Asheville Named America's Happiest City

 

In Eric Weiner’s book, The Geography of Bliss, Asheville is named as America’s happiest city. As a happy resident of the Asheville area, I know what makes this area so special to my family and me. The beauty of the mountains, the vibrant art and music scene and a strong sense of community are just a few of the reasons Asheville receives so much national attention as one of the best places to live. Check out some other accolades that Asheville has received:

2007

• America’s Happiest City The Geography of Bliss (Eric Weiner), 2007
• Featured on ABC’s 20/20
• Best Southern Town Outside magazine’s August edition 2007
• #8 of Top U.S. Cities to live in Frommer’s Cities Ranked & Rated 2nd Edition, May 2007
• #23 of 200 Large Metros Best Places for Business & Careers Forbes, April 2007
• #1 of the top 100 places to live in 2007 Relocate-America, April 2007
• #2 of Top 10 easy spring weekend getaways MSNBC, April 2007
• #3 of the Top 10 up-and-coming travel destinations VirtualTourist Spring 2007

2006

• #24 of 200 Large Metros Best Places for Business & Careers Forbes, May 2006
• #7 of 50 Smart Places to Live Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, May 2006
• #2 of America’s Top 25 Small Town Arts Destinations AmericanStyle, Summer 2006
• Designated Preserve America Community by First Lady Laura Bush October 2006
• #1 of 10 America’s Best Eco-Neighborhoods Natural Home, December 2006

2005

• One of the Five Best Places to Retire Consumer Reports Money Adviser September 2005
• #8 of 10 Best Places to Live MSN/Sperling’s Best Places July 2005
• #19 of Top 25 Most Secure U.S. Places to Live Farmers Insurance Group June 2005
• #31 of 168 Small Metros Best Places For Business & Careers Forbes May 2005
• #31 of 394 Regions, Entrprenerial/Innovation Index Small Business Administration April 2005
• #8 of America’s Top 25 Small Town Arts Destinations AmericanStyle Summer 2005
• #11 of 50 Best Places To Live Men’s Journal April 2005

2004

• One of Ten Great Adventure Towns National Geographic ADVENTURE Magazine September 2004
• One of “Five Cities That Are Special” USA TODAY July 2004
• #10 of America’s Top 25 Arts Destinations AmericanStyle Summer 2004
• Best Place to Live, Number 8 of 331 Metros Cities Ranked and Rated, March 2004

2003

• Top Ten Towns for a Second-Home Investment MSN Money October 2003
• Best College Towns (#4 Warren Wilson College) Outside Magazine September 2003
• Best Places To Retire MSN July 30, 2003
• Top 15 Dream Towns (Best Places to Reinvent Your Life) AARP Magazine May/June 2003
• #18 of America’s Top 25 Arts Destinations AmericanStyle Summer 2003
• Top Family Getaways Parents Magazine April 2003
• Top Safe & Cheap Getaways (One of Five) USA TODAY April 4, 2003

2002

• Mountain Biking: Where To Ride (1 of 4 Cities) National Geographic ADVENTURE Magazine Dec 2002/Jan 2003
• America’s Happiest City for Women Self Magazine October 2002
• Top 15 Most Popular Cities to Live Harris Poll September 2002
• Grade A- for Twenty-Five Years of Economic Strength POLICOM Study of U.S. Metros July 2002
• One of America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations National Trust for Historic Preservation July 2002
• #13 of America’s Top 25 Arts Destinations AmericanStyle Summer 2002
• One of America’s 5 Best Biking Towns Bike Magazine June 2002
• Ranked 14 of 200 Metros for One-Year High-Tech Output Growth Forbes-Milken Institute Best Places May 2002
• Ranked 3rd in Top 10 Great Literary Trips in the Nation Book Magazine May/June 2002
• The 20 Best Places to Retire in the World Barron’s March 2002
• One Urban Haven in the World The Wallpaper Magazine Annual Round-up Jan/Feb 2002
• #29 of Top Fifty Hottest Cities for Manufacturing Expansions & Relocations Expansion Management Magazine January 2002

2001

• America’s Best 100 Retirement Towns Where to Retire Special Issue 2001
• Reader’s Choice Awards (Mountain Destination & Weekend Getaway) Southern Living November 2001
• Best Five Places to Retire MSN HomeAdvisor 2001
• America’s Top 50 Places (Biltmore Estate) National Geographic Traveler October 2001
• Ten Great Towns For Retired Singles Where to Retire Summer 2001
• America’s Best Places to Live and Work 2001 (One of Ten Top Small Cities) Employment Review 2001
• Number 8 of America’s Top 25 Arts Destinations AmericanStyle Summer 2001
• Top 10 Whitewater Towns Whitewater Paddling 2001
• The Ten Best U.S. Cities For Mountain Bikers Mountainbike.com
• Best Top Places For Wired Companies Who Want To Run a Business From Paradise Industry Standard February 2001
• 33rd of 294 Metros For Relative High-tech Output Growth 1999-2000 Forbes-Milken Best Places Ranking 2001
• One of Top Thirty Metros For Small Business Vitality Demographics Daily 2001