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We are from North Idaho (Coeurd'Alene). The winters here are soooo long, grey, cold and with a lot of snow.
We dont have a lot of humidity here an average of about 30-40 % all year long. We've never been to the south east. We started going on line and looking up towns with more sunshine, mild winters and not a lot of population.
We came up with Hickory NC.
It looks so beautiful there.
I have several questions and hope someone can answer them.
First of all is there any snow in the winter, does it get below freezing, is there a lot of cloudy days in the winter, a lot of rain, how many sunny days in the winter???
As far as summer months...........It looks as if it rains about 4-5 inches every month all year long. Is this true???
On average, how many sunny days per month do you get???
Sun is very important to us as we only get an average of 174 days of sun per year in Idaho.
When I talk to people that have been in NC.........I hear it is so hot and humid and full of bugs. That I would hate it.
What type of humidity are we talking about with how high of temps???
Bugs and snakes are my next question??? Does Hickory have a lot of snakes??? What type of bugs???? We have gardner snakes here...........and we have our problems with misquito's in the spring and early summer at times.....depending on how wet of a spring we get.
We have bee's, flies, and stink bugs.
Then I've read about tornado's...........are they common in Hickory??? What about earthquakes???? And last but not least.........how bad are the lighting storms that I've heard about???
Is Hickory a town by its self or does it just blend in with all the other small towns???
When we looked it up it says it has 300,000 people in the tri city region. Coeurd'Alene has about a total of 120,000 people, but there are towns strung out all over the place with seperation which totals all these people.
Where would be a good place to live out on acerage close to Hickory that has trees and rolling hills???
Sorry for all the questions. It's hard finding information on line about these types of things.
Spokun4.............
We are from North Idaho (Coeurd'Alene). The winters here are soooo long, grey, cold and with a lot of snow.
We dont have a lot of humidity here an average of about 30-40 % all year long. We've never been to the south east. We started going on line and looking up towns with more sunshine, mild winters and not a lot of population.
We came up with Hickory NC.
It looks so beautiful there.
I have several questions and hope someone can answer them.
First of all is there any snow in the winter, does it get below freezing, is there a lot of cloudy days in the winter, a lot of rain, how many sunny days in the winter???
As far as summer months...........It looks as if it rains about 4-5 inches every month all year long. Is this true???
On average, how many sunny days per month do you get???
Sun is very important to us as we only get an average of 174 days of sun per year in Idaho.
When I talk to people that have been in NC.........I hear it is so hot and humid and full of bugs. That I would hate it.
What type of humidity are we talking about with how high of temps???
Bugs and snakes are my next question??? Does Hickory have a lot of snakes??? What type of bugs???? We have gardner snakes here...........and we have our problems with misquito's in the spring and early summer at times.....depending on how wet of a spring we get.
We have bee's, flies, and stink bugs.
Then I've read about tornado's...........are they common in Hickory??? What about earthquakes???? And last but not least.........how bad are the lighting storms that I've heard about???
Is Hickory a town by its self or does it just blend in with all the other small towns???
When we looked it up it says it has 300,000 people in the tri city region. Coeurd'Alene has about a total of 120,000 people, but there are towns strung out all over the place with seperation which totals all these people.
Where would be a good place to live out on acerage close to Hickory that has trees and rolling hills???
Sorry for all the questions. It's hard finding information on line about these types of things.
Spokun4.............
The city of Hickory (Catawba County) is located in the Piedmont Region of NC.
Having grown up in Catawba Co and lived in Hickory . . . I will try to answer your questions. I hope someone who currently lives there will post, as it has been a while since I actually lived there - but have relatives there now.
Hickory has under 40,000 people in its city limits. Hickory has a nice lake, wh/ is great for boating and fishing. It is in a valley, wh/ means the weather and temps there are somewhat in a a "micro-system" apart from areas outside the Catawba Valley. Although summer temps can get into the 90s, they rarely reach 100. You will want air conditioning, but you won't need it all the time, especially in the evenings when things cool down.
Hickory used to be one of the nation's largest supply centers for furniture. That has changed over the years, and the industry has great diminished. Same for textiles. Most of these jobs have now been outsourced to China and Malaysia.
Catawba Co has always had entrepreneurs who started their own businesses, often from cottage industries. There are a lot of craftsmen there. You will need to carefully research employment b/f you come, as the unemployment rate has been affected by plant closings over the last decade.
As for bugs and snakes . . .yes, there are snakes. I grew up being aware and wary of snakes. If you live near a creek (wh/ I always have - prefer it!) you have the potential for poisonous snakes, such as water moccasins. Copperheads are common, especially in wooded areas. You just pay attention and have a cat or two and you will be fine. There are bugs, like everywhere else, but the mosquitoes are not "legend" as they are in places like Wisconsin, LOL. You just use bug spray - no big deal.
Housing costs vary widely, depending on what area of the county you settle in. Some areas maintain a premium price, simply b/c of scarcity in that area. There is also an historic district (Oakwood) near the downtown.
There are many small communities surrounding Hickory and you may want to consider living in one of those areas, such as Mountain View. A good realtor can show you a map and point out the various communities and what school district that would put you in.
There can be snow, but nothing consistent as in weeks and weeks of snow w/ accumulations. However, systems move through periodically and even if there have been no big snowstorms for a decade, once in a while, the region will get dumped w/ over a foot of snow, and several successive snows that follow. It is considered quite fun, w/ people out sledding and enjoying the snow. So yes, there is snow, but it usually is gone in a few days as the temps will move above freezing. Big snow accumulations are considered more a novelty than the norm.
