“Undoubtedly one of the kindest places on the East Coast. Nice nuggets, a lively and experimental music scene, and the overall friendly atmosphere make this town a must for nomadic freaky friends! I’ll see you when I roll through town.”
“One thing i have noticed over the past few years is that the hippies have gotten richer. a lot are weekend hippies now! there are a lot of unique and awesome people here, and then again there are a lot of rich people too…”
Im 16yrs old and my family has been in wnc for hundreds of years and part of them was indians. First of all, all you homos and hippies that want to move to fagville(asheville), listen up! since yens has already messed asheville up this is a fair warning-madison county will not be as accepting as asheville/buncombe. we still do things the same way weve been doing them for years and its been proven time and time again that mountain people dont change to well. all you people moving in think your preserving mountain culture-well your killing it, yens dont no a dam thing about “appalachia”. all your doing for our culture is running its taxes up and taking our land and pissing us off. you come in here and tell us huntings evil and were ignorant(yens are the ignorant ones!) you have no idea about how to live mountain because you dont got true mountain blood or heritage. i dont even shop in fagville anymore -i go to newport(tn). im a babtist, rightwing republican, appalachian, scotch irish, cherokee, backer farming, licker making, deer hunting, bare hunting, teenage mountain boy and dont give a dam! im from big pine creek and the last gays that moved their got death threats and didnt last 3 days! so go ahead and be gay and nasty and all that but dont set foot in madison county! oh yeah NO NIGGERS
For all the homosexuals out there I want to say you all are going to Hell if you don’t change your lifestyle before you die! If you believe in God and consider yourself a Christian and are gay guess again your not after all God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve! You cannot tell me that homosexuals will go to Heaven read in Exodus about Sodom and Gomarah then turn over to Leviticus and read, it is wrong! I hate to burst you all’s bubble but there will be no gay people in Heaven that died while still practicing there nasty lifestyle. Everyone says to eccept these people but as long as I am alive I will not eccept them or their lifestyle! If you are gay you better heed my words and get saved before you die or you will be like the rich man who awoke in Hell and begged for water from the begger’s finger!!!!!!
Jesus loves everyone….even you and your mountain friend below.
In the ’60’s, some called me a hippie. Some others said I wasn’t a hippie. I always thought I was “me”, and I felt different to everyone else. I only know that now I am still “me”, and in some ways I am more “me” now than I ever was.
Some people, not only hippies, love having a label because it makes them feel the same as others, makes them feel they have a place. But there are some folk – not only in Asheville – who still know what it means to be themselves. “Alternative” stops being alternative when it becomes the norm. So some hippies are certainly not alternative. Whatever the crowd is made up, other similar people who identify with the crowd are what the crowd is. Some really only know that way to be. But others assume it for some feeling of self worth, or of fitting in.
There are some who are rabidly against others who don’t share their narrow views on race, sexual orientation, religion, etc. They aren’t alternative either. They’re following the crowd.
Real alternative individuals don’t worry about what people think of the way they live their lives. They are too busy living it. And that, whether you are gay, straight, Muslim, Baptist, white, black or green with purple spots, is how you exist as an individual.
If you think you are something, and it gives you pleasure to be known as that something, you probably aren’t alternative. You’re most likely falling prey to the label epidemic.
Well, I’m who I am, the only one like me, and I welcome anyone else who is themselves and isn’t interested in joining a group, wearing a label, because it would mean they weren’t being true to themselves.
Being true to yourself is the most important thing a person can do. It is the way God made us all. Yes, God made us all, the straights, the queers, the blacks, whites, Baptist and Muslim. So it’s important to be yourself, especially when others don’t like what you are or when they say that God doesn’t want you to be yourself.
But there may come a time when those who are really “themselves” will be the normal way to be. That will be the only time when the terms “alternative” and “fundamentalist” are truly redundant. They’re dead now, it’s just that they are being kept alive by willing victims to hype.
If you can’t love yourself, how can you love people who aren’t identical to you?
