Senior Living in Asheville, North Carolina: Retire Among the Great Smokey Mountains

Asheville North Carolina has remained a very popular area for senior living for many years. The breathtaking views and beauty in all seasons makes it consistently appear on the best places to live in the United States list. Asheville is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smokey Mountains. Western North Carolina exhibits exceptional beauty in the fall with the changes of season. Asheville is a great city to take up residence with a lot of outdoor activities and the warm friendly people who also call this town home. The peaceful settings of the beautiful rivers, waterfalls, and lakes make this a great place to relax and enjoy your retirement.

The Asheville area attracts seniors not only for the outstanding views and things to do but also because of the reputation the area carries in the in the medical field. The care is exceptional and less expensive than the national average. Health care on an average is 14% lower than the national average.

If you enjoy hiking, fishing, water sports, golf, arts and crafts, and snow skiing the North Carolina Mountains is the place to be. The historic district is beautiful and intriguing. Downtown shopping is superb with many local artists offering beautiful hand crafted jewelry, paintings, ceramics, and much more. The historical Grove Arcade resides in the middle of downtown Asheville and features fantastic food and beautiful shops throughout the establishment. Asheville is home to the famous Biltmore House built by George Vanderbilt around the late 1800's. You can easily enjoy fishing by the French Broad River one day and take a drive up to Maggie Valley the next day to snow ski. Towns nearby WNC include Pigeon Forge TN, Maggie Valley NC, and Cherokee NC, where there are many more attractions for the whole family.

Things to do:
Historic sites and museums: Asheville Art Museum, Estes-Winn Auto Museum, North Carolina Homespun Museum, Pack Place Education, Arts & Science Center, Thomas Wolfe Memorial, Colburn Gem & Mineral Museum.
Performing arts: Asheville Symphony Orchestra
Nearby parks & recreation: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Pisgah National Forest, French Broad River

Facts about living in Asheville, North Carolina:
(Statistics courtesy of Asheville Chamber of commerce)
Recently Asheville has began to flourish in real estate and in turn the housing and utility costs have been steadily rising becoming a cause for concern especially seniors who are on a fixed income. Housing costs are estimated to be 15% above the national average. The climate is generally mild with few snow storms and fairly mild summers. The average high in January is 48 degrees and average low is 27 degrees. In the summer the high averages at 84 degrees and the low is 63 degrees. State sales tax is 6%. State income tax is graduated from 6% to 7.5%, depending on income. Property taxes are $15 per $1,000 valuation with property assessed at 100% of market value. For seniors ages 65 and over who have a gross income of less than $11,000 a year receive a $15,000 homestead exemption.
Tom Tveidt, director of research at the Asheville Metro Business Research Center, points out that the growth rate for the Asheville metro area (Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood and Madison counties) was 1.4 percent over the last year, just below the statewide rate of 1.7 percent. (Asheville Citizen Times).

The area has many programs geared towards seniors which include:
North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement
The Buncombe County Council
The Buncombe County Council on Aging and the Senior Opportunity Center

Land-of-Sky Regional Council Area Agency on Aging (AAA) is the designated regional organization to meet the needs of persons over 60 in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties, by the North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services. (www.landofsky.org/aging).

Western North Carolina has steadily attracted seniors for retirement. The region has been referred to as the "Paris of the South". The beauty of the mountains and the love of art and nature make Western North Carolina a great place to call home.