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Old 09-09-2007, 03:12 PM
 
558 posts, read 2,245,860 times
Reputation: 347

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Who cares what they're doing or why they're doing it?

I don't ask them to critique me, and don't see why I would want spend time critiquing them.

They are not hurting me in any way, and seems to me like this is still the good old USA--land of the "FREE". Maybe it would be a good idea to stop all minding each other's business...

 
Old 09-09-2007, 05:29 PM
 
17,502 posts, read 38,979,826 times
Reputation: 24195
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaveMtns View Post
Who cares what they're doing or why they're doing it?

I don't ask them to critique me, and don't see why I would want spend time critiquing them.

They are not hurting me in any way, and seems to me like this is still the good old USA--land of the "FREE". Maybe it would be a good idea to stop all minding each other's business...
My sentiments exactly!
 
Old 09-09-2007, 10:51 PM
 
26 posts, read 124,971 times
Reputation: 27
Default this reply is addressed to all the freakaphobics

Dear people:

With all due respect, get over yourselves. I live in NYC and have relatives in the Asheville and Franklin area. You guys are really exaggerating, for one thing, and focusing on one aspect of the city. Furthermore, you ought to learn a little tolerance. I'll bet the Asheville-ites will be just as happy if you go back from whence you came. Some of them on this board keep complaining about the newbies ruining the neighborhood, so to speak, so I guess they will be relieved to find that some people are returning home.

I'm sorry if this sounds a little irate, but you folks should take a look at your posts.

Maryellen
 
Old 09-10-2007, 11:10 AM
 
3 posts, read 12,109 times
Reputation: 16
Hi Susan,

How does Greenville/Spartanburg area compare to Asheville in terms of high-quality medical care?

Mission-Memorial Hospital in Asheville was the most positive hospital experience either my husband or I have ever enjoyed, from the ER on up. It was a major deciding factor for us in terms of seriously looking at living in the greater Asheville area (preferably in a smaller town within easy commute of Asheville).

We love the plethora of restaurants in Asheville, and the focus on organic foods, and the growing focus on keeping the environment clean and protecting natural resources (I just wish the politicians had started that years ago instead of just starting now).

How does Greenville/Spartanburg compare with Asheville in these terms? What are good areas around Greenville/Spartanburg to look for a home where the environment is clean, the people are friendly, there are good cultural assets, the crime is low, the medical care is good to excellent, and so on?

Your help would be very much appreciated, as you obviously have good reasons for moving to the Greenville/Spartanburg area from Asheville.

Thanks!

Another Susan

Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan2007 View Post
I agree with you and the original poster, absolutely. My husband and I have lived in Asheville for 2 years now, and at the end of this month we are closing on a home in the Greenville/Spartanburg area. Asheville is a weird, freaky place and many want to keep it that way.

One thing I have learned about Asheville is encapsulated in a statement by a realtor originally from Ohio who lives in Greenville "Asheville is artsy/fartsy and Greenville is cultured." I couldn't agree with her more. We love the beauty of the mountains but Asheville is not for us. I hate the stuff you see downtown.

I've also heard Asheville called the San Fran of the south. The reason why is the gay population, which we don't care for and we don't care if that's politically correct or not. I was told by a co-worker that Asheville was not like that until about 15 years ago they got a gay mayor and then Asheville was promoted heavily in areas like San Francisco with signs "Asheville, NC is friendly to gays and lesbians. 2977 miles-move there."

Asheville is now the New Age capital of the USA because it's been determined that the "crystal vortexes" are stronger here than in Sedona, Arizona, so of course people who are into that are moving here by the droves.

If you like all that, plus the drugs, old hippies, panhandlers, rich kids who like to pretend they are homeless, witches; gays who like to have public displays of affection, killings in the wooded area behind the Bi-Lo at River Ridge by a HUGE homeless community that even the cops won't go in at night, then you will LOVE Asheville.

But don't try to get a decent job here. Unless you work in the medical field or the few government agencies here, you won't be able to afford a middle class lifestyle.

It's ironic that for 15 years I longed to live in Asheville. But my main experiences were in the Waynesville area, not Asheville proper. I now live in the city, east Asheville, and while "people watching" downtown is kind of fun in the beginning, it got old for us.

We can't wait to get out of here.

Susan
 
Old 09-10-2007, 04:20 PM
 
1 posts, read 4,318 times
Reputation: 11
Default Asheville weird?