I WANNA SAY ASHEVILLE IS A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE.YEAH WE GOT ARE PROBLEMS WITH MEXICANS AND NIGGER’S BUT WHAT TOWN DOESNT IF YOU WANT JUST WHITE INBREED FOLKS GO TO MADISON COUNTY,YOU’LL BE SAFE THERE.ME I DONT REALLY MIND THOSE NIGGERS THEY DONT BUG ME TO BAD IN CANDLER RIGHT OUTSIDE ASHEVILLE.YEAH ASHEVILLE GOTS SOME HIPPIES BUT THEY DONT BUG NO BUDDY SO LEAVE THEM ALONE PLUS THE HIPPIES CHIC’S ARE EASY TO FUCK.I DONT CARE FOR THE FAGGOTS HERE I HOPE THEY ALL GET AIDS AND THEIR CHILDREN GET AIDS.AS A MATTER OF FACT WE DONT WANT ANY NEW PEOPLE HERE TO POLLUTE ARE WAY OF LIFE GO BACK TO WERE YOU CAME FROM YOU YANKEE SON OF A BITCHES!!!!THIS IS THE DIRTY SOUTH DONT YOU FORGET WE JUST WANT TO DRINK ARE HOMEMADE LIQUAR GET DRUNK AND BEAT OUR WIFE’S IN PEACE..WITHOUT ANY INFULENCE FROM THE REST OF THE U.S WE WANNA BE WITH PEOPLE THAT WE CAN RELATE TOO AND TALK TO WE DONT LIKE YOU RICH KNOW IT ALL,NIGGER LOVING, NAFTA SUPPORTING,DRAFT DODGEING.CHINESE PRODUCT BUYING,WOMENS LIB,CARPET MUNCHING,ASS PACKING FOLK AROUND HERE!!!!
PEACE BITCHES
TONY THE DIRTY JEW
GOODFELLA LIKE SAM ROTHSTEIN
ALSO WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THE COSA NOSTRA AND THE CANLDER MAFIA….KEEP COMMING TURIST WE NEED THAT MONEY
PEACE YOU TOYOTA DRIVG BITCHES
ASHEVILLE REGION CAPO
THE DIRTY JEW TONY
I don’t know why people from northern areas (NY, NJ, etc.) continue to come to NC. You all have brought nothing but overcrowding, increased property values, homeowner’s associations, and many other of the rotten things you are leaving the north to escape. If it’s so good here, why do you try to turn it into where you came from? Our whole state is going to hell in a handbasket due to the influx of people from NY and NJ.
Yankee go home!
I wish all the florida people would go home too! for all you hippies out their in hot springs-that fire should have been a warning! and for all the other outlanders out their in america that sees this- if you look at map of nc or tenn you will notice 2 places that stick up out of nc. stay away from that-thats madison co. if you dont like hillbillys like me then dont move here with hippie weirdo kids cause half the kids at madison high and madison middle school are what people outside of here would call “rednecks” and your kids will not be welcome and will be losers. florida people and yankees cant drive and since its possible for it to snow in june around here if you dont like cold then stay down in florida. around here riding a bycicle on the road in one of them gay suits and helmits is suicide if you dont want to get runned over by locals like me. fourwhellers on the road are common to so dont try to stop us from riding even if it is illegal cause nobody else cares. the people up here dont like housing developments and ever household has hunters and hard workers so dont make us mad. if your just a turist passing through fine-but dont get the great idea about moving here because it raises taxes and the locals thats been here forever are having a harder time. but dont you homos ever get the idea that that will make us all leave-madison county will always be backwoods and very “appalachian”. just walk in any local store and youll see people sitting on bags of dogfood and feed talking about how they wish people wouldnt come here. dont try to stop people from doing things weve always done. we dont like the nature lovers here neither, but we dont want this place developed. just leave wnc and et alone and hillbillys and flatlanders will get along just fine. and thats as nicely as i can say all this.
Florida is in the south too you nimrods! God loves everyone and we are all the same in his eyes. Get an education!
yea florida is the south-but were not really southern-this is appalachia. i dont need education you stupid hippie fags go to hell
It is so nice to see people being polite. The last time I checked we were a united country. I’m sure after september 11, you would not of said that of northerners. You probably got all pissed off at the attacks. I bet my money that you proclaimed your love for america! you defend our country but attack your neighbors. Well, guess what, the north is part of america and we are allowed to go where we want. Just as other people in other states have a right to do. If you want to preserve your way of life, join your town council. Get Active and stop complaining you hateful pieces of shit. Life is short, have fun wasting it being an ignorant hick! As for heaven and hell, we will see who ends up there! My bet is on the people who don’t have hate in their hearts! Peace!
My husband and I are thinking of moving around the asheville area, maybe outside of asheville… I guess I kind of have mixed thoughts now because of all of the negative feedback…
Its funny thought, because I went and looked at other cities(for sake of arguement) and saw all those people posting negative thoughts about their cities too.. Which i suppose goes to show, no place is perfect…
We currently reside in Nevada(right outside of las vegas), and REALLY want to get out of here!! We have lived here for a year(moved from Ohio).
If anyone could tell me about the employment situation, that would be great.. My husband will need a job asap…
I have my own business, so this will be my source of income….
Anything to do with maintainence, electrician work etc… for my man…
Regardless of all the posts, We are ready for a new home around the asheville area!!
