Someone give me the scoop on Asheville!

[AppleBlossomBaby]

We are looking into relocating to the area and I have no idea where to begin! We are close enough for aweekend trips to check it out. But can a local mama give me the scoop in best areas? We want to find something maybe rural feeling outside the city where are can feel like we have more privacy and can get a few acres of land. We are pretty crunchy and would love to find a more artsy liberal area. What's the unschooling/homeschooling community like there? We have heard great things, but still have so much to look into now that it may be a possiblity for us soon...

Thanks!

[krystyn33]

Hello! I've been living in Asheville about 6 years now & love it here, especially since DS came into our lives--it's a wonderful place to raise a child with a lot of support for AP & NFL lifestyles, IMO.

There's a local email group which can provide you with a ton of information. Here's the link: http://www.ashevillemamas.org/ There's also a forum, but the yahoo list is considerably more active.

Great support for Unschooling/homeschooling here --there's even a yahoo group for unschoolers here with regular get-togethers.

As for finding a more specific place to live, I would recommend renting for a while so you can learn the area and see what works best for you. Asheville is very crunchy, liberal, artsy within the city limits but the rural areas are generally conservative, although you might luck out with some like-minded neighbors. This is the only place I've felt "normal." You can get quite rural feeling without being far from town, but if you want to go very crunchy liberal and very rural, you might check out Earthhaven Ecovillage: http://www.earthaven.org/

Good luck with your decisions and planning!

[dollysods]

Walkable community?

Along the same lines, my husband (who grew up in Weaverville) and I are looking to move back to Asheville once I am done w/ residency next year. Anyone have good suggestions for walkable neighborhoods within an hour or so of Asheville? Ideally, we would have a little land for a big garden, but close to town or in a town is fine as well, as my in-laws have a farm we can raid.

[mom-e]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by walkable neighborhood. I live south of Asheville, about 45 mins away in the Tryon/Columbus area. There are some nice new & older, established neighborhoods where kids can "play in the street" & while small, I have done very well homebirthing, (one breech) bf, & homeschooling. B/c of the small size, the playgrounds are in terrific shape. I personally love Saluda (35 mins S of A-ville), it's like a tiny Asheville. I would guess that the population age of the area is closer to forties/fifties & retirees than young couples, but I kind of like that aspect. I also recommend visiting b/c Asheville & the areas around are all so beautiful & so different. There are places with different focuses--living off grid areas, farming, gardening, living on top of a mountain--really, you can find whatever. For this area & Rutherfordton area, check out the Barefoot Learners yahoo group for hs/unschool group. I'm happy to answer any other specific questions. Enjoy your searching!

[appalachianwomyn]

You can also get on Ashevillemommies.com 's forums, they have a myspace site too, also wncmom.com . There are smaller communities all about 30 minutes from Asheville at each compass point. Weaverville to the North, Black Mountain to the East, Hendersonville to the South, Canton to the West. The thing about the farther you get out where there will be land the more conservative the community. Still, the whole area is becoming a good blend of people, and everyone knows that crunchies abound Pretty much Black Mountain and Hendersonville have good downtowns for activities with kids if you definitely are looking outside of Asheville. However, you will come to find that they divide Asheville into so many little communities you will hear them referenced alot too.