20 Most Popular Places to Retire in the Southeast

We currently live in Summerville SC in a 55+ community but are thinking about going back to Greenville SC. Traffic is awful here, many two lane roads (1 in each direction) and area just continues to grow with little though to road improvements. I also hate being out "in the middle of nowhere!" It is much easier to get around in the Greenville area than in Summerville. I guess some like it (if you live small town living) but it is not for us. Restaurants for the most part are "meh" in Summerville. Charleston is a lovely old city, but it can be a hassle driving there and looking for parking (esp. during peak travel season). Just my 2 cents...

Not to be a nitpicker, but FYI the population of Asheville (within city limits) is now 92,000, not 75,000. Buncombe County, of which Asheville is the county seat, now has a population of around 260,000. The five-county MSA has a population of more than 460,000 and should hit half a million by 2025, due to growth in the lower cost surrounding counties of Henderson, Transylvania, Madison and Haywood.

On the downside, more people mean more traffic. But on the upside, it also means more opportunities, more restaurants and more entertainment. With more than 1 1/2 million acres of National Park, National Forest and NC State Parks and other protected land in Western North Carolina, there's plenty of wide open spaces!

Editor Comment: Thanks Lan for the update. Not sure when we updated that population figure, but it sure looks like the area is growing fast. We have updated the page - thanks for keeping us up to date!

Asheville is a beautiful area, but you may have overlooked a gem that’s just a little south: Hendersonville. There’s less traffic, it’s easier to get around, it has great restaurants and entertainment (including the State Theatre of North Carolina and a local symphony), it’s set in the Blue Ridge mountains, and is only 30 minutes from Asheville and Greenville (SC).

My two cents . . .

Why is your article on the 20 most popular places to retire in the Southeast dated October 16th 2018?

Editor Comment. Yep, time to change the calendar, 10 months into the year. Thanks for the correction Richard!

Missed Huntsville, AL - a.k.a. Rocket City - home of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and the birthplace of the Apollo program, as well as NASA and Redstone Arsenal. Many rocket scientists and engineers. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian's, it's a growing medium-sized city with a lot of cultural activities. The Tennessee River is close by, as well as the Lake Guntersville.

Asheville also gets eleven million visitors a year, so it's pretty crowded. We are currently renting short-term there. We have been pretty disheartened by the quality and cost of the real estate options. Once a place starts showing up on these lists, prices go up. All the nearby smaller towns, including, the previously mentioned, Hendersonville, have also been discovered, so no bargains there either.

I cannot believe that Chattanooga is actually no. 4! Just because "income isn't taxed" doesn't mean you don't pay taxes!! Inside the city limits, real estate taxes are as high as any where else and sales tax is 9.5+% . We lived there for 11 yrs (for work) and could not wait to move back to New England where our auto insurance dropped to HALF, the supermarket produce and meat is cheaper and way better quality, and medical care is superior. If you are creative - it was a frustrating experience and the downtown library THREW AWAY without replacing them, hundreds of books! We found the people in TN to be friendly but didn't want to be your friend. Almost all the people we got to know well, were also transplants. Two years in Maine feels like we've been here forever! Chattanooga is also known for its outdoor sports - which didn't include us. Think twice before taking the plunge!

As for Asheville. We owned a place there for several years and we liked it. Our biggest issue was the fact it is very hilly and many of the roads were very steep. Our neighborhood was up the side of a hill and we had to take the car to get our mail or do anything else. Arthritic knees didn't like to walk those grades. Lots going on though. North Carolina, in general, appears to be a very creative and fun place.

Fionna, I’d love to hear more about Greenville, SC. My husband and I are planning to visit there as a possible retirement location.
We just visited Beaufort, SC, and we liked it. I’m wondering if anyone else has thoughts on Beaufort, SC.
We visited Beaufort, NC back in the spring. It was lovely, but not for us. They were still recovering from hurricane Florence some seven months later.

I just moved from Beaufort SC. We evacuated twice year before last. Once for Hurricane Matthew and once for Irma.
There was a lot of damage from Matthew and some places there are still recovering. Beaufort is beautiful and very friendly.

Greenville is considerably further inland than Beaufort, and consequently less subject to hurricane damage than Beaufort, which is essentially on the Atlantic coast.

Janet,

Greenville has a vibrant downtown, the Peace Center for different venues, some decent restaurants, weather not nearly as humid and not hurricane prone as is Summerville (where we live now). Greenville is also around an hour from Asheville and not far from Hendersonville NC which is a nice place to live or visit. It is much easier to get around in Greenville as there are more highways and shopping. The Woodruff road area (where there's a lot of shops, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Nordstrom Rack, Costco) does get crowded but if you go early in the day it's not too bad. Of course, it depends on where you live in the Greenville area and how far you are willing to travel to do your shopping. We were in South Greenville (Piedmont) and it took me around 20-25 mins. to get to Woodruff Road. As I mentioned in my post, we are anxious to return to the Greenville area. If I can answer any more ?s (esp. after you visit) please let me know.

We are currently looking in the Asheville/Brevard area. Asheville seems to be a bit crowded and we are looking for more of a country feel. We've found an area called Connestee Falls which is outside of Brevard. It appears to have tons of amenities with a golf course, lakes, etc. and also looks to be well maintained. Is anyone familiar with this community and if so we would like to hear what you think?

Jane, it’s 11 years, but you might find something of value in the review I wrote after a visit and round of golf with a resident. Good luck in your search.

https://www.golfcommunityreviews.com/archives/articles-by-category/north-carolina/43-north-carolina/2899-review-connestee-falls-brevard-nc.html

Fiona, Thank you for your thoughts on Greenville, SC. We’re looking forward to visiting.
Clyde, we’ve done our homework, so I do know where both Greenville and Beaufort are located. We have a home in Oak Island, NC, so I know all about hurricanes first hand. Of course there is a certain amount of stress and risk associated with coastal areas and you have to accept and be prepared for that. That said, some coastal areas such as Beaufort, NC are more vulnerable than others. And if I had to choose, for me personally, I’d take Oak Island/Southport, NC or Beaufort, SC over Beaufort, NC.
While I love the coast and the beach, I’m open to looking at Greenville for my husband who would also like to look inland.

Thanks Larry, I'm taking a trip over there next week just to check things out. The affordability of the golf in that area is what truly peaked our interest when compared to some of the other courses. Most had a $30,000+ initiation fee and are only open seasonally and as you stated Connestee is open year round. They have also done a complete renovation of the clubhouse and from the pictures it looks like they did an excellent job. We shall see.

I just left Florida
The heat has become unbearable and the whole state has potential to get hit by the Dorians of the world . I am so glad to have left and gone to California !

Thanks for letting us know Kathy.I understand it is hot in FL right now.  On the other hand, my daughter in CA had to evacuate her home this week because of a brush fire!  Nowhere is perfect

Johnny wrote to compliment us on our Best Places newsletter, and he also asked if we had written anything about The Villages. Yes we have!

So glad you are enjoying our newsletter. Makes us smile that people find it useful, always hoping to expand that universe.

You are right, we have written a bunch about the Villages. In our basic review you will find a variety of links to articles we have written in the past about it.
https://www.topretirements.com/reviews/Florida/The%20Villages.html

Good luck!

Jane,
My husband and i have looked at Connestee Falls twice during the past half year. Here's what i've taken away. For one thing, it's huge! I think our realtor told us there were 80 miles of roads, but that doesn't seem possible!
Next, it's quite hilly. I don't think i'll be wanting to drive those roads in 10 years.
And last, most of it is about 20 minutes away from Brevard. I want to be closer to town.