I don't know where you come from but Asheville being weird and freaky is why it's such a great place. Why would you want every city to be the same with clean cut, shaved, penny loafer, nose in the air types of people. The people of Asheville are some of the most creative, fun and loving people I have met. It's to bad you must go but with your view and ideas of Asheville, it's probably a good idea you leave.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Why Did I View Post
Asheville is a weird, weird place. Something out of a time warp or something. I moved here a few months back and had visited a number of times before doing so. I can honestly say that I never imagined this place was as weird as it is until it was too late and I was already here. I posted an older thread a couple of weeks ago and someone said that sometimes people don't really pay attention to the bad stuff in a town when they're getting ready to move there because they are excited about the move. When I first read it, I thought, "nah, that's not me." Reality, it was.

I come from NYC originally and was in S FL for a few years before coming here. This place is by far the freakiest and weirdest place I have ever been. It reminds me of a place called Nimbin in Australia that I went to once when travelling there. It's a freaky weird hippy colony where everyone is bugged out on LSD. Now I don't think Asheville is that bad, but it seems to be heading that way. Asheville is a trap. It's like you get here and you're almost sucked in to the way these people think....they all talk about art and writing and music and yet they really don't know what's going on in the real outside world. Most of what happens or goes on in Asheville is second rate, if that. It's like a bubble universe and so many think this bubble is the utopia of the universe.

I'm so tired of seeing people everyday that need a bath, stink and overall need a haircut and a shave. I can't say I know too much about the drug scene although it's obviously here.

Jcat is right. People who come here are really sitting back and looking at this place like it's some sort of freak show.....it's one of those things, sort of like a car wreck where you don't want to look, but something comes over you and you just have to.

I'll be leaving next month, back to where I came from. It has been a real eye opener for me here and I will be a stronger man to have lived here for a few months.....but I can honestly say I will NOT look back on this experience with fond memories.

What a freaky town this is........


PS.....San Francisco of the East? Paris of the South? Whoever coined these phrases must have worked for the Chamber of Commerce. This town is nothing like San Francisco or Paris. It doesn't even have as much class as Detroit. And Detroit is a dump.
 
Old 09-10-2007, 07:27 PM
 
3 posts, read 10,588 times
Reputation: 14
yeah, i cant believe that people move to asheville to afford a middle-class lifestyle, either. most folks moved here because it was cheap, until all ya'll yankees and floridians moved here and jacked up the prices. but its okay, it crashed once in the 30s and it'l crash again soon. then creative, interesting, 'freaky' folks can have their downtown back.

boy oh boy, those crazy, freaky people. but, as crazy as they are, i have NEVER heard someone refer to Greenville as "cultured"! thats a real laugh.
 
Old 09-11-2007, 01:57 AM
 
Location: Lake Elsinore, CA (Inland Empire - Southern CA)
27 posts, read 59,509 times
Reputation: 18
Default Panhandlers

Quote:
Originally Posted by gypsychic View Post
I love to "people watch" in downtown Asheville. I love the hippie costumes, artists, and the street performers. I DON'T enjoy the panhandlers (although I've only seen a couple) or the outright bums hanging out in Pritchard Park.

I do hope when the new Pack Square park gets finished downtown will start looking better again.
Hey, maybe we could help begin an initiative to clean up the streets by getting everyone to refuse to give panhandlers anything!

I used to have compassion on them. Was I ever naive!

Two events awakened my inner repulsion for these people:

1) Many years ago, I was in San Francisco for a week of conferences, and had to ride cable cars. Many panhandlers "work" there, and occasionally, I gave change to one. One day, while waiting to board, a guy asked for "spare change" (you know the line, "Uh, excuse me sir, could you spare some change?). When I gave him a quarter, he laid out a sad, sad story that would win Fat Albert an Oscar. I was ready to dig out my wallet and give him a Ben Franklin, when the wind shifted, and the odor of stale alcohol sucked my breath from my body like a vacuum tube!

2) Sitting at the counter in the Mission Valley Denny's in San Diego, I was engaged in conversation by an average-dressed, scrubby faced man. After a few minutes I noticed a piece of cardboard on the floor by his seat, but said nothing. He was articulate, well-mannered, and my guess was that he was in his mid twenties.

When I finished eating breakfast, I excused myself, rose to pay my bill, told him I had to get to work. He arose, said, "Me too." We went to the register at the same time, me with briefcase, him with a folded piece of cardboard. When he paid his bill, he pulled money from an expensive wallet, and left without tipping the waitress.

I left a tip on the counter, used the restroom prior to leaving the restaurant, and driving across I-8 into the shopping center, guess who I saw standing on the corner,wearing a dirty, ripped shirt, and wielding a sign that said, "homeless...please help. God bless you."

You guessed it! That was the last straw for me!

By the way...

"WILL WORK FOR FOOD" is another scam.

I've tried this for day laborers half a dozen times, and they only last for part of a day, or don't show up the next when promising to do so.

I found it better to go to a registered assembly area (supervised by a city bilingual employee) and hire Mexican workers who register to be there...and have to have a green card to do so.

