North Carolina- in search of nice smallish town

[lattemomof3]

Can those of you familiar w/ North Carolina give some advice? We have been checking out some places to re-locate & NC keeps popping up. We're looking for someplace not super close to the coast (we are landlocked in Nebraska, so we'd like to visit the coast sometimes but don't think we are living at the beach people). We'd love to find a smallish town (maybe 10,000 to 20,000 or so) that is it's own town, not just a suburb, but is an hour or 2 away from a city. Any ideas? A place where a transplant family would be welcome would also be on the list! TIA!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

How do you feel about freezing rain?

NC is a beautiful state, but can have some nasty, nasty winter weather.

I only visit there (for work) so am not intimately familiar with the towns. Charlotte is a beautiful city though. Goldsboro is a small town for sure! It's about 1 hour or so from the coast and about three from the mountains.

Hendersonville/Ashville area is nice, too. Near the mountains.

Just be sure about that freezing rain though...

 

[mrsklamc]

Have you lived in NE all your life? I've lived in both states and would never trade NE for NC.

My sister lives in a nice town but it's a set of suburbs that runs together so I don't think it's probably what you are looking for.

Another thing just to be aware of- NE is in a much better economic position than NC, who may be issuing IOU's rather than tax refunds this year.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I've lived in several different small towns since moving to NC. My DH lived in Goldsboro when I met him. I lived there for 3 months before he relocated for a job. I know that I would have moved back to MA if I had stayed in Goldsboro.....I did not like it AT ALL. Then we lived outside of Hickory. I love Hickory and would move back in a second. My MIL lives in Conover now and likes it. Right now we live in Salisbury. We like it and will probably stay but I would move back to Hickory if given the opportunity.

I can't comment on the state tax refund thing. We always have to pay State taxes.....I do think that they warned people that it might happen last year but I don't think it did.

 

[Talking Hands]

Walnut Cove is a nice community. Near enough to the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area but far enough away to have that small town feel. Boone is also nice. A college town and beautiful

 

[SKWDW]

Apex is a nice small town. It's close to the Research Triangle which makes for easier commuting.

 

[AKL_Megs]

DH's cousin lives in a nice area north of Charlotte... it's called Cornelius... nice place, ugly name!

 

[torinsmom]

I live in Hillsborough, NC, which is about 8 miles west of Chapel Hill and 5 miles South of Durham. We are about 20 miles from the Research Triangle Park. It's a nice small town with great schools and pretty much everything you need for day to day living. There is no mall or movie theater, but there are two dozen fast food/local restaurants, Super Walmart and several grocery stores, plus a lot more. We are at the crossroads of Interstates 85 and Interstate 40. We're about 2 hours from the nearest beach and 3-4 hours from the mountains. It's about 9 hours to WDW.;-)

http://www.city-data.com/city/Hillsborough-North-Carolina.html

Marsha

 

[es45]

We live in the small town of Morrisville (population: 15,000) but you might find that too close to a city as we are 20 minutes from Raleigh. The great thing about this part of the state is that we are 3 hours from the mountains and 3 hours from the beach.

A PP suggested Apex: it is a great little town 15 minutes from where I am but you might also find it too close to the city as well. It's population is 30,000 and growing.

Pittsboro and Hillsborough might fit what you are looking for. They are near Chapel Hill/Durham.

 

[sharlon]

A lot of the places I see mentioned above are what you might consider suburbs. Hickory is it's own town. Everyone I know that lives there loves it! DH's boss and company area office is there. Pretty neat little place.
Hendersonville is another cool area. It's south of Asheville about 20 minutes I live between H'ville and A'ville and H'ville is definitely not a suburb of A'ville. It is a beautiful town. Definitely worth a look.

 

[LJC1861]

My mom and dad live in Conover, which is just outside Hickory. They absolutely love it.

I live in Asheville and love it here too. The only challenge for the entire area is the lack of good jobs. Finding a job here can take awhile.

Linda

 

[SamRoc]

Asheville is beautiful and there are so many nice places in North Carolina. My sister lives in Statesville and loves it!

 

[torinsmom]

We live in the small town of Morrisville (population: 15,000) but you might find that too close to a city as we are 20 minutes from Raleigh. The great thing about this part of the state is that we are 3 hours from the mountains and 3 hours from the beach.

A PP suggested Apex: it is a great little town 15 minutes from where I am but you might also find it too close to the city as well. It's population is 30,000 and growing.

Pittsboro and Hillsborough might fit what you are looking for. They are near Chapel Hill/Durham.

I used to work in Morrisville and at this point, it is a suburb of Cary, which is a suburb of Raleigh. I know they aren't suburbs in name, but in reality, those towns all run together, and Apex and Holly Springs are almost running into Cary and Morrisville as well. One thing people need to know about Wake County is that the school issues are crazy. Kids getting bused, schools getting changed to year round, parents fighting over neighborhood schools, etc. I wouldn't want to get into that if I had kids.

Marsha

 

[Marshmelo]

My in-laws live in Horse Shoe, NC and they really like it. You might check into that town.