Asheville leaves a lot to be desired (Madison, Marshall: buyer, closing)

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by vandemusser

Bitter... party of one?

Do something about it if you really take issue with what Asheville has become (in your opinion). Complaining about it on a message board and berating people who don't agree with you really doesn't solve anything.

You will find that the vast majority of the natives feel exactly the same way I do. And yes I am bitter that Asheville has turned into a cesspool of undesirables downtown, and the rich elite bulldozing mountain tops, scaring the land, and creating erosion, run off, and destroying our beauty, silting up and destroying streams, and rivers.

I post here to make people aware of the problems, that this is not the utopian wonderland that people that came from some real ****hole places to live see the area. Yes in comparison to a ****hole it is better, but that doesn't make it good, and it doesn't mean that some serious problems don't need to be addressed in any and every veniue available. Lets not let Asheville become what everyone is running from, and ignorance or denial of the problem is a sure fired way to make sure that is exactly what will happen.

And I am active in trying to make change locally, and your assumption that I'm not is an incorrect assumption on your part. Several of the local politicians that I do agree with have tried to convice me to run for council, but I am too brutally honest to be electable, and I know that. I guess I'm old school, "I calls 'um likes I sees 'um"

If you only knew what Asheville and the area was, you would also feel the same way.

[vandemusser]

I have my own perception of what Asheville is (or as you passively-aggressively refer to it, "yuppie freakville"), and while it is not a perfect place by any means, it is certainly far better (in my opinion) than what you make it out to be.

Regardless of how many times you try and convince people otherwise, it does not make us naive or wrong to like it here.

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by vandemusser

Regardless of how many times you try and convince people otherwise, it does not make us naive or wrong to like it here.

Then I assume you won't be part of the solution, demanding (voting) for people that will return this to a southern town. Want to live in a city, check out Charlotte, Atlanta, Columbia, Memphis, etc.

Yep, better than many of the real cesspools of cities in this country, but that ain't mud your standing in either

[vandemusser]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

Then I assume you won't be part of the solution, demanding (voting) for people that will return this to a southern town. Want to live in a city, check out Charlotte, Atlanta, Columbia, Memphis, etc.

Yep, better than many of the real cesspools of cities in this country, but that ain't mud your standing in either

If by solution, you mean trying to keep a town/city from adapting to a shift in demographics, then I guess the answer is no. Better to adapt in a positive way than to just tell people they can't come here, which seems to be where you're heading with this.

There are some wonderful places that have adapted to a major influx of population in positive ways - Vancouver, BC and Portland, OR come to mind. Your platform (for lack of a better term) seems to be centered around stopping bad (or is that all) development, rather than figuring out ways to develop in logical, environmentally sustainable ways.

Stop telling us that Asheville is knee-deep in urine and feces (which it isn't), and write something constructive.

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by vandemusser

Your platform (for lack of a better term) seems to be centered around stopping bad (or is that all) development, rather than figuring out ways to develop in logical, environmentally sustainable ways.

No, just the bad development, driven be greed and arrogance, the development that destroys the mountain sides, the beauty of the mountains, and in turn cause flooding in areas that have never flooded and wash mud into the neighborhoods below with every good rain storm, such as documented here; Erosion GROVE PARK COVE

Originally Posted by vandemusser

Stop telling us that Asheville is knee-deep in urine and feces (which it isn't), and write something constructive.

Never said it was, but Pritchard Park can smell like a gas station rest room that hasn't been cleaned in a year at times, and watch your step in the stair wells of the parking garages.

[Bye Bye Florida]

We ARE concerned about the construction and devastation going on specifically on Sweeten Creek. Wiping out trees and putting homes so close to a two lane road....come on! We don't LIKE that any more than anyone else here, but our comparison is definitely to having come from Miami, Fl and that is a fair comparison.

So here's the thing...Miami was GREAT in the 60's and early 70's and then concrete was let loose and the entire world changed there. We had our race riots and more. It became a very separated city of the rich and the have nots.

We compare Asheville not to the Asheville I visited and vacationed in during the 70's and 80's but to the real world now. It IS Heaven on earth and life will change always. Stay or go if unhappy. The bottom line is to Find Your Happiness!!

[IntoTheMystic]

Follow your heart. Living where you haven't been happy will help you know when you are truly home.

[Duke101]

Originally Posted by the Parkies

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the forum and the town, dipsych! I agree with gypsychic--you're going to love it here!!

