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My family and I moved to West Jefferson from Morehead City NC for our twins to go to App State. We were also sick of the heat. We are looking to move in a year due to the fact that there's not much here to do. Boone has turned into nothing but housing for students. Looking to stay in a mountain region but want to be close to a city with a mall, stores, etc. Also with jobs for young professionals to grow. We are retired, but moving as a whole family. So good jobs are a must. Also reasonable housing and a safe place to live. Any suggestions?
Roanoke and Charlottesville VA; the Eastern Panhandle(Martinsburg/Charles Town/Ranson/Shepherdstown) and North Central(Morgantown/Clarksburg/Fairmont) WV; Knoxville TN and depending where you are willing to go, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton PA, among others, come to mind.
Sadly the Intermountain East doesn't have a city with the thriving, dynamic economy for jobs. The closest option to that would be the NE Atlanta suburbs of Cumming, Flowery Branch or Gainesville that offer commute distance to the booming job centers in Alpharetta and Johns Creek from areas that are near the foothills of the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains. Gainesville and Flowery Branch also adjoin beautiful Lake Lanier.
For the Appalachians, the cities with the strongest/biggest economies are Pittsburgh, Birmingham, Knoxville, Asheville and Chattanooga (Followed by Charleston & the Tri-Cities). Birmingham tends to be warmer, though. In terms of crime, for most cities, if you're moving there and you're working with a working class income or above, you're not moving to where the crime is. Even in the worst of the worst cities for crime, it's typically restricted to the areas you'd immediately pass on when you're house hunting, and the local jurisdictions are incentivized to not let things bleed into the more public areas.
In terms of reasonable pricing, that'll knock out Tennessee and North Carolina at the moment (both are a bit overpriced. Greenville SC is a bit, too. But in the long term, I think wages will catch up to prices there; it's just not that way right now.). WV, KY and VA don't really have bustling mountain metros (Well, Charlotteville pays well, but the economy's pretty niche to a few job markets like some engineering, government contracting or UVA. That's pretty much it.). GA's would either be headed towards Chattanooga/Greenville where wages need to catch up, or Atlanta, where you might as well just head into the city instead of fight traffic (which is the worst on the north side). So, if moving at the moment, I'd say AL or PA & above. If you wait a bit and things actually temper down, I could see TN/Carolinas getting back to decent deals though.
Really, though, the market's pretty unreasonable for most places right now. Pittsburgh & Bham are some of the only good ones right now in the entire US, especially if you're not moving from a high paying market.
For the Appalachians, the cities with the strongest/biggest economies are Pittsburgh, Birmingham, Knoxville, Asheville and Chattanooga (Followed by Charleston & the Tri-Cities).
If one inexplicably removes the overwhelmingly obvious option of Atlanta, which is odd given the inclusion of Chattanooga and Birmingham.
If one inexplicably removes the overwhelmingly obvious option of Atlanta, which is odd given the inclusion of Chattanooga and Birmingham.
Atlanta's a Piedmont city, which is socially treated as a separate thing. Bham and Chattanooga are very close socially to Piedmont, but they're technically in the Ridge & Valley, not the Piedmont. And they have some traits more in line historically with the Appalachian as the other two do (mining history, early Civil War separatism calls from the Confederacy, etc).
Atlanta's a Piedmont city, which is socially treated as a separate thing. Bham and Chattanooga are very close socially to Piedmont, but they're technically in the Ridge & Valley, not the Piedmont. And they have some traits more in line historically with the Appalachian as the other two do (mining history, early Civil War separatism calls from the Confederacy, etc).
How long did it take you to find that random straw in the proverbial reach?
How long did it take you to find that random straw in the proverbial reach?
It's not a reach. . There's a reason I didn't mention Charlotte, Greensboro or Greenville either. And I'd bring up the Greenville before any of the rest. Huntsville's another, like Greenville, that's really close, but not technically in.
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. There's a reason I didn't mention Charlotte, Greensboro or Greenville either. And I'd bring up the Greenville before any of the rest. Huntsville's another, like Greenville, that's really close, but not technically in.