Peace
Jaime
http://www.thebackporchboutique.com
High Quality Handmade Clothing for the ~Free Spirit~
I just moved here from Nashville. Asheville is a small town in my book. I have also lived in Atlanta and Greenville, too. The people here are very nice, charming, and welcoming from the most part; not quite Mayberry, but a very friendly group of people. There are two things my wife and I noticed immediately, though. It seems the “hippies” almost look down at young professionals. My wife and I are successful, and we don’t apologize for that at all. We spent some time at a pub after work one day and felt really uncomfortable. We could here folks making comments about my wife’s purse and shoes. What is that all about? Are you serious? They may have noticed she smelled like Chanel instead of patchouli and were making fun of that as well, who knows.
We love downtown. It reminds me a lot of Athens, GA, where we both went to school. Asheville is great. We love the eccentricity here. I went through a phase when I following Widespread Panic around the country. I have grown out of it (not the music). I enjoyed that period of my life. I think life is too short for young people not to do something like that, but don’t heckle me because I have moved on…
The “hippies” here aren’t true hippies, either. They just dress down and haven’t bathed when they go to the bank and cash mommy and daddy’s check. Here, not being “trendy” or “yuppie” is the biggest trend in and of itself. Every circle of friends has one or two people who ends up selling grilled cheeses and pot brownies that either dropped out of school or has a physics degree of which they’re not taking advantage; this just seems to be the mecca. Besides, without the yuppies, who’s going to pay the taxes that make drum circles in the downtown plazas possible? Bele Chere isn’t free because the tooth fairy left the money under the mayor’s pillow.
Overall, it’s a great town and we plan on staying (with my Brooks Brothers clothes). I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind and heart.
Sorry, Jamie. In forgot to ask one of your questions. There seems to be a boom of residential construction here. I guess it’s all of those people from New York and Jersey moving down here trying to change the city.
Also, the only downside I have found with Asheville is the cost of living. Gas and housing are pretty high compared to other parts of the country. Though it may be less for you. Houses are a little higher than living inside the perimeter in Atlanta.
Hey Nashville Cat, thanks for responding!!!
Completely understand what you are saying… I dont think I really fit into a category(atleast I would like to hope not)…
I do have dreads and make patchwork clothing and that sorta thing,, but am really willing to hang out with anyone down to earth, regardless of there financial status…
We both love the music and festival scene.. this is what we do in our spare time.. Beside my interent business, I sell my clothes at a lot of festivals..
I see nothing wrong with doing well financially in life,, in fact we sometimes wish we were a little more ahead of the game!
We did own a home in Ohio for 5 years, and made some good money on that.. and will probably just rent for a year and then see if we would like to buy a home in that area!!
Besides my dreads, my husband long beard, and the vw bus (LOL)we are just average folk looking to meet some music loving folk to cook out with and throw back a few beers!!
We would love to travel, but guess we kind of already are.. we are just staying in a place for a year at a time he he he….
Hope to run into ya when we move out there!!
Peace
jaime
http://www.thebackporchboutique.com
Hi folks-
Just a word of warning to folks considering a move to Western North Carolina, including Asheville: beyond hospital work and the school system, the employment oulook is very bleak, and cost of living (esp. housing) is high. According to the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, average cost of houses sold in Fall 2004 was $268,000. That’s steep, esp. in the South! My husband has been looking for a full time technical job for nearly 5 years, with no luck….We’re looking for greener pastures, and will probably move in the near future, which is a shame – he’s an Asheville native, but we just can’t afford to live here….
Hope it works out better for you-
Burnt out….
If you like living a southern lifestyle with a liberal twist then asheville is the only bubble in south to live in for you. the food isn’t bad (you can always find vegetarian options) and the people are inviting as long as you stay within your own sort of crowd. there are no good bike trails, so riding your bike is dangerous, but if more people starting riding, then the city would have no choice but to accommodate. the only thing about this town that is REALLY weird is the street system, when i first moved here i got so lost so easily, so be careful of that. as long as you have a pure heart and good intentions asheville will give you a warm welcome.
asheville sucks. western nc belongs to its locals only. hippys are only welcome in asheville.stay away from madison county youll get lost and we’ll get you!!!!!!!!
Well I have lived in almost every major city and have interacted with all walks of life and have to say that Asheville is definitely an interesting but questionable city.
