Pros and Cons of the Winston Salem area?

[Flaxbee]

What's the area like, and what's it like as you go north toward Pilot Mtn., Mt. Airy and into Fancy Gap, VA? I know the area is lovely, but how about people, jobs, things to do, variety of culture, etc.?

Thanks in advance...

I've cross-posted this in the Lounge, too.

[jarnocan]

1. Not far from the Mountains, nice places to visit- Hanging Rock

Boone, Grandfather Mountain, lakes,decent amt of culture - restaurants, music etc.
An ACTIVE GREEN PARTY that holds Impeachment vigils, and World Can't Wait and other progressive groups in Greensboro- also have vigils and meetings etc.. Relatively inexpensive housing (compared to NJ)- nice suburban neighborhoods. It is fairly easy to get in and out of cities and into the country side in minuettes.
I've heard up towards Pilot Mt. is a nice place to live. We live in between Greensboro and Winston Salem. I like being able to visit both.

[Mira]

2. I've lived in Winston-Salem for 40 years

It's a Southern town, with old wealth (Reynolds & Hanes) and 4 Universities/Colleges that prides itself as the "City of the Arts". Since one of the campuses is the NC School of the Arts there are many dance/music/theatre/film performances and a few that start here and then go on tour. We have River Run Film Festival, American Black Theatre performances and an active excellent Symphony and Opera theatre.

You can find well travelled and well rounded people pretty easily, people used to not discuss politics easily, but they are coming around and becoming angry. Nobody in a long time has bothered me about my truck (see the "whose truck is this" thread in the NC Forum :))

The Piedmont, as the flat basic landscape is called, is very pretty. The flatness deceptive, you can be on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 40 minutes. There are wonderful mountains nearby with campgrounds and forests. To the ocean is a 5 hour drive, the depth of the mountains about 2 1'2 hours to Asheville, Cherokee and beyond into Tennessee.

Life is relatively laid back still, but not in the least stagnant. The city is small enough so you can make contacts and find ways to fit in and be remembered. People are helpful and the neighborhoods are fun and many are pretty, some are gorgeous.

I like calling Winston-Salem home.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

3. Its a good place to raise a family, I like it alot

I was able to afford a house in a nice quiet neighborhood on a dead end street.

Lots of nice houses at affordable prices.

Schools are pretty good, everything is convenient,shopping, doctors, etc.
You can be in the country in about 15 minutes.

If you like horses, there are places to board them.

Traffick isn't bad. (Except at the obvious places like Silas Creek at
morning and evening rush hour, but still bearable, but also avoidable if
you take an alt route.)


People who like it a bit more rural live in Pfafftown, where its a bit sleepier.

If you have a senior parent to care for, there is an excellent day care center.

If you have kids, there are plenty of parks.

[JanMichael]

4. Woody Guthrie (via Wilco) didn't like it....

It's against the law to walk, and against the law to talk
Against the law to loaf, against the law to work
Against the law to read, against the law to write
Against the law to be a black, a brown, or white

Everything's against the law
I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues

It's against the law to eat, against the law to drink
Against the law to worry, against the law to think
Against the law to marry or try to settle down
Against the law to ramble like a bum from town to town

Everything's against the law
I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues

It's against the law to come, against the law to go
Against the law to ride, against the law to roll
Against the law to hug and against the law to kiss
Against the law to shoot, against the law to miss

Everything's against the law
I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues

It's against the law to gamble, against the law to roam
Against the law to organize or try to build a home
Against the law to sing, it's against the law to dance
Against the law to tell you all the trouble on my hands

Everything in Winston-Salem is against the law
I'm a low-pay daddy singing the high-price blues

[mwooldri]

5. The Piedmont Triad is a pretty decent place to be.

Politically, it's definitely purple here - Greensboro's represented in Congress by Brad Miller and Howard Coble how opposite can you get?

So what about everything else? I can't state too much about Winston-Salem because I don't live there but I've spent a good enough time around the place to be qualified to speak. My wife and I honeymooned in Winston-Salem (all I could afford then was an overnight getaway at a nice hotel (Henry F. Shaffner House - very nice place). Winston Salem has a fantastic hospital at (give it's official title) "Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center", or just Baptist for short. Did some marvellous work on my son with a very skilled surgeon. He's left to go to Minneapolis but we got a new surgeon to look after him - poached from Boston Children's Hospital. It's better planned - like a proper "small town" should be - it has a good downtown area, nice neighbourhoods and it just feels safe to me.

