Asheville: A View from the Top

The book purports to provide just that -- an overview of a beautiful city nestled strategically between the Blueridge Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains. The reader gets a glimpse of Asheville's rich heritage -- the down-home hospitality of its downtown and the mystic beauty of its mountains; the folk arts and crafts of its multi-ethnic community and the splendid out-door recreational and tourist attractions offered to its visitors; its numerous cultural resources, including art museums, galleries, live theater, symphonies, as well as a description of its growing economy with its developing communications networks,its manufacturing and technology industries, its business, financial and real estate industries, and its educational and health care centers. The book will warm the heart of readers who are interested in visiting Asheville on a holiday as well as those considering a move to the area for more reasons than its temperate climate and cultural amenities. Though this work is a typical over-sized coffee-table book, its authors (all residents of Asheville) ably provide a well documented text to complement the outstanding picturesque, colorful photography by Tim Barnell. As a recent retiree having moved to the area after a year of careful research about Asheville, I love this book -- the only one on the topic with fabulous photographs as well as well written supportive textual materials covering a variety of topics. Excellent reading and viewing for someone who might consider moving to Asheville, a city frequently rated as one of the top ten places to retire! It has been just rated #1 in AARP's May-June, 2000 issue of Modern Maturity, for the best small city in the USA which to retire!