50 Reasons To Move To Asheville's Wolf Laurel Resort
Or Build A Second Home HereThe many resorts in the area including Wolf Laurel Resort, The Preserve at Wolf Laurel, Scenic Wolf Ridge, Wolf Laurel Ski Resort, Breakeaway Village and nearby Mountain Air offer unique advantage by being so close to Asheville.
Ronald's 15 Best Reasons (Followed by 35 From Other Expert Print and On-line Publications)
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"Relatively low property prices - Our real estate prices are low compared to much of Florida and other metropolitan areas."
"New England style climate in NC - Few locations in the South have the climate and topography for 4-season resort lifestyle and developments".
"Mountain lifestyle with city accessibility - Property owners can have the benefit of a rustic high mountain outdoor lifestyle while living only 35 minutes from the restaurants, nightlife and cultural attractions of downtown Asheville."
"Highway Driving Convenience - Asheville & Wolf Laurel are the easiest and quickest high mountain resorts for most of the South due to our location just off of new I-26 and these benefits increase with higher gas prices."
"Increasing demand for mountain resort property - Rising summer temperatures translate into rising interest in cool mountain property and there is a limited amount of high mountain real estate in the Southern Appalachians. Global Warming and rising summer temperatures in large Southern metropolitan areas due to the effect of roads and buildings retaining heat means more people will be looking for cool, mountain retreats."
"Winter sports including skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing continue to grow in popularity in the South."
"No wind or storm surge damage from hurricanes - Unlike in Florida and on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, we do not get wind and coastal flooding damage up here in Western North Carolina. Note, every few years we do get flooding in the our valley floodplains when and if the remnants of a hurricane move over our high terrain. The key in our mountains is never build low close to a river, stream or location prone to flash floods, besides all of our good views are high up and water flows downhill. "
"Diversity of climate and lifestyle - To use an overused term, I actually enjoy the extreme diversity of Wolf Laurel and Asheville. Here, 35 minutes from Asheville we have a climate and temperature often 10 degrees or more cooler than down in the city. We average 60 plus inches of snow annually, compared to around 14 inches for Asheville and summer temperatures seldom top 80 degrees. I can quickly travel from our conservative rural resort area with traditional family values where my children are safe and crime is minimal to downtown Asheville with its interesting nightlife and alternative lifestyles predominate."
"Convenient to other vacation opportunities - For example, Charleston's history & beaches & Atlanta's shopping are about a 4 hour drive away. Gatlinburg, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Boone, Blowing Rock are less than 2 hours away while the Appalachian Trail adjacent to the property and the Blue Ridge Parkway is a few miles away."
"Depending on where you go in downtown Asheville, you can experience the flavor of New York City, San Francisco, Europe, the Old South and Woodstock.. Note, although this is a great city, some proponents call the city, "Asheville the Paris of the South" rand this eally does stretch credibility and as a frequent visitor to Paris, on business and pleasure there is no comparison in either activities, culture, architecture or thankfully prices and crowds".
"No condo sprawl - Wolf Laurel escaped the 1970's type condo developments that may negatively impact property values and potential buyer interest in some other mountain communities."
"To my knowledge, Big Bald Mountain with an elevation pf 5,516 has the best 360 degree views from the top than any mountain south of Mount Washington up in New Hampshire and you can drive to the summit if a member of the Wolf Laurel Amenities Program.
"Wolf Laurel Resort is a protected environment with wilderness on three sides from two national forests, the Appalachian Trail and the Mars Hill Watershed."
"So much to do here and so little time. Most people buy or build a second home here initially in order to get away from the stress of their permanent homes and careers. What I've found that over time, some people get bored with just relaxing and enjoying our world-class views and then they discover why many of us live here full-time. There are simply so many outdoor activities available at our four-season resort that many find they have to live here full-time just to enjoy them all."
"Finally my best reason for considering Wolf Laurel is simply because I live here. There are plenty of real estate agents promoting the benefits of owning property here at Wolf Laurel Resort but frankly few live here in the resort."
For Retirement
"One of the Five Best Places To Retire" Money Adviser, Consumer Reports 9/2005
"Best Places to Retire" MSN 7/30/2003
"The 20 Best Places to Retire in the World" Barrons 3/2002
"America's Best 100 Retirement Towns" Where to Retire Special Issue 2001
"Best Five Places to Retire" MSN HomeAdvisor 2001
"Ten Great Towns For Retired Singles" Where to Retire Summer 2001
For An Active, Outdoor Lifestyle
One of Ten Great Adventure Towns" National Geographic Adventure Magazine 9/2004
"One of America's 5 Best Biking Towns" Bike Magazine 6/2002
"Mountain Biking: Where to Ride" (1 of 4 Cities) National Geographic Adventure Magazine 12/2002/1/2003
"Reader's Choice Awards (Mountain Destination & Weekend Getaway)" Southern Living 11/2001
"Top 10 Whitewater Towns" Whitewater Paddling 2001
"The Ten Best U.S. Cities for Mountain Bikers" mountainbike.com
For Quality of Life
"19 of Top 25 Most Secure U.S. Places to Live" Farmers Insurance Group 6/2005
"8 of 10 Best Places To Live" MSN/Sperling's Best Places 07/2005
"11 of 50 Best Places to Live" Men's Journal 04/2005
"One of Five Cities That Are Special" USA Today, 07/2004
"Best Place To Live, Number 8 of 331 Metros" CitiesRanked and Rated, 03/2004
"America's Happiest City For Women" Self Magazine, October 2002
"Top 15 Dream Towns (Best Places to Reinvent Your Life) AARP Magazine, 05/06/2003
"America's Top 50 Places (Biltmore Estate) National Geographic Traveler 10/2001
"Top 15 Most Popular Cities to Live" Harris Poll, 09/2002
For Arts & Culture
"8 of America's Top 25 Small Town Arts Destinations" American Style, Summer 2005
"10 of America's Top 25 Arts Destinations" American Style, Summer 2005
"18 of America's Top 25 Arts Destinations" American Style, Summer 2003
"One of America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations" National Trust for Historic Preservation, July 2002
"Ranked 3rd in Top 10 Great Literary Trips in the Nation" Book Magazine Jan/Feb 2002
"Number 8 of America's Top 25 Arts Destinations" American Style Summer 2001
For Career & Business
"31 of 168 Small Metros Best Places For Business and Careers" Forbes May 2005
"31 of 394 Regions, Entreprenerial/Innovation Index" Small Business Administration, April 2005
"Grade A - for Twenty0Five Years of Economic Strength" POLICOM Study of US Metros, July 2002
"Ranked 14 of 200 Metros for One-Year High-Tech Output Growth" Forbes-Milliken Institute Best Places, May 2002
"29 of Top Fifty Hottest Cities for Manufacturing Expansions & Relocations" Expansion Management Magazine, Jan 2002
"America's Best Places to Live and Work 2001 (one of ten top small cities)" Employment Review, 2001
"Best Top Places For Wired Companies Who Want To Run A Business From Paradise" Industry Standard, February 2001
"One of Top Thirty Metros For Small Business Vitality" Demographics Daily 2001
(Most of the 35 expert online reasons and coverage from the press is from the Asheville Chamber of Commerce website)
Thanks for reading.
Ronald HollandClick Here To E-mail the Editor Your Questions or Comments
Ronald Holland is editor of this website