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Can some of you describe for me the prevailing political, social and religious atmospheres in Asheville? Is it ultra conservative or is there a fair mix of liberal and conservative views? Is it a clearly and predominantly a religious atmosphere or is there a mix of theistic and non-theistic views represented? Is there a balance overall or are there definite leanings one way or the other?
I'd love to get a few good objective opinions here, and also perhaps hear from representatives from both the left and the right to get a feel for how everyone views Asheville.
If Asheville were a state, it'd be the bluest of the blue. The non-Asheville parts of Buncombe County would be a deep red. We just had city council elections, and three far-left progressives banded together to run for the three vacant spots. Two won, and the third is too close to call with another long time Democrat. The races are non-partisan, but the only Republican (and a pretty moderate one at that) who ran got about 13K votes, about 2/3rs of what the winners got.
On the other hand, while football hero Heath Shuler is a Democrat and represents Buncombe and other mountain counties in Congress, he's a DINO who challenged Pelosi for Minority Leader and in big votes (like Obamacare) usually sides with the GOP. If he were an "Asheville" Democrat, he wouldn't be able to hold his seat.
Socially, it's a white hippie town with a higher-than-average gay population. It's liberal but not diverse.
Hard to answer the religious part of your question, but I don't think anyone would see Asheville as having a "clearly and predominantly a religious atmosphere". I suspect it is higher than Berkeley because this is the South, but Asheville has a fair number of churches who are open about "social justice" and the like. Fair-sized Jewish community and at least a couple witch covens too.
Any response will be based on the political/cultural views of the responder, as you can see from the above (e.g., use of phrases like "far left" but not "far right"; same goes for the reverse). What one may consider moderate may call extremist (on either the left or right) Needless to say, my views are moderate and even-handed, but not everyone is as wise as I am ;-) The atmosphere does, of course, depend on exacty where you are. Downtown Asheville? Just in the general area? What are your concerns? You want to avoid an area that's too conservative? Or too liberal? Are you thinking of moving there or just looking to start a discussion? And a lot of people just mind their own business, and perhaps get involved in community gruops, etc., without worrying all that much about others.
I live in Buncombe County outside of Asheville and this area is mostly conservative but still have mostly found a live and let live attitude. A few in your face tea baggers and religious folk but not many that I've run into. Asheville is very liberal reminds me of Eugene Oregon in that respect. I would say a gay friendly city. But it seems to be live and let live too as a number of more wealthy conservative folks have retired here. We are in the south so church is big here but many in Asheville seem to be more liberal in their approach. All in all a mix of people and one can probably find a place to fit. But as has been mentioned mostly white not very diverse in that respect.
The surrounding areas in Buncombe county get very conservative imo, whereas Asheville proper tends to be pretty liberal. It does vary by neighborhood though. I find the south side of Asheville seems to be more conservative than most other parts of the city and areas near downtown and west Asheville the most liberal.
Wow, I'd be scared to share my social political and religious beliefs. What if someone uses that information to discriminate against me? What about the content of my character and purity of my heart?
Political - Everything from knuckle dragging republicans to democrats that behave like socialists.
Social - Everything from "get the hell off my street" to "Oh you don't have a job, you don't want a job, you are addicted to drugs, so lets use tax money and provide you free housing. Don't worry, you don't have to give up your drugs, or seek a job, just a free place (for you) to live.
Religious - You think Muslim extremists are extreme, wait till you meet some of the fundamentalists christians here............... to lets dance naked about a tree in a park under the full moon Wicca.
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