I want you to understand, dipsych, why this post is so long: I think you need to know something about our background in order to appreciate what I'm about to say about Asheville. AND, some of you have wondered where we've been (on the forum) and what finally became of our real estate nightmare. This is our update.

I was raised in the mountains of southwestern PA, am a mountain gal in my bones, and have to have four seasons. Yet Bill and I are from one of the country's biggest and craziest cities--San Diego. "Crazy" as in traffic, endless concrete, asphalt, and steel, sprinkler systems where there should be rain, frenetic pace of mind, obsession with "me and mine," liberal values, fruits, nuts, and flakes!

Education, marriage, and jobs kept us there, unfortunately, until we retired last October and moved here before we were even able to sell our house. OH YES... the housing market there is crazy, too, to say the least!

Speaking of which: TERRIFIC NEWS, everyone! Our San Diego house should close escrow by April 4. YES!--We finally sold our house, at a fire sale price after 14 months of agony. We have also suffered through the escrow from hell--it opened Feb. 1 and was to close Mar. 17. Now it "should" close April 4 after three extensions and everyone believes it WILL CLOSE this time.

Meanwhile we have been renting in Hendersonville for six months while searching for the "perfect" house to buy in Asheville. Even for us active retirees, Asheville is the only right choice; everywhere else is too far away from "the action."

We found that "perfect" house in Asheville and BOUGHT it!!! Escrow will close at the end of April. We are of course thrilled. It's a darling 1991 Victorian (perfect for old folks, right?--ha ha) that's full of personality and charm, sized right for us, in pristine condition, perched on a 3/4 acre lot in a beautiful community of 90 homes called Eastmoor. HOA and road maintenance are only $530 a YEAR to keep the community park and cottage, and roads, in wonderful condition for the enjoyment of all. Rules and regs are minimal and for the protection of all.

(Special thanks to the one on this forum (was it "cooper"?) who recommended we look into Eastmoor, located halfway between Asheville and Black Mountain off of Highway 70. There should be a special place in Heaven for you!!)

Eastmoor is just outside the Asheville city limits and directly east of town. It takes us 15 minutes to drive to the Asheville Mall on the eastern edge of town (I can shop 'til I drop every day--woohoo!!). So we will be "close in" to Asheville and THRILLED to become permanent Ashevillians!

*****
We hope to give to Asheville at least as much as it has already given to us! We have been living here only six months and already I teach hammered dulcimer in Black Mountain and have sponsored two music groups at the University of North Carolina--Asheville (UNCA). We have enjoyed wonderful new friendships with people from Hendersonville to Black Mountain to Marshall and Brevard! Bill and I intend to relate to Ashevillians as our "core family."

Now in ANY family there are "the good, the bad, and the ugly." We don't want to be the ugly or the bad. We want to be the good ones, the happy ones, the grateful ones, the active ones. We want to be an ASSET to our new community. We are certain that what we give will come back to us in kind--but no matter. It will always be sunny in our lane, because we live in Asheville!

Asheville is a town that makes other small towns we've known seem by comparison shabby, boring, or downright dead. This little town is like a precocious teen with pimples and problems but loaded with natural assets and talents, with the whole world in front of it! It will be incredibly exciting to watch Asheville mature!!!

*****
Now let me try to give you insight into the people themselves--not all the people, of course, but all those I've met in the 17 years we've visited here and the many months we've explored communities here.

There is a large development in Hendersonville called Carriage Park. It has much to recommend it, and for many months it was (forgive me) our "Brigadoon." Even before we knew much of anything about it, we wanted to live there because we heard about how neighbors look after neighbors, watching one another's houses and feeding one another's pets. And how one neighborhood hosts a potluck for another neighborhood. And how its travel club went to Greece last year. And on and on. We loved the concept, but Hendersonville is too far out of Asheville for us (30-40 minutes depending on where in Asheville you're going). Besides, we don't want to pay for shared facilities we don't need. But we were disappointed, since we thought this community must be some kind of miracle, especially after San Diego!

Fast forward. We're buying now in Eastmoor (not a separate town but an Asheville community just to the east of Asheville city limits). Guess what. The neighbors look after one another, keeping an eye on one another's houses, feeding one another's pets, collecting one another's mail. Last weekend we bumped into our soon-to-be next door neighbors (an acre away) and this was the first thing they said after welcoming us: "We hope we can look after each other the way we did with the other owners!" I assured her we would be thrilled to do that, and we will be thrilled to look after her two cats as well and hope that she will look after our two dogs--when we get two dogs. We had one of the warmest two-minute talks I've ever had in my life with any human being.

