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Well, you are from there from the looks of it, so of course you will choose Asheville.
I'm not from either, and live near the coast in the country of SC.
I'll say it again too, Asheville is nice, but nothing on Greenville. Outside of the mountains, Asheville wouldn't even be well known. There isn't much to do there...Biltmore is overrated...shopping (nah...)
For example - me and my wife stayed near Biltmore for our 10 year anniversary. Despite trying our best to find something to do in Asheville, we decided we make the almost 2 hour trek to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge for 3 days just to do something.
but hey, at least it is pretty..
We definitely are not on the same page. I would never leave Asheville to go to either Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg is one of the most touristy, tackiest places we’ve ever been. BTW, we are not from the Asheville area. We considered both Asheville and Greenville for retirement, and like I said, outside of downtown, Greenville is nothing special.
Asheville, actually being in the Blue Ridge Mountains, certainly has the edge on Greenville, which is in the foothills, in terms of scenery. But one only need head to north Greenville County for more scenic views at Paris Mountain, Ceasar's Head, Table Rock, Jones Gap, etc. Greenville is very much a foothills city and feels like it inside and outside the city, which precludes it from feeling like anywhere else outside of downtown IMO.
You make my point- you’ve got to drive about 45 minutes, maybe a little less to Paris Mountain, to see some mountain scenery near the North Carolina line. The mountains begin near the North Carolina line.
We definitely are not on the same page. I would never leave Asheville to go to either Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg is one of the most touristy, tackiest places we’ve ever been. BTW, we are not from the Asheville area. We considered both Asheville and Greenville for retirement, and like I said, outside of downtown, Greenville is nothing special.
And Asheville, outside of a "mountain view" is nothing special.
And Asheville, outside of a "mountain view" is nothing special.
It really depends on what your definition of ‘special’ is. If you like strip shopping centers with big box stores, then I see your point. If you like mountain scenery, then Asheville wins hands down. We wanted to be ‘in the mountains’, not ‘near the mountains’. As I’m typing this, I’m looking out my back windows at a multi-layered, mountain view. Nothing in Greenville can come close.
It really depends on what your definition of ‘special’ is. If you like strip shopping centers with big box stores, then I see your point. If you like mountain scenery, then Asheville wins hands down. We wanted to be ‘in the mountains’, not ‘near the mountains’. As I’m typing this, I’m looking out my back windows at a multi-layered, mountain view. Nothing in Greenville can come close.
If you love the view in Asheville then you should really try Beckley, West Virginia. Conservative politics makes Beckley the real Appalachia in ways that Asheville can't compare. Wise, Norton, Pikeville, Prestonsburg, and quite a few others along the US 23 corridor would suit the mountain lover just fine.
If you love the view in Asheville then you should really try Beckley, West Virginia. Conservative politics makes Beckley the real Appalachia in ways that Asheville can't compare. Wise, Norton, Pikeville, Prestonsburg, and quite a few others along the US 23 corridor would suit the mountain lover just fine.
Politics had nothing to do with us moving to this area nor anything to do with us staying here.
SCDOT isn't better than NCDOT, but I agree that they have done a poor job with 77 in South Charlotte. 77 should be a 8-10 lanes from the 85 interchange to the state line, and in my opinion should be 8 lanes to statesville and 6 lanes to the 77/74 split in Surry County. Even worse is that they built 485 in South Charlotte with only 4 lanes. I remember the first time i rode on the first stretch when built in 1989?, I was surprised to see the lack of lanes.
In fairness to Burlington, it is a multiplex with 40/85 and its AADT has been in the 100-130,000 range through that stretch for the past 18 years or so. That's definitely calls for a 8 lanes, particularly with the amount of truck traffic. That's a lower AADT than 77 through South Charlotte, but not that far off.
Regarding I-77 in Charlotte, just remember NC has a very dispersed population from Murphy to Manteo.
The state tries to be fair in allocating funding statewide, and the NCDOT division for Charlotte area counties chose to spend 10 years worth of mega-funding for a grandiose I-485, originally free HOV lanes, freeway lighting, etc.
I-77 was put off until the next major funding round for that part of the state.
I agree though, it's the 1st or 2nd most heavily traveled interstate in NC. It has not been sufficient in size for the last 20 years and but it will be improved eventually.
