My brother lives in GC. It has its good and bad points. It gets pretty dang hot and dusty in the summer with a persistent desiccating wind. In spring there are lots of biting gnats which are annoying. Winter can be cold but not extreme at all. The desert is nearby so it's easy to get warmer or head to the mountains for skiing. Mtbing is great, road riding is very good, though local choices can be limited. There are only so many roads.

If I ever move there I'm buying a raft and cruising the rivers on long trips. Love river trips and GC is a great jumping off point.

I'd have to get out of town in the summer. My brother has a cabin up at Dallas Divide which is a perfect location to spend the hot months.

Asheville has really grown. I couldn't live there but it is only 45-60 min drive away to the east. My town is a small college town but the expanding University is making traffic a mess. Our weather is very moderate but skiing is only so so and very dependent on winter temps. This last year it was so warm I don't think it was much of a season. Biking is excellent though difficult. Mtbing is also great though some short drives are required to get to a trail. Hiking is great also. We have lakes too though I don't have a power boat, I often think I should.

Medical care is very good. Asheville has a couple of excellent hospitals and our town has a local hospital with a good reputation. There are always festivals and craft fairs here and the arts are supported. But the summers are trending hotter lately and the humidity can get up there. Often the air quality will suffer especially at elevation during hot dry summer periods due to the coal plants to the W/NW. I use AC here at the house starting about mid June through Aug mostly to dehumidify. We do get 50" of rain a year though it comes in big bunches.

We get a huge influx of summer residents from Fla. Our county can triple in population from late April- Oct. It is also a vacation destination so the summers can be busy though there are always places to go that are nice and quiet. Road riding is always great.