Divorced mom 34 looking at Asheville need advise on relocating (cliquey, rental)

[Jessie345]

Hi, I currently live in savannah with my 7 year old son. I love our life here but the crime here is scary with crackheads walking past my house every day and the sound of gunshots at night even though I live on a great street. I have no family here however I have wonderful friends that are hard to find (think "friends" tv show style) I have a shockingly lovely church that houses no judgement on anyone. These two reasons hold me back from moving away but my concern is that my friends (they are all younger) will eventually marry and become concerned about raising kids around crime and therefore move. And as much as I love the church, I would trade it to live in the mountains because I find peace in hiking that scenery and I LOVE rafting.

I guess I'm wanting to know if any current residents of Asheville think I'll have a hard time fitting in there as a single mom in my 30's. Is it all families? Are there older singles? Are people open or cliquey? Is it a good place to raise kids?

Also, how about dating in your 30's there? Dating here, it's mostly military on the websites which is not for me. I'm not big into the bar scene and would kill for some mountain men to show up on there. Our outdoorsmen are country Farm boys, southern fisherman types and beachgoing drunks.
I'm more into spiritual growth, nature and I love live music but I'm not a drinker. I can't stand materialism. I don't even wear makeup.

I should mention that money is covered. I'm not rich, I just have a small collection of rental properties that run themselves so I can live four hours away from them.

Asheville would also be closer to my family so I'd see them more. I appreciate any and all advice about moving as a single mom in general too. Thanks you guys.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by Jessie345

I love our life here but the crime here is scary with crackheads walking past my house every day and the sound of gunshots at night even though I live on a great street.

Plenty of drugs here. Most of the gunshots you'll hear are people shooting at targets...I think, but you'll still hear stuff like that.

Asheville people can be flaky, but generally friendly. There's a mix of liberal and conservative. It can be a weird mix.

Fitting in/dating? Unless you make friends easily probably. Since it's so transient around here people tend to either marry young or just date casually.

After six years here, a few social circles, and many dates I can tell you it turned out to be not my place (nor my people) if that makes any sense. I'm originally from the north and have traveled and lived all over so I have a pretty good idea of what's what. I'm most accustomed to medium-sized big cities (300k-800k with metros around 2 million) so here feels really small.

I'd imagine it's good for raising kids so long as you can afford it. Sounds like you have that covered.

Asheville has a large number of hipster types that look like mountain men. Actual mountain men are in short supply. You'll find a lot of the same types up here as down there minus the beach-going drunks (just replace that with drum circle hippies).

Lots of beer up here so people tend to take advantage of that. Fair amount of music and woo-woo spiritual crystal types.

Originally Posted by Jessie345

Asheville would also be closer to my family so I'd see them more.

You'd think. I find now that I'm closer to my family down here I don't really see them that much more than when we'd come down once a year to visit.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Forgot to mention for kid stuff dance, gymnastics, karate, and soccer are popular in addition to the regular sports. Also horseback riding if the parents can afford it.