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Hendersonville High School is in the top 1000 High Schools in the USA and UNC Asheville is the 8th best liberal arts college in the nation (us news and world reports)
There are a lot of bests in this area. Including new comers, long timers, young and old (like me) and they seem to coexist quite well. Many of the alternative looking young people are very interested and respectful of the older ways and actually want to learn to live a more simple genuine life. Every city has its strange factor but here I've found it mostly friendly and not at all threatning. In fact most of the younger people I run across are super nice. I guess I could go live in Sun City Az. or some other "only like me" place but how boring would that be.......
Interesting article, but starts 60 years too late.
To me the interesting question is, why were there all these vacant buildings at all?
Short version: Asheville had a real estate boom in the 1920s that was second only to Miami, which is also why both cities have such stocks of Art Deco architecture from that time. In fact, the Asheville Chamber of Commerce director around this era was recruited from Miami, and helped to steer the Blue Ridge Parkway through the city, which was scared to lose tourists if the road went through Unicoi and on through Tennessee as initially proposed.
The City of Asheville went into debt during the boom, and when the Great Depression hit and took out a major bank, the city and county lost much of their funds and was holding the bag. The city refused to declare bankruptcy, though, and spent the next forty years -- until 1976 -- paying down the debt, which at its inception was the highest per capita in the country.
What that meant is you had these beautiful buildings in an essentially dead downtown, and the city didn't have the funds for urban renewal in the 1950s and 60s the way so many cities did. Some buildings like the Grove Arcade just held paper records for the federal government for years, as giant warehouses!
After the city held its bond-burning ceremony in the late 1970s, the work of urban revitalization could start, and by the 1980s and 1990s people had more of an appreciation for the architecture than they once did.
In my home city of Durham, we had a quasi-similar situation when the decline of smoking led to the abandonment of hulking, 500,000 to 1 million sq. ft. factories and warehouses in downtown, which sat still for more than 10-20 years in some cases before being revitalized.
I'd daresay that Durham is following a very similar model to Asheville, as is Winston-Salem.
There are a lot of bests in this area. Including new comers, long timers, young and old (like me) and they seem to coexist quite well. Many of the alternative looking young people are very interested and respectful of the older ways and actually want to learn to live a more simple genuine life. Every city has its strange factor but here I've found it mostly friendly and not at all threatning. In fact most of the younger people I run across are super nice. I guess I could go live in Sun City Az. or some other "only like me" place but how boring would that be.......
Great comment T ! Asheville is like a box of chocolates.
That's plain not true Dave. There is plenty of mountain culture to be had here, and you don't have to look too far. Every year for example, there is the Mountain Music festival, a 3 day event at the Diana Wortham Theatre. It is wonderful ! There is mountain music all over the place here, Hendersonville, Fletcher has the Feed & Seed and so forth. All sorts of things to do. Some incredibly giving and kind people who volunteer to take care of the needs of seniors, children, the homeless, the disabled, Veterans, and on and on -- personally and financially. Not all transplants are wealthy and not all young folks in Asheville are "freaks". What a nasty term. Maybe you need to search out some activities that you like and don't sit home and gripe.
We are all enjoying what there is here, sorry you're not.
This Saturday, 9/20, is the Weaverville Art Festival; over 100 craftspeople, juried crafts, pottery, all sorts of local art, food and fun in downtown Weaverville.
There are events, music, crafts, all sorts of interests, (and always food) throughout the seasons in every small town near Asheville and in the greater Asheville area.
It can be daunting to find enough time to attend all there is in these mountains. Local culture is alive and well.
Interesting article, but starts 60 years too late.
To me the interesting question is, why were there all these vacant buildings at all?
Short version: Asheville had a real estate boom in the 1920s that was second only to Miami, which is also why both cities have such stocks of Art Deco architecture from that time. In fact, the Asheville Chamber of Commerce director around this era was recruited from Miami, and helped to steer the Blue Ridge Parkway through the city, which was scared to lose tourists if the road went through Unicoi and on through Tennessee as initially proposed.
The City of Asheville went into debt during the boom, and when the Great Depression hit and took out a major bank, the city and county lost much of their funds and was holding the bag. The city refused to declare bankruptcy, though, and spent the next forty years -- until 1976 -- paying down the debt, which at its inception was the highest per capita in the country.
What that meant is you had these beautiful buildings in an essentially dead downtown, and the city didn't have the funds for urban renewal in the 1950s and 60s the way so many cities did. Some buildings like the Grove Arcade just held paper records for the federal government for years, as giant warehouses!
After the city held its bond-burning ceremony in the late 1970s, the work of urban revitalization could start, and by the 1980s and 1990s people had more of an appreciation for the architecture than they once did.
Yes, this information has been available for ages to anyone who looks at the history of Asheville. I did think it was strange that the article didn't mention that this was the reason all those old buildings were preserved.
This Saturday, 9/20, is the Weaverville Art Festival; over 100 craftspeople, juried crafts, pottery, all sorts of local art, food and fun in downtown Weaverville.
There are events, music, crafts, all sorts of interests, (and always food) throughout the seasons in every small town near Asheville and in the greater Asheville area.
It can be daunting to find enough time to attend all there is in these mountains. Local culture is alive and well.
Glad you mentioned Weaverville, it is a town with a great mix of people old and new. Fair on the 20th is a good one plan to attend, I hope to see some of ya'll there
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