Hickory, North Carolina

Hickory is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in North Carolina's Piedmont region. Hickory had its start in the 1790s as a tavern, and was incorporated as a city in 1870. It is the hub of the state's fourth-largest metropolitan statistical area, the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir metro area. Hickory, located in Catawba County, is 57 miles (92 kilometers) northwest of Charlotte, 70 miles (112 kilometers) southwest of Winston-Salem, and 77 miles (124 kilometers) east of Asheville.

Not surprising for North Carolina, there are a number of golf courses in the area, including the Hampton Heights Golf Course and the Lake Hickory Country Club.

Hickory itself has 472 acres (191 hectares) of parks, but for more outdoorsy outdoor recreation, head a short distance west to the Pisgah National Forest, Cherokee National Forest, or Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You'll have no trouble enjoying the outdoors in Hickory, because January highs average 49F (9C) and July highs average 88F (31C).

Those who love the arts will be happy in Hickory. In town, get tickets to the Hickory Community Theatre, which has been in operation since the late 1940s, or the Western Piedmont Symphony, a professional orchestra that was organized in 1964, or visit the Hickory Museum of Art, which is the second-oldest art museum in the state. And a few miles away in Newton, you'll find the Green Room Community Theatre.

Enjoy baseball? Spend warm summer days at Hickory Crawdads home games. (They're an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.) And if you're a motorsports enthusiast, you'll enjoy spending time at the NASCAR events at the Hickory Motor Speedway.

And one more thing: When you move to Hickory, don't bother to bring any furniture! The city is the heart of the nation's furniture manufacturing industry, so whether you want something brand new or antique, you'll find it! Another major industry is telecommunications/fiber optic cable production.

So if you're looking for a thriving community, in a beautiful setting with great weather – and no furniture moving involved – consider a move to Hickory!

See our 3 Jobs in Hickory, North Carolina