Where to Retire Magazine has announced its 2013 honor roll of America’s “50 Best Master-Planned Communities in the United States,” naming Cummings Cove Golf & Country Club to the prestigious biennial list in its July/August, 2013 issue. One of only two communities selected in Western North Carolina, Cummings Cove meets the standard of a dynamic lifestyle community sought by the magazine’s editors.
Karen Northridge, publisher of the national magazine, said in her congratulatory letter to Garry Sherrill, Executive Director of Operations at Cummings Cove: “During a nine-month selection process, our editors reviewed several hundred candidates across the country. Your community is among an elite group of developments that offer today’s retirees a well-rounded, active lifestyle. The fifty selected developments represent seventeen states. The communities are not ranked, but profiled in alphabetical order by state, from Arizona to Wyoming. A two-page chart gives a snapshot of the developments and lists their amenities.”
Interviewed by Where to Retire for the report, Bob and Sandy Denekamp moved to Cummings Cove last year from Massachusetts. Bob said: “If you’re lucky like we are, you’ll be looking at the mountains every night and watching the sunset—preferably with a cocktail in hand.”
In another recent national news story, Rodney Brooks, writing for USA TODAY, named five cities to consider in his article: “Best Places to Retire.” Brooks interviewed Annette Fuller, managing editor of Where to Retire magazine. Fuller acknowledged that while big cities attract, many retirees delight in finding an “off-the-beaten-path location with relatively low cost of living and housing, favorable tax situation, low crime rate, an active downtown, good medical facilities and, more than ever, a range of activities that can keep them fit and healthy.”
Hendersonville topped the list of Brooks’ five recommended cities. In addition to the remarkable natural scenery of parks and forests with mountain views and over 200 waterfalls, a mild four-season climate makes it enjoyable year round. Other attractions cited are the Hendersonville Symphony and the Flat Rock Playhouse, North Carolina’s state theater. In addition to Hendersonville’s two local hospitals, nearby Asheville has Mission Hospital, a regional trauma center, ranked among the nation’s top 15 healthcare systems in 2013 by Thomson Reuters.