So, hard workers unite...let's begin a campaign against panhandlers, and get them declared illegal...or just NEVER give them a dime!
 
Old 09-11-2007, 06:49 AM
 
Location: Wellsburg, WV
3,261 posts, read 9,165,669 times
Reputation: 3594
Quote:
How does Greenville/Spartanburg area compare to Asheville in terms of high-quality medical care?

Mission-Memorial Hospital in Asheville was the most positive hospital experience either my husband or I have ever enjoyed, from the ER on up. It was a major deciding factor for us in terms of seriously looking at living in the greater Asheville area (preferably in a smaller town within easy commute of Asheville).

We love the plethora of restaurants in Asheville, and the focus on organic foods, and the growing focus on keeping the environment clean and protecting natural resources (I just wish the politicians had started that years ago instead of just starting now).

How does Greenville/Spartanburg compare with Asheville in these terms? What are good areas around Greenville/Spartanburg to look for a home where the environment is clean, the people are friendly, there are good cultural assets, the crime is low, the medical care is good to excellent, and so on?
Since no one else has answered this...

Last time I was living in Greenville (11 years ago), Greenville Memorial was NOT my hospital of choice. However, St. Francis has a very good hospital system. And the Women's Hospital on the Eastside is one of the best.

There is a good one over in Spartanburg. My next door neighbor was Dean of the Nursing Dept of that one. There are, from what I have seen, many good doctors located in that area.

There are so many restaurants in the Greenville/Spartanburg area that it's hard to keep track of them. I know if you wander over to the Greenville/Spartanburg board you will find a list of the best and a list of the worst.

As far as Greenville being cultured versus Asheville being cultured. Personally, I think they are about equal. Yes, Asheville has Belle Chere but that is ONE event a year. And it lasts all of three days.

If Asheville is making you uncomfortable, check out Greenville..and make sure you look into the upper part of Spartanburg. Near Tryon. It's a growing area as well. Liz
 
Old 09-11-2007, 08:21 PM
 
16,294 posts, read 28,467,991 times
Reputation: 8383
Quote:
Originally Posted by LhasaPoo View Post
Hey, maybe we could help begin an initiative to clean up the streets by getting everyone to refuse to give panhandlers anything!

I used to have compassion on them. Was I ever naive!

<snip>
So, hard workers unite...let's begin a campaign against panhandlers, and get them declared illegal...or just NEVER give them a dime!
That has been tried here, several years an ordnance was passed that made panhandling illegal, didn't change a thing.
Campaigns have been tried to not give money to panhandlers, with almost no effect. Now they have taken the approach where the city has actually put up "donation boxes" around the city so good minded citizens can donate there instead of the the panhandler directly. The money then is to be divided up amongst the multitudes of shelters around the city. Of course that won't work cause they can't use the money to buy their alcohol or drugs.

It has not been touted as a "ragging success" in the media, so I don't know how it is working, actually I don't think there has been any reports, so I will assume that donations have been scarce., but I feel certain that it has not reduced the panhandling.

Panhandlers are successful as there are those that will always be a sucker for a sob story, but the most likely scenario is because the are in fear of aggressive panhandlers. I had an unpleasant experience with one of those, who told me I was giving him some money. He was not expecting expecting my response of a strong double armed shove to the chest which sent him sprawling across the sidewalk, and some very clear advice from me that he should stay down.
 
Old 09-12-2007, 02:45 PM
 
Location: South Carolina
264 posts, read 828,250 times
Reputation: 229
Hi Everyone,
Interesting posts here. My partner and I are thinking of a move to the Asheville area and I guess we will be flying our "freak flag" as well. No, we aren't homeless or panhandlers (we are long haul truck drivers actually) but we are lesbians and we DO sit side by side in restaurants, hold hands when we stroll the streets, and (OH MY!!) sometimes kiss in public!! Goodness! Just like any other happily married couple would do...imagine that!! We do also have a rainbow flag we will be flying in front of our home along with our American flag and our "Stars and Bars" (heritage, not hate), so we'll be easy to spot!
We have visited Asheville a few times and we love it's "artsy/fartsy" nature. Since when does art have to be divided into classes?? Art is art. As someone once said, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". My partner is an artist who does mostly abstract work; I am an amateur writer of mostly poetry and short prose. Our works are probably not for everyone, but, who cares?! It makes us happy and thats what really matters.
As for "cultured" Greenville, SC...well...I'm a SC native, born and bred, and I know the area pretty well. All I can do is just roll my eyes. Columbia, perhaps, Charleston, yes, but Greenville???? Well, like my grandma used to say, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.", so I won't comment.
Well, hope to be meeting some ya'll soon, gay or straight (we like to keep an open mind) and making new friends!!
Hugs.............Wesacat
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