A good place to live, but you need money and a job
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8/29/2018
Considerable amount of whining here -- must be some unhappy people, but not because of Asheville.
The good things:
* an intact downtown: back when "urban renewal" was the rage (1950s-60s) Asheville was too poor to do, so today the pre-1930s building stock is still there (but cleaned up).
* big foodie scene, brewery/distillery scene, music -- all this leads to lots of life downtown and in the nearby areas including after dark. Summer time means street entertainment from the buskers
* surrounded by the mountains, so there is something to see besides high rise
* four seasons - so yes, Floridians will complain about the cold. It seldom gets sweltering hot (but it can), or sub-20s cold (but it can)
* great place for hikers, kayakers, motorcyclists, bicyclists: Blue Ridge Parkway is here, Appalachian Trail is nearby, Smokey Mountain National Park
* autumn! Snow on the mountains in winter! Summer means swimming in the streams/rivers
Not so good:
* still mostly a small town, but development has brought lots of people (not to mention the many many tourists) so rush hour can clog the roads. Off rush hour moving around is easy.
* development means nearby villages are merging with A'ville to create a metro-blurb-sprawl (people like to live here)
* development means an ever higher skyline as multi-story hotels and condos are built. The human-sized feeling of the urban area is losing out.
* tourists -- lots of them
* crime can be iffy depending where you live, but I have never experienced neither property nor violent crime. Yes, within increasing national poverty Asheville receives ever more panhandlers, who can get aggressive. Fair number of lefty liberals who protest when the police crackdown, such is life.
* the western region of the state has always been poor, with low wages historically. Lots of young people with no skills except food service, so hospitality wages stay low, but more people means upward push on housing. So come here as a telecommuter. Even so, some manufacturing happens a few miles south.
Come visit for a few weeks and see if you like.
Mido | ,