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mlhm5, those pictures are wonderful. I want to go live in that little red cottage and fly a kite on the beach there! :-) I've never been to the Pacific NW, so you just widened my world a bit. Thanks!!
mlhm5, those pictures are wonderful. I want to go live in that little red cottage and fly a kite on the beach there! :-) I've never been to the Pacific NW, so you just widened my world a bit. Thanks!!
Manzanita is 1.5 hours and 50 years back in time from Portland. $350 RT from RDU to Portland. Renting a house there is less expensive than the NC coast.
I moved from NC because I got tired of all the bible thumpers telling me I was gonna burn in hell. Loving in areas such as chapel hill/carboro or in Asheville seriously cut down the number of people who felt compelled to inform me of my mystical non-existent fate. I will take few days more days of overcast skies over burning heat with 99.9% humidity where the air just condenses water out of (not rain just sludge.)
You'll find living in Asheville similar to Ashland, if you can steer clear of the bible thumper ~ and there are A LOT of them. Look up May moon, thats a beltain festival in Tennessee close to Asheville. And also the rainbow family there is named Katula & they are very chill and dragon friendly.
But NC is a police state compared to oregon. I worked in a small town 30 minutes frm noon where black folks only shopped on Thursdays and people both white & black referred to a local moutain as N-----r mountain. This was in 2006. For real.
Don't get me wrong, I love my homestate. There is lots to love. I miss the blue ridge and a friendly ocean and fireflies. I miss lots, but I do not miss the uneducated religious masses who routinely feel compelled to inform a person they are gonna burn in hell for being a hippie, pagan, liberal, lesbian.
You'll find living in Asheville similar to Ashland, if you can steer clear of the bible thumper ~ and there are A LOT of them. Look up May moon, thats a beltain festival in Tennessee close to Asheville. And also the rainbow family there is named Katula & they are very chill and dragon friendly.
But NC is a police state compared to oregon. I worked in a small town 30 minutes frm noon where black folks only shopped on Thursdays and people both white & black referred to a local moutain as N-----r mountain. This was in 2006. For real.
Don't get me wrong, I love my homestate. There is lots to love. I miss the blue ridge and a friendly ocean and fireflies. * I miss lots, but I do not miss the uneducated religious masses who routinely feel compelled to inform a person they are gonna burn in hell for being a hippie, pagan, liberal, lesbian.
Sorry, but you are so far off base and giving out highly biased information about Western NC. The majority of folks here several years have never had those experiences, or know anyone else who have. There are other threads on this forum which posters may want to read for balance; even if this is an old revived thread.
Sorry, but you are so far off base and giving out highly biased information about Western NC. The majority of folks here several years have never had those experiences, or know anyone else who have. There are other threads on this forum which posters may want to read for balance; even if this is an old revived thread.
I have expressed my experiences on this topic. They are experiences of a person in a minority group that the majority doesnt like. If they do not match up to your experiences I am going to wager a guess that your not a hippie, pagan, liberal, lesbian.
I live in NC and travel and spend time extensively on the West Coast. Asheville is probably one of the best places to live in NC mountains for an open minded,liberal person. However it doesn't hold a candle to places like Ashland or Bend in Oregon. It's still Southeast and Summers are brutal with terrible humidity. As a matter of fact comparing Oregon to NC is like comparing apples to oranges!
Humidity is pretty bad here in the summer but spent 5 years in Oregon and winter's grey skies for months on end gets old. I will say the ability to head to the mountains and out of the grey in Oregon is very nice. Asheville area is a great place to live and if you're in the SE the only place in my opinion. Yes it is a very conservative area ( except Asheville) so you deal with it or move to a more liberal place like Portland or Eugene. The religious right is alive and well but never had an actual encounter with anyone who was in my face. But then I don't go out of my way to discuss religion with people. Live and let live seems to work well in most cases.
This question comes up periodically, as to how Asheville compares to the PNW, particularly Portland. There are some minor similarities, but many differences. I have a son who lives in Vancouver, WA across the river from Portland. Another effort is to come up with a list of cities in the Southeast that compare to Asheville. You will be hard pressed to come up with another that matches if you use the checklist of natural attraction, accepting and friendly people, artistic culture and unique history.
Having grown up and lived in New Orleans for 30+ years, there are some similarities and distinctions to Asheville; a much older colorful history, far greater ethnic diversity, but unfortunately a much higher violent crime rate and a sweltering summer climate. What some refer to as the "Asheville Vibe" is a touch of what the culture of New Orleans is like. Go down to the Jazz and Blues clubs on Frenchmen Street for that experience. New Orleans is a great place to visit, but Asheville is a better place to live.
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stunning
