I am being recruited for a job in Winston-Salem.

What can you tell me about living there?

Places to shoot an AR?

Things to do?

Welcome.

I like the area because you can be to the mountains or the coast within a reasonable drive.  There are a number of State parks that are close by (Hanging Rock, Pilot Mountain, Stone Mountain) if you like hiking.  There are a number of lakes within an hour or so if you like fishing.

Winston has "everything" you need, so there's really not much reason to drive to another city for food, shopping, health care, etc.  I'm 45 minutes away, so for me Winston is the big city.

Regarding shooting, I am aware of an indoor range that allows rifles (Pro Shots in Rural Hall), but I've never been there.  Perhaps someone else will have a better answer.

Thank you!

I will be traveling to W-S for a site visit on week after next and hope to have some time to look around while I am there.

PHA range is just south of Winston .http://phashoots.net/
Private club but its worth the money to join  if you need a place to shoot and matches are open to the public....Great two gun match there!
Also you'll probably don't want to live in Forsyth Co. high taxes. Davie or Davidson are lower I do believe.

check out proshots.  www.proshotsrange.com .  I shoot there.

Avoid the East side of the city.

Work there but don't live. You'll thank me later. Kernersville would be a nice place to live as well as walkertown.

If you choose to live out of city limits and the county doesn't have an ordinance against it (given you have the property) you can shoot on your own land. Find a piece of rural property out in the county and get lost. You'll be happy.


Inb4 first post and all that.

Thanks for the info. As I am not familiar with the area, could you be a little more specific as to what constitutes 'east of the city' please?

I see that there is a gun show this weekend. Nice!

I will be in town Sunday to have a look around. Please suggest areas or landmarks that I should visit while I am there.

I would be working in the vicinity of the airport.

I would consider the airport east side.  

If you like history, you are not too far from Old Salem, a restored historic town.  There are exhibits, shops, gardens, and museum.  Check there website to see what's going on this time of year.

Anything to the right of the 52 and on MLK.

Bowman-Gray stadium is popular. They do some hometown? NASCAR racing there. There aren't a lot of touristy stuff in Winston Salem itself in my opinion. Old Salem like mentioned before. God's Acre which is a cemetery. If you drive down the business 40 Westbound youll pass a Pepsi bottling place. Or go downtown and check out the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company building which is a mini demo version of the empire state building

I can't say how it compares to PA.

I was born further East in NC and always thought I'd like to come back to the state, turns out I don't like it, but then I don't know that I like it much anywhere, I liked AK more for sure, if my wife would put up with the cold I'd leave, but she's happy here I guess. The seasons are generally pretty mild, it does of course get hot, but 100s are not really common and the humidity isn't as bad as further East, it gets kinda cold in winter, but single digits are rare and don't last, but if a spot of spit freezes on the road someone will wreck there.

NC is the ninth most populous state in the nation, there is very, very little public land, which matters if you like hunting, backwoods camping, and/or things of the sort.

Ranges, there's Pro-shots in Rural Hall, which is 15 minutes from down town W-S, indoor, and rather short range. PHA is 30 minutes South, members only, but has multiple pistol bays, rifle, rimfire, and shotgun facilities. Uwharrie is public about an hour away, rifle and pistol. Rowan County Wildlife is members only also an hour or so away, Central Carolina Gun Club is private and a little over an hour away, all the private ranges I've listed run various competitions, pretty much any competition is available somewhere in the state, there are lots of facilities, but some are a pretty long haul, and the majority are not open to the public outside of matches. Greensboro has a couple indoor ranges. Windy Hill is an hour or so away, pay by the hour, 100yd, outdoor.

There are many state parks for hiking, several nearby lakes have pretty good fishing, there are historical places hidden away all through the region, Raleigh and Charlotte aren't that far away and have some very good museums and other attractions, quite a few musicians make their way through Greensboro most years. The mountains and the ocean are both a reasonable distance for an overnight or weekend.

Thanks for the info.

I have the impression that the area is a decent place to live and from what I read, retire, so I am not really looking to evaluate that.