But I'm a "homework" kind of gal. I research important decisions thoroughly. So I called the Eastmoor residents that our realtor provided as references. There were four, but I stopped calling after two. The first told me he's been living in Eastmoor for 15 years and LOVES it there. He was extremely helpful, putting me in touch with the HOA, for example. He made a point of welcoming us into the community and said he looked forward to meeting us.

The other fellow I reached told me he'd been there for three years. When he lost his partner 18 months ago, there was someone from the community in his living room, he said, EVERY EVENING FOR THREE WEEKS making sure he was okay. Yes. He's gay. Living in a loving community.

He also told me that this is a "doggie" community (which pleases me to no end). People walk their dogs on the roads that connect the homes as well as in the community park. They meet and greet and chat and share community news--about the guy that got a great new job, the couple with the new grandchild, the woman with the new dog she's trying to train.

He continued: The community park is furnished with benches, barbecues, and picnic tables, next to a little cottage which may be rented for $10 a day for a private gathering. The park is well used but never crowded. On the first weekend after Labor Day, the HOA hosts a free barbecue for all the residents. Every Halloween, the community has a Doggie Costume Contest. LOL!

*****
Friends--dipsych--we can speak only for ourselves. As we see it, OF COURSE there's no perfect town (or perfect anything else)--ALL human beings are flawed and therefore any town that human beings create and inhabit is flawed!! All that we as human beings--and as a TOWN--can ever hope to do is to learn and grow by making intelligent, caring, prayerful choices, asking that our lives be infused by a loving and caring God.

For us, Asheville is that town. It is an architecturally beautiful little town with a willing heart and friendly spirit, nestled in God's second home--the Blue Ridge Mountains. But it is still a teenager and at times unruly. How we "parent" it--how we steward its resources and influence its direction (political, governmental, and otherwise), will determine its future. In our experience, people here take that journey in faith, which is a beautiful thing about much of small-town America!

You want a "small-town feel with a city attitude," dipsych??

Welcome home!

Jan

Jan,
What a lovely post. I also have friends that have lived in Eastmoor for about 14 years and love it! I am so happy that you have found your spot and, that you sold your house!
In response to others who have not found happiness here, remember life is what you make it. This has been a big move for my family, and we are still uncertain of exactly where we will end up, but we are happy. We focus on the great things about the area and our community. We have never meet so many friendly welcoming people.....no matter if we stay or go, we have truly enjoyed the journey. Best to all.
Duke101

[MuddyMoni]

Having grown up in the horrible and much dreaded west Asheville, I have to say that most of you don't get Asheville. We artist don't have to look for something to do. We are inspired by the mountains to do art. We humanitarians don't get bored, because we see the need in the faces of the poor, and we try to help. We who love Asheville love it because it is home.

[the Parkies]

Uh oh. I must be getting a reputation for posting the longest posts ever known to this forum! And um… yeah… I sorta wax philosophical… but—hey!--some countries actually revere their elders for waxing that way… and speaking of philosophy, WHY I choose to spend my time with WNC digital friends (and no other digital friends, by the way) is very interesting to me. The answer is that I JUST KNOW I’m going to meet y’all at a coffee shop someday when we least expect it and we’re all gonna go, “OH MY!—you’re [insert moniker]!—ya gotta be kiddin’—HAHA! Hey—can I buy you a cup??”

lovesMountains, cooper, and Duke--thank you for your nice posts!! Bill and I agree with you and with vandemusser, Bye Bye Florida, and the MANY others on this forum who see the Asheville tumbler as WAY more than half full! We kiss the earth every day we live here, at the same time we do our best to contribute to the beauty and solve problems wherever and however we can.

I think some of the negative posts on this forum (you know who you are) are nothing more than that--NEGATIVE--pessimistic, defeatist, gloomy, cynical, dismissive, critical. Where’s the value in THAT?

I see the value of ENLIGHTENMENT--a huge and constructive force!--but you don't have to smear an entire town, or even a tiny fraction of its inhabitants, in order to enlighten! You don't have to sweep away the vase of flowers and "lay the turd on the table" almost every time you post in order to be a force for change. That approach, however sincere, is counter-productive.

