Cities? No mention of people leaving those cities in droves to move outside them? How about focus on best places to live besides cities? I live at Ocean Isle Beach! Brunswick County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. We have people moving here from everywhere and housing can’t keep up with the influx! And yes, some of those moving are from NC cities. We love the excitement but don’t want to be in a city in any way, shape or form!
I don’t know who wrote this but they don’t know anything about N.C. Asheville is expensive and Charlotte is full of gang violence and street crime plus downtown is so hard to navigate that it confuses visitors ; Durham and Winston – Salem have crime problems too ; these cities were on a list of worst places to live based on per median income , housing prices and education along with the crime rate ; best thing about Asheville is that it’s close to Tennessee which in my experience is friendlier and more affordable ; if I had the money I’d be on Sevier County TN. in a hot minute…
As a lifelong 64 year resident of NC, I agree! Someone obviously didn’t do any research! I would title 5hat article the 5 biggest cities instead. Lived in Asheville, moved to Brunswick County and BC is way better!
Spouse has lived in Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte, not good at all. Smaller cities and towns in NC are much better for a lot of reasons.
I live a little more than an hour from Asheville. It is a major craphole with a lot of drug problems and violence. I don’t even go there to go shopping. I’d rather go to Tennessee or Georgia instead. If you’re out shopping in Asheville you have to worry about violence or at the very least panhandlers harassing you. And yes, people are leaving in droves.
Asheville LOL… lived here for near 6 years and looking to leave here quickly.. talk about a cesspool… this is it… crime is so high and homelessness is impossible for the city to get under control… absolutely a joke to have asheville on this list and not to forget to mention the cost of places to live here is astronomical…
There are many locations in North Carolina that offers community settings & lifestyles to fit most anyone who is seeking a Great setting. Many small towns offer this lifestyle.
Marion NC is one of such towns. It is experiencing rapid growth, with many relocating from the Asheville area. The weather is better, though it’s only 25 miles or so away. The tax base is considerably less expensive. The housing cost is definitely more affordable and again Asheville is only about 25 miles awa, to include Hickory is about the same distance. Boone is located about 45 miles away, with ski slopes and a college town setting.
Marion is the perfect location for the smaller community setting and still having many of the desired amenities, to include being close enough to commute to surrounding cities.
I live in NC….near Charlotte. And people are running from Charlotte into the countryside because of crime and traffic.
….just like Linda Melton stated above….I don’t recommend Charlotte to anyone. And Asheville has become almost as bad….a 200% increase in some crimes and a 40% decrease in the police department? No thanks…whoever writes these articles needs to live in these places for a couple of years and they will change their minds….
All five of those cities are ridden with crime and filth. Is that why as a home health nurse I ride the countryside and see all these housing suburbs being built farther and farther away from the cities? Nobody that I’m aware of wants to live in a big city or a city of any kind for that matter. I really can’t believe that Durham is listed as one of the five top cities to live in in North Carolina with the horrendous crime rate they have there.
Wow! How much did Asheville pay for this ranking?? No mention of the fact that Asheville ranks in the top 10% for unsafest cities in America. Homelessness out of control and severely understaffed police department.
Oh and a few years back people were so proud of the “sanctuary city” title that flooded this once beautiful place with homeless, drug cartels and every thief looking for easy pickings. Business exiting at an astounding rate and home values in the tank due in part to the squatters living in the backyards of once thriving neighborhoods. Literally NO reasonable rental housing in the area.
I advise a deeper look before you decide Asheville is the #1 spot in NC.
What a joke. Ashville has gone woke and their crime rate is skyrocketing. Durham is dangerous and raleigh is impersonal, overcrowded and expensive. Whoever wrote this is ignorant.
Thank you for the reviews of North Carolina!
Would love to live in a city like Asheville! We’re older retired but would love to work a part-time job..
Would love find a 2 bedroom single house or a condo with no ” HOA” issues…
Open to suggestions 😊
I dont know where they get their data but Durham is a crap hole. This must be pay to play.
