Disappointed in Asheville... (Charlotte, Henderson, Hendersonville: relocate, estate, landscaping)

[Doc. T.]

Originally Posted by molliejohns

I spent a week in Asheville and although I was very excited to go, I came home quite disappointed. I loved the surrounding mountains and nature but as for the city itself, the downtown area, I wasn't impressed at all. Everything I knew from a previous, shorter visit to Asheville and from the research I did on the area before my trip was proved false. Asheville is said to be a clean, diverse, friendly, open minded town and I didn't see ANY of that. The amount of homeless people is ridiculous; I live in central Florida and have experienced my fair share of panhandling in downtown Orlando but it was nothing like in Asheville. As funny as this may sound, I find a lot of the homeless in Orlando to be very friendly people, the kind of people you want to help out, but the homeless in Asheville were very rude. The shopping in downtown Asheville is not diverse at all; it is basically the same three head shops, junk stores, and art galleries over and over. The people of Asheville themselves are not diverse at all, either; all white, and maybe a couple of blacks. The most diversity I saw the entire week was in my significant other, who is a mix of Indian, Asian, and Spanish. Friendly? Not really, not more so than any other city. Furthermore, upon entering a store or restaurant, on more than occassion I felt as if we were given the once over and then, after being determined to be an "out-of-towner," blown off or ignored or treated in an outright rude manner. I really didn't see any diversity or open mindedness; I think the people of Asheville are very accepting of everyone, just so long as those "everyone" are white Buddhists, eat organically grown food, and have dreaded hair and enjoy smoking pot. If I sound as if I'm stereotyping, that makes sense because the people there seem to be trying so hard to fit into the "starving artist" or hippie lifestyle so to fit in with everyone else. How does that make you ecclectic, if you try so hard to be different in order to be just like everyone else who is "different"? It just seemed like all these "open minded" and "unique" people always had their noses in their air and a smirk on their face if someone who wasn't as "cool" as them passed by. It was weird because so many people always say how Florida and Orlando are full of a bunch of pretentious people who have no culture beyond what they believe they have and that is exactly what I experienced in Asheville. I never thought I'd say this but now I believe the people in downtown Orlando are more diverse and friendly than those in Asheville, especially since there are people of all walks of life and backgrounds to be found in Orlando, from tattooed, pierced, ecclectic individuals to the wealthy that live in the condos on Lake Eola, to the people who just like to be outside, taking their dog for a walk, from white, Spanish, black, Asian, and everything in between.
If anything good came from my visit to Asheville, it would be my newfound appreciation for the place I live. I was so happy to get back to the swamps and lakes of central Florida where I can take a stroll through downtown and along Lake Eola, shaded by oaks and weeping willows, where the homeless will play a song on their flute for my dogs [yes, it has happened] and Disney World dominates. Yes, we in Orlando may not have the "culture" of small towns like Asheville but we have diversity, beautiful scenery year-round and Disney and that's good enough for me.

Perhaps, to some degree, we all carry within our breast the feeling that we're a little better than the next person? Combine that with "previous exeriences," subjective research, and personal expectations and it may foster a situation where one can be easily let-down. Amazingly, though the trip proved to work out for your good! You developed a greater appreciation for your own home town. That's commendable.

Often, I'm surprised by the number of people who visit Asheville and consistently overlook what I consider one of its' finest attractions. The Asheville Ballroom. Granted, ballroom dancing would have to be in your diversity portfollio; but, for some local swing, Latin, or smooth dancing it is a first-class operation. Plus, you have the glorious opportunity to meet a wide range of fascinating people, dance the night away, and enjoy great fun.

Yes, I've lived in Orlando. Yep, I've had a bevy of enriching experiences in Asheville.
Shalom.

[gypsychic]

I really need to post in this thread again, because I really, really do not want to give the impression that the bit of "Florida bias" we encountered was in any way overwhelming to us or any kind of major reason for moving out of the area. The ONLY reason I mentioned it, was that because a couple of posters brought it up, and I was just verifying that it did exist, because we encountered it. I feel like after I posted, people were getting the idea we had a rough time of it, and such is not the case, so I am kind of sorry I mentioned it.

