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Hi, My husband and I are beginning to think about our retirement and are looking at the Asheville, Brevard, and Hendersonville areas. We currently live in CT and are looking for a place that doesn't have too much winter weather and one of the reasons for moving south. We do love snow, but not the cold.
We love the outdoors and hiking with our dogs. We want to be close to a good hospital, grocery store, etc. since this will be for our retirement and won't want to travel too far for these amenities as we get older.
We are currently in our late 50's and hope to buy something within the next 2 years. We are planning a visit to the area in the fall. We're looking for a town that has a nice downtown, with shops and great restaurants, festivals, music venues. We're very down-to-earth and basically just love the outdoors and any activity related to the outdoors.
Can anyone offer comments on these areas (or other towns in western NC) and/or offer suggestions? Thanks!
We've been to all 3 - We liked Asheville until we saw Hendersonville. We liked Hendersonville until we saw Brevard. I've ruled out Asheville for retirement and will just visit there when the mood strikes me. It does seem to have the best scenery and it's close to the Parkway. Hendersonville is smaller, but seems to have an awful lot of traffic along Four Seasons Blvd (US 64). Brevard is charming, and smaller. It's close to waterfalls and lots of scenery, and there's a great music center there. It seems a little pricey to me though. I would recommend you take a look at Greenville, SC. That downtown is gorgeous, and it's less expensive to live in SC.
Is Brevard's rain constant or a daily afternoon occurence? Are there any restaurants (nothing fancy, not fast food?) Trying to get a feel for town. Thanks in advance!
I don't live there but have done a lot of research, have owned property there and visited a number of times.
Rain: Summer showers and thunder storms almost daily. More rain in the western part of the county than the eastern part.
Restaurants: 5 or 6 in town (in addition to fast food), and another dozen within 10 miles NE and East of Brevard.
Highways: US 64 (east/west) and US 276 (north/south) run through Brevard. 64 takes you to Hendersonville (30 minutes). And there is State Road 280 (Asheville highway) that takes you NE through Mills River to the airport and to Asheville (45 minutes).
And yes, there is a Walmart. It is about 3 miles outside of downtown to the NE, a little beyond Lowes. And there is a K-Mart closer to town. It's not as boondock as some posters portrayed.
I highly recommend "Google Maps" set for "Earth" view - the little box at the bottom left of the screen. You can zoom in on the city and a bunch of labels will show up identifying restaurants, stores and a bunch of other stuff of interest. It also has a neat 3-D facility so you can tilt the image and zoom around the mountains.
While Google Maps does not give you a number for precise elevation, Google Earth does. Wherever you have the cursor, it gives you a pretty precise number for the elevation in feet, in addition to the altitude from which you are viewing the area.
Last edited by it simplified; 08-15-2016 at 07:25 PM..
I don't live there but have done a lot of research, have owned property there and visited a number of times.
Rain: Summer showers and thunder storms almost daily. More rain in the western part of the county than the eastern part.
Restaurants: 5 or 6 in town (in addition to fast food), and another dozen within 10 miles NE and East of Brevard.
Highways: US 64 (east/west) and US 276 (north/south) run through Brevard. 64 takes you to Hendersonville (30 minutes). And there is State Road 280 (Asheville highway) that takes you NE through Mills River to the airport and to Asheville (45 minutes).
And yes, there is a Walmart. It is about 3 miles outside of downtown to the NE, a little beyond Lowes. And there is a K-Mart closer to town. It's not as boondock as some posters portrayed.
I highly recommend "Google Maps" set for "Earth" view - the little box at the bottom left of the screen. You can zoom in on the city and a bunch of labels will show up identifying restaurants, stores and a bunch of other stuff of interest. It also has a neat 3-D facility so you can tilt the image and zoom around the mountains.
While Google Maps does not give you a number for precise elevation, Google Earth does. Wherever you have the cursor, it gives you a pretty precise number for the elevation in feet, in addition to the altitude from which you are viewing the area.
mostly accurate, except K-Mart closed, but no one cares about that anyway. And there's way more than just 5 or 6 restaurants besides fast food....not sure where you came up with that number.
Personal opinion: between Waynesville and Hendersonville, I'd pick Hendersonville hands down. We have summered in both Waynesville (one year) and Hendersonville (actually Flat Rock, but close enough to count as Hendersonville) (two years).
Scenic downtown with interesting shops: Hendersonville edges out in that category.
Cost of housing: Waynesville seems to have the slight edge.
Shopping (groceries, etc.): Hendersonville definitely wins on the grocery stores and more access to "big box" stores, if you need. H'ville also has a small mall. Waynesville does have a nice Walmart and a big Belk, as well as the nicest Kmart I've ever seen and a very nice Ingles.
Distance to Asheville: Hendersonville is a bit closer.
Movies: Waynesville has a small theater that seems to show a lot of children's movies. Hendersonville has a large-ish first-run theater.
Restaurants: I think Hendersonville has the clear edge in this category.
As far as waterfalls, my favorites are in Dupont Forest. In Pisgah Forest, there is Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock (for the adventurous). Tubing is great on the Green River down in the Green River Gorge near Saluda. Pearson Falls is a nice short hike, near Saluda. If you're heading out toward Black Mountain, there's Linville Falls, Linville Caverns and Grandfather Mountain out that way.
Both have festivals, street dances, etc.
Best of all, both have the friendliest people you'll ever hope to meet.
...there's way more than just 5 or 6 restaurants besides fast food....not sure where you came up with that number.
I guess it depends on how fast the food is. ...and how far out from "downtown" Brevard you go. Just a wild guess. What, 10 to 15 within 3 miles of the center (besides fast food, Waffle House and Huddle House)? The point is that there's a LOT more going on than what QuilterChick portrayed.
Last edited by it simplified; 08-17-2016 at 10:14 PM..
I guess it depends on how fast the food is. ...and how far out from "downtown" Brevard you go. Just a wild guess. What, 10 to 15 within 3 miles of the center (besides fast food, Waffle House and Huddle House)? The point is that there's a LOT more going on than what QuilterChick portrayed.
^^ ^ And I portrayed what that you don't agree with. ?
^^ ^ And I portrayed what that you don't agree with. ?
Yup. Your post gave me the impression that there was a lot less in Brevard than is there. If it gave me that impression, I thought others might get a similar misimpression.
I suppose I portrayed what you don't agree with as well. I have no problem with that. Different folks have different perceptions and different ways of expressing them.
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We do love snow, but not the cold.
...and how far out from "downtown" Brevard you go. Just a wild guess. What, 10 to 15 within 3 miles of the center (besides fast food, Waffle House and Huddle House)? The point is that there's a LOT more going on than what QuilterChick portrayed.
