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What''s the deal with Asheville, NC?

It was a beautiful area and I enjoyed my visit but I've never seen so many hippy-dippy, vegan, hairy legged, birkenstock and peasant skirted young women in my life. They all had dreadlocks or some other hideous fucking hair and made disapproving noises when I bought meat at the grocery store. Are they all college students or is that town a haven for these types?

by Anonymousreply 127October 6, 2018 6:56 PM

I thought everyone knew that Asheville is the old hippie center of the East Coast.

by Anonymousreply 1July 12, 2011 5:53 PM

There are a weird amount of islands like this scattered about the south; hippie towns surrounded by Wal-Mart Republican rurals. I was just in Charlottesville, VA. Cool little town, very crunch granola. You go one mile past the airport and suddenly you're surrounded by pick-up trucks with NRA bumper stickers.

by Anonymousreply 2July 12, 2011 6:00 PM

one word = pottery.

by Anonymousreply 3July 12, 2011 7:32 PM

Here are some photos of Asheville folks. Very crunch granola, but nice people.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 4July 12, 2011 7:44 PM

Isn't there a nice, rich quarter, without the dirty hippie vegans?

by Anonymousreply 5July 12, 2011 10:35 PM

I'd much rather be surrounded by vegans than fundamentalists! Though, yes, they can make you a little crazy sometimes. The local government is very gay-friendly.

by Anonymousreply 6July 12, 2011 10:40 PM

Having been born in Berkeley, raised in San Francisco, and educated in Santa Cruz, I'm glad that an Asheville exists in the South. While I love the bleeding texture of rare steak in my mouth and the smell of leather boots in the morn, these crunchy, hairy bitches bring some balance to this great nation of ours. Let's get used to them and their prickly boundaries.

by Anonymousreply 7July 12, 2011 11:18 PM

Nothing wrong with vegans and don't automatically think all are hippie's.

by Anonymousreply 8July 12, 2011 11:20 PM

I think viewing such people as hippies is generous. In reality, they really look to be vagrants. Sometimes the price of gay acceptance too high and I say to hell with it. I don't want acceptance I just want to be left alone. When I was gay in my youth, I learned quickly not to chase after acceptance. Now I'm old and a reject, I don't have any real connection with gays or being gay, except for DL, I'm just another old person.

by Anonymousreply 9July 12, 2011 11:40 PM

R9, I think you're probably a lot more fabulous and interesting than you give yourself credit for.

Are there any fudge shops in Asheville?

by Anonymousreply 10July 13, 2011 12:01 AM

Visit the Vanderbilt House while there.%0D Largest privately owned home in North America.%0D

by Anonymousreply 11July 13, 2011 12:05 AM

Asheville is such a well-kept secret. It is the only city in the South I could live in comfortably. And it is so pretty, too.

by Anonymousreply 12July 13, 2011 12:05 AM

Asheville sounds a lot like Austin, which is to say it sounds wonderful.

by Anonymousreply 13July 13, 2011 12:08 AM

I lived in Asheville for a number of years and loved it. I left there because of work, but I've kicked myself for that decision.

by Anonymousreply 14July 13, 2011 12:12 AM

OP here. It was really beautiful and did remind me a lot of Austin. That said, I could have done without the disdainful looks and sniffs from the hippy cashier when I bought some nice ribeyes for dinner. It was free range and grassfed bitch! My philosophy is I won't barf while you eat your tofu and seawood quiche and I expect the same.

by Anonymousreply 15July 13, 2011 12:14 AM

the ONLY folks who i know who live there are Lesbiterians.

by Anonymousreply 16July 13, 2011 12:17 AM

One cashier doesn't speak for an entire town.

Most people I knew there were into live and let live.

by Anonymousreply 17July 13, 2011 12:18 AM

Are the winters there brutal?

by Anonymousreply 18July 13, 2011 12:22 AM

Eureka Springs Arkansas is another gay/hippie haven. We recently bought a vacation home there. Locals say it is almost 50% lgbt and growing. Funny though it is also known for all the bikers as well. Never had a problem with the bikers in fact they seem to really like hanging out with is.

by Anonymousreply 19July 13, 2011 12:29 AM

Sorry, but Asheville, Charlottesville and Austin are all what I'd call "faux hippie." Universities dominate the latter two, and I can only assume R2 visited C-ville after school ended for the year at UVa, otherwise he'd know that it's arguably the most conservative "elite" university in the country, and its student body as a whole is the antithesis of "hippie": think TONS of moneyed prep school brats (mostly East Coast) mixed with upper-middle-class Northern Virginia kids mixed with a handful of rednecks from the southern half of the state. When I went there I met plenty of, say, New York JAPs who bought themselves brand-new Saab convertibles on their daddy's AmEx Platinum (yes, this is a real example), but very, VERY few truly "crunchy" types -- and no, the rich frat boys who donned Birkenstocks to attend Dave Matthews Band and Widespread Panic concerts certainly didn't qualify.

Austin hasn't been "hippie-ish" for a good 20 years now. I happen to live in the one remaining area of town that retains a semblance of the old-school "Keep Austin Weird" vibe, but practically every week some new mainstay of old Austin closes. I just heard that the owners of my favorite Tex-Mex place a few blocks from my house are closing up shop, after 35 years in business, because they were made an offer they really couldn't refuse: seven figures for a piece of land that's maybe a quarter-acre. Housing prices are similarly astronomical, with small, 1000 sq ft cottages starting at around $300K or so (fully renovated ones go for more like $400K) -- and teardowns available for a mere $250K. (Austin btw has been far less affected by the national real estate slowdown than almost anywhere else in the country.) Downtown Austin is all glitz, glamour and fine cuisine these days; hell, even one of its barbecue joints was just named best BBQ in the country by Bon Appetit.