Lidai says:
02/12/2023 at 10:58 PM
You don’t want to live in Trashville. I live here and the crime rate is sky rocketing!!! Homeless are everywhere and will harrass you downtown especially Pack Place!! Tourists give them money so they expect it. Tourists feed the bears so that’s also a problem. Driving is a nightmare. And Patton has wrecks at least once an hour!! You’ve been warned. Also finding a house with no HOA is impossible! Under 400k also nearly impossible if you want to live somewhere nice not bext to meth dens.
I’ve lived in Charlotte for over 17 years now from Chicago & for people from cities like Chicago, Detroit, New York, California, etc… Charlotte(and its surrounding areas) is a better place to live. BUT I will say this…housing, food, & healthcare cost in Charlotte are currently higher than some of those cities mentioned. So before moving anywhere check those 3 key things along with the “quality” of those 3 key things to compare because those are some of lifes essentials….of course for some schools & family & things to do come next….So these cities appeal to a certain demographic of people depending on their needs.
Really? Well selected demographic set for a survey. Each city named are misrepresented in article. Selective presentation. Crime, property taxes, government regulation, woke policies and cost, coast of living, traffic caused by government interference in best thoroughfare development due to lack of reality planning by looney tune advocacy groups, and this list grows with public policy creations by looney tune leadership. The order is correct from top down. Just for real things for opposite reasons.
Asheville used to be a fun city to visit, but is now a drug haven for homeless, graffiti and trash everywhere, and crime is up 200%
under the current mayor and city council. Yes, it does have beautiful places to visit OUTSIDE of downtown such as Grove Park Inn, Black Mountain, and the mountain views, trails and waterfall are spectacular! Try smaller stops like Marshall, Kernersville and several others. If you do venture downtown, watch your back.
Some of these comments are totally out of touch. Sure, if you’re 85 years old and are done living, and you don’t mind that weekend entertainment consists of checking out the ol’ jailhouse and the same 4 antique stores, and you’re idea of a “nice meal out” on a Saturday night is Carolina-style BBQ (again!), by all means move to middle-of-nowhere N. Carolina LOL! Enjoy the lack of crime…lack of everything actually. I’m sticking with Asheville or Charlotte. Asheville is expensive because it doesn’t suck and it’s beautiful. You get what you pay for. Folks who are reading this and considering moving to one of these cities, please don’t listen to these other comments unless literally all you want to do every day is sit on your porch and watch cardinals. And education, no matter how “bad” it might be in the cities is not going to be better in some tiny town with very few (i.e. no) resources.
I have lived in the Raleigh area since 2008. We USED to be a great place to live. The demand of out of staters for property has home prices skyrocketing. It used to be beautiful here before they cut down all the trees for housing developments and left trash littered literally all across what used to be a beautiful state. Now we even have wells drying up because too many developments are going in using community wells that drain all the water from neighboring wells. Traffic is a nightmare around here now. Infrastructure hasn’t kept up with population either. Southern Values are disappearing into the mass exodus that are moving here from other places.
This website is an advertisement not an informative article. They just listed the 5 largest municipalities pretty much. Charlotte is over run with crime and pan handlers are super aggressive. Not to mention the 5 cities are expensive as hell to live in. There are hundreds of other towns and municipalities better than listed here.
I think it was an honest list. I think it doesnt’ of course cover personal desires for reasons that aren’t quantifiable but that’s not what top 5 lists are for lol so Thanks for this!
Cities? No mention of people leaving those cities in droves to move outside them? How about focus on best places to live besides cities? I live at Ocean Isle Beach! Brunswick County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. We have people moving here from everywhere and housing can’t keep up with the influx! And yes, some of those moving are from NC cities. We love the excitement but don’t want to be in a city in any way, shape or form!
