I've got an interview in Lenoir next week and I need to learn about the town. The information available on the net is pretty limited, plus I'd probably get more accurate information from someone thats lived there.

I've already check google and wikipedia, I'm looking for information more about the culture of the town.

5/17/2007 5:55:39 PM

More like LeSNORE, NC.



Amirite?

5/17/2007 5:56:12 PM

that whole area is shit

5/17/2007 6:00:21 PM

Google?

5/17/2007 6:03:13 PM

not a bad area but like most small towns there isn't much going on

hickory is nearby with good shopping (but lacks in its night life)

however you aren't too far from charlotte

and the mountains are only about 30 mins away

i'd recommend living there

5/17/2007 6:09:14 PM

it sucks

5/17/2007 6:11:08 PM

my grandparents live there

back in the sticks somewhere around town

it's pretty, but there's not a lot happening

5/17/2007 6:15:03 PM

Quote :

"not a bad area but like most small towns there isn't much going on hickory is nearby with good shopping (but lacks in its night life) however you aren't too far from charlotte and the mountains are only about 30 mins away i'd recommend living there"

true. i lived in the middle between Hickory and Lenoir, in Granite Falls.

Like was said, there's not a whole lot to do or see. living towards Blowing Rock and Boone would be real nice if you didn't mine driving every day.

Is it for Google?

5/17/2007 6:22:41 PM

ashley_grl are you from Lenoir?

5/17/2007 6:24:05 PM

I'm from Lenoir

5/17/2007 6:24:35 PM

not from Lenior....not far away though

5/17/2007 6:48:38 PM

i'm from lenoir

5/17/2007 8:20:24 PM

^ Damn West Caldwell people...haha...j/k

5/17/2007 8:40:02 PM

^ you know you're just jealous

anyways, you can check out the local newspaper: www.newstopic.net
won't find a lot of news it it, but there are some links to local resources that tell a little about the town. i actually like it there. nice and quiet. close to the mountains, close enough to cities to do things. i think the area is going to change a lot in the next couple of years with google. i think you'll see lots of new development.

skip

5/17/2007 8:44:37 PM

Yeah, I PMed him some ideas and starting points.

5/17/2007 10:37:57 PM

culture of the town?
umm, no. Lenoir is just another small, redneck, strip-mall dominated Western NC town. It's not quite in the mountains (it's just at the foot of the mountain) so it still gets hot as balls, but it's still at least 1.5 hours from a real city like Charlotte and 2 hours from Asheville. 30 minutes from Blowing Rock, 40 minutes from Boone, but it's straight up the mountain to get there. Of course, by 2015 or whatever, there will be a 4-lane expressway to get up the mountain, but until then you're stuck with mostly a 2-lane windy road to get up.

5/18/2007 12:17:11 AM

I have two cousins who play football for Lenoir Rhyne

5/18/2007 1:10:47 AM

^^ it only takes that long if you are a slow driver
its really only like 1.5 hrs to asheville, 1hr 15min to winston salem (via 421) or charlotte (via 321). then boone is like 30-40 min away on a fun curvy road and hickory is about 30min away.

there are lots of houses for sale right now, and the cost of living much lower than this area. you'll have plenty to choose from if you move to the area.

if you are looking for nightlife or raleigh like scene, you won't like lenoir, but if you like a nice quiet town with the things you need and close enough to cities where you can find pretty much anything you'll like lenoir. the people are nice and the area is pretty.

just my 2 cents...
skip

5/18/2007 6:28:52 AM

I'm from Lenoir too. I would agree with Skip's assessment ^ Overall it was a good place to grow up and it's a pretty area with nice people, but I personally won't be moving back just b/c of all the opportunities I've had here in Raleigh and the resources here.

5/18/2007 7:25:24 AM

it's great if you like the outdoors.....good trout fishing less than 30 minutes away, lake hky down the road, skiing 30-45 min away ect....but boring as hell other than that.

5/18/2007 9:25:46 AM

Quote :

"The Broyhill furniture company, one of the largest furniture companies in the United States and part of Furniture Brands International, has its headquarters in Lenoir, and has been one of the town's largest employers. Bernhardt and Fairfield furniture companies are also located in Lenoir. As these companies have begun outsourcing their work overseas, however, their influence and number of factory workers have dramatically decreased; causing many local businesses to either close or move to another city. This has crushed the economy in Lenoir, leaving many households well below poverty. The factory "downsizing" has caused crime in the small town to greatly increase."

-wiki

It looks like its population is about half the size of the ncsu student population. So far it sounds like the nicest things people can say about it is that it doesn't take all day to get out of the town to somewhere better.

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 8:26 PM. Reason : .]

5/18/2007 8:24:40 PM

I'm from Morganton, which is close to Lenoir. Of course, being from that area, I love it. If you are an outdoors kind of person then you should be able to find a lot to do. In my opinion there isn't much to do in Lenoir itself. They used to have a mall but now it is just a Belks and maybe some other stores. A really nice bowling center just opened up in Lenoir, but it is a little pricy to bowl there. I have heard that they have one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, if not the highest. The furniture and textile industries in that part of the state have been devastated by jobs moving overseas. I think that Google chose Lenoir for one reason. It was cheap. Lenoir is dying just to have someone come to the area and offer some jobs. I heard from locals that there may not be that many jobs available anyway, and most locals don't have the necessary skills for higher paying jobs that college educated people have.

So, I would recommend a visit to the area, and stay in a hotel for a night or two to give yourself time to really see what the area is like before you accept. Some people may be miserable thinking there isn't much to do, or you might like the slow pace of the town and the surrounding outdoor activities. If you get a job in Lenoir you could live between Lenoir and Hickory so that you would be able to do things in Hickory. Hickory has all of the major stores you would want to go to, decent mainstream restaurants, and a mall.

5/18/2007 8:57:01 PM

Quote :

"More like LeSNORE, NC. Amirite? "

5/18/2007 9:30:29 PM

Quote :

"More like LeSNORE, NC."

Not quite the boonies, but close.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Lenoir-North-Carolina.html

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 10:53 PM. Reason : helpful link... since I made a not-so-helpful comment]

5/18/2007 10:50:57 PM

I'm from Lenoir. It's nice as far as the weather and countryside go, but I think it's a dying town.

5/20/2007 12:44:44 AM

Thanks for all the help everyone. Through the posts and a few PMs I think I may have all I need. I'm interviewing at the News-Topic as a photographer, and the editor has asked me to spend a few hours before the interview taking candid shots around town to show him what I'm capable of. I tried heading up there yesterday but hit some horrible traffic on I-40 and had to turn back. Hopefully that will be cleared up by Wed., or at least not as bad.

So far the walking parks sound to be the best bet to find people doing something photo-worthy, so I think I may head there. I have a few rather incomplete directions to get to the parks, can anyone tell me a little more clearly where they are? I've never spent time in Lenoir, and I dread getting lost and losing time trying to find the places when I could be taking photos.

5/20/2007 11:26:59 AM