Cullowhee/Asheville, NC

[juliennemarie08]

I am going to Western Carolina next year and am super super excited! I was just wondering what areas around Cullowhee would be good places to live. I want to try to find somewhere in between Cullowhee and Ashville (closer to Cullowhee), hopefully for 400-600/month.

Also, what is Asheville like? I hear their music scene is pretty sweet.

Any comments/advice/suggestions welcome! I am from Massachusetts so any input on the area would be great

[Vee]

Hey there,

I don't know much about Cullowhee, but I can tell you that Asheville is absolutely wonderful. Great music, amazing restaurants, neat art scene, eclectic mix of middle-aged tourists, hippies, vegetarians, kill-your-own-dinner people, outdoorsy folk, you name it; a generally very progressive city. I spent four years in the area.

Feel free to send me a PM.

[queenleblanc]

Does anyone have ideas on where to look for off-campus housing at Western Carolina?  I don't yet know if I've been accepted, but I am getting positive responses thus far and need to start thinking of this being a real possibility.  I have visited a few schools on my list but just didn't have enough time to visit WCU before the snow started coming in.  

 

I'm planning to visit on March 16th, and would like to have some places on a list to drop by, etc.  I've done some searching on the internet and mostly found student housing (partially or fully furnished, small apartments, etc.).  We have our own (REALLY NICE) washer/dryer and we'd like a place with a dishwasher, a patio/small yard, maybe even a rented single-family small home (2 br, 2 ba).  My husband is thinking of looking in Waynesville, so if he gets a job in Asheville we are between both of them... 

 

Any input/suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks in advance! 

[zabius]

I did my master's at WCU. I'm probably not the best person to ask because I didn't explore the area much (no car in a rural area = bad idea), but I can say that you probably don't want to live in Cullowhee. There's not much of anything in Cullowhee at all except for student apartments (mostly geared towards undergrads) and the university itself. Even if you found a suitable place to live there, you'd probably be get bored really quickly... I know I did. Sylva may have something that you'd like, but honestly I'd recommend Asheville. You'll have much better access to stores and restaurants and there's a lot more going on there. It's only about an hour away from the WCU campus. Most of the grad students in my program actually lived in Asheville and commuted in for classes and labwork everyday; those that didn't usually went to Asheville on the weekends to hang out because Cullowhee and Sylva are kind of boring. Sure, an hour-long commute isn't the most ideal situation in the world and the cost of gas can add up pretty quickly, but it's definitely a more enjoyable and livable location, at least in my opinion. I don't know much about Waynesville at all, but all of these places are relatively small towns except for Asheville, which is a small city.

 

I know that you didn't get a chance to visit WCU, but have you been to the general region before (I see that you are currently in NC)? It's very sparse and rural until you get to Asheville, which is something to consider. As someone who grew up in a large city and generally prefers urban environments, I found the whole experience of living there to be quite a culture shock and never could bring myself to like it. I also didn't visit beforehand, and ended up going there anyway because it was the only program that accepted me; I'm not sure if I would have attended if I had the chance to visit first. But again, that's just me. If you like rural areas, though, you'd probably love Western Carolina! The mountains definitely are naturally beautiful, and most of the other people in my cohort loved it.

[miscarthur]

Completely agree with Vee, Asheville is great, especially the downtown area.  A foodies' dream come true, and a ton of great breweries.

 

[queenleblanc]

I have been to Western once, and Asheville once, but not really to look at housing options or much past the quad area of the campus. My husband is from Lincolnton (not too far away from Asheville), and he suggested living there, I just don't like the idea of an hour long commute to class.... But if there really isn't anything even in Sylva, and probably not much in Waynesville, we are considering maybe Canton, the west side of Asheville, etc. that could cut the commute to maybe 35 minutes.

Hopefully we will get a better feel for the area when we visit on the 16th. Hoping to go up on the day before or maybe stay the day after to do some looking.