The main thing you need to consider would be employment. I don't think you mentioned that. My advice is - do not move to NC unless you have a job or a way of supporting yourself or unless you have some prospects lined up - or can start your own business (or have a pension).
The links and suggestions that MM34b gave you are a great place to get started to answer many of your questions about Hickory and the surrounding area.
Thank you for all the information! My husband is actually a self employed contractor.........he builds houses, does remodels, decks, fences what have you.
I'm a teller at Bank of America.
You didnt mention anything about tornado's, sunshine, humidity, rain, earthquakes, or the lighting storms............Do you have any info. on these??? I have checked some websites on the weather.........but it is much better to get peoples opinions that have lived there. Thank you MM34b for all the links............these are websites I didnt get to check out. I am fairly new to searching the net. I find myself going in circles...LOL.
We are looking for a place with between 2500- 3000 sq ft. 3-4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and with about 3-5 acres with tree's around us and pasture. Our price range is about $150,000.
Thanks for all the help..............Spokun4
North Carolina has its share of earthquakes, but large, damaging seismic events are infrequent in our state. The map below shows earthquake epicenters from 1698 - 2002 in North Carolina and surrounding states. Circles and squares represent earthquake epicenters and bigger symbols represent larger magnitude earthquakes. The effects of an earthquake cover a much larger area than the locaton of the dot or epicenter.
The average relative humidity does not vary greatly from season to season but is generally the highest in winter and lowest in spring. The lowest relative humidities are found over the southern Piedmont, where the year around average is about 65 percent. The highest are along the immediate coast, averaging around 75 percent. The least amount of actual moisture is found in the higher mountains. The lower temperatures, however, result in relative humidities that are about the same as elsewhere in the State.
Sunshine is relatively abundant. The average annual percent of possible sunshine ranges between 58 to 65 percent. On average, 26 days per year are clear, 117 partly cloudy and 122 cloudy, while measurable rain falls on 120 days.
Average annual precipitation for Hickory - 47.96" (Hickory Regional Airport - Period of Record : 1/ 1/1949 to 6/30/2007)
Recorded Lightning Deaths in NC, 1959–2003 - 29. NC was ranked #3 behind Florida and Texas.
Thank you for all the information! My husband is actually a self employed contractor.........he builds houses, does remodels, decks, fences what have you.
I'm a teller at Bank of America.
You didnt mention anything about tornado's, sunshine, humidity, rain, earthquakes, or the lighting storms............Do you have any info. on these??? I have checked some websites on the weather.........but it is much better to get peoples opinions that have lived there. Thank you MM34b for all the links............these are websites I didnt get to check out. I am fairly new to searching the net. I find myself going in circles...LOL.
We are looking for a place with between 2500- 3000 sq ft. 3-4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and with about 3-5 acres with tree's around us and pasture. Our price range is about $150,000.
Thanks for all the help..............Spokun4
You should be fine as far as jobs, then.
Your housing requirements, tho, concern me. I do not think you can find a home that size w/ acreage for that price in Catawba County, but I have not priced land there in many years. I would contact a realtor to find out that info. I honestly think you need to add at least another $100,000 to your figure to get several acres of land w/ pasture and a house of even 2000 sq. ft. But again, I may be way off so don't take my supposition as definitive - you really need to talk w/ a realtor.
Your housing requirements, tho, concern me. I do not think you can find a home that size w/ acreage for that price in Catawba County, but I have not priced land there in many years. I would contact a realtor to find out that info. I honestly think you need to add at least another $100,000 to your figure to get several acres of land w/ pasture and a house of even 2000 sq. ft. But again, I may be way off so don't take my supposition as definitive - you really need to talk w/ a realtor.
Are there less expensive counties to live in??? I here that Catawba county has the highest taxes in the state. Is this true??? When looking at some of the real estate sites and I put in Hickory NC.............it looks like you can get a lot for $150,000. But then again if your not familiar with the area you have no clue. I will call someone about real estate. Does anyone know someone personally that they know?
Thanks everyone!!!!
Are there less expensive counties to live in??? I here that Catawba county has the highest taxes in the state. Is this true??? When looking at some of the real estate sites and I put in Hickory NC.............it looks like you can get a lot for $150,000. But then again if your not familiar with the area you have no clue. I will call someone about real estate. Does anyone know someone personally that they know?
Thanks everyone!!!!
You can get a really cute house - like 1600 + sq. ft on 1/2 acre for $150,000 but not w/ 3 or more acres, I am pretty sure. You may be able to find several acres and a 2000 sq ft house on 3 or more acres in Lincoln Co wh/ is next door to Catawba. I am not sure about Alexander (other side of Catawba). Just don't know what all might be for sale these days in Alexander - they have a lot of farms over there - very pretty, rolling hills. Someone may have a house w/ acreage for sale so I would check on Alexander Co, too. Caldwell might have something, too.
I have no clue about taxes now in Catawba Co but find it hard to believe they have highest county taxes in state. ???? Again, that would be a question a realtor could help you with.
Please do not take my word for it about acreage and house prices. I have not checked on real estate there lately and I would hate to discourage you out of my own ignorance!!!
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Are there less expensive counties to live in??? I here that Catawba county has the highest taxes in the state. Is this true??? When looking at some of the real estate sites and I put in Hickory NC.............it looks like you can get a lot for $150,000. But then again if your not familiar with the area you have no clue. I will call someone about real estate. Does anyone know someone personally that they know? 
