The many views of High Point
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1/18/2010
I have lived in High Point for nearly 4 years now. I am familiar with this small city since I've lived in Greensboro for about 10 years. High Point only becomes "interesting" during the International Furniture Market which occurs biannually (Spring/Fall) and the city has boasted as many as 80,000 buyers/exhibitors during these times of the year. As the economy is still bumming all over the US, this market has dwindled tremendously seeing fewer vistors these past markets. Although North Carolina is fast becoming an extremely mixed population for the past several years, it is pretty neat to see all the different faces of people from all backgrounds show up in High Point. Unfortunately, this brief cultural mix dissipates after about a week and we're back to the majority white and black (HP does have a growing percentage of Hispanics and Asians). High Point's housing is not bad. There are a few areas that are costlier than others but the majority is reasonable. North High Point tends to be a little "nicer" with more shops, proximity to major highways, slightly better schools and mid to high end homes. Central High Point has a mix of both but quickly becomes boring and tired with all the empty and abandoned once bustling warehouses and textile mills and such. Property taxes are actually quite high considering that High Point is not a booming town as its larger neighbors Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Job availability is strongly dependent on your background: medical, business, service industry, retail, etc. It seems that medical and business are the primary employers in the area. I work for the Federal Government. Just as you would expect in the Bible Belt, there are churches galore; no shortage of choice of place to worship. Although High Point has a good share of shopping venues, particularly those we're accustomed to seeing: Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Aldi's, TJMaxx, Ross, etc. there's not much else by way of shopping for daily needs and fun. You would have to head out to either Four Seasons Mall in Greensboro or Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem. Even then, these two malls can quickly become boring after a while. All throughout the triad there are lots of high-end shops within shopping districts, but this isn't NYC, CHI or LA shopping! There are some landmark sites, museums and a pretty small theatre for cultural recreation. There of course parks and even biking trails, but not much of outdoor venues. The only good thing I've enjoyed about living in this Triad area has been its proximity to the Mountains and the Coast. On average, it's about a 3 hour drive either way. The Triad climate is also an "in-between" by usually experiencing all four seasons and on occasion, we get snow and ice. We've also gone the extreme having heat waves. If you're coming from the north you can probably can erradicate snow shovels and heavy coats. If you're coming from further south or west, do be prepared with a light coat.
Although I've lived in NC longer, my husband and I are anxious to leave this state behind and actually move further south. Believe it or not, we're tired of the recently colder winters! Plus, we've been able to find even more affordable housing (more land too!) and desire to be closer to family. How you come to feel about High Point is really dependent on your lifestyle, what kind of work you do and whether or not you have a family or live single. Ultimately YOU are the deciding factor!
Abhd | High Point, NC