I don’t know who wrote this but they don’t know anything about N.C. Asheville is expensive and Charlotte is full of gang violence and street crime plus downtown is so hard to navigate that it confuses visitors ; Durham and Winston – Salem have crime problems too ; these cities were on a list of worst places to live based on per median income , housing prices and education along with the crime rate ; best thing about Asheville is that it’s close to Tennessee which in my experience is friendlier and more affordable ; if I had the money I’d be on Sevier County TN. in a hot minute…
That’s not correct…. those are the top 5 places NOT to live….
Exactly! What a Joke of an article! NC resident here.
As a lifelong 64 year resident of NC, I agree! Someone obviously didn’t do any research! I would title 5hat article the 5 biggest cities instead. Lived in Asheville, moved to Brunswick County and BC is way better!
Spouse has lived in Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte, not good at all. Smaller cities and towns in NC are much better for a lot of reasons.
Absolutely! I just read where the crime rate in Asheville North Carolina is up 100% over last year.
Totally agree!
I live a little more than an hour from Asheville. It is a major craphole with a lot of drug problems and violence. I don’t even go there to go shopping. I’d rather go to Tennessee or Georgia instead. If you’re out shopping in Asheville you have to worry about violence or at the very least panhandlers harassing you. And yes, people are leaving in droves.
Asheville LOL… lived here for near 6 years and looking to leave here quickly.. talk about a cesspool… this is it… crime is so high and homelessness is impossible for the city to get under control… absolutely a joke to have asheville on this list and not to forget to mention the cost of places to live here is astronomical…
There are many locations in North Carolina that offers community settings & lifestyles to fit most anyone who is seeking a Great setting. Many small towns offer this lifestyle.
Marion NC is one of such towns. It is experiencing rapid growth, with many relocating from the Asheville area. The weather is better, though it’s only 25 miles or so away. The tax base is considerably less expensive. The housing cost is definitely more affordable and again Asheville is only about 25 miles awa, to include Hickory is about the same distance. Boone is located about 45 miles away, with ski slopes and a college town setting.
Marion is the perfect location for the smaller community setting and still having many of the desired amenities, to include being close enough to commute to surrounding cities.
They are all cities, not the best places to live, areas within 30 miles from the cities seem to be the place to go.
I live in NC….near Charlotte. And people are running from Charlotte into the countryside because of crime and traffic.
….just like Linda Melton stated above….I don’t recommend Charlotte to anyone. And Asheville has become almost as bad….a 200% increase in some crimes and a 40% decrease in the police department? No thanks…whoever writes these articles needs to live in these places for a couple of years and they will change their minds….
All five of those cities are ridden with crime and filth. Is that why as a home health nurse I ride the countryside and see all these housing suburbs being built farther and farther away from the cities? Nobody that I’m aware of wants to live in a big city or a city of any kind for that matter. I really can’t believe that Durham is listed as one of the five top cities to live in in North Carolina with the horrendous crime rate they have there.
Wow! How much did Asheville pay for this ranking?? No mention of the fact that Asheville ranks in the top 10% for unsafest cities in America. Homelessness out of control and severely understaffed police department.
Oh and a few years back people were so proud of the “sanctuary city” title that flooded this once beautiful place with homeless, drug cartels and every thief looking for easy pickings. Business exiting at an astounding rate and home values in the tank due in part to the squatters living in the backyards of once thriving neighborhoods. Literally NO reasonable rental housing in the area.
I advise a deeper look before you decide Asheville is the #1 spot in NC.
What a joke. Ashville has gone woke and their crime rate is skyrocketing. Durham is dangerous and raleigh is impersonal, overcrowded and expensive. Whoever wrote this is ignorant.
I totally agree with you.
Whomever wrote this article fell and bumped their head, those cities named are the five worst places to live in the state.
I totally agree I couldn’t believe someone is that blind or paid to say that.
Thank you for the reviews of North Carolina!
Would love to live in a city like Asheville! We’re older retired but would love to work a part-time job..
