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As Lizap said, however, the southside/Biltmore area is where we should have bought, or else even further south like Hendersonville. We did look at a few cute homes there on the southside, unfortunately by the time we had the money to buy they weren't available.
Anyway, this is about the positive, and there is definitely a lot of cool stuff in that small city - great restaurants, shops and art. Always something going on. I don't know if they still have buskers and street performers, but I really got a kick out of those!
USA Today readers ranked Asheville as one of the top 10 best places in the U.S to take a vacation this summer. The music scene, galleries, picturesque scenery, and Biltmore estate, etc.were highlighted.
Many of the local natives simply don't appreciate a lot of what Asheville does offer. They want things to go back to a simpler time, and loathe the development.
The flip side of the development would be a stagnant/dying community.
Not 'trashing' Asheville, (no pun), as we have enjoyed day trips there, esp with visitors, over the past two plus decades, but it has eroded a bit from our perspective...
The post about trash/junk earlier in this thread reminded me of the current media subject of the 'trash under the bridge' situ, on the local news and now this art from the A C-Times.
I read it a few times and while it isn't NY Times/WSJ reporting, I came away wondering how the various 'departments', branches of gov't, bureaucratic silos, et al can even agree on 'when is lunch hour and who is buying", in terms of working together or actually getting something done...
As for homeless/street people whatever cat a person or the media wants to place people in, I have no fix, nor do any of us, I suspect, and that is really what 'government' is for, along with volunteer/charitable groups that are the drivers that usually and actually get some stuff done and help to those in serious need.
Trying to avoid political bent and Sociology 101 stuff here, but give this un paywalled art a read and then think, "Who T F, if anyone or any gov't 'branch' is really 'in charge' or 'responsible' for anything anymore?!"
Besides the usual pass the buck, search for the guilty and 'efforting forward our customers concerns', the under the bridge situ, while maybe picayune, is a poster for gov't that simply does not work, imo.
Does the under the bridge situ affect me? No...should I care? I dunno...
Two of my fave lines in the art, one from the Greenworks gang:
"However, due to significant safety concerns, we strongly discourage residents from attempting to clean up this site," McNeill said. "To navigate this situation safely requires specialized resources and training, and it needs to be handled by specialists."
Unless Boy Scouts has devolved, a BS troop with some adult supervision, could climb down and clean that under the bridge situ in an afternoon...
And, from the genius at the NCDOT: "after sufficient time is given for relocation, the police department verifies the encampment has been vacated."
"After the individuals have removed their belongings and the location is vacated, NCDOT cleans up any remaining debris."
Waiting on Godot to come back and pick up their 'belongings" after 'relocation' and then the cops verify all is well, our dept will study the situ and clean up the leaves and litter.
I try to refrain from political c rap here or on other Soc media, but that under the bridge situ and the almost hilarious if head shaking inducing article makes me go Hmmmm.
Not 'trashing' Asheville, (no pun), as we have enjoyed day trips there, esp with visitors, over the past two plus decades, but it has eroded a bit from our perspective...
The post about trash/junk earlier in this thread reminded me of the current media subject of the 'trash under the bridge' situ, on the local news and now this art from the A C-Times.
I read it a few times and while it isn't NY Times/WSJ reporting, I came away wondering how the various 'departments', branches of gov't, bureaucratic silos, et al can even agree on 'when is lunch hour and who is buying", in terms of working together or actually getting something done...
As for homeless/street people whatever cat a person or the media wants to place people in, I have no fix, nor do any of us, I suspect, and that is really what 'government' is for, along with volunteer/charitable groups that are the drivers that usually and actually get some stuff done and help to those in serious need.
Trying to avoid political bent and Sociology 101 stuff here, but give this un paywalled art a read and then think, "Who T F, if anyone or any gov't 'branch' is really 'in charge' or 'responsible' for anything anymore?!"
Besides the usual pass the buck, search for the guilty and 'efforting forward our customers concerns', the under the bridge situ, while maybe picayune, is a poster for gov't that simply does not work, imo.
Does the under the bridge situ affect me? No...should I care? I dunno...
Two of my fave lines in the art, one from the Greenworks gang:
"However, due to significant safety concerns, we strongly discourage residents from attempting to clean up this site," McNeill said. "To navigate this situation safely requires specialized resources and training, and it needs to be handled by specialists."
Unless Boy Scouts has devolved, a BS troop with some adult supervision, could climb down and clean that under the bridge situ in an afternoon...
And, from the genius at the NCDOT: "after sufficient time is given for relocation, the police department verifies the encampment has been vacated."
"After the individuals have removed their belongings and the location is vacated, NCDOT cleans up any remaining debris."
Waiting on Godot to come back and pick up their 'belongings" after 'relocation' and then the cops verify all is well, our dept will study the situ and clean up the leaves and litter.
