Thread: Visiting cities for relocation - any advice?

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We are going to visit a city this weekend, since it is a 3-day weekend and one of the last before my wife pops. The purpose is to pick one of our target cities and see if we like it.

I want to move back to Seattle, but in one of those things we do for love... we'll stick in the south for now.

Here are the cities on our list, because the wife has not been to any of them. Do any of you guys live in any of these places? Any pro or con feedback? So much of the city-based message board stuff is negative, it's hard to find the truth.

-Nashville
-Knoxville
-Raleigh
-Charleston
-Asheville
-Wilmington

We are also considering a few options in Florida, but we are pretty familiar with the area.

I live in Florida and I miss my four seasons. But it's not that bad.

I have family in Asheville that I frequently visit. It seems to be a very liberal town. Lot of hippie-esque folks. Lot of culture, close to outdoorsy stuff. Lots of places to eat, but I found it too rural for me. The city itself is fine I guess, but I felt far away from other towns and cities. I suppose I'm more of a city-boy who likes frequent visits to nature... ?

While I thought the town itself was very nice, I was surprised at how culturally different is it from conservative central Florida. When my wife and I went to eat in the city in the middle of the week, a group of 50 or so people came out into the sidewalks dressed in colorful rags and were dancing and chanting all wacky-like. But, it was a beautiful day and we didn't mind the odd entertainment. It's just not something I would ever see where I'm at now. I imagine the mayor and city staff coming to work in cargo shorts, tshirt, and Birkenstocks.

Asheville is a 'progressive' city, which would be interesting.. but hey, I love Seattle and that's home of flannel and birkenstocks.

I grew up in Georgia, and love being close to my family... but I am just sick of the heat. I want more stuff to do, outdoors, museums, aquariums, whatever. We have plenty of outdoor stuff here, but good grief it is 90+ degrees for 5-6 months of the year. What are the seasons? Summer and SpringWinter? We don't have a winter until early spring, and we don't have a fall.

Liberals are fun to deal with, but I have found it's easier to make friends in areas full of transplants like that than to make friends in towns like this where everyone is born here and plans to die here.

We visited several locations over the past couple of years looking for property. We looked in the pacific north west, but too wet (we like to ride our motorcycle) and they don't particularly like people from CA. Looked at most states that don't have state income tax, they more than make up for it in inflated property taxes. Happened to go to a NASCAR race just over a year ago in Martinsville, VA. Driving back to the airport in Greensboro, NC we were just blown away by the beauty of the area. We made several trips back looking at different areas around Greensboro and purchased a home last month in Pleasant Garden which is just south of Greensboro and west of Raleigh. We'll be moving there in the spring. Don't know what the employment oportunities are like as we are retired, but found that people are just more hospitible there. A nice curture change.
Good luck in your quest!

Oddly enough, one of the sites for the company I left is in Raleigh, so we have several friends there and they love it.