Watauga County, North Carolina

WATAUGA NORTH CAR Escape to the mountains K nown as a quiet, rural community in the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains, Watauga County is seeing renewed growth this year with many Americans on the hunt for a peaceful escape from the big cities. With the Town of Boone as its seat, the appealing county of 55,000 has seen an influx of interest from people in New York, California, Louisiana, and Texas looking for a move to the area. Far from being a ‘sleepy’ place, however, the county is very active – coveted as a long-time tourist/ second home area and ski resort, and home to a 20,000+ student university. “People are moving here as fast as they can to get out of cities, and I don’t see any end in sight to that,” says Joe Furman, Watauga County’s Director of Economic Development. “Property sales are through the roof. New home construction is back to levels we haven’t seen since before the Great Recession. The pandemic has actually caused growth.” Rob Hudspeth, Senior Vice President