Would love find a 2 bedroom single house or a condo with no ” HOA” issues…
Open to suggestions 😊
Mercedes & Michael Woods
This list should be named the top 5 worst places to live. These places are AWFUL with very high crime rates
I dont know where they get their data but Durham is a crap hole. This must be pay to play.
You don’t want to live in Trashville. I live here and the crime rate is sky rocketing!!! Homeless are everywhere and will harrass you downtown especially Pack Place!! Tourists give them money so they expect it. Tourists feed the bears so that’s also a problem. Driving is a nightmare. And Patton has wrecks at least once an hour!! You’ve been warned. Also finding a house with no HOA is impossible! Under 400k also nearly impossible if you want to live somewhere nice not bext to meth dens.
Check out the crime rate. The “woke” city has lost a good deal of its police force and the criminal element is running wild
Please stay out of Asheville. We’re sick of old rich people taking over what was once a nice place to live.
Keep Asheville weird.
I’ve lived in Charlotte for over 17 years now from Chicago & for people from cities like Chicago, Detroit, New York, California, etc… Charlotte(and its surrounding areas) is a better place to live. BUT I will say this…housing, food, & healthcare cost in Charlotte are currently higher than some of those cities mentioned. So before moving anywhere check those 3 key things along with the “quality” of those 3 key things to compare because those are some of lifes essentials….of course for some schools & family & things to do come next….So these cities appeal to a certain demographic of people depending on their needs.
I agree I’ve been here 72 years Winston Salem is the best of them all hands down
Really? Well selected demographic set for a survey. Each city named are misrepresented in article. Selective presentation. Crime, property taxes, government regulation, woke policies and cost, coast of living, traffic caused by government interference in best thoroughfare development due to lack of reality planning by looney tune advocacy groups, and this list grows with public policy creations by looney tune leadership. The order is correct from top down. Just for real things for opposite reasons.
Asheville used to be a fun city to visit, but is now a drug haven for homeless, graffiti and trash everywhere, and crime is up 200%
under the current mayor and city council. Yes, it does have beautiful places to visit OUTSIDE of downtown such as Grove Park Inn, Black Mountain, and the mountain views, trails and waterfall are spectacular! Try smaller stops like Marshall, Kernersville and several others. If you do venture downtown, watch your back.
Some of these comments are totally out of touch. Sure, if you’re 85 years old and are done living, and you don’t mind that weekend entertainment consists of checking out the ol’ jailhouse and the same 4 antique stores, and you’re idea of a “nice meal out” on a Saturday night is Carolina-style BBQ (again!), by all means move to middle-of-nowhere N. Carolina LOL! Enjoy the lack of crime…lack of everything actually. I’m sticking with Asheville or Charlotte. Asheville is expensive because it doesn’t suck and it’s beautiful. You get what you pay for. Folks who are reading this and considering moving to one of these cities, please don’t listen to these other comments unless literally all you want to do every day is sit on your porch and watch cardinals. And education, no matter how “bad” it might be in the cities is not going to be better in some tiny town with very few (i.e. no) resources.
I have lived in the Raleigh area since 2008. We USED to be a great place to live. The demand of out of staters for property has home prices skyrocketing. It used to be beautiful here before they cut down all the trees for housing developments and left trash littered literally all across what used to be a beautiful state. Now we even have wells drying up because too many developments are going in using community wells that drain all the water from neighboring wells. Traffic is a nightmare around here now. Infrastructure hasn’t kept up with population either. Southern Values are disappearing into the mass exodus that are moving here from other places.
This website is an advertisement not an informative article. They just listed the 5 largest municipalities pretty much. Charlotte is over run with crime and pan handlers are super aggressive. Not to mention the 5 cities are expensive as hell to live in. There are hundreds of other towns and municipalities better than listed here.
I think it was an honest list. I think it doesnt’ of course cover personal desires for reasons that aren’t quantifiable but that’s not what top 5 lists are for lol so Thanks for this!