I haven't spent as much time in Asheville, obviously, but the fact that the Vanderbilt Mansion is there should tell you a thing or two. Ditto The Asheville School, one of the more elite East Coast prep schools. Asheville reminds me of places like Bend, Oregon and many parts of Vermont, where "bourgeois bohemians" drive Subarus and wear recycled-fleece Patagonia togs and the like but live in million-dollar houses and work in high-paying careers that afford them the ability to work remotely from home. (It's also a quick hop to Boston and NYC from Vermont, and Atlanta from Asheville.) OP, all those crunchy vegans you encountered are most likely a variant of the same trustafarian hipsters that have invaded places like NYC's Williamsburg and Lower East Side: appearing to "slum it" while living on a very healthy allowance from Mumsie and Father.

by Anonymousreply 20July 13, 2011 12:29 AM

[quote]That said, I could have done without the disdainful looks and sniffs from the hippy cashier when I bought some nice ribeyes for dinner. It was free range and grassfed bitch!

I will say that, while literally almost every restaurant in Austin offers at least one vegetarian or vegan entree, there is no fucking chance anyone would throw shade in your direction for buying beef here. This may be Austin, but it *is* still Texas!

[quote]the ONLY folks who i know who live there are Lesbiterians.

Please. A whole bunch of my mom's former law firm partners, all straight and married, have retired there. (Her firm is unusually liberal and female-dominated, in contrast to 99% of other mid- to large-sized American law firms.)

by Anonymousreply 21July 13, 2011 12:33 AM

[quote]I haven't spent as much time in Asheville, obviously, but the fact that the Vanderbilt Mansion is there should tell you a thing or two.%0D %0D Obviously not. In fact Biltmore tells very little about about Asheville. It's completely anomalous, a country house set amidst what were once 125,000 acres; it was set apart from Asheville, with much stronger ties to New York and Europe than to Asheville or Buncombe County or North Carolina or much of anything in the South. %0D %0D The grubby bunch in R4's link are not "trustafarian hipsters," not "bourgeois bohemians" that "live in million-dollar houses and work in high-paying careers that afford them the ability to work remotely from home." Asheville may have a few of those but not in significant numbers; instead it has many more underfunded underachievers floating from drum circle to drum circle in between putting in a few hours at a coffee shop. The hippy-vegan sorts who far outnumber the few slumming trustfunders or rich remote workers are more likely scraping by than they are funded by very healthy allowances. They are not at all akin to UVA students from prominent Southern families or rich northern ones.

by Anonymousreply 22July 13, 2011 1:21 AM

R22 just put the smack down on Kirker.%0D %0D The Biltmore Mansion was used in the film "Hannibal" as the evil Mason Verger's estate.

by Anonymousreply 23July 13, 2011 1:29 AM

Asheville is nicknamed %E2%80%9CParis of the South.

by Anonymousreply 24July 13, 2011 1:32 AM

May I add, Kirker, that you've got Bend all wrong, too - the economy's in a shambles there, housing market collapsed, increasing numbers of homeless, and all of that is much more defining than the wealthy telecommuters.

And R22 is correct - Asheville and the Biltmore might as well be on separate planets.

by Anonymousreply 25July 13, 2011 1:43 AM

Oh kirker is back. Moving on...

by Anonymousreply 26July 13, 2011 1:44 AM

What happened Kirker? Did daddy finally cut you off and that's why you're railing about trustafarians because you no longer are one at age 40?

by Anonymousreply 27July 13, 2011 1:47 AM

It's great if you like wingnuts

by Anonymousreply 28July 13, 2011 2:08 AM

R20, you really are off the beam on Asheville. Stick with what you know.

by Anonymousreply 29July 13, 2011 3:36 AM

Poor, doomed, mentally ill Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott, died in a hospital fire in Asheville.

by Anonymousreply 30July 13, 2011 5:54 AM

R22 gives a very accurate description of Asheville, Kirker does not.

by Anonymousreply 31July 13, 2011 6:06 AM

R19 I vacationed in Eureka Springs last year and plan on going back in September. I had a wonderful time at the Crescent. It's a great little town.

by Anonymousreply 32July 13, 2011 6:17 AM

This is the first post by Kirker in a long time. Now I understand why everybody hates him. What an idiot!

by Anonymousreply 33July 13, 2011 9:44 AM

I was in Austin last summer and didn't see any hippieish people. Lots of drunk people though.

by Anonymousreply 34July 13, 2011 11:12 AM

[quote]...seven figures for a piece of [commercial] land that's maybe a quarter-acre. Housing prices are similarly astronomical, with small, 1000 sq ft cottages starting at around $300K or so (fully renovated ones go for more like $400K) -- and teardowns available for a mere $250K. (Austin btw has been far less affected by the national real estate slowdown than almost anywhere else in the country.)%0D %0D For R20, a thread about Asheville was simply a launch pad for bragging/bitching about Austin, to which he draws no real comparisons nor contrasts. %0D %0D Even his figures about Austin real estate are puffed up. There are many cities where many people routinely plop down seven figures for quarter acre commercial parcels; there are many small, not remotely trendy towns no one has ever heard of that can boast the same. Austin has fared well in the housing crisis, it shows near the bottom of various top 10 and top 25 lists of healthiest housing markets, but the prices of $300,000 cottages ($400,000 fully renovated) is maybe only astronomical for Austin. Census data show that for 2010 national figures for housing costs were $221,800 (mean) and $272,900 (average.) Three and four-hundred thousand dollar modest houses in good --not great-- parts of evenly reasonably prosperous cities are hardly unusual; likewise for many small cities and small towns, even in a fair number of podunk rural areas, a $300K or $400K pricetag for a cottage-sized house doesn't send buyers to their fainting couches.