We still love Asheville, have met many great people here - it is a unique and special little city, which may not be perfect, but no place is. I don't want any of this to deter ANY of you who want to move into the area - it is a great place to be.

Anyway, I have spoken my piece - so with that -

PEACE everyone!
~gypsychic~

[RangerDuke08]

I concur, Asheville isn't for everyone it seems to attract a large number of retirees and homeless hippies, also once you get outside the area of Asheville and Boone that region of the country is nonetheless very conservative as it is called "the Bible Belt", if you want a clean "hippy" town check out Santa Barbara, CA or Boulder, CO though they are quite expensive and more of "yuppies" than "hippies" but very beautiful destinations nonetheless.

[andybuildz]

Originally Posted by NewAgeRedneck

My wife and I took a look at Asheville when we made our big move in the summer of 2006. Although we both liked it alot, we really wanted to live out west again after almost 20 years on the east coast. We missed the sunshine and the B-I-G blue sky. IF we had decided to stay somewhere in the east, Asheville was #1 on our list, followed by Blacksburg, Roanoke, and Charlottesville. After touring the southwest, we choose Grand Junction, CO as our new home. Although Asheville certainly fits the bill of an outdoor lovers paradise, Grand Junction is even more of an outdoor lovers paradise, if you can imagine that. I still wonder on ocassion what it would be like to live in Asheville.

Well if my house here in NY ever sells for what we hope to realistically get and we finally move to the Asheville area I'll let ya know what it's like and you can let me know what it's like under "the big sky" being the area just outside of Boulder more toward the mtns was my other choice.
We could live vicariously through one another...lol.
PS...Many years ago I worked in Charlottesville Va.doing construction in my early years, while living in Lovingston (Nelson County). Lovingston/Arrington is in the middle 'tween Charlottesville and Lynchburg. Now THOSE people are real mountain people. I could barely understand them when they spoke. A language unto itself...lol. Wuz said that Nelson County had more stills in it than anywhere in the south....and I can tell you that it's true...(lotta stories).
I left after about a year...I just couldn't take the "twang" anymore. We sold some hot cider we made from our apple orchard at a blue grass fest one weekend....the twanging drove me nuts but I figured Sunday morning we'd get a break being they were doing Gospel that day...Nope! Twang in Gospel too...geezzz..lol. Every single solitary piece of music had to have a twang. Drove me nuts as much as I loved those people...lol.

[Halo_in_reverse]

Hi, I'd like to offer up a POV from someone who is originally from Asheville.

I grew up in Asheville. Growing up, I couldn't get away from here fast enough and left as soon as I could get to school. My thought process was that Asheville is the most boring place on earth with absolutely nothing at all to do. Ahhh, the misperceptions of youth. What I failed to realize was that Asheville was kind and generous and unpretentious and you knew your neighbors. I guess Robert Frost was right when he said, “nothing gold can stay”.

I came back a few times over the years. Each time it got a little bit more "odd". Something was just not quite right with my home town. It was a little faster, a little meaner and a little more well…. rude. You see, that's what I thought I wanted in another city. I thought that living in a fast paced city (DC) with lots of things to do would be a better fit for me and my wannabe upwardly mobile lifestyle. I felt the need to “hide” my accent. I thought it hindered me socially and professionally. I didn’t tell people where I was from originally. I usually just said Atlanta or Charlotte. I was embarrassed. I thought that being from the south and from a dinky little town like Asheville was somehow a slight against me. As if it made me look bad or uncultured or uneducated. I wanted so hard to try and “fit in”. I fought my upbringing tooth and nail! I was the type that chose to visit her family as opposed to having them visit me. I didn’t want to be embarrassed by my family and their “southern ways” in front of my yuppie friends. Whom, coincidentally, were mostly from up north. You know at some point I ever adopted their accents. I began using words like “you guys” and “wicked” every chance I got in order to fit in. How stupid was I? How could one person get it so wrong?

I decided a few years ago that I would move back to Asheville. I thought, yes, Asheville has FINALLY changed over the years. It’s more cultured, more refined and more upscale and a lot more Northern in nature and mentality. YES! Finally, Asheville has some “class”.

