessible and pretty area, but the city itself is not desirable IMO. BIG college town. Lots of old homes nobody has taken intitiative to restore, lots of traffic, boring downtown.

Jobs are much easier to come by though, and there is affordable housing.

Asheville on the other hand, is very unique. Its an artsy town, with lots of creative people, good music, good downtown, beautiful scenery everywhere. People are friendly, weather is always pretty nice, as it is usually a bit cooler there then other cities in the south. Very hard to find a job though. Tough market, and housing prices are a bit high for that size of a city. Lots of people are starting to retire there.”

“Nothing better than having a captive consumership

watch it, you're leaning dangerously close to makin this a fuego thread

hiking and winter don't really mix for me, i'm a cold weather baby...plus i don't have any cold weather gear and i'm too cheap to buy it ;)

i'm gonna try to squeeze in 1 more trip this year but i don't know if i'm gonna get it done”

“As a native Tennessean as well Pumpkem summed up my feelings to a T. Knoxville is actually one of my least favorite cities :D”

“Thrifty, email me dog.

Nigal@care2.com.”

“where are you from DDKiller?”

“Kingsport.”

“Thrifty, email me dog.

i just did...or do i have to be trendy and say "you've got mail" LOL”

“I prefer, "Answer your main bltch!".”

“Having lived not to far from Asheville most of my life, I can say that community

displays a strange mixture of fundamentalists, wiccans, new-agers and satanists.”

“Wiccans and new agers and satanists oh my!”

“Having lived not to far from Asheville most of my life, I can say that community

displays a strange mixture of fundamentalists, wiccans, new-agers and satanists.”
lonesurveyor
10:54:51 AM

And what did someone say the house prices were like?”

“true about CPA firms being everywhere. im a little more worried about my fiance finding a job than myself. i hold a very high GPA and from the way most of my profs talk, an accountant will always have a job.
i think a road trip is in order.”

“i don't think we'd mind living cheaply. we do that already. we're hardly ever home. my schedule's weird cause of school but before that it was pretty routine.
work, gym, dinner, tv for an hour, bed.
i imagine it'll get back to that and the goal would be to be in the woods most weekends. if we can't get in the woods at least there would be good bluegrass in the bars.
also, looking at houses. the avg. 2 br is around 135,000 while the avg. 3 br is more like 210,000. we could definitely do a 2 br for a few years but i wonder if it would be hard to sell it. 2 br houses don't sell too quick around here.”

“"also, looking at houses. the avg. 2 br is around 135,000 while the avg. 3 br is more like 210,000."

Yowza! It must be dirt cheap round here. A three bedroomranch goes for about $65K-90K and a nice 1,800 square foot can be had for as little as $90.”

“that's it, make room nigal, i'm coming to columbus...that's damn cheap...we paid 125K for our 3 bd 1700 sq footer”

“I got super lucky when I bought mine. A friend knew someone who wanted to sell, we drove by and asked what they wanted, they said $97, we said $95? And they said deal. Did our own contract and moved in.”

“You can't touch a decent 1700-1900 sq. ft. 3 bdrm. house around here for less than $250K, and there would probably be some major fixing/updating to do. The quality of life, however, is fantastic!”

“LOL! I remember driving through NC on the way to the Flat My Ass Hike and nearly wrecking numerous times due to the splendid colors and views. Yes, it does beat the hell out of corn fields. But remember, we have, well, we have…and then there’s…

Who am I kidding? Ohio sucks donkey balls.”

“LMAO, Nigal. Hey...at least the housing costs are relatively cheap.”

“The land, rent and housing costs in the Asheville area have 'skyrocketed' the passed 10 years, it was fairly cheap, but now is probably inline with many other areas and maybe still cheaper than the national average.

The local TV news has frequent features regarding the wiccans and their demands for equal rights

and the new agers are now saying Asheville has replaced Sante Fe, N.M. as their mecca

but the really scary crowd in Asheville is the fundamentalists.
last edited: 10/14/05 6:50:07 PM”

“Now Nigal, I would be a perfect gentleman around those two 'insurance' guys.
A certain other 'insurance' guy that claimed he traveled to help the hurricane victims, but he was really working his paid job for his company hundreds of miles away from the hurricane area, maybe not.
LOL”

“It's a nice place to go through, preferably as fast as you can. The cost of housing here is second only! to S.CA. Believe me! I live here. It sucks, and just keeps on sucking.

Oh I forgot to mention property taxes, well you don't even want to go there. It's a leach community government.
last edited: 10/14/05 11:14:58 PM”

“Warren Haynes has his Christmas Jam there every year.”