The most attention has come from an article in this month's edition of Money magazine, which named Danville one of the top five places to retire in its print edition and included it among a list of 25 retirement destinations in an online list.
The town also will be featured in Where to Retire magazine in November.
So how does Danville end up on a list typically populated by metropolitan areas or places near sun-splashed beaches? Beth Braverman, who researched and wrote the piece on Danville, said the magazine didn't just want to focus on typical retirement enclaves.
"One of the things we wanted was broad geographical diversity," Braverman said. “For a lot of people, those (more stereotypical) kinds of places are not practical or feasible, and not everybody wants that kind of retirement."
For its rankings, Money used a database of about 1,200 cities with at least 30 percent of the population over age 50. According to the 2010 Census, about 36 percent of Danville's population fit those demographics.
Braverman said the list was narrowed from there based on cost of living, house prices and taxes. From there, writers gathered information about everything else the town had to offer.
Braverman said among the things that stood out most about Danville were the presence of a hospital and college, the emphasis on the arts, and the history
After talking to Charlie Cox with the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership, Braverman also interviewed residents and Realtors.
"Everyone I spoke to talked about what a nice, warm community it was but also said there was plenty to do in the downtown," Braverman said.
While Danville may benefit from having an unexpected amount of activity for a town its size, Braverman said the proximity to Lexington and Louisville is also a plus.
The Blackburns were one of the families Cox referenced when talking up the virtues of Danville as a retirement spot to Braverman, and they say they were taken with many of the offerings chronicled in her article, particularly the arts scene.
The couple knew they wanted to make their next home in central Kentucky but decided to choose Danville last year.
The Blackburns, both originally from southern Ohio, were familiar with the area, and David Blackburn, a hospital executive for more than 35 years, had spent time at Pattie A. Clay Regional Medical Center in Richmond in the 1970s.
The couple, who built a house in Rolling Hills subdivision, are regulars at Norton Center for the Arts performances and the Community Arts Center, where David Blackburn is taking drawing classes.
The history buffs also have been able to act as tour guides for family and friends intrigued by their new hometown.
"We had a friend who was coming in from Arkansas and he said he wanted to do two things when he came to visit, go to the Cumberland Gap and be on the Wilderness Road," Pamela Blackburn said. "I told him we could take him to Cumberland Gap, but we have the Wilderness Road right here. It plays into your imagination, because the history is so alive here."
David Blackburn, no stranger to medical facilities in his professional life, said he has had positive first-hand experience with local health care so far. A cancer survivor, he is complimentary of Commonwealth Cancer Center and Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center.
The couple said they have been accepted into the community with a warmth they couldn't have expected.
"Sometimes you might have some kind of buyer's remorse, but not us," David Blackburn said. "We're very pleased."
Local officials are hoping to perpetuate the image of the town as a destination for life's next phase.
