Sometimes it seems that Asheville is too good to be true.
How can a small city attract such awards and media recognition, year in and year out? At its ExploreAsheville site, the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority lists these accolades back to the year 2000, when the Rand-McNally Places Rated Almanac ranked Asheville one of the best places to live in the United States among metropolitan areas smaller than 250,000 people, as well as one of the top five places to retire.
In 2014, the pace of tributes hasn’t slowed a bit. French Broad Crossing is an easy half-hour drive from an amazing city with something for everyone:
CUISINE
Asheville was highlighted in a round-up by The Huffington Post on “The 13 Greatest Destination Food Towns in America.” (October 2014)
Rhubarb and Curate were recently featured in round-ups of the best restaurants in the South by CNN.com and Food Republic. (August 2014)
SingleTracks.com listed Asheville among its “10 Beer Towns With a Mountain Biking Problem.” (July 2014)
Livability.com placed Asheville at #4 on its “Top 10 Foodie Cities 2014” round-up. (June 2014)
Departures called Asheville “The Biggest Little Culinary Capital in America.” (June 2014)
THRILLIST named Asheville one of the “7 Most Underrated Food Cities in America.” (March 2014)
Forbes Travel Guide Blog featured Asheville as one of its “Five Secret Foodie Cities.” (January 2014)
Asheville was named one of Imbibe Magazine’s “75 People, Places and Flavors That Will Shape the Way You Drink in 2014.” (January 2014)
SHOPPING
Yelp ranked Asheville #4 on its list of the “Top 20 Cities to Shop Local for the Holidays.” (November 2014)
SCENERY
Orbitz.com’s Travel Blog chose taking a scenic drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway as #1 on its list of “Seven Things You Absolutely Must Try in a National Park.” (November 2014)
USA TODAY picked Asheville as one of the 10 best places to see “The Brightest Fall Foliage Around the USA.” (November 2014)
Real Estate Scorecard recognized Asheville as the “Most Beautiful Place in America to Live and More.” (July 2014)
TECHNOLOGY & THE ENVIRONMENT
Asheville is considered one of “America’s Smartest Cities” by Forbes. (November 2014)
Asheville made SaveOnEnergy.com’s list of the “Top 10 Cities to Visit for Earth Day 2014,” coming in at #5. (March 2014)
THE ARTS
MusicSchoolCentral.com included Asheville on its list of “The 10 College Towns With the Best Music Scenes in America.” (October 2014)
USA TODAY selected Asheville as one of the top “Southern Literary Destinations.” (August 2014)
MovieMaker designated Asheville as #1 on its 2014 edition of the “Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker.” (January 2014)
ROMANCE
Asheville is among TravelandLeisure.com’s “Most Romantic Fall Getaways.” (October 2014)
Asheville was chosen as one of BrideMeetsWedding.com’s “10 Great Honeymoon Locations Within the U.S.,” coming in at #5. (July 2014)
The Omni Grove Park Inn made USA Today’s “10 Best Places: Have a Heart-to-Hearth at These Hotels” list. (February 2014)
PETS
Purina One selected Asheville as a “perfect dog-friendly city” after touring the country to find the best place to kick off its 28-Day Challenge. (May 2014)
VACATIONS
FlipKey.com, the vacation-rental company of TripAdvisor, recognized Asheville on its top-10 list of the “Best Fall East Coast Vacation Spots.” (September 2014)
Asheville was featured on USA Today’s “Best Summer Weekend Escapes” list, chosen by readers of USA Today and 10Best. (May 2014)
National Geographic featured Asheville on its editors’ list of the “Best Spring Trips 2014.” (March 2014)
Men’s Journal included Black Mountain on its list of the “Best Places to Rent a Summer Home.” (March 2014)
Asheville was spotlighted on a list of “Alternative Travel Destinations For 2014” by Men’s Journal. (January 2014)
OVERALL AWESOMENESS
A just-released National Geographic Travel book named Asheville one of the “World’s Best Cities.” (October 2014)
Livability.com’s second-annual ranking of the 100 best small- to mid-sized cities in the U.S. included Asheville in the #12 slot. (September 2014)
Asheville is considered America’s #1 “Quirkiest Town,” according to TravelandLeisure.com. (August 2014)
In a bracket-style vote, Outside Magazine readers picked Asheville as one of this year’s “Best Towns Ever.” (August 2014)
Readers of Condé Nast Traveler voted Asheville #10 among the “2014 Friendliest Cities in the U.S.” (August 2014)
Imagine living here! When family and friends visit, you’ll have the best of both worlds to share: The embracing mountains and river at French Broad Crossing, and the welcoming, urbane attractions of Asheville.
To learn more about the living experience at French Broad Crossing, please contact our sales office at sales@preservecommunities.com or call us at 866-947-9629.