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All the highly desirable areas, Lake Norman area for example, are overpriced. In the paper (Charlotte Observer) a couple of Sundays ago, it was reported that Mooresville feared housing growth would slow because it was becoming so rare to buy for under $250,000.
Check out the following sites:
hickoryrecord.com
hickorygov.com
Good local information.
Dont get talked into buying somewhere inside of the Charlotte or Raleigh areas. These areas are the three "O"'s -overcrowded,overpriced,overhyped.
The Hickory area had its boom time in the 1990's, but in the early 2000's, the manufacturing jobs closed or transferred, leaving the area in an economic slump. About a year ago the area started to really rebound, with new shops, residential areas being built up. Older shopping areas are being renovated or torn down and replaced with much nicer open areas. Google and the Target Corp. announced plans to build processing centers in the Hickory area bringing hundreds of new jobs. Oh yeah, no nightmare traffic on the roads and plenty of roads already in place to handle new businesses and traffic.
If you would like more info, just ask, be happy to post it.
Last edited by Carolina_native; 02-06-2007 at 01:54 PM..
Really do appreciate the reply to my concerns, you have helped me to finally decide. It's the first area I wanted to relocate to being in such close proximity to my sis many , many thanks to you for that and if you can think of anything else helpful please feel free to pm me. Are there any areas of Hickory that I would like better than the others. I have a 16 yr old who will be attending the local high school. Have a great night.
Hickory Crawdads - Class A Team, winning South Atlantic League Championship in 2002 and 2004, play at the L.P. Frans Stadium in northwest Hickory.
Hickory Motor Speedway
Hickory Airport.
Valley Hills Mall, 2 story mall.
Two major hospitals. Frye Regional in northeast Hickory, and Catawba Memorial Hospital in southwest Hickory.
All the shopping you want, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Old Navy, H.H. Gregg, Barnes and Noble, etc.
Lenoir-Rhyne College
Also Catawba Valley Community College.
Restraunts galore, from small privately run stores, restraunts and coffe shops in the downtown of Hickory, to major chain restraunts on Lenoir-Rhyne Blvd and Hwy 70.
Railroad tracks that are still in use go thru downtown.
Wealthier neighborhoods are found in the northwestern part of the city, such as Moores Ferry.
There are homes for sale in nice areas off of Catawba Valley Blvd in southeast Hickory.
Areas to stay away from is an area off of South Center St. directly south from downtown Hickory, where the public housing is.
Interstate 40 paralells Hwy 70 going west to east thru the city, easy access to head into the mountains or a drive to the east towards Statesville.
Hwy 321 runs north/south thru Hickory. North to Boone or south to Gastonia or Charlotte.
As always, I would talk to any future neighbors and see how they feel about their neighborhood before I committed to anywhere, drive and see if its a place you will like. The city has kept its southern culture, not one big strip mall, and keeps infrastructure ahead of the growth. Thats how I feel about the city.
Thank all of you for all of the great information, both positive and negative. When relocating, we want to make an educated decision, and there are positives and negatives to any place. We will be visiting the Hickory area next month and we will keep everyones suggestions in mind. If anyone has any further suggestions on what we should see and do to help us with our decision to relocate, we would love to hear them. Thanks again everyone!
LizDave -
I could give you the names of several good realtors in the area and also the mortgage company that we used was very flexible - we are self-employed and did not have a problem getting a mortgage. Let me know if you would like these references.
IslandGirl
Thanks IslandGirl... we would like that very much... you can post them here or you can PM me.... Thanks!
I moved to Hickory last summer. It is a very nice, friendly town with a great proximity to the mountains. I had a job before I arrived here so can't help much with the job market questions. The housing market is good and the town is booming but they don't seem to realize it. New construction everywhere but still the mentality of a small, laid back town. Plenty of amenities including all the big name stores and restaurants. Hickory is growing and changing though. Note should be made that there are two school systems that serve the county Hickory is in, Catawba County Schools and Hickory Public Schools. If your children will be attending Hickory Public Schools and you have specific questions about them feel free to pm me.
DH may have a job opportunity in Hickory in the near future. It may be difficult for me to find employment in Hickory. Charlotte would offer me more opportunity, so I'm wondering if there is a city/town in between Hickory and Charlotte that would offer a reasonable commute for both of us. Maybe Gastonia? Any ideas would be appreciated!
Does anyone have any advice on where to stay for a week while people check our Hickory and surrounding areas. I have checked into hotels (will run around $700 for the week), not sure about campgrounds (rental units?), etc. . . any ideas. We are coming down the last week of May and want to check the area out as we are planning on moving within the next year.
Does anyone have any advice on where to stay for a week while people check our Hickory and surrounding areas. I have checked into hotels (will run around $700 for the week), not sure about campgrounds (rental units?), etc. . . any ideas. We are coming down the last week of May and want to check the area out as we are planning on moving within the next year.
Plenty of hotels. If you are traveling on Interstate 40, get off on the Lenoir Rhyne Blvd exit. Travel south maybe a half mile. You will see 13th Av Dr Se. On this road is a good collection of nice hotels.
Holiday Inn Select, Fairfield Inn, Marriott, Jameson Inn, Sleep Inn, etc basically all the hotels you can think of. The Marriott has two rather nice hotels here, but they are a little expensive...but there are more affordable ones. They are located on either side of 13th Av, and are right next to several restaurants like Carrabas, Hooters, Outback, Kobes, J&S Cafeteria, Iron Thunder Saloon etc. These hotels are located very close to the Hwy 70 corridor withthe mall and all the rest of shopping/dining areas.
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Thank you Carolina Native
Really do appreciate the reply to my concerns, you have helped me to finally decide. It's the first area I wanted to relocate to being in such close proximity to my sis 
many , many thanks to you for that and if you can think of anything else helpful please feel free to pm me. Are there any areas of Hickory that I would like better than the others. I have a 16 yr old who will be attending the local high school. Have a great night.
