I am thinking about moving to North Carolina and would like to get some opinions about where would be a good place to settle down. Right now I am thinking about Charlotte, Asheville and the Lake Hickory area. I would like to be somewhere where there are nice roads to ride and a lake I can run or walk to. I don’t want to be to far away from a city. I am willing to drive and hour or so to get to a city if I don’t have to go to often. Work is not a problem I will move my business with me. NC looks really beautiful and Calif. is getting way to expensive. Calif kids are getting way to spoiled as well and I think NC is a much better place to raise kids. So could those of you that live in NC or have lived in NC please let me know where you think I should look.
I have heard that Asheville is a pretty great area to ride and has a pretty active community. Haven’t lived there, but am not too far away. No personal experience but it’s a pretty great place to visit and train at the very least.
I love the Boone/Blowing Rock area. We have a vacation house there and I love it. I think the schools are pretty good and there are a lot of down to earth people (a welcome change I would bet for you). Cycling is big there and while it is in the mountains the temperatures are really not to bad in the winter and in the summer it is usually 70-75 for the high. It is also a very easy 2 hours from Charlotte.
“I would like to be somewhere where there are nice roads to ride and a lake I can run or walk to. I don’t want to be to far away from a city. I am willing to drive and hour or so to get to a city if I don’t have to go to often.”
You just described Charlotte, although if you want to be in more of a ‘remote’ area you might want to think of Asheville, a lot of good climbing to do with the bike there too. There is a huge triathlon and multisport community in Charlotte, look into TrySports running groups, and Charlotte Track and Triathlon Club. Given Charlotte’s ‘central’ location in NC you can easily drive to lots of races and the mountains if you want good steady climbing (mount mitchell, the folk art center etc.).
Ok, done promoting Charlotte…for now.
I’ll second the Boone/Blowing Rock area. It is a small college town with a great atmosphere. Great Tri area. Mostly sprints and OLY’s but plenty to choose.
I love the Boone/Blowing Rock area. We have a vacation house there and I love it. I think the schools are pretty good and there are a lot of down to earth people (a welcome change I would bet for you). Cycling is big there and while it is in the mountains the temperatures are really not to bad in the winter and in the summer it is usually 70-75 for the high. It is also a very easy 2 hours from Charlotte.
Thank you very much but is Boone in the center east or west NC? Down to earth people sounds real nice. Where I live now was pretty much strawberry farms and orange groves with a few housing tracts here and there. Most of the people that lived here came from the midwest. Now it is just suburban housing and allot of people from LA and other big cities have moved here. No offence to them I just prefer the way thing were when I was a kid.
I would check out Bat Cave and Black Mountain, great towns not too far from Asheville.
You are lucky, I grew up there and had to move a couple years ago, its a great place to live.
Check out the tax rates in some counties, I think some NC counties, and maybe the state, have moved into the top 10 in taxes.
I would still move back in a second.
Florida does not come close
In Charlotte there can be a ton of traffic depending on where you are and where you need to get. I’d pick Asheville if I had narrowed it down to your list. (I live about an hour from Asheville and and an 1.5 hours from Charlotte.) I’m not sure how much climbing you can do in Charlotte and I’m not sure you’ll see a whole that’s flat around Asheville.
I’ve been lucky enough to live a few places in NC, The Lake Norman area is alright getting a little built up but it has a great multisport community and it is close to Winston-Salem, Hickory, and Charlotte. Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach is down on the coast and the home of Set Up Events the largest triathlon production company in the nation. Currently I live in Greensboro which is north central NC about an hour west of Raleigh/Durham. Good area with decent riding roads. Chapel Hill is a great area to ride/run. But if you really want to move here and train move to asheville area in the mountains (western nc) there are many towns in that area and the riding is amazing. If you have more questions PM me
Boone is in the North-West corner of the state. Forgot to add it is home to App State the team that took down Michigan.
and there are 6 ski areas within 20 minutes of Boone!!
I live in South Carolina about 35 minutes from Asheville NC. Asheville is a great location. There are tons of places to cycle, swim and run. Asheville has a good tri community and quite a few races within driving distance. The area between Greenville South Carolina (home of George Hincapie) and Asheville NC. is some of the best riding on the East coast and that goes for mountain biking too. Asheville is a very progressive city with alot of cool places. Good College town (UNC Asheville). I’d take Asheville over Charlotte anyday and I lived in Charlotte for 5 years.
You really dont want to live in the Carolinas, it is a bad place to live, please reconsider. 
No, just kidding, I just hate to see it too crowded.
Asheville would be my pick. Like everyone else has said, it is a great place if you are into riding/running or any other outdoor activity.
My friends just bought a place in Wake Forest and like it a lot…Curiously the university isn’t there.
Bob
Lived in Charlotte for 14 years…feel free to contact me via email porter_earl@hotmail.com
.
If you have a family, Winston-Salem is nearly perfect - smallish city, up & coming economy, in the foothills, mountains one hour west, beaches three hours east, night next to Greensboro, low cost of living, low crime. If you’re single, stay the hell away from it. Asheville is really nice, although it’s starting to come under assault from transplants, so cost of living is going up. You also have the issue of there being very little zone 2 riding in Asheville - it’s pretty much all zone 4+, or screaming descents while coasting. Wilmington / Wrightsville Beach is on the other end of the state, kinda pricey, a little touristy, but surprisingly cosmopolitan. Very flat riding, but the ocean is swimmable pretty much year-round with a good wetsuit, and the university right in the middle of town means there’s always something going on.
I envy you moving to Carolina. I’m only six months gone and I miss it horribly.
Currently live and cycle in the Charlotte area, but were it not for the job, I would move to the Asheville area in a second.
The university actually was originally there but one of the wonderful tobacco companies gave them a crapton of money to move it to winston salem. So they did. Thank you and that’s the end of your history lesson for today
I lived in NC for 12ish years (including college) above Charlotte and would HIGHLY recommend Asheville over a lot of the other cities listed. Great training – mountains but not high mountains that are buried in snow and bad weather (Boone area), good city but not rediculous (Charlotte) and small university there. Asheville has an impressive amount of cyclists/triathletes, there is always something going on. You still get your 4 seasons there as well. Winston-Salem is another great city but would second the earlier post that it is tough if your single or not settled down.
Just realized I need a new screen name…sorry about that nc_cyclist.
I’d give another vote for the Boone/Blowing Rock area. I currently live in Winston-Salem, which is pretty good for training and and has an active tri community but I tend to head up to Boone to do long rides on the Parkway and lots of trail runs. Boone has most things you would want in a City and plus has that little bit of a funky vibe that having a large college in town tends to add. Training routes are endless. There is a big road and mountain bike scene there but not as big a tri scene. Also, can’t forget the skiing in the winter. As you can tell, if I could find a job there, me and the family would move immediately.