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What would you estimate the travel time to be, both during rush hour and non-rush hour, to drive across town in Asheville? Same question for traveling from say downtown Asheville to completely out of the city such that you do not see Asheville (or any other town) in your rear view mirror, meaning you are out of any urban sprawl (words can not express how much i detest urban sprawl, monolpoly board houses, sigh)?
I ask the above because I kind of got duped into moving from MN (my home state) all the way out to Portland OR and then leased a house, primarily because of all the great meetup.com social groups in Portland, but the reality once there really was dire; it was a huge city with unbelievable traffic, so that to get to a meetup social group for hiking or art or whatever meant an hour or hour and a half drive, worse if rush hour. Paid a severe price ($, literally), to get out of that lease, then moved to IL temporarily, lease is up here in September to looking where to go and Asheville keeps looking good on paper; my plan is to do a road trip for a few months using airbnb and also camping, and come see Asheville in person (stay a week or two), but I really want to know how bad the urban sprawl and traffic is in Asheville as that tells me lots about the reality, the practicality, of enjoying and participating in social and cultural events. If it takes an hour to drive to listen to the symphony performing, or to attend a stage play theatre company, if it takes 45 minutes just to drive to meet up with a gaming group and such, it makes it hard to really enjoy getting out and about. I come from Duluth MN, pop about 85,000 (Maybe 100,000 with a couple of small adjoining communities) and our "rush hour" there means an extra five minutes driving from downtown to one's house, and I could drive across town in Duluth in about 15 minutes from one end to the other, or i could leave downtown Duluth and not see Duluth or any other city (meaning I am "rural") in about 15 minutes. So I am looking to compare that to Asheville.
Asheville is more like Duluth than Portland, to use your examples. Of course, its also closer to the size of Duluth, as opposed to Portland. Obviously, travel times are dependent on many things, but in general, I'd say you can drive across Asheville in 20 minutes or so, non rush hour, and in 30 minutes you can go from downtown to wide open spaces.
Of course, in peak tourist times it gets more crowded.
I've never been to Portland, but I'm sure Asheville doesn't take as much time to drive across. If you drive stoplight to stoplight, Asheville could take a long time to drive through. But with I-40, I-26, and I-240, it doesn't take too long to get where you need to go. A 30 minute driving radius covers A LOT of ground, if you can get to a major highway or the interstate quickly.
Sounds like the town you're from is more comparable to Asheville. I used to drive in Asheville for work, and as long as I was near the interstate or Highway 25, I could get out of town quickly and on to the next job.
Asheville is more like Duluth than Portland, to use your examples. Of course, its also closer to the size of Duluth, as opposed to Portland. Obviously, travel times are dependent on many things, but in general, I'd say you can drive across Asheville in 20 minutes or so, non rush hour, and in 30 minutes you can go from downtown to wide open spaces.
Of course, in peak tourist times it gets more crowded.
Thank you Dawg. I wish it was faster to get from downtown to wide open, but 30' is a lot better than the 1 hr+ of Portland, not as good as Duluth, but I just want to know I can get to social/cultural events, or get out town, in a reasonable time, so as to actually enjoy what a city has to offer rather than spend my time stuck in traffic.
......with I-40, I-26, and I-240, it doesn't take too long to get where you need to go. ....
So if i was downtown, and hopped on (drove onto) one of those major highways, could I be out of town and not see a town in my rear view mirror (or front view) in 15 minutes or less do you think?
So if i was downtown, and hopped on (drove onto) one of those major highways, could I be out of town and not see a town in my rear view mirror (or front view) in 15 minutes or less do you think?
No, there are other towns in about 17 minutes if you follow the major highways. Check Google maps, but you could go from Pack Square downtown to Weaverville (north), Swannanoa (east), and the Asheville Airport (south) in 17 minutes. In 23 minutes you would be in Candler to the west. It isn't the wilderness surrounding Asheville-- there are other small towns. I recommend trying a virtual drive on Google maps. For example the drive to Weaverville is quite pleasant.
So if i was downtown, and hopped on (drove onto) one of those major highways, could I be out of town and not see a town in my rear view mirror (or front view) in 15 minutes or less do you think?
Again, it depends. You can get to the Blue Ridge Parkway from downtown in 10 minutes. Once you're on the BRP you're pretty much just going to see country. On the other hand, you could drive 15 minutes on I-40 and still see development. I don't think the question can be answered as simply as you would like, but I do think a visit to the area will answer your questions.
Again, it depends. You can get to the Blue Ridge Parkway from downtown in 10 minutes. Once you're on the BRP you're pretty much just going to see country. ... but I do think a visit to the area will answer your questions.
Excellent. yes I definitely plan to visit Asheville in Sept/Oct during my road trip, Asheville right not is very very high on list of where to consider living!
And any mountain town like Asheville that is in a valley surrounded by a bowl of mountains with only a certain number of places where roads can be built in and out is going to have traffic problems. More people in means more people on roads.
But the interstate road system is helpful in Asheville, so you might find it would work for you. It is not Duluth however and it may not have the quick travel you seem to have there
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