by Anonymousreply 35July 13, 2011 12:12 PM

"...while living on a very healthy allowance from Mumsie and Father."%0D %0D Something you obviously know a lot about.

by Anonymousreply 36July 13, 2011 12:36 PM

What the heck is a "trustafarian"?%0D %0D Please withhold the usual insults that accompany most replies here. Just answer the goddamn question.

by Anonymousreply 37July 13, 2011 12:52 PM

I've assumed it's someone living off a trust fund, R37.

by Anonymousreply 38July 13, 2011 12:58 PM

[quote]What the heck is a "trustafarian"?%0D %0D What R38 said, but usually used with an added dimension of the outward trappings of a latter day hippie-ish, wannabe Rastafarian, who rails against the Capitalism that allows his parents to pay his bills. %0D %0D The Urban Dictionary has endless definitions each with its own variations:

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 39July 13, 2011 1:06 PM

[quote]Universities dominate the latter two, and I can only assume [R2] visited C-ville after school ended for the year at UVa, otherwise he'd know that it's arguably the most conservative "elite" university in the country, and its student body as a whole is the antithesis of "hippie": think TONS of moneyed prep school brats (mostly East Coast) mixed with upper-middle-class Northern Virginia kids mixed with a handful of rednecks from the southern half of the state

You've clearly never visited my alma mater then.

UVA is so big, there is more than enough room for all the cliques you could possibly want. It's just the NoVA types and the Yankees that stand out the most.

William & Mary, on the other hand, is full of those same types that you complain about, except there are fewer of them, and most are bitter that they didn't get into UVA or an Ivy.

And just for the record, those of us from the "Southern Part of the state" ie, the Piedmont or the Appalachians aren't rednecks, we're hillbillies.

by Anonymousreply 40July 13, 2011 1:21 PM

"and made disapproving noises when I bought meat at the grocery store."%0D %0D Oh, please. I doubt if any of these people even noticed you.

by Anonymousreply 41July 13, 2011 1:35 PM

Asheville - Lesbian haven

by Anonymousreply 42July 13, 2011 2:09 PM

VOTN v. Kirker? Interesting.

by Anonymousreply 43July 13, 2011 2:23 PM

[r41] I was just about to post something similar. Makes you wonder about the motivation of OP.

by Anonymousreply 44July 13, 2011 2:35 PM

"VOTN v. Kirker? Interesting."

Add charlie to the mix and it'll be a classic know-it-all knock down.

by Anonymousreply 45July 13, 2011 2:35 PM

[quote]Isn't there a nice, rich quarter, without the dirty hippie vegans?

Montford, Grove Park, and Biltmore Village are gorgeous.

by Anonymousreply 46July 13, 2011 2:49 PM

Asheville has always had a poor economy, and that continues today, where it is manifestly poorer than Knoxville, a university town a few miles away over the mountains. During the 90s the oppressive environment in the South was such that it attracted a moderately large clutch of self-reliant lesbians and a few (very few) gays, but not even enough to add a few gay bars to the place, although a few upscale restaurants did show up. I'd say the majority of the people who moved there have since moved on. The South is still hostile, so there is still some ghetto fabulousness about it, but the economy never did catch fire so most people who had moved in had to leave a few years later to make a living and those moving there now are in a generation less convinced of the necessity of living in such a place. So I believe Asheville's "gay" (NEVER hippie) flowering is fading. Eureka Springs, though, was never big to begin with so it didn't take many people to flip it to the gay side. Asheville was always a sizeable city. Also Asheville is 2,000 feet elevation, so its winter weather is hard and un-Southlike.

by Anonymousreply 47July 13, 2011 2:59 PM

What's the difference between a redneck and a hillbilly?

by Anonymousreply 48July 13, 2011 3:12 PM

"'You look as if you wished the place in hell,'%0D My friend said, 'judging from your face.' 'Oh well, I suppose it's not the place's fault,' I said. 'Nothing, like something, happens anywhere.'"%0D

