Having lived in the area around Asheville since moving from CT in 1997, perhaps I could add a few comments to round out Lizap's thoughtful posts. We do absolutely love this region and we plan to stay here when we retire. But there are many people who move here and leave a year or two later. Different strokes.
The most common complaints that I've heard from folks who've changed their minds and left... are related to the cultural differences, which they didn't expect and didn't understand by just visiting. I don't mean north vs south, because this area has become heavily populated by transplants from around the country. I mean urban vs mountains, conservative vs liberal, traditional vs progressive, laid back vs highly competitive.
If you consider yourself somewhat of a "city" person who has enjoyed living in the pace, culture, and intensive amenities of the urban centers of the northeast or pacific coast, you may find it much more difficult to settle in happily here. If the driver ahead does not move when the light turns green, and you have to wait through another light cycle, and it's not the height of rush hour, it is unlikely that a soul will honk their horn. If you honk, locals here would consider you to be selfishly concerned with getting to the store a few minutes faster and careless over embarrassing your neighbor by honking. Impatient people from outside this culture tend to find locals unreceptive to their attempt to make friends or find jobs. In small day-to-day ways, a lot of urban transplants struggle to make their new home here, and make it feel like a home.
We've very happily transitioned. We love the culture of the southeast, which to us is gentle, generous, mostly traditional. Western NC offers natural beauty, abundant outdoor activities, and extensive in-town amenities and services throughout this tourism-friendly region. We do not presently live in Asheville itself but we have. Asheville is and has been increasingly progressive, something of an enclave of liberalism within the region.
West Asheville, Brevard, and some parts of Candler, Montreat, Black Mountain and Mars Hill are also fairly liberal - mostly related to their arts districts and college campuses. North Asheville (despite UNC-Asheville), South Asheville, Fletcher, Arden, and especially Hendersonville, are decidedly conservative, almost in firm response to the changes in Asheville, in my personal opinion. Moving further out, the region is generally quietly traditional, rural, quaint, relaxed - and very beautiful.
Maggie Valley is known for being popular with "half-backs", people who originally lived and worked in the northeast and urban centers across the U.S., retired south to FL, then came "halfway back" north once they had decided that FL (full time) was not for them, either due to weather, culture, cost or terrain. Consequently, the culture of Maggie Valley and surrounding towns has become a little more blended with northeast-style culture. Maggie Valley offers striking scenery, a friendly town, and it's only about 45 minutes to drive in to Asheville. Out that way, Cullowhee is a fun university town too. Communities in this region have distinctly different personalities, and it's not always easy to tell the differences if you don't spend a fair amount of time "living" here rather than just visiting like a tourist. If you like an area, visit the local "Y" or senior community center a few times. See you think you could make friends easily. These are the same folks who vote and influence local change.
Unfortunately, property taxes in both Buncombe County and Asheville (city), are among the highest in the region. Henderson County taxes are rising more quickly than most surrounding counties as well. Taxes seem to rise faster wherever many transplants come from higher cost-of-living parts of the country: To them, $1000 does mean as much as it does to a rural, southern local. Folks coming from outside may want to add more local services and development into the county, and they are less troubled by the associated increase in taxes. It's worth looking at trends and not just numbers.