What I didn’t realize was that I had changed too. I came back here thinking this was going to be the best move ever! But, what had really happened was that the luster of a fast paced city had dulled. Deep down I knew I didn’t want that lifestyle anymore. I didn’t want to not know my neighbors. I wanted my kids to be able to play in their neighborhood like I did and not worry about being molested, shot at, or run down by crazy drivers. I wanted to come “home” and have the warm comfort of a great summer night sitting around a front porch listening to the crickets and chatting with my neighbors. I wanted someone to finally throw their hand up in acknowledgement when I let them into traffic. I wanted people to hold the door and say please and thank you. I wanted clerks in stores to be kind. I wanted friends I was not in competition with. I wanted to eat meat and not be judged. I wanted to go to church with my family and not be labeled a Bible Beater. I wanted my home.

Thomas Wolff was right, “you can’t go home again”. My home is no longer here. The city isn’t the same. It’s nothing personal against anyone who moved here and brought their ways with them. I know that cities and times change. That doesn’t mean that I don’t mourn the loss of a truly great city. I wish that at the time I knew just how lucky I was to have Asheville as my hometown. I should have stayed. I never should have abandoned Her. I weep at what She has become. It’s so cold here now. I don’t know any of my neighbors and everyone is in such a hurry. My mountains are disappearing and being replace by houses. The air isn’t as fresh. She is a bit more dirty now. I wish I had appreciated the Asheville of the 70s and early 80s a little more. I wish I had appreciated knowing my neighbors, saying ya’ll, remembering to say thank you to the store clerks and having them return the kindness and not driving at break neck pace on the interstate. In short, I wish I had appreciated Her and kept Her close to my heart. I failed you Asheville.

So now, I am a person adrift. An orphan if you will. I will probably live out my days here and with time, I will adapt to the new Asheville. I will grow to accept Her as she is. Warts and all. But, She will NEVER be the same. She will never be that kind, gentle woman of the mountains that I should have been a better child of.

Thank “ya’ll” for reading my terribly long post. I hope you enjoyed hearing a native’s perspective on what Asheville has become.

[andybuildz]

Halo.......very touching! I think we all might want to acknowledge that even on a larger scale. Our planet....what our children and grandchildren will hear from us in a few decades...same thing you said....and in the words of Ram Dass
"Be Here Now"!

[miokie]

Originally Posted by Halo_in_reverse

What I didn’t realize was that I had changed too. I came back here thinking this was going to be the best move ever! But, what had really happened was that the luster of a fast paced city had dulled. Deep down I knew I didn’t want that lifestyle anymore. I didn’t want to not know my neighbors. I wanted my kids to be able to play in their neighborhood like I did and not worry about being molested, shot at, or run down by crazy drivers. I wanted to come “home” and have the warm comfort of a great summer night sitting around a front porch listening to the crickets and chatting with my neighbors. I wanted someone to finally throw their hand up in acknowledgement when I let them into traffic. I wanted people to hold the door and say please and thank you. I wanted clerks in stores to be kind. I wanted friends I was not in competition with. I wanted to eat meat and not be judged. I wanted to go to church with my family and not be labeled a Bible Beater. I wanted my home.

Thomas Wolff was right, “you can’t go home again”. My home is no longer here. The city isn’t the same.

Thomas Wolfe died in 1938. "You can't go home again" is not exactly a new lament...

Your post is true of small and not-so-small cities everywhere. I could copy it, change 'Asheville' to 'Austin', paste in the Texas forum, and it'd work.
Neither Asheville nor Austin - nor any one of myriad cities across the south and southwest - are 'bad' places, they just can't meet the impossibly rose-tinted-glasses nostalgic expectations of folks who expect them to be frozen in time.
That's why I'm not trying to go back home. I'll settle some place that I can appreciate for what it *is*, unburdened by my unrealistic yearning for what it *was*...

