Posted August 6, 200717 yr I didn't have much time in downtown Asheville, but found the city to be fantastic--lively and full of character. The surrounding natural landscape is beautiful (easy to see why George Vanderbilt chose to build his Biltmore Estate in Asheville) and downtown is full of art galleries, bars, restaurants (including a good number of sidewalk cafes/al fresco dining options), a reportedly good live music scene, some great art deco architecture, and a liberal/bohemian atmosphere that makes the city great for people watching. However all this good stuff means that people are apparently moving there in droves. The sense that I got is the locals resent the new residents for driving up the cost of living and changing the character of the town. Here are pictures from a quick stroll through some of downtown Asheville.... This is the weekly Friday night drum circle in a downtown Asheville park. Apparently with the gentrification of Asheville, some downtown residents started filing noise complains last summer about the drum circle. Obviously the drum circle continues, but I guess it is another example of the new and old Asheville's divergent points of view (although there does seem to be a good mix of hippies and yuppies at the drum ciricle).
August 6, 200717 yr Fan-freakin-tastic! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 6, 200717 yr Nice! I've been to the Biltmore Estate, but didn't even know there was a historic downtown as you've pictured.
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