I grew up in Raleigh, NC and after graduating from college in California, I returned to my hometown to settle. Having spent so much time out west, I was very turned off by my former Southern friends who had never really traveled out of the state, and I had grown tired of their BORING yuppie attitudes. All they seemingly talked about was money, labels, mansions and who was who in the South (mostly in Raleigh). It wasn’t long before I was ready to pack up and leave Raleigh so that I could learn from other cultures that weren’t so limited. Went to Florida for a while where there were nothing other rednecks and old rude people so I am now trying Asheville because of it’s supposed diversity. But to speak frankly, although it has been a real eye opener, it has also been a HUGE disappoinment. When I initially arrived here, I was hoping to learn from the hippy culture but have quickly recognized their lack of individualism and disinterest in anything other than drugs, organic foods, and going out of their way to look, dress, and talk with this phoney, laid back dialect. They all dress the same and walk around with this arrogant, liberal, bumber sticker attitude and have NOTHING interesting to say. Additionally, they seem to be very closed minded, in that they are extremely closed towards anyone who isn’t wearing dreadlocks or long flowing skirts with tank tops and no bra. I read Nashvillecat’s posting and wasn’t surprised to learn that these hippies made fun of his wife’s shoes and purse. Another example of their closed minds. Aren’t they supposed to be free thinkers with open minds in this society? No, I don’t think so. Exact opposite in my opinion. And the gays in this community are just as bad. I have never had a thing against the gay community until I moved to Asheville and witnessed how clannish they are here. For example, If you happen to apply for a job that is managed by a gay person in this town, and you aren’t gay, hang it up. This has been tried and tested by me and I have proven to many observers that this is the case. My bottom line here is that I really hoped to learn from a society that was much different from that to which I am accustomed and all I have witnessed is alot of repression and restricted thinking. I am getting the hell out of here as fast as I can.
Asheville sux. It’s owned and operated by a country club few. Grove Park Inn, Biltmore House (Cecil), Mission’s Board are a few of the players. No jobs, low pay, and …. well, whatever serves the prementioned. The area was, a few years prior, three mill towns, Asheville, Hendersonville and Brevard. Since Rand McNally started touting the cost of living and beautiful surroundings, well; it’s gone to shit. Can I say that?
I have lived in Asheville since 1978. I can not imagine living in any other place. There are “hippies” here if you call them that. We locals call them “Wippies” Wanna-be Hippies. They do look down on the professional types but hey, we didn’t ask you to move here, if you don’t like us then move on, you invaded our space we didn’t invade yours!
But for the most part everyone is nice and welcoming and there are very few run ins with the Wippies that look down their noses at those who decided to utilize their educational background and degrees.
I have noticed in reviews about anything though, especially travel. People are quick to post negative reviews but are not so with the positive. Asheville is beautiful and has the lowest crime rate in North Carolina. We are a laid back community and there are plenty of jobs here if you have the experience and/or the education. Our plant work went over seas like many others did, so if you are looking for labor employment or have dropped out of high school expect to flip burgers, serve coffee or start your own business. Our capital is not from Grove Park Inn or The Biltmore House, those are tourist attractions and what city does not thrive from drawing visitors? Sure we want visitors who can afford to stay in those places! That means they have money to spend and most will frequent the local shops for “cultural” memorabilia.
We want to attract all kinds, that is why we are diverse because we cater to ALL types.
Asheville has much to offer to those who have an open positive mind.
Boy, some harsh words flying round here. You know everyone has got a story. I am looking to come and live in Asheville area. Just can’t understand the hate people feel for gays, blacks, or any other race religion or creed. How free is America if people are afraid to explore and become who they are meant to be? Afraid to come to an area for fear they will be harmed. That’s just messed up MAN – BOY big time!
Need to get out of Florida. Before that needed to get out of Vermont. I need to be balanced. In the middle I figure will be just right.
Jaime love your clothes. They are so beautiful! The messages on them are great too.
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Donielle
I’m traveling to Asheville Wednesday and Thursday night next week. Anybody have any suggestions for nightlife? I know it’s not the weekend, but I was hoping to head out, catch a couple beers, listen to a local band and mingle with the population a little. Anything good out there for mid-week entertainment?
For: Sick and Tired
While people moving in from other places are having an influence on Asheville and are bringing demands for “amenities” they had in larger cities, some people moving here are fleeing the crowding and over-commercialization of big cities. (Like me after spending a ton of time in D.C.)
What seems ironic to me is that many of the locals see growth here as a way to get rich quick. They take this beautiful place for granted and have not experienced the down-side of having yet another Starbucks or Blockbuster…until one day you wake up and the place you’re in is uninhabitable. Many locals are cashing in on real estate and developing what land is left. It is amazing the steep slopes where people are building houses and developments.
I suppose all this is fueled by the strange economy here: 1/3 medical, 1/3 tourism, and 1/3 entrepreneurial business. If there’s another factor, I would say it is retirees moving in with fat defined benefit retirements, who can spend bonzo bucks for a house. I keep hoping the local Council and ‘Country Club Set’ will wake up and smell the coffee, but they’ve never experienced living in a paved over place with no natural beauty and are mainly watching their bank accounts.
Peace, Brother.
take a shower, get rid of those nasty dreads, and show some respect to others, and pick up your empty water bottles you freak, then go somewhere else