I second Asheville. I moved here in August and I love it! You can’t beat the music scene. Lots of festivals in the most beautiful setting. There’s also a lot of free shows and downtown street festivals.
The restaurants in downtown are fantastic! Not a chain to be seen. Everything is local and mostly organic.
I wouldn’t move here for a minimum wage job because they’re pretty hard to come by, but in the medical field you will be set. I’m an xray tech and I found a job that I absolutely love. There’s hospitals and clinics all over the place. Even if you don’t get something in Asheville itself, the surrounding areas are just as good if not better. Hendersonville, Fletcher, Black Mountain, Brevard, and Clyde are all excellent. None of those are more than 30 or 45 minutes from Asheville. They’re all smaller than Asheville, some of the alot smaller but I wouldn’t mind living in any of them.
There’s a ski resort 30-45 minutes away if that’s your thing, and hot springs about the same distance. There’s PLENTY of national parks for hiking and camping. Pisgah Nat’l Forest, Smokey Mountain Nat’l Park, etc. Lots of rivers for kayaking, canoeing, and if you don’t mind driving an hour, two at most there’s some great white water rafting.
Musically there’s just about anything you want, but there’s LOTS of bluegrass. Alot of really great local bands to check out too. I’m a single mom so I haven’t gotten to check out the bar scene, but I’m sure it’s good. With venues like the Orange Peel, Stella Blues, The Civic Center, and Thomas Wolfe Auditorium we get just about anybody you want. You’re not too far from Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro and we all know certain bands like to start tours in NC. Plus you can’t beat the southern hospitality vibe 
Housing can go either way. When I moved here, there were almost no 2 bedroom houses for under 1000, but 2 months later there were a plethora around 850. I never checked into apartments or duplexes, but i’m sure you can find them for cheaper. It just depends on what kinda place you’re looking for. West Asheville is the younger professionals and families and you can get an older house for 800 or a duplex for less. All the dreadies and hippies live right on the outskirts of downtown on the north side of town. The houses are pretty run down there but I’m guessing you can get one on the cheap. You can find everything from brand new construction and apartments to some really neat older homes. I went to this really cool older house once complete with old an old school bathroom where the handle to flush the toilet hung down from the ceiling. Something nobody told me is that most of the older houses use heating oil and that can be EXPENSIVE. Nobody will refill less than 100 gallons and the price per gallon is pretty much equal with the price of gasoline. Depending on how you run your heat, 100 gallons lasts you about a month. I use space heaters while sleeping and don’t run it during the day, so mine’s lasted 2 months so far but I know a fill up is soon. I’m thinking about buying a townhouse when my lease is up here to get away from the expense of using heating oil, but if you have roommates to share the expense, which I don’t, it wouldn’t be that bad.
Just do your research and figure out exactly what you want in a town. I dare you to find one better than Asheville though