by Anonymousreply 49July 13, 2011 3:23 PM

[quote]During the 90s the oppressive environment in the South was such that it attracted a moderately large clutch of self-reliant lesbians and a few (very few) gays, but not even enough to add a few gay bars to the place... I'd say the majority of the people who moved there have since moved on. [bold]The South is still hostile[/bold], so there is still some ghetto fabulousness about it, but the economy never did catch fire so most people who had moved in had to leave a few years later to make a living and those moving there now are in a generation less convinced of the necessity of living in such a place. So I believe Asheville's "gay" (NEVER hippie) flowering is fading. Eureka Springs, though, was never big to begin with so it didn't take many people to flip it to the gay side. Asheville was always a sizeable city. %0D %0D Asheville has a population of some 83,000. There are 275 or so U.S. cities (not MSAs) with populations of more than 100,000, putting places like Billings MT, Erie PA, High Point NC, Wichital Falls TX, and Fargo ND ahead in population by at least 25%. %0D %0D The "oppressiveness" and "brutality" of the South seems overstated with regard to Asheville in the 1990s and beyond. It would only be a surprise if a town of 83,000 had more than a few gay bars; many of the 275 U.S. cities with much larger populations probably can't do much better (or even as good.) I'm not sure that Asheville ever had big pull, it was never a mecca like NYC, or San Francisco, or even Atlanta or New Orleans for some southerners; it's attraction was regional, even sub-regional. It was never as you note an economic magnet, nor did its cultural pull draw people in throngs - an east coaster might get an itch to uproot cross country and live the Portlandia experience, but how many people have uprooted from the west coast for Asheville? Its draw is more limited, to regional and east coast retirees, and to a handful of small business owners or those who can work from home and live anywhere. %0D %0D In any place where's there's a sudden influx of people, 10 or 20 years later, a good many of them will have moved on to another situation. I know Southerners who kept second homes in Asheville around 1990, and a few who lived there, but none were deeply tied to the local economy beyond property taxes and sales taxes; they all noted that many of their gay friends who were there a decade or two earlier had moved on as well. The flow in and out of a place is more pronounced relative its small size -- and all the more without career ties to the place.

by Anonymousreply 50July 13, 2011 3:43 PM

[quote]What's the difference between a redneck and a hillbilly?

Rednecks are rural inhabitants, especially in the South. They're called rednecks because they tend to be farmers and work the fields for a living. Rednecks are found all over the country, indeed all over the world.

Hillbillies live in mountainous areas, mostly in the Appalachians along the East Coast. They can work in any profession.

While differences between the two tend to be subtle to outsiders, they are two different animals.

Tractor pulls: rednecks Moonshine: hillbillies Garth Brooks: rednecks Flatt & Scruggs: hillbillies

I could go on, but I don't want to bore everyone.

by Anonymousreply 51July 13, 2011 3:44 PM

I love Biltmore. Don't tell me Miss Vanderbilt wasn't a big ole 'mo. check out the changing rooms with the open doors near the swimming pool (the first indoor pool). Plus the oil paintings of him and his wife give it all away!!!! I believe he waited years longer than other bachelors at the time - he was abroad with his male friends traveling the globe.

by Anonymousreply 52July 13, 2011 3:51 PM

Six of one, half a dozen

by Anonymousreply 53July 13, 2011 3:54 PM

I was in the tiny town of Mars Hill earlier this year, and they referred to Asheville as "Ashe Vegas." It's very much The Big City in Western NC. I wish I'd had more time to spend there because the vibe was very welcoming. But then I'm a lesbyterian.

by Anonymousreply 54July 13, 2011 3:58 PM

Oh Kirker, shut the fuck up. You went to UVA over 20 years ago. You're hardly an expert on what the school or the student body is like today.

You've aged out of your position of authority on this topic, you fat, hairy gorilla.

Accept it and move on.

by Anonymousreply 55July 13, 2011 7:31 PM

My whole family in the eighties moved to Asheville from Long Island. I moved to NYC. Couldn't stand visiting listening to all the locals with their horrible southern accent.

by Anonymousreply 56July 13, 2011 8:49 PM

[quote]I love Biltmore. Don't tell me Miss Vanderbilt wasn't a big ole 'mo. check out the changing rooms with the open doors near the swimming pool (the first indoor pool). Plus the oil paintings of him and his wife give it all away!!!!%0D %0D G.W.V. did have a certain quality about him (and John Singer Sargent was never one to hid one's qualities.)

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 57July 13, 2011 8:54 PM

Yes, R56, because some of those Northern accents are so very pleassnt to the ear.%0D %0D YOU UNNASTAN WHAT I'M TELLIN YOUSE?!?!%0D %0D Dumbass.

by Anonymousreply 58July 13, 2011 9:01 PM

It's believed that G W Vanderbilt was gay, but of course due to his prominence in society and the times he lived in he had to stay closeted and beard up. It's true that he waited quite a while to get married and spent more time with his male friends traveling the world than he did with his wife. What straight guy would do that?%0D %0D And yes, what straight guy would've designed Biltmore?

by Anonymousreply 59July 13, 2011 9:09 PM

[quote]Yes, [R56], because some of those Northern accents are so very pleassnt to the ear.

Yeah, tell me you wouldn't bolt when a Southern Doctor comes in and says Hi ya'aaall I'm gonna be yuur Braaaaain Surgeon.

by Anonymousreply 60July 13, 2011 10:24 PM

Goodness. A thread on Asheville has devolved into a personal attack. Shock. Responses:

[quote]In fact Biltmore tells very little about about Asheville. It's completely anomalous, a country house set amidst what were once 125,000 acres; it was set apart from Asheville, with much stronger ties to New York and Europe than to Asheville or Buncombe County or North Carolina or much of anything in the South.

I was not trying to imply that the Biltmore Estate is representative of *all* of Asheville. Rather, I was pointing out that -- just like Charlottesville -- Asheville is surrounded by huge estates on hundreds of acres worth millions.

[quote]Asheville may have a few of those but not in significant numbers; instead it has many more underfunded underachievers floating from drum circle to drum circle in between putting in a few hours at a coffee shop.

Let's just agree to disagree on this one, me having met one too many "starving artists" who either had a shitload of bank or were intentionally turning down either parental help or trust-fund dividends "on principle." I maintain that Asheville, Charlottesville and Austin are incredibly expensive places for bona fide hippies to live unless they're literally living homeless.

