Thinking of moving to Waynesville (Asheville, Cullowhee: houses, job market, neighborhood)

[jhuckmg25]

Hi all,
I am considering moving to Waynesville and would love to hear any good or bad info. I am 37 years old currently living in Highlands and attending WCU in Cullowhee. If I move I will buy a home and am looking in the less than 200k range. Will that get you a decent small home in a good neighborhood(1000-2000sqft, good condition, not modular)? Is the town pet friendly? Are there many people in my age range? Does anybody know on average a commute to Cullowhee would take? How long a drive to Asheville? I will pay cash for the home and my finances are in great shape so I am not concerned with the job market, not trying to be snobby just hate the "you'll never find a job" comments. I will probably open my own business after I get my Masters Degree.
Any info would be appreciated,
Jack

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by jhuckmg25

Hi all,
I am considering moving to Waynesville and would love to hear any good or bad info. I am 37 years old currently living in Highlands and attending WCU in Cullowhee. If I move I will buy a home and am looking in the less than 200k range. Will that get you a decent small home in a good neighborhood(1000-2000sqft, good condition, not modular)?

Maybe, probably...one of the RE Mavens on this forum should be able to point you in the right direction, and a simple GOOG search using a large RE MLS service showed ~53 houses under $200Gs. The Net is your friend, for looking...

Is the town pet friendly? It seems to me that it is; many of our friends have dogs, cats, etc. There are at least 2 animal shelter volunteer deals in town, and there is even a dog/pet walk parade. I think yes...

Are there many people in my age range? Being a RetiredBum, I don't 'hang out' much, but I see people your age working at various situs and 'around'. Some of the late teen/early 20s gang seem to leave if they can't find work or just don't want to stay. Hard question for me to answer.

Does anybody know on average a commute to Cullowhee would take? GOOG Maps sez 23 miles/32 mins from 'downtown W'ville' to 'WNC'. My guess is on school mornings, one would have to add 5-10 mins for the 'roll in' from the bypass highway.

How long a drive to Asheville? GOOG Maps shows 30.5 miles/34 mins from 'downtown' to 'downtown'; we do a shopping trip to A'ville from W'ville regularly and 35-40 mins is very reasonable, depending on where one is 'going' in A'ville. You don't have GOOG Maps on your computer?

I will pay cash for the home and my finances are in great shape so I am not concerned with the job market, not trying to be snobby just hate the "you'll never find a job" comments. I will probably open my own business after I get my Masters Degree.
Any info would be appreciated,
Jack

We have lived on Eagles Nest Mtn, 'above' Waynesville, since Sept 2001. We love the town, the area, the people, the downtown, the lifestyle, etc. We are retired and pretty damn fiscally comfortable, so opins are from a slightly different frame of ref vs someone starting out or into the next phase of working life. My 50Cts...
GL, mD

[67walkon]

Yeah, we're old too, compared to you, but young compared to many. We have a second home in Waynesville and love it. This year we plan on being there from mid April until whenever the weather gets crappy in the fall.

There are lots of people your age. I don't know if they make any money working, but if you enjoy doing outdoorsy stuff, it's a great area. We are on the east side of Waynesville, in Bethel, and Asheville is about a 30 minute drive.

The people are very nice. Housing costs are reasonable. You will have lots of retired or former Floridians for neighbors. What's not to like?