[Bye Bye Florida]

From a perspective of a new Asheville resident I can't "compare" the old Asheville to what it is now. All I can say is coming from years in South Florida to here, it's like a dream come true. The people are friendly, there are plenty of great restaurants, the downtown feels like Greenwich Village in the 60's combined with the best of downtown Woodstock and the beauty of the area is evident in every drive just to the grocery store.
We have found people to be warm, friendly and happy to talk about where they came from. There is enough diversity to satisfy the need for culture and the arts scene here is the best.
On any one weekend there is more to do within 20 miles radius than we could ever do in one weekend.
Our experience is that we found our piece of heaven and love it here. We are in the South Asheville area directly between Hendersonville and Asheville and in an older home we are renovating on 3/4 of an acre. The dream of living in the mountains lives on in us.
We do own our own business and are able to work out of the home and we travel for business also...so we did not have to look for jobs which would be a problem here. So don't come unless you are retired or have a job. That is the only downer we see about here.

Happy again to be out of Florida.

[andybuildz]

Originally Posted by Bye Bye Florida

From a perspective of a new Asheville resident I can't "compare" the old Asheville to what it is now. All I can say is coming from years in South Florida to here, it's like a dream come true. The people are friendly, there are plenty of great restaurants, the downtown feels like Greenwich Village in the 60's combined with the best of downtown Woodstock and the beauty of the area is evident in every drive just to the grocery store.
We have found people to be warm, friendly and happy to talk about where they came from. There is enough diversity to satisfy the need for culture and the arts scene here is the best.
On any one weekend there is more to do within 20 miles radius than we could ever do in one weekend.
Our experience is that we found our piece of heaven and love it here. We are in the South Asheville area directly between Hendersonville and Asheville and in an older home we are renovating on 3/4 of an acre. The dream of living in the mountains lives on in us.
We do own our own business and are able to work out of the home and we travel for business also...so we did not have to look for jobs which would be a problem here. So don't come unless you are retired or have a job. That is the only downer we see about here.

Happy again to be out of Florida.

Speaking of The Village and the town of Woodstock...I lived in both for awhile and guess what....it's not at all the same there now either. The price of a home in Woodstock is beyond belief!! Astronomical. Down Greenwich Village it's not even close to the same anymore. Far from artsy really. Even there it's been Yuppified to the umpteenth degree.
I live less than an hour from Manhattan and you wanna know how often we go in? I can't even remember the last time. I'd probably go more if I lived out of town.
For me...I like creating an environment in the immediate area right around me. I really don't look to have others entertain me except on occasion like a concert or the movies. I think people look too far from home for the answers. It's really all within you as hokey as that may sound.
Everything else...to me anyway...is gravy.

[anifani821]

I won't re-hash what others have said. Let me just state I grew up exactly 77 miles from Asheville. We had relatives in Montreat, and a church retreat in Arden. We made frequent weekend trips to the areas surrounding Asheville back in the 60s and 70s.

I have seen the region change and I am not comfortable w/ many of the changes. I have friends who have sold their land in counties surrounding Asheville (land that was inherited - we are talking settlers from the 18th and 19th C). They don't like the changes either, and it was w/ great reluctance they have "sold out" - and they won't be coming back. I owned property in an adjoining county at one point in the 80s, but the changes were already apparent and I saw what was coming, so I was not interested in holding on to the land so I, too, sold out.

I no longer enjoy Asheville and do not enjoy visiting. It is not the lovely area it used to be. I will venture to Mt. Mitchell on occasion and that is about it.

I won't get into all the reasons why. Let's just say - the changes started in the 70s, escalated in the 80s and became quite annoying and disappointing in the 90s. Not interested in offending anyone, so I will just say that many of my thoughts and feelings about the subject have been stated by others on this thread.

As I said, I live in Charlotte, so it isn't the "urbanization" that disturbs me. It is how the growth has been handled and the change in attitude I feel from people when I have visited over the last two decades.

So I will leave it at this: to the newcomers - I hope you have found what you were looking for. For me, and many natives to the region, Asheville is just not a fun place to visit and surely is not on my list of places I would want to retire, or even have a second home.

FWIW - I do have a second home and I am seeing changes there, as well. . . but hope the county managers in that region (NW NC) will not allow growth to get out of control as they have in Buncombe county. Again, just my opinion.

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