[quote[The hippy-vegan sorts who far outnumber the few slumming trustfunders or rich remote workers

Um, no. UVa is a university more difficult to get into, from out-of-state, than most Ivies. Stoner hippies rarely gain admittance. Children of alumni who still donate large sums to the university ... well, it's usually shocking if they *don't* get in, assuming their parents have donated at least six figures in recent years.

[quote]May I add, Kirker, that you've got Bend all wrong, too - the economy's in a shambles there, housing market collapsed, increasing numbers of homeless, and all of that is much more defining than the wealthy telecommuters.

It's not "in a shambles." It's suffered the same fate as just about every other second-home destination for America's elite: a downturn, sure, but not a "collapse." That's not to say there aren't still a shitload of wealthy families who congregate there, even if their houses may not be worth anything close to their original pricce.

[quote]Austin has fared well in the housing crisis, it shows near the bottom of various top 10 and top 25 lists of healthiest housing markets, but the prices of $300,000 cottages ($400,000 fully renovated) is maybe only astronomical for Austin.

The difference is that Austin never experienced the same bubble as elsewhere, so while prices may have risen 500% in parts of the L.A. area since 2000 and since declined 30%, Austin nevertheless escaped most of the ravages of the real estate bubble. But yes, a comparable house in, say, Santa Monica still costs more than in Austin -- just not two or three times as much, as was the case pre-2007.

by Anonymousreply 61July 14, 2011 6:46 AM

zzzzzzzzz

by Anonymousreply 62July 14, 2011 10:14 AM

[quote]Children of alumni who still donate large sums to the university ... well, it's usually shocking if they *don't* get in, assuming their parents have donated at least six figures in recent years.

I'm honestly not trying to pick a fight here, Kirker, but I'm finding it hard to believe that had, last time they counted, between 13-14000 undergrads, that a significant portion of those are the children of alumni donating "at least six figures" in recent years. Their endowment is big, but it's not that big.

I mean, you might want to throw out my data since my experience comes from redneck [sic] part of the state, but from what I can remember, the really high achievers went to Ivies, the rich kids with brains went to Duke, the normal high achievers went to UVA, the slightly less of center high achievers (self included) went to William & Mary, and the rich kids that didn't really care went to private colleges like Elon, Hampden-Sydney, etc, and the rest of the more middle class set went to any numbers of Virginia's other public colleges, or to community colleges.

Also, I don't know how you are at applying your stereotype to UVA's grad or professional schools, but one of my friends from college, who was an out-of-state student (from Ohio), and was, without a doubt, the most intelligent person I have ever knew (graduated in three years, summa, and Phi Beta Kappa) got a full scholarship to UVA School of Law.

She's now an attorney in the Obama administration.

by Anonymousreply 63July 14, 2011 10:47 AM

[quote]Goodness. A thread on Asheville has devolved into a personal attack. Shock.%0D %0D Not a personal attack on my part (in R22/R35), just a select refutation of someone talking out of their ass. Say something sensible as I'm every bit as happy to agree with you; say something baseless and showboating and you may be called on it.%0D %0D [quote]I was not trying to imply that the Biltmore Estate is representative of *all* of Asheville. Rather, I was pointing out that -- just like Charlottesville -- Asheville is surrounded by huge estates on hundreds of acres worth millions.%0D %0D You missed my point. Biltmore is not only anomalous, it is unique -- not just a little unique, wholly fucking unique. Not only is Asheville not ringed by 250-room houses of 175,000sq.ft., it's not even ringed by 25-room houses of 17,500sq.ft. There are a number of large Tudor-ish houses, but in garden suburb settings and small plots of a few acres (the largest and priciest currently for sale is at link, far more typical of atypically large houses are half the size and less than half the cost.) This number, however, does not represents an only slightly unusual concentration --related to Asheville as a summer retreat and its appeal to retirees in the early 20thC. Were every one of those Tudor Revival houses to empty out every one of their bedrooms of all of their children (hippy-dippy or otherwise), it would not be enough to crowd a pie shop, to fill more than a few rundown sofas at a coffee house, to form a drum circle. %0D %0D Asheville has a few pockets of prosperous houses worth in the $1M - $4M range, and some of them are lovely, but Buncombe County is not Albemarle County, nor is it Upperville VA, nor the old Gold Coast of Long Island -- nor is it Austin with its gold-paved streets and glitz and glamor and fine cuisine (all ringed by fabulous wealth and immense estates, I'm sure). %0D %0D I maintain that the seemingly idle drum circlers and granola-coffee shop youth gangs of Asheville are not the idle rich, not the children of the idle rich (nor the working rich); and despite a handful of nice Country Club Tudor houses usually priced around $2M, there are plenty of cottages and small houses in the $80K - $150K range. %0D %0D To suggest that Asheville is relatively prosperous is a fair statement. To suggest it is hemorrhaging trust fund money and that only the richest wannabe hippies can afford to live there is not a fair statement. To suggest it is "surrounded by huge estates on hundreds of acres worth millions" is ludicrously overstated.

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by Anonymousreply 64July 14, 2011 1:24 PM

I just moved here from Texas. So far it is wonderful. The people with few exceptiond are amaszingly nice. The exceptions are very vile and rude and tend to stick out.

by Anonymousreply 65July 14, 2011 2:20 PM

LMAO.

Always hilarious when someone stops by a thread that's been polluted with Kirker's self-styled "travel writer" garbage and reveals him to be the fraud that he is.

