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Topic: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this... (Read 364 times) |
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catlind
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Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« on: Mar 14th, 2008, 9:22am » |
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Unofficial report no later than date of July 31st and they are trying to move it to June.
As far as military moves go, this is as certain as it gets before you have paper orders.
Looks like the Lind family is going to be living in North Carolina by this summer.
Any of you NCers wanna help me gather info on the Asheville area and a place in the area I might actually be able to afford to live??
Oy...the best laid plans...are always fucked up by the military.
At least it has definite job security 
Cat
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Redd
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #1 on: Mar 14th, 2008, 10:02am » |
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Get in touch sis, once you find a place and we can discuss how to "clean" it before you start moving in.
Some things left by others aren't always seen with the eye. 
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Sandy_C
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #2 on: Mar 14th, 2008, 11:47am » |
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Cat!
Let me be the first NC'er to welcome you to our state. I live in the Piedmont Triad area of NC (Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem), which is about 2-1/2 hours east of Asheville on I 40. I moved here in 1984 from northwest Ohio, and haven't regretted it for one second.
I love to visit Asheville It's a medium sized city with a nice downtown, good shopping, pretty good school system and it is situated in one of the most beautiful areas in the US - The Blue Ridge Mountains. I don't care which direction you look, you will see beautiful scenery in all four seasons. You will have all four seasons, but none of them are usually extreme (unless you absolutely hate a little snow in winter). Spring and Fall are absolutely breathtaking in the mountain..make sure you take time to just take a Sunday drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's phenomenal.
Asheville has a thriving theater program, with concerts, plays, etc. Good restaurants, and is centrally located with easy access to major interstates.
Asheville is about 1-1/2 to 2 hr drive down I-26 to Charlotte, which is a much larger, very metropolitan city, and, since I'm about 3 hours from the beach (Wilmington area) , Asheville would be 5-1/2 to 6 hrs, perfect for weekend beach trips.
As to housing, since you are coming in with the military, are you limited to a certain radius from the base area in which to live? There are a couple of smaller towns within 30 miles of Asheville that are very charming. Black Mountain, just a short distance east on I 40 is an old, small town, that has kept it's old time appearance, but has some of the best shopping (small, privately owned), and great restaurants. Black Mountain is a mecca for the tourists, and a great place to look for furniture. One town that I would avoid (my personal opinion) would be Canton, NC, which is a few miles west of Asheville on I-40, unless you like the smell of paper mills.
I don't know what price range you would be looking for to purchase or rent, and I don't expect you to share that info with me. But, my son-in-law's parents live in Old Fort, just east of Asheville, and know the area well. I'll pick their brains do a little searching for you and look into areas that are nice, in or near Asheville, and send on everything I find.
For starters, here is a link to the Asheville visitors and tourist bureau, which gives you a nice overview of the area. I'll also try to pull up demographics, housing, taxation rates, schools, whatever you need that I can help you with.
http://www.exploreasheville.com/index.aspx
Again, welcome to NC. There's a few of our cluster family living here, Chuck and Racer Bill, to name just two.
Come on down! Ya'all are welcome!
Sandy
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thomas
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #3 on: Mar 14th, 2008, 11:49am » |
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Biltmore.
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catlind
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #4 on: Mar 14th, 2008, 12:15pm » |
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on Mar 14th, 2008, 11:49am, thomas wrote:
I think I said a place I could actually *afford* to live LOL!!
