Charming town to retire in? (Greenville, Anderson: sales, real estate, city hall)

[NorthmeetsSouth]

My husband and I are planning to semi-retire sometime in the next few years and are doing our research. We currently live near Atlanta and cannot stand the political atmosphere here. Atlanta has no character and has become some crime-ridden free-for-all and even the out-lying counties have become dangerous.
We have looked at Pinehurst/ Southern Pines, NC and found it to be very charming. That is the sort of atmosphere that I like… A quaint town that looks like it came from a Norman Rockwell painting. There are many successful, well-educated people retired there and I am told it doesn’t take long to make some new acquaintances.
I am originally from NYC and hubby is from the Smokey Mtns, so our wants vary, but what we agree on is that we want a charming town that is not too small, that has a population that is not all native so that we would not be “outsiders”, and preferably a fair number of retirees so that we will have some kids our own age to play with.
In the best of all possible worlds we would also like to have a house on a lake for under $300,000 (does such a thing exist anymore?)
He has family near Asheville and he would like to be close enough to easily visit but we don’t want to live there. Can anyone suggest a place within 3 hours of Asheville that fits the bill. I’ve heard some good things about the Greenville area.

[Skyliner]

Greenville's downtown charm is virtually impossible to top and it has more than enough going on year-round to consistently satisfy the desires of mature adults. If you can locate in the North Main area or Augusta Road/McDaniel Avenue/Crescent Avenue/Jonesville Avenue area or the Parkins Mill area, or the Thornblade area, I think you would be very happy. Other new mixed-use developments around Greenville with unique charm include The Cliffs Communities (8 to choose from), The Reserve at Lake Keowee, The Jocassee Club, Acadia, Verdae, Griffin Park, and O'neal Village.

Outside of Greenville I highly recommend checking into Hendersonville-Flat Rock for retirement. It is more expensive and does not have nearly the level of urban amenities as Greenville, but is a very nice small city between Asheville and the Upstate.

Other places I recommend include Highlands-Cashiers, NC, Brevard, NC, and Landrum, SC.

[abcdef]

We live in Anderson in a brand new home on a lake , less than $300,000.00 , less than a 2 hour drive to Ashville , low taxes , low insurance , all one could ask for or ever need within a radius of 8 miles to anything & everything . No sales tax on groceries , sure beats the tax bite of North Carolina with alot less cost for everything including utilities & insurance for vehicles & home owner insurance being far less here.. No traffic congestion to put up with like most places have . Check it out 100 feet outside our walk out basement is our fishing pier = boat dock..

[daylilygarden]

Simpsonville, a suburb of Greenville, is the fastest growing area of Greenville county with alot of beautiful new subdivisions to choose from. Great amenities. You can be just about anywhere in Greenville you want to be in 15 minutes. I have a daylily and hosta nursery there and meet so many wonderful people.

[NorthmeetsSouth]

Wow! thank you all for the responses and helpful information. I guess I know where we are heading on our next fact-finding mission! It sounds pretty ideal, and thanks to all of the wonderful pictures posted by skyliner I was able to get a sense of the over-all ambience. We will take a few days after the holidays and drive around the Greenville, Simpsonville, and Anderson areas and collect Real Estate magazines.
Any further info you can give is appreciated. If you had visitors coming to town where would you tell them to stay, visit, tour , etc.? I would much rather make my plans based on the recommendations of people who live there than a Visitors website.

[Skyliner]

When you arrive in Greenville, be sure to pick up a free copy of the handy and professional Michelin visitors guide at the City Hall Visitors Center. You will find lots of places to explore in the Upstate by simply browsing through that guide.

Here are a few of my own recommendations, though there are many others I have left out...

1. Start by staying at Pettigru Place Bed & Breakfast in the Pettigru Historic District of downtown
2. Stroll along Greenville's award-winning Main Street and visit beautiful Falls Park on the Reedy, RiverPlace, and unique shops like Michelin on Main (in RiverPlace)
3. Visit the Upcountry History Museum, located at Heritage Green
4. While at Heritage Green, be sure to visit the Greenville County Museum of Art and the Hughes Main Library (second-largest in the state)
5. Plan to take in a performance at the world-class Peace Center for the Performing Arts
6. Take a drive over Paris Mountain on Altamont Road (toughest stretch of the USA Cycling Professional Championships)
7. Visit the beautiful Furman University campus
8. Visit the world-famous BJU Museum & Gallery (amazing!)
9. Visit the Greenville Zoo (broken link)
10. Visit Caesar's Head State Park in the northnern portion of Greenville County, then stop by either Victoria Valley Vineyards, or La Bastide for a refreshing break.

[NorthmeetsSouth]

Thanks. This is sounding better and better. I can't wait to see it for myself.

My husband is a licensed builder in GA (even though GA doesn't require licenses yet) and I was wondering if anyone knows what is required to be a licensed builder in SC? Even though we talk about "retiring" I think we would be bored with nothing to do, so I am thinking that it will be more of a slow-down than a stop (where work is concerned).