"Welcome to Asker!" a Asker Travel Page by Saagar

Asker is a municipality just to the west of Oslo proper. The indented western coastal strip of the Inner Oslofjord belongs to Asker. About 55.000 people live here, and work in the local area or commute to Oslo. Communications with the rest of Oslo and the country are good: Asker is on the E18 highway west, on the train mainlines to Skien, Stavanger and Bergen. There are direct bus/rail connections to the airports of Oslo and Torp. The internal bus services are good. Sports facilities and cultural institutions of all sorts are excellent. It's a bit of an artists' community, too. Culturally speaking, however, Asker is much less colorful and multiethnic than closer to the core of Oslo, but as 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants increasingly expand business and living out of Oslo centre, these benefits reach Asker, too.
Living costs here are fairly high, but matched by a higher per capita income than the average of Norway, and excellent local social and educational services. You find this relative wealth reflected in expensive houses and an odd assortment of terapeutic institutions, cosmethic surgery business, pet grooming stores, five (5!) baby massage, swimming aerobics parlours and the like.
Asker centre - a town in it's own right - has some 5500 inhabitants and functions as the service, communications and commerical centre. It is far enough from Oslo to have a good number of intact shops and commercial services.
Most people live along the key roads, the coast and in some smaller communities. That leaves a fairly large hinterland of forests and smallish mountains and lakes for nature's own benefit, and for recreation and exploration. Agriculture is still on the list of images of Asker, especially berries and fruit and lettuce growing.

Asker's climate is among the warmest and best in Norway. The summer season is long. I actually grow grapes in my yard, at 51 degrees north! The disadvantage is of course that the winter proper is short, with snow conditions that leaves something to be desired. I already long back to Lillehammer's stable winter climate - a real white winter town!
The maritime image of Oslo's Westfjord is strong and reflected in restaurants, galleries, shops and boating and bathing. There are good bathing/swimming opportunities at several smallish beaches here, and some nice maritime theme restaurants and cafes.
I will expand this as I explore more....