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Biltmore Estate offers tours, and at least one company gives canoe
and raft sunset cruises through the extensive grounds.
Flat Rock Playhouse presents a year-round theater schedule.
Hickory Ridge Homestead is a living history museum that explores
late-18th century Appalachian life. The Asheville
Urban Trail creates an historic walking tour that highlights the
city's heritage. The Asheville Symphony
Orchestra provides classical music performances, and the annual
Ashville Film Festival is a nationally recognized
event. Downtown's Park Place is home to the
Asheville Art Museum, Colburn Earth Science Museum, Diana Wortham
Theatre, The Health Adventure, and the YMI Cultural Center.
Several movies have been filmed here, including Forrest Gump,
Last of the Mohicans (great movie), Bull Durham and Dirty
Dancing. This is also where poet Carl Sandburg lived out
his later years and where Thomas Wolfe wrote Look Homeward,
Angel.
Retirees also enjoy Asheville because of the
excellent senior services. The North Carolina Center for
Creative Retirement, a part of the University of North Carolina,
promotes lifelong learning, leadership and community service and
offers a wide-ranging schedule of classes, events, workshops and
travel opportunities. It is a progressive place, working to
promote an "age-integrated" society, and now occupies
its own 20,000 square foot building, the Reuter Center, with
full access to the University's resources. The phone
number is 828-251-6140.
Health care is quiet good because the city is a
regional medical center. Memorial Mission
Hospital is the primary medical facility (several others are
nearby) and provides comprehensive care. This hospital is
also home to a cutting edge radiation technology called Cyberknife
and provides several services specifically for seniors, including
education programs, a volunteer program and a membership program
that helps with insurance claims (828-213-4664).
This city appreciates its
seniors and has dozens of outlets for volunteerism, including
volunteering through more than 300 houses of worship, with the Red
Cross, through the local school district, at theater events, with
the Long Branch Environmental Education Center, at many of the
local festivals, with the library, through the animal shelters,
with the Literacy Council of Buncombe County and through many more
local organizations. The local bus service, the Asheville
Transit Authority, provides a way to get to many of these
volunteer "jobs" and is even offering free bus service
through November 11, 2006.
Asheville's weather is similar to other areas of the
southeastern U.S. but with slightly cooler temperatures thanks to
the elevation. The average July high is 84
degrees, and the average low is 64 degrees. The
average January high is
46 degrees, and the average low is 27 degrees.
The city almost always receives some snow each year, which tends
to shut down the place. Humidity averages 60% a
year. The sun shines roughly 55% of the time.
The area is at slightly
higher risk than the national average for earthquakes.
Autumns are simply splendid.
A few drawbacks are associated with Asheville. The crime
rate is higher than the national average, but most crime is
property related, and residents of all ages
feel safe enough to stroll downtown after attending an evening play or art
opening. Part-time jobs are fairly scarce because
of the student population. Air pollution is becoming a
concern as the city continues to grow, and tourists do flock to
town to visit the Biltmore Estate, particularly during the summer
months. We also hear that the town is tough on drunk
drivers, which we do not necessarily consider a drawback, and the
city tends to tilt to the left politically, which may not appeal
to everyone.
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