I-85 was a nail-biting bumper to bumper gauntlet from the SC line until I exited on NC49 today.
I couldn't take the stress of a packed freeway full of tail-gaters and intense speed. The possibility of a huge catastrophe occurring is very real on I-85 each day.
Interstate 85 from North of Salisbury to the 85/29 split at Grandover looks rural with the possible exception of exits 111 (Archdale) and 103 Ithomasville)
With the exceptions of the huge interchanges on the southwest edge and eastern edge of Greensboro, 85 through Greensboro doesn't look like you are driving through a major metro. Plenty of lanes, but plenty of trees, but no built up interchanges except for the Interchange with Elm/Eugene Street. Actually in my opinion, outside of going through Charlotte, the 8 mile stretch going through Burlington looks more ”major” than any other part of 85 throughout the state. Burlington looks like a city of 200,000 as opposed to 50,000 if just going by that built up section.
But you have to remember for most all other states an interstate is 4 lanes all the time except in limited, concentrated metropolitan areas. The big important routes are bigger through states like I-95, I-75 through Georgia (Midwest to FL traffic) and such, but otherwise it's like I-5 through California, 4 lanes much of the time. I've driven through about 35 states and that's my consensus.
NC's I-85 is quite deluxe comparatively, and that's on purpose. It's used by North Carolineans mainly and gas taxes collected from citizens were focused on I-85 first. I-95 is the last priority since it benefits mostly NY-FL travelers.
Greensboro, WS, High Point have way more freeways than needed because the original ones were built too dangerous and they were all bypassed with new ones, thus the Triad has the most freeways in the state.
I-85 North of Charlotte is a beautiful stretch of interstate. The inclines, declines, concrete roadway, elegant interchanges, are something to be proud of.
That old 6 lane section of I-85 South of Greensboro used to be the widest and nicest stretch up until the late 1990s. The merge with the old 4-lane I-40 in Greensboro was called "Death Valley" as it was all just 4 lanes after 85 merged with 40!.
Regarding I-77 in Charlotte, just remember NC has a very dispersed population from Murphy to Manteo.
The state tries to be fair in allocating funding statewide, and the NCDOT division for Charlotte area counties chose to spend 10 years worth of mega-funding for a grandiose I-485, originally free HOV lanes, freeway lighting, etc.
I-77 was put off until the next major funding round for that part of the state.
I agree though, it's the 1st or 2nd most heavily traveled interstate in NC. It has not been sufficient in size for the last 20 years and but it will be improved eventually.
I-85 was a nail-biting bumper to bumper gauntlet from the SC line until I exited on NC49 today.
I couldn't take the stress of a packed freeway full of tail-gaters and intense speed. The possibility of a huge catastrophe occurring is very real on I-85 each day.
There was recently an "unsolicited proposal" from the same Spanish company (Cintra) that did the toll lanes from downtown Charlotte to Mooresville. Within this proposal were plans to widen I-77 from Downtown Charlotte to the SC state line. So it seems, this bid is the fastest plan on the table, but it comes with some nasty side effects. The downtown section of I-77 (between I-277) would have 8 general purpose lanes plus 4 toll lanes (12 lanes total). South of I-277 would have 6 general purpose lanes plus 4 toll lanes for the 9 mile stretch terminating at the SC state line. NC DOT must agree NOT to add any general purpose lanes for 50 years and Cintra has the right to raise and lower toll rates as they see fit. The only good thing about this proposal is that many residents will probably choose to live closer to the LYNX blue line rather than pay tolls for a faster commute (which is probably the better more sustainable solution for Charlotte anyway).
You make my point- you’ve got to drive about 45 minutes, maybe a little less to Paris Mountain, to see some mountain scenery near the North Carolina line. The mountains begin near the North Carolina line.
Yes and this is why they are viewed primarily as regional assets by folks in the Greenville area and not Greenville-specific assets. The Upstate has mostly functioned historically as a singular economic, political, and cultural region without a dominant principal city acting as a historical anchor. So the connotation of "outside downtown" in any of the Upstate's municipalities is largely regional and not restricted to what's contained within municipal boundaries, which are pretty constrained anyway (Greenville is just under 30 sq mi), beyond the urban core. That's why the statement "outside downtown Greenville, it's nothing special" just sounds weird, at least to a native South Carolinian.
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