Quality of life in Asheville

The city of Asheville is nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Smoky Mountains in Western North Carolina. Asheville serves as the county seat of Buncombe County. The city is the largest in Western North Carolina with a population of approximately 85,000 and a metro population of 417,012.

Asheville is a popular tourist destination and is known as a liberal, artsy community. This "Paris of the South," has also been described as the "San Francisco of the East," "New Age Mecca," and "Land of the Sky." It's a city of which Rolling Stone magazine dubbed "America’s New Freak Capital." But Asheville is by no means simply a haven for Hippies and 'Out There's', as Money magazine has called Asheville one of the "Best Places to Retire," and AARP cites it as one of the "Best Places to Reinvent Your Life." Self magazine proclaims Asheville as America’s "Happiest City." PETA lists Asheville as "America's Best Vegetarian-Friendly Small City." In 2007, Asheville was named one of the top seven places to live in the U.S. by Forbes, and in 2011 Asheville was picked as one of the “10 Most Beautiful Places in America” by Good Morning America. From its titles alone one can easily see that Asheville is a good place to go to see diversity in action.

Asheville has four distinct seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Year-round, the average relative humidity in the morning is 90% and in the afternoon is 58%. Summers are mild and afternoon thunderstorms are common. In the fall (peaking in October), the area is very popular with "leaf lookers", people who visit Asheville and the surrounding mountains to see the area's splendid foliage. Winters are generally mild and major snow storms are rare. However, snow is common with the area averaging an inch or two of snow at a time, normally melting off in a day or two.