Bill has given me some good info on the area in general, we've known this was a possibility for some time, but found on Wed. that it was a 98% probability. By Thurs. the commander in Asheville had already emailed the Chief here and asked when he was getting his super. When the Chief replied and told him that it was July 31st, he requested any means possible to have us there in June. Clark has since contacted the new commander there and we are going to see what we can do to move as early as possible, but it has to be around the kids school year. I will NOT move my kids in the middle of a school year. This is hard enough on them, we came to Omaha with the intent of retiring here (military wise) and then plans changed - welcome to married to the military. Alex is 16 and a sophomore, it is going to be incredibly hard on him to have to change highschools halfway through. Andrea is going to be starting 9th grade so while it will be easier for her since the high school she was going to here would have had none of her friends from her middle school - except her best buddy in the world and they happened to have been assigned the same Quality Time (homeroom) teacher - she is absolutely devastated and threatening to run away. Alex has said he is quitting school. We haven't even told our 7 1/2 year old yet, Ayden who will turn 8 July 20th will not only have his birthday plans disrupted, but he has not been raised on a military base like Alex and Andrea were. We moved to Omaha and bought a house out in Millard area, about 15 miles away from the base and we have had really no interaction with the base or military functions (much to Clarks relief LOL - I don't get along well with the military it seems....LOOOOOOOOONG stories ther).
So I will be looking at a high school and an elementary school, and I have rather high standards for schools. Millard school district here is PHENOMENAL - the art and music programs are out of this world. Andrea has been an orchestra student since 5th grade playing both violin and stand up bass and electric bass. We just had the Millard Orchestra Festival a few weeks back - 3 high schools, and 4 middle schools of all grade levels from 6 - 12 came together for a single concert. They had ONE day to play together and rehearse ahead of the concert. None of them had played together prior to that day. The concert was unbelievable. The talent was breathtaking. And yes I'm biased, but Andrea is an extraordinarily talented musician - my grandfather was degreed in violin and was conductor of the Nottingham Symphony Orchestra at age 16 - so it's genetic (although it seems to have skipped me completely hehe). So that's something I want to find out about, if the schools in the area have a good music program. The other side is if the high school has a good computer program, Alex is a computer student, and will need to be able to continue his path or I will risk him walking away from school  .
Continued (easier to do this in 2 parts I think since I'm such a windbag LOL)
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Sandy_C
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #5 on: Mar 14th, 2008, 12:17pm » |
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on Mar 14th, 2008, 11:49am, thomas wrote:
OMG Yes!
How could I forget to mention Biltmore house. This is a definite "must see". You need to go in the spring when the gardens are in full bloom, and at Christmas, when every room in the only United States "castle" is decorated.
Gorgeous!
Thanks for reminding me of this one, Thomas.
Sandy
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Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
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catlind
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #6 on: Mar 14th, 2008, 12:41pm » |
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Sandy, thanks so much for the welcome, means more than you can know! Asheville doesn't even have a base, Clark will be the superintendant of the (now 14th Weather Squadron) previously the Air Combat Climatology Center at the Federal Building in Asheville - they are the DoD part of the NOAA function there.
So we can live anywhere we want, we will be given an allowance for housing and I believe it is roughly about $1600 a month so if that helps you find any info for areas for rentals. We won't buy there at this stage since the idea of having to get prepped to move there is more than enough without having to prep our house here for sale and try and juggle that on top of it all. We'll get there and then decide from there what to do as far as purchasing a house.
We are open to anywhere in the region that will accommodate the budget and the schooling. I've visited the asheville.com site and that's about it other than some real estate sites. I won't argue with you about the views, everything I've seen and heard about the area is all good, better and great. One thing I miss coming from southwestern Ontario, to Upstate NY then to Nebraska is fall - it is my favorite season and I desperately miss it and can't wait to see the breath taking displays that the area has to offer! Another benefit is the climate that you describe, no extremes. And after 4 years in upstate NY a little snow doesn't bother me in the least LOL. We spent 4 years with 5ft snow storms and average snowfall of 120" a year - and Nebraska doesn't even come close to the snow we had there so Asheville can only be better. I'm no stranger to snow and winter and don't mind it, although I look forward to a climate that doesn't have ridiculous extremes like Nebraska does, we just had 3 days where the night time low was 27 and the daytime high was 63 - talk about temp. swings! Summers here are really hard on my head, I'm a weather and heat triggered CH'er so Asheville will be a welcome relief I expect. I also know that there are so many of you CH'ers there that I will be able to find a knowledgeable doc *somewhere* in the state. That is an issue - we are on what is an EFMP - exceptional family member program, I have a pituitary tumor and am Chronic CH so the military has to make sure I have adequate medical care available in any location they decide to move us to. Vanderbilt in TN is one of the only 5 Pituitary centers available in the US so that will actually be an improvement from here.