In terms of employment it depends on what you're looking for. Dell opened a plant near Winston-Salem so there's jobs there. The "old fashioned" industries (basically textiles) have all but gone away. RJ Reynolds still calls Winston-Salem home so work in the cigarette business still exists. Winston-Salem is also home to the Piedmont Triad Research Park (trying to rival Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area's Triangle Research Park) and there's job opportunities when companies come in there. Greensboro and High Point are about an hour away so there's opportunites to commute to where jobs are at too. FedEx is opening a hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI) (west of Greensboro), Hondajet is starting up at PTI too. I guess it's Winston-Salem's turn to get a "big employer" into the town. Winston-Salem doesn't have the same problems over water that plagues Greensboro (fancy building a city with no main river for water supplies? That's Greensboro).

In terms of culture it's quite good. Winston is home to NC School of the Arts - and as such there's plenty of cultural offshoots because of this. Old Salem is a nice place to visit (Winston and Salem were two different towns at one point in time before they decided to merge.

Going up US 52 you do get Pilot Mountain. My wife calls it Titty Mountain, because she thinks it looks like a boob. Mt Airy is nice - but when you get that way your culture is going to be around Bluegrass. Mt. Airy says that Andy Griffith is its hometown hero, but I know that show still gets repeated on WFMY at 5:30 - every weekday evening almost without fail. I like Mt. Airy (my wife has family in that area - been to visit good number of times) though its growing somewhat these days. Winston-Salem is still commutable from Pilot Mountain and Mt. Airy.

Local media is OK. Winston-Salem Journal isn't too bad, neither is the News and Fishwrap (sorry News and Record) They're just not that great. Radio is your usual "wasteland" - AM especially so (Southern Gospel, Urban Gospel, Christian Education, Right wing talk, Spanish and that's about it oops forgot Radio Disney - the only highlight on AM radio in this area). TV is owned by the major media people - WFMY is owned by Gannett and tends to be focused on Greensboro (its city of license), WXII (yes, Channel 12) is owned by Hearst-Argyle and tends to cover Winston-Salem. WGHP is the Fox o&o station (used to be ABC some years ago but Fox bought the station), licensed to High Point and tends to cover Greensboro and Winston-Salem equally. The interesting thing about this Fox station is that it doesn't beat any political drumstick at all. It's neutral as anything - if Fox News Channel was like WGHP then we'd have nothing to complain about.

Shopping is not bad - Hanes Mall has most things. There's a few Wal-Marts but then there's a couple of Targets and a Costco so not all that bad. Most things retail tend to be centred around Hanes Mall - at least when it comes to "big box" and chain stores. The usual suspects for major restaurants are around too.

If I had it my way, I would live in Winston-Salem rather than the outskirts of Greensboro (on the east side where I do now) but her family lives in Gibsonville so we want to be close but not too far out - if we moved to Winston-Salem I'd never get to see my wife's family members. For me, my family is back in England so a visit there needs planning, plenty of cash and some airline tickets. Was cheap enough when it was just my wife and myself but we now have a son in tow, and hotels aren't plentiful in my old hometown.

Enough of my ramblings.

Mark.

[CRK7376]

6. I love WS area!

It's home and I'm pretty well traveled having lived in Europe and Asia over the years courtsey of the Army. I'm still a soldier and will always call WS home. Born and raised here, educated at Wake Forest, taught in Stokes County for 13 years, will return to teaching upon retirement from the military. For me, living in Stokes, Surry or NW Forsyth COunty is the best. My family currently lives in the shawdow of Pilot Mountain and we love the rural life. I have a son that wants nothing more than to attend the NC School of the Arts Music Program to study trombone. Other son wants to follown Mom and Dad to WFU and a daughter to young to know where she wants to go. Mountains are not close enough for me and the beach is 4-5 hours east. Great public library system in Forsyth COunty, WFU, WSSU, Salem College, NCSA all in Forsyth County, all good schools and universities. Symphony is great of a moderate sized town, I'm not an opera fan, but we have an active opera company. Plenty of theater oppurtunities. I like the public school system here, was educated by it and Stokes County and have taught in both systems. As stated earlier, I'll return to teaching in this area upon retirement. Demon Deacon Football and Basketball, makes for a lively ACC fall and winter entertainment. Charlotte close enough to get to for the Panthers games. Plenty of parks, several Walmarts, Target, Sama's Club and Costco nearby, Stratford Road is horrible, commercial district that includes Hanes Mall. Good BBQ and plenty of blackberrys in the summer and of course there is Krispy Kreme! WS is home and all my world travels, vacations, assignments overseas will not change my love for WS. It's where I love to be with my family.