I try to refrain from political c rap here or on other Soc media, but that under the bridge situ and the almost hilarious if head shaking inducing article makes me go Hmmmm.
Yes, the homeless and drug-addicted people are an issue, but basically any city is going to have some level of that. They can largely be ignored.
People not in tune with local government often don't see that the city of Asheville and Buncombe County already do a lot for this community (not withstanding some of the political issues that have helped lead to the problem in the first place).
Many of the local natives simply don't appreciate a lot of what Asheville does offer. They want things to go back to a simpler time, and loathe the development.
The flip side of the development would be a stagnant/dying community. That's much worse than where Asheville is.
^^ this. Asheville is not perfect, neither are all other cities, BUT it has much to offer; the accolades are well deserved. I’m of the mindset and ‘see the glass half full’ and not ‘half empty’ - but we’re all different.
My girlfriend is a local and most of her friends are local natives.
They don't care about the diversity of restaurants because they just want "regular food." If you don't like Indian food, does a new Indian restaurant downtown mean anything to you? Not really. If you're not big into the shows that the Orange Peel has, a nice venue like that doesn't mean much to you. If you don't drink beer, the breweries don't mean anything.
If you just want to piddle in a yard and eat at chain restaurants, that can be done anywhere. If you appreciate the unique things Asheville has to offer, it's much more appealing.
I think Asheville is such a draw because it's so different than other Southern cities. It's the one which offers bigger city cultural amenities on a smaller scale.
It has locally owned restaurants offering almost any imaginable cuisine, a live music scene at multiple venues, skilled craftspersons making all manner of goods and places to show and sell their wares. All of this in a relaxed atmosphere where one doesn't have to dress up to the nines and valet park their car.
Yes, one can find national chain restaurants, hotels and cinemas if that's your preference. I'm so glad that there's options for everyone. I'm so glad that 20 minutes away, I can see a major modern show at Harrah's Cherokee Center and 25 minutes away I can go experience authentic mountain music at The Depot in Marshall.
That in the same afternoon I can see the extremes of The Biltmore House and Vance Birthplace Pioneer Cabins. It's a privilege to have a city which loves its mountain community roots and accepts the newly imagined, the newly arrived, the producers of honest things on human scale. It's a city which has an inclination to embrace. It ain't same old, same old.
Aren't we lucky that such a place exists, warts and all?
I think Asheville is such a draw because it's so different than other Southern cities. It's the one which offers bigger city cultural amenities on a smaller scale.
It has locally owned restaurants offering almost any imaginable cuisine, a live music scene at multiple venues, skilled craftspersons making all manner of goods and places to show and sell their wares. All of this in a relaxed atmosphere where one doesn't have to dress up to the nines and valet park their car.
Yes, one can find national chain restaurants, hotels and cinemas if that's your preference. I'm so glad that there's options for everyone. I'm so glad that 20 minutes away, I can see a major modern show at Harrah's Cherokee Center and 25 minutes away I can go experience authentic mountain music at The Depot in Marshall.
That in the same afternoon I can see the extremes of The Biltmore House and Vance Birthplace Pioneer Cabins. It's a privilege to have a city which loves its mountain community roots and accepts the newly imagined, the newly arrived, the producers of honest things on human scale. It's a city which has an inclination to embrace. It ain't same old, same old.
Aren't we lucky that such a place exists, warts and all?
My girlfriend is an area native, and she always complains about Asheville, but likes the nicer grocery stores, shopping, things to do, etc., that we don't have available here in northeast TN.
People are very fortunate to have the amenities, even if they don't use them often.
I think Asheville is such a draw because it's so different than other Southern cities. It's the one which offers bigger city cultural amenities on a smaller scale.
It has locally owned restaurants offering almost any imaginable cuisine, a live music scene at multiple venues, skilled craftspersons making all manner of goods and places to show and sell their wares. All of this in a relaxed atmosphere where one doesn't have to dress up to the nines and valet park their car.
Yes, one can find national chain restaurants, hotels and cinemas if that's your preference. I'm so glad that there's options for everyone. I'm so glad that 20 minutes away, I can see a major modern show at Harrah's Cherokee Center and 25 minutes away I can go experience authentic mountain music at The Depot in Marshall.
That in the same afternoon I can see the extremes of The Biltmore House and Vance Birthplace Pioneer Cabins. It's a privilege to have a city which loves its mountain community roots and accepts the newly imagined, the newly arrived, the producers of honest things on human scale. It's a city which has an inclination to embrace. It ain't same old, same old.
Aren't we lucky that such a place exists, warts and all?
I have to agree with you. Asheville/WNC is definitely different and I have yet to find a Southern city/town to duplicate it. Btw, welcome!
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