re: I’m in North Carolina.

You will like lake lure. Quiet area with very little to do however you are not far from things. Chimney Rock is cool but there are tons of trails, rafting, etc....around.

I find it hard to believe there is a better place for everyday living than East TN/West NC.

My wife and I have been looking at moving down to Knoxville for a while and even that seems too large and metropolitan sometimes.

We live in the Tri-cities and it's got all the comforts of suburbia with a 90 minute drive to Asheville or Knoxville but tucked right up into the mountains. If it was only about climate, COL, etc I would never want to leave.

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Shhhhhhhhhh It’s the one area there that rarely gets mentioned in these discussions and I’d like to keep it that way for awhile.

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Some of us have known about it because we went to school there. Damn, I love that area.

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That would frickin suck

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Yeah. I'm part of the swarm in Boise, although I get FAR less hate because I'm working class from Louisiana.

ETA -- For all of you have never left the south and want to move up north, expect people thinking you're a fricking idiot upon first learning that you're from the sotuh. Not outright, but have thick skin when you get compliments that are actually insults like "You don't seem like you're from the South" or "I didn't expect you to catch on this fast." It's bonkers, but there is definitely a preconceived notion that people from the south are fat, stupid racists. And anything else is met with some pretty astounding prejudice.

The thing is, mountainous areas are going to explode in the next few decades. U.S. birthing rate has been declining OVERALL (good thing, IMO), but we are still expected to be at 400 million people by 2050. That's not terribly far away, and depending on the vagrancy and unrest that remains in urban areas (NYC, Chicago, LA, SF, Seattle in particular), the more conservative leaning people will be leaving those areas. Not full conservatives, but those who lean a bit left socially but still embrace capitalism. They will have money to spend in LCOL areas and they will buy swaths of land in mountainous areas. We've seen the beginning of this in the past 20 years. If someone decided to move to a mountainous area to "get away from everyone", you're just going to be part of a migration that will put you into a different undesirable situation.

My suggestion is go to somewhere with a low population harsh winters. Montana, SD, ND, Wyoming. And not those hot spots where people vacation because they are beautiful. If you are looking for rural living away from the masses, you need to relocate to an undesirable location that's semi-close (3-6 hours drive) from the mountains. If you're a hiker (I am, and Boise is pretty fricking ideal for hiking), and must be within a couple miles, choose a small range without a really well maintained trail system. Less amenities and more risk, but also less people and more serenity. Just know what the frick you're doing.

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Summers in the Deep South are hateful and vile.

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Alabama Fan

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Alabama fan discovers Alabama that sucks. Better late than never, I guess.

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I find it hard to believe there is a better place for everyday living than East TN/West NC.

My wife and I have been looking at moving down to Knoxville for a while and even that seems too large and metropolitan sometimes.

We live in the Tri-cities and it's got all the comforts of suburbia with a 90 minute drive to Asheville or Knoxville but tucked right up into the mountains. If it was only about climate, COL, etc I would never want to leave.

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my wife and I live right outside of Raleigh and my folks are in Knox.. We've been thinking pretty hard about moving west to the mountians in a few years

I just got back from Franklin, NC. We had a cabin on Wayah Creek and the scenery was so beautiful it felt surreal.

Here is video from the train ride to go rafting on the Nantahala River.

Love that area. Here are some photos from the Tennessee side of the mountains & Knoxville. Happy to call this home

I chose to live in the mountains of WNC and have never regretted it. It's currently 75° on my porch and green views for miles and miles. The only other place that I can see myself living would be Panama, and even then, keeping a place here for unforeseen eventualities.

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Impassable for your average advanced paddler, and not allowed to be run by commercial companies.

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So what's the name of the rapid/falls?

Also, I liked Knoxville but didn't love it. I was hoping for something that felt a bit more Southern, but a lot of it felt like it was built in the 60s/70s. The stadium is in an area that doesn't lend itself to an awesome collective gameday experience...unless of course you pull up in a boat. The square area was the best part of town with some cool bars and restaurants.