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I live in Chapel Hill, and just got back from a short trip to Asheville (my first ever) today. Not to whine, but why can't we have nice things like that? I don't mean just in CH, but no place in the metro Triangle region has a residential artists' community, 100s of independent small shops on walkable streets, a thriving indie arts scene and -most important- 1000s of people out socializing in area parks, cafes, and patios? How did this happen? And, how can we promote more of this in our region?
1000s of people out socializing in area parks, cafes, and patios?
We definitely have that.
I think it's apples to oranges - two completely different areas. Many people come to the Triangle for jobs, health care, universities. People go to Asheville for the mountains, and the environment you describe. There's probably not a ton of overlap between the two, but from what I've heard you can maybe find that sort of environment in Carrboro.
Interesting thoughts. I was in Asheville pre-Covid and thought it was cute. I then went there recently, end of May of this year. I was there for a week and had to explore it a lot. There were lots of things I liked, but, my overall impression was: I prefer the Triangle area. Asheville wasn't appealing to me that much.
I loved the nature though. I did a lot of hikes when I was there. I also liked how the place felt industrial, all those big industrial buildings along the river felt really cool. The downtown was very neat although there were some confederate flag waving protests (some monument thing I think) which was a turn off for me. I stayed out of DT after that and mostly hanged out at Brewery district, and found some neat places along the river. I was surprised how things changed drastically when you stepped a foot outside of Asheville proper. It really felt like a bubble to me.
Things I didn't like: not diverse. I am so used to now for the NC cities being diverse, and this wasn't the case. Also, not much of diversity in terms of jobs, economy or age. You only seem to see independently wealthy people who retire there, or lower-middle class who are there for the service industry. There is no solid professional class like we have here. Also, there weren't that many young people. Overall the place seemed to skew older to me. Anyway, I could totally see myself getting bored there in about 3 months. I like the vibrancy of the Triangle. Even during summer when students are away, Chapel Hill seems so much more vibrant than Asheville (just in case y'all would say that late May was probably when students were away).
Triangle is stuck in Stone Age bruh....they don't do that, you learn to love that
Huh? You live in Houston, right? And you visited The Triangle just last month and seemed pretty impressed, bruh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ym2m11
Went for a walk and wow have to say, impressed with the changes. I see the AC Hotel is almost ready to go, that is an impressive looking structure! Imagine the good times to be had there...oh my word
And then bloc 83 is a beauty too. You add all those together, and the new other stuff they will build, I have too say. From someone who has been critical (just a bit) of Glenwood South, this is going to really change the landscape in a significant way! You start putting people in those places and retail this is no longer the Glenwood of old that I have-admittedly-been critical of at times.
Smoky hollow, that place hasn't even taken off the ground yet...
I don't blame you for having some of that envy, I do too when it comes to Asheville. Their downtown is very walkable and has tons of unique local shops, bars, restaurants, breweries, art galleries, etc. I too would like to have those things in a large area of our downtown but indeed maybe with less of the hippy dippy vibe.
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