But I want to give credit where credit is due: Those who are committed to protecting Asheville from the assaults of builders and transplants are absolutely right, I think, to ENLIGHTEN newcomers, present and future. To prove my point, I tell the truth even though it embarrasses me:

While Bill and I dreamed for 17 years of buying here, our vision was of places like Reynolds Mountain, The Settings, Carriage Park, and others like them, if we could afford a property with their amenities (especially long-long-range views—our highest dream other than going straight to Heaven!!). As it turned out, we CAN afford those communities (barely)! But over the past year of intensive research and experience (sometimes painful, as some of you may recall), we have lost our appreciation for those communities FOR US. NOW they seem to us artificial, ostentatious, exclusive (as in "elitist"), and overpriced. Their values are wrong FOR US.

NOTE: Not wrong for everyone ELSE in the world! To say so would be TRUE arrogance!! No. The values I'm talking about aren't ABOUT "right and wrong” or even “rich and poor.” THESE values refer to personal PREFERENCES. Long live personal choice!!! If we all had the same personal preferences, what a boring world this would be! I certainly hope to become friends with people in some of these Wonder Bread communities, even though I prefer whole grains myself. Truth be told, they're not haughty-taughty--I'm just not hoity-toity!

So our VISION changed over the years to accommodate our VALUES, as vision should—right? Are you with me so far?

Page 2.

Our ENLIGHTENMENT came much later, when we learned about what SOME local communities have done or are doing to the ENVIRONMENT. Now, “environment" is a pretty abstract and vague word, don’t you think? It came home to us as REAL only when we saw pictures and read reports about what some new mountainside communities were doing to PEOPLE who lived below them and to LAKES and STREAMS that were healthy before they came and did their thoughtless thing.

Notice, I said "thoughtless." I did not say "selfish."

"Selfish" implies that one is enlightened but doesn't CARE about the welfare of others or of lakes and streams and fish and bear. Developers, since they presumably know the region well, may--YES!--be operating selfishly, with greed as the central motive that eclipses every other value they have. But people like Bill and me who move here with dreams of living on the mountaintop are NOT SELFISH. We are simply--please be kind--IGNORANT. It may be hard for some of you to imagine how we could BE so ignorant about our natural heritage. It may also be hard for you to imagine living where there IS no natural heritage to protect! I mean, of course, no natural heritage as obvious and precious as THIS!! One does not grow up learning to be concerned for a spider habitat. Around HERE, one can not FAIL to notice habitat, be in awe of it, want to protect it!!

So Bill and I no longer want to live in those high-high-end communities, even though we could, because now we understand the VALUES associated with them and their gorgeous long-range views and forests with multiple walking trails and concierge services. Again—please!--OUR values don't make these communities "wrong" for anyone else! What WE find ostentatious, elitist, and even ridiculous (like, you can have concierge services in the clubhouse—but not potlucks) someone else may feel quite comfortable with and thoroughly enjoy. So let's not put our heads up our Asheville and criticize people who can afford and enjoy the things we can not.

Let's do EDUCATE, however! Let's do EXPLAIN to people who are now where Bill and I were a year ago. Let's do make them AWARE--pleasantly and courteously and with a willing heart--of the impact that badly-planned and badly-managed development can have on this beautiful region that most of us lovingly call "HOME."

Bill and I still have much to learn, of course, and are looking forward to it. Though we’ve visited here for 17 years, we've actually LIVED here (in the Greater Asheville Area) for only six months, after all. Yet we no longer want to have a home in an unenlightened, environment-destroying community. In fact, we no longer even want to buy a lot and build--ANYWHERE. We have decided that the responsible choice, IF POSSIBLE, is to buy a house that's already built and (if necessary) fix it, renovate it, live in it, love it. Of course, this will not always be possible, especially when moving to more rural areas. And that’s okay. We’re not trying to tell anyone ELSE what is right or wrong for them. We’re just trying to say that the way to protect a beautiful town like Asheville is to enlist sympathetic support for the protection of its environment by ENLIGHTENING its present and future residents and SHOWING THEM BY EXAMPLE.

Want to know what impact you had on US, friends, when we bought a 17-year-old house recently in Eastmoor? Almost the FIRST things we asked was whether the Swannanoa River that flows through the community is protected from abuse by rafters, boaters, trash-tossers, and anything else that might destroy its fragile environment. It is the beautiful piece of Nature that will feed our spirits as we go to and from our home. We want to help preserve it, thanks in part to YOU on this forum!

There are certainly the "selfish and greedy" among us, but I think there are many more who are simply UNAWARE. UNENLIGHTENED. Depending on how they are touched, they have the power to help or hurt our community. I feel sure we can bring them into our circle, but only, I think, if we do it gently, sincerely, intelligently, and with love.

Jan