I will have the entire day Sunday to look around. I would like to get a sense of what it might be like to live there so I plan to drive around and look for 'everyday' things more than touristy things.

I will check out the mall and Best Buy, I see that there is a Sam's Club, maybe look at some houses and neighborhoods, roads and highways, driving north to south and east to west across the city.

The company that is recruiting me seems to be pretty good so I think that I am ok there. I don't have kids so schools are not a concern. I would not be looking to buy a house right away so I will have time to research that later.

I probably won't get to the other nearby cities but I might check out the gun show. :)

I live just North of WS in Mount Airy ( Mayberry RFD) , growing up in So. Cal I knew I didn't want to raise my kids out there in that God Forsaken state. We moved here in 1996 and I have never looked back. I didn't think places like this existed any longer. People don't lock their doors and it isn't uncommon to see cars at WalMart with their keys in the ignition. I couldn't pick a better community for my family. It isn't right for everyone, but for me it was HOME!!!!!!  If you get out here and want to go to a private outdoor range 15 min North of WS shoot me a PM and we can pick a day and time. Besides all the lakes you also have plenty of River's , this is Sportsman's Paradise!!!!!!!

I live in WS and pretty much been here my entire life. East side of town is anything east of Highway 52. Just don't go there. Taxes are high in the city which pretty much takes up the entire county. So, as mentioned above, I would look somewhere in Davidson, Davie, Stokes, or Surry county for a place to live.

Hey there, I'm a local!

-I live on the far northeastern edge of town. There is some crime and urban poverty in neighborhoods east and south of downtown, which are mostly underprivileged minority communities.

Overall though, Winston-Salem is a really great place. Our downtown nightlife and retail districts feel like a big city but you can go from that to rural woods and farms in a 15 minute drive. Also, if you vote red in elections, Forsyth County could use you!

There's really plenty to do if you like history, the arts, music, or the outdoors. In terms of living, your best bet would be to buy some land west or north of town, perhaps in
Yadkin or Stokes County to live on. There are few public shooting ranges in this region of the state mostly because everyone shoots on their own land! If your'e a suburban type, Clemmons, Lewisville or Kernersville would be fine. Walkertown is already full!

Thanks to SoL and all. It sounds pretty good.

I will be arriving Saturday evening to see the area that evening and Sunday. I will have an interview and fly out that afternoon.

So far I have not uncovered anything that would be a show stopper for me but the "Handgun purchase permit" stinks.

email sent

Well I tried to send a long email but it appears to have bounced back....

This is the Spam Firewall at mailfilter.ar15.com.

I'm sorry to inform you that the message below could not be delivered.
When delivery was attempted, the following error was returned.


host mta6.am0.yahoodns.net[66.196.118.35] said: 554
   5.7.9 Message not accepted for policy reasons.  See
   http://postmaster.yahoo.com/errors/postmaster-28.html (in reply to end of
   DATA command)

You get your NC Concealed Handgun Permit and the whole pistol permit thing becomes a non-issue.
I will 2nd PHA range. I am a member there and feel that the dues are well worth it. A very well maintained range. It is 25 minutes south of town. As for gun shops there are a few. I work for Atlas Firearms part time so I am partial to them.  Welcome to NC

That fact that the permitting requirement exists is repugnant. What part of "shall not be infringed' do they not understand?

I do plan to get a CHP. It seems to be the most direct way to deal with the issue.

My look around today went well. It seems to be a very nice place. We shall see how the interviews go. Seems to be a decent company.

It was easier for me to get a CCP here than it was a stupid hunting license out West!!!!!! Of course that was 20 years ago, and some things have changed today, but I still feel this is one of the best parts of the country to live in. My offer still stands on shooting if you end up here. Later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your offer is quite generous and I will most certainly take you up on it.

The interviews went very well. I will find out about the job next week. If they make a reasonable offer I will accept it and would be there in a few weeks.

Good luck!

Thanks! I think I would like both the company and living in the area.

Any updates?