So I guess we just need to have a 4 bedroom house/duplex/townhouse - at this stage in the game we aren't going to be picky - and the most important thing for me is that we have a good school system for the kids - I have 3 kids that are all high ability learners and both high schoolers are International Baccalaureate qualified so that is sort of my standard for a school system. The rest I can work out and compromise and sort out as needed when we know the date of the move.
We will get a 10 day permissive TDY - (temporary duty) to go to Asheville and do a househunting trip so when we get paper orders we will get that set up ASAP. If we get papers by the spring break in April we will go then, otherwise it will likely not be until the end of May beginning of June. With them trying to move the report date up, that could leave us with very little time between finding a place and actually moving.
As you can imagine, it's a nightmare of logistics to move a family to a new state. I have to make sure that all 3 kids school records are transferred and that all medical records are gathered and transferred and Alex needs a pediatric neurologist for his seizure disorder, and of course my own medical records and needs on the other end (ugh that alone is enough to make me break down). Then coordinate the packers and movers and what I will be moving myself - it's one thing to say the military moves you and pays for it, it's another thing to have them do it without half your property ending up missing or damaged. So we always do a partial do it yourself move. In my 40 years I've moved 26 times, so I have that part down pat hehe. I know exactly what I need to have with us to live in a house until our household goods are delivered.
Having 3 cats and a dog will probably complicate rental options as well. Although I'm not so sure that Wiley, my 15 y/o cat will survive the move .
Basically from this point forward, until we are in the new residence and have things settled, my life is one great big question mark and race of logistics and attempt at continuity and adjustment for the kids. That's going to be the hardest thing and has me near out of my mind. I'm terrified what this is going to do to the kids, which in turn has Clark worried about what this is going to do to me hehe.
Stress doesn't historically leave me in very good health. I do just fine health wise until it's all over then my endocrine system usually goes way out of whack thanks to the glow in the dark spot in my head.
Any and all info you can send my way is HUGELY appreciated and if you need any details or info I'm more than happy to PM you any 'sensitive' info.
What you've told me already has made things easier, I know I have some options, and some people there on the other end that know the region. That is a rare option when you do a military move. You are usually at the mercy of what your military 'sponsor' tells you and sends you, and that almost never is what reality is.
Thanks again, and sorry for the war and peace post LOL.
Cat
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A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart
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Sandy_C
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #7 on: Mar 14th, 2008, 12:54pm » |
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Cat
Check your PM's
Sandy
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Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
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Callico
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #8 on: Mar 14th, 2008, 10:40pm » |
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Cat,
I'm JEALOUS!!! Of all the U.S. the Asheville to Knoxville TN area is the most beautiful in my estimation, and I have traveled most of it. My wife's parents and sister live in Asheville, and I used to sit in her Grandparents living room and just LOOK out the picture window for hours. She thought I was bored, but how can one be bored looking at that??? (I grew up in the flat land of IL)
The radio towers for the airport, and I believe some of the meteorological instruments used to be on Linda's grandparents property, but the old home place was sold a couple of years ago for a shopping center. The highway was widened, and came up to three feet from the front porch, so it was not livable any longer. They moved the towers, but they are still in the same general area.
If you would like to PM me I will be happy to put you in contact with my sister-in-law. She can probably help you in trying to find good locations.
Jerry
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Patrick_A
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #9 on: Mar 15th, 2008, 9:21am » |
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Hey Cat,
Asheville is 1 of the more beautiful places in the world. You will love it! I live in Greenville, SC. It is about 70 miles south of Asheville. Enjoy it!
Pat
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cash5542
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Re: Not sure North Carolina is ready for this...
« Reply #10 on: Mar 15th, 2008, 1:20pm » |
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Be sure to check your pms! I sent you some great school information!
Charlotte
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