Kirker doesn't know shit, except for how to fail in business while really, really trying.

by Anonymousreply 66July 14, 2011 4:43 PM

"Thank you for visiting the Kirk Gallery Web site. Please note that our e-commerce payment system is down at present. If you'd like to place an order, you may do so over the phone by calling 512.923.9722."

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by Anonymousreply 67July 14, 2011 4:45 PM

For a slight diversion, there are certainly towns in the heart of the blood red states of the Southwest that are havens for progressives and free-thinkers of all types. %0D %0D I visited a couple older gay friends who retired from their business in San Francisco and moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2003 because the cost of living is much more reasonable "down there". They are still there, but the bloom is off the cactus, so to speak.%0D %0D I consider Arizona to be the most looney right wing red state in the USA. Yet, it is the only state where a referendum to create a state version of DOMA failed by popular vote. It is also the state that is world famous for the oasis known as SEDONA with its caserole of New Age and gay people in the middle of the UFO vortexes (star gates, y'know). I've never been there, but perhaps some towns in New Mexico (Santa Fe or Taos?) might serve the same function. %0D %0D Phoenix is trying very hard to become the next Los Angeles, and driving around town it is easy to believe you are in LA with the myriad hectic freeways, palm trees lining the streets, etc. But the vib is big dumb Tea Party narrowmindedness. The state even sells an official TEA PARTY License plate. I refer to it as Mississippi without the Southern Accents. Local celebrities: Glen Campbell. He was a singer from my parent's generation who just got pulled over for a DUI. I believe Cher also has a house here, but she probably has a house everywhere. %0D %0D Now, back to Ashville. Some bitch will call me names, but I also dislike the Southern accent. Being a Yankee (California version) it also seems to take FOREVER for a Southerner to tell you something. Everything becomes a long story. (Ironic because this post is long, eh?)

by Anonymousreply 68July 14, 2011 5:15 PM

It's ashEville, moron at R68.

by Anonymousreply 69July 14, 2011 5:20 PM

R69 - I just love this place, a refuge for people filled with hate who are like mythical harpies just waiting for someone to make a typo or a mispelling and then swarm down for the kill. What these people don't understand is that they are showing everyone else that they have inner-problems, issues, that they are trying to deflate in this juvenile manner. A happy person does not hang out in DL just to attack others. A well-balanced mature gay person knows what it is like to be attacked unjustly, and therefore has a large compassion quotient and also does not attack others. %0D %0D Methinks DL is full of walking-wounded, lashing out at others. Being gay is not a justification for being vicious. I suggest a good therapist since being the queen bitch of DL or your local bar isn't going to solve your emotional issues.

by Anonymousreply 70July 14, 2011 5:27 PM

I wouldn't have even noticed.

by Anonymousreply 71July 14, 2011 5:30 PM

r64 is a smartie pants!

by Anonymousreply 72July 14, 2011 5:31 PM

[quote] Um, no. UVa is a university more difficult to get into, from out-of-state, than most Ivies

That's sheer nonsense. My sister's nephew by marriage was admitted to UVa with good grades from a lackluster high school that was about 40% poor minority kids. He was neither poor nor minority. In a middle class school district, his grades would have been middling rather than good.

He was not any kind of scholar nor a particularly good athlete. Just a working class white kid with good grades.

He then partied himself right out of school.

by Anonymousreply 73July 14, 2011 5:40 PM

[quote]Couldn't stand visiting listening to all the locals with their horrible southern accent.%0D %0D Someone from Long Island shouldn't be saying anything about horrible accents. NY/NJ has some of the ugliest accents I've ever heard. They sound uncouth and vulgar on a par with East London accents.

by Anonymousreply 74July 14, 2011 6:04 PM

Shettcha friggin mout, R74, or I'll shet it fawyah, yunnastan me?

by Anonymousreply 75July 14, 2011 6:37 PM

R75, please stop! You remind me of an episode of MOB WIVES! :-)

by Anonymousreply 76July 14, 2011 6:49 PM

[quote]Asheville may have a few of those but not in significant numbers; instead it has many more underfunded underachievers floating from drum circle to drum circle in between putting in a few hours at a coffee shop. %0D %0D This quote is pure poetry, and completely accurate. I live in San Francisco, and yes, there are tons of these types. I know a few personally, and none of them have any 'daddy cash' to speak of. Instead, they live in a shitty apartment in the ghettoes with a TON of other granolas...all with the same 'schedule'.%0D %0D Yet Kirker, not from Asheville, insists:%0D %0D [quote]Let's just agree to disagree on this one, me having met one too many "starving artists" who either had a shitload of bank or were intentionally turning down either parental help or trust-fund dividends "on principle." I maintain that Asheville, Charlottesville and Austin are incredibly expensive places for bona fide hippies to live unless they're literally living homeless%0D %0D As I stated above, I live in San Francisco, arguably the most expensive city in the US, and there are thousands of granola types...and while I have met ONE GIRL who has a Dad that bails her out...the rest are as described above...floating from drum circle to drum circle...and who often leech off of the ONE GIRL in the bunch who does have the cash...or manage to score a sweet deal on a flat where tons of other people live. In fact, when I first moved to SF, I lived in one such flat. There were NINE people living in a really nice place in the Upper Market area, near Castro. I stayed there for two weeks while getting my act together for my own apartment. I helped them with food, bills, etc. as well. But it was funny, there was one girl in the house who managed all the money affairs, and she kept trying to extort more cash out of me using a variety of vague concepts...not above pleading poverty herself. I paid no more to her than what was fair for those two weeks.

by Anonymousreply 77July 14, 2011 7:02 PM

[quote]Um, no. UVa is a university more difficult to get into, from out-of-state, than most Ivies

Definitely bullshit. And I'm a UVA grad.

The out of state acceptance rate for last year was around 25%. That's hardly more difficult than most Ivies.

When Kirker talks about UVA, he is talking about the UVA of 1990, not the UVA of 2011.

by Anonymousreply 78July 14, 2011 7:50 PM

Thanks r51. even though I'm from the south I never really bonded with the locals. I guess the rednecks and hillbillies are cool with each other?

by Anonymousreply 79July 14, 2011 8:25 PM

If you really want to know what is happening in Asheville, go to www.Ashvegas.com. Nice little news site that gives some insight into who and what makes Asheville tick. And yes I live here. I moved here in 99 and would never want to live anywhere else. The winters can be nasty, as we are in the mountains. Snow and ice are common during winter. It's worth it to see spring happening all around. Not a bad place to live.

by Anonymousreply 80July 14, 2011 8:49 PM

I grew up in Maine, R80, and I know about nasty winters.%0D %0D I'm curious how it compares. Although it's in the mountains, it's pretty far south...

by Anonymousreply 81July 14, 2011 8:57 PM

Dad & I took a trip to Asheville once. Nice place, although we didn't leave our room at the B&B the whole time. Lordy! The things we did on that queen-sized bed....

by Anonymousreply 82July 14, 2011 9:02 PM

[quote]I'm curious how it compares. Although it's in the mountains, it's pretty far south...

It's at a really high elevation, especially for the east coast, so it gets more nasty weather than you might expect. It's a little to east of the Great Smokies, and it's not uncommon for some of the higher elevations there to get snow in July.

And I know I'm just a redneck, but the Smokies are honestly one of the most beautiful parts of the country.

by Anonymousreply 83July 14, 2011 9:08 PM

Hello r80. I just moved here. Can you show me around?

by Anonymousreply 84August 15, 2011 3:17 PM

The people are very crunchy granola, but they're super-liberal which is always welcome in the South.

by Anonymousreply 85August 15, 2011 7:41 PM

My husband and I love Asheville. We moved here from Florida about three years ago. We find the people to be very open and friendly. We're able to live a peaceful non commercial life. We don't own a TV and hike as much as we can. My husband is a travel writer and organic farmer - I make soaps and artisan breads. We're amongst friends here.

by Anonymousreply 86August 15, 2011 8:36 PM

R86, are you a gay couple?

by Anonymousreply 87August 15, 2011 8:42 PM

R81, Asheville winters are nothing like Maine winters: not nearly as cold, not nearly as long. They have close to a perfect 4 seasons, though. Winters get a few pretty snow falls and it can be pretty cold, but winter runs from December thru February, and while it can snow in March and rarely in April, spring usually comes in early to mid March. April & October are gorgeous there.

by Anonymousreply 88August 15, 2011 10:31 PM

hh

by Anonymousreply 89August 16, 2011 12:55 AM

It has snowed in May in the Asheville area before.

by Anonymousreply 90August 16, 2011 12:56 AM

Are there any bathhouses in Asheville?

by Anonymousreply 91August 16, 2011 1:00 AM

VOTN: You are right about the Smokies, and I am an unreconstructed Yankee. They are breathtaking. I visited them years ago and was struck not only by the beauty of the landscape but the friendliness of the people. We stereotype about "those folks" but the ones I met were nicer than the New Yorkers I come into contact with on a daily basis.%0D %0D As for UVa, the place is not quite as conservative as people think. I have a soft spot for William and Mary, but that has to do with a guy who got away years ago (long story). Duke? Don't. Start. Me.

by Anonymousreply 92August 16, 2011 1:57 AM

I have friends who moved there a few years ago (straight, cool couple with no kids). They like the general politics and say the people are OK, but it's "liberal-provincial" (if that makes any sense).

They're not the farmers' market, neo-hippie types, and they say the city doesn't have enough edge or interesting things for them. They're planning to move this year and they admit they misjudged the city based on their own interests. I get the impression they have nothing against it, but don't have any plans to return on vacation or anything.

by Anonymousreply 93August 16, 2011 2:31 AM

There is a huge gay bar in Asheville called Club hairspray.

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by Anonymousreply 94August 16, 2011 3:41 AM

There is an interesting dichotomy here in Asheville. On one hand you see billboards for the bus company that say "Strive Not to Drive- " but the buses run once an hour for tweleve hours six days a week and do not cover the entire city.

"Dog is Love" is another popular bumper sticker but most apartments do not accept pets, there are an immense amount of laws regarding pet keeping ( mandatory microchips just for a start-adopting from an agency is a high dollar proposition)taking in strays can lead to fines.

Everyone talks about smoking weed but a single gram of swag is twenty dollars. An eigth is about seventy five.

Good stuff will run you hundreds

by Anonymousreply 95August 16, 2011 4:27 AM

Love it in Asheville; wouldn't live anywhere else except the Outer Banks. At either place, I think it is more about personal tastes, as I like being surrounded by natural scenery. It's fun to visit other cities with your more popular and "upscale" franchises...lots of things at your finger tips. However I will always come back to this

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by Anonymousreply 96August 16, 2011 4:47 AM

[quote]I've never seen so many hippy-dippy, vegan, hairy legged, birkenstock and peasant skirted young women in my life.

You've clearly never been to Portland.

by Anonymousreply 97August 16, 2011 4:55 AM

[quote]... (graduated in three years, summa, and Phi Beta Kappa) got a full scholarship to UVA School of Law. She's now an attorney in the Obama administration.

Hope your friend finds a real job soon.

by Anonymousreply 98August 16, 2011 5:37 AM

And North Carolina seems to make Texas seem like the Land of Freedom. Here there is one electric company charging whatever they wish. In Texas we pick from a hundred or so providers all with competing rates and contracts.

Helmet laws. I had no idea. I never wore a helmet in my life and have been riding since I was 16. My "welcome" to the area was a ticket fr no helmet. Rode 1600 miles across country with no problem. Welcome to Asheville.

Meat cost a bundle

When I first spoke of moving here a DLer said *you will miss Texas". I thought he was full of shit but yeah, I miss it a lot

by Anonymousreply 99August 16, 2011 6:19 AM

I dunno... I lived in central Texas for 13 months in 1980-81, but since I left it I've never missed it. In those 13 months I did enough two-step dancing to last a dozen lifetimes.

by Anonymousreply 100August 16, 2011 8:07 PM

[quote]Asheville may have a few of those but not in significant numbers; instead it has many more underfunded underachievers floating from drum circle to drum circle in between putting in a few hours at a coffee shop. The hippy-vegan sorts who far outnumber the few slumming trustfunders or rich remote workers are more likely scraping by than they are funded by very healthy allowances.

This sounds accurate to me. Ambitiously creative bohemians get scrappy in other cities no matter what it takes; lazy mellow ones go to nooks like Asheville.

by Anonymousreply 101August 16, 2011 8:26 PM

I'm a real Hippie. I was born in the 1960's and grew up living the real Hippie lifestyle around real Hippies. I had been thinking of moving to Asheville but, the more I read about it, and the more pics I see of the people, I'm not so sure anymore. All I read and see about it is it's a haven for groups of people who are definitely not real Hippies. If I knew there were enough people there wanting to become real Hippies, I would move there and enlighten them so they can become one of us.

by Anonymousreply 102May 13, 2014 2:54 PM

[quote]Helmet laws. I had no idea. I never wore a helmet in my life and have been riding since I was 16. My "welcome" to the area was a ticket fr no helmet. Rode 1600 miles across country with no problem.

I know this post is old, but god you are an idiot.

by Anonymousreply 103May 13, 2014 3:01 PM

Are Ashevilleans largely hipsters or ungroomed hippies?

by Anonymousreply 104May 13, 2014 3:03 PM

They have filmed tons of movies there. The Biltmore Mansion was used with Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine in "Being There". Daniel Day-Lewis filmed in the mountains right out of town in "The Last of the Mohicans" and Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in "Bull Durham" to name a few.

by Anonymousreply 105May 13, 2014 3:23 PM

[quote]They all had dreadlocks or some other hideous fucking hair and made disapproving noises when I bought meat at the grocery store.

This never happened.

by Anonymousreply 106May 13, 2014 3:46 PM

The tea baggers control North Carolina but Asheville is pretty progressive.

by Anonymousreply 107May 13, 2014 4:43 PM

[quote]Um, no. UVa is a university more difficult to get into, from out-of-state, than most Ivies

BWAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA!!!

Oh, you guys kill me...

by Anonymousreply 108May 14, 2014 1:34 AM

HOw much are homes there?

by Anonymousreply 109January 27, 2015 9:50 PM

It's called Gashville for a reason.

I'm a gay guy, and I love it, but it is lesbian central.

by Anonymousreply 110January 27, 2015 10:49 PM

Hey you little fucker i live in asheville and yeah i know some pretty messed people incluing myself. I dont y the rest of the world thinks we r all hippies cuz were not.i grew up here and ive never lived anywhere else. Just get over yourself were not ALL losers.(lik i said, I know interesting people. me, I'm just another one of those losers)

by Anonymousreply 111April 27, 2015 3:27 AM

[quote]Hey you little fucker i live in asheville and yeah i know some pretty messed people incluing myself. I dont y the rest of the world thinks we r all hippies cuz were not.i grew up here and ive never lived anywhere else. Just get over yourself were not ALL losers.(lik i said, I know interesting people. me, I'm just another one of those losers)

Oh dear.

by Anonymousreply 112April 27, 2015 3:41 AM

Silver City, New Mexico got a similar crowd out west a few years back.

by Anonymousreply 113April 27, 2015 3:47 AM

They have a website and everything.

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by Anonymousreply 114April 27, 2015 3:49 AM

During the 90s, real hippies were still going to Santa Cruz (if they had money), or Arcata and Eureka if they did not.

by Anonymousreply 115April 27, 2015 3:54 AM

Yellow Springs, Ohio was the midwestern version but then Antioch College was closed, partly because the University didn't like the Womyn's Center and gay orientation of the college. Antioch reopened but Yellow Springs seems dead in the water.

by Anonymousreply 116April 27, 2015 4:01 AM

Hmmm. It used to be Gayersville. Now it's Woodstock? Michfest?

by Anonymousreply 117April 27, 2015 4:02 AM

How is the food scene in Asheville?

by Anonymousreply 118May 5, 2015 6:43 PM

A beautiful quirky city

by Anonymousreply 119January 29, 2016 9:05 PM

[quote]They all had dreadlocks or some other hideous fucking hair and made disapproving noises when I bought meat at the grocery store.

[quote]This never happened.

Yes, it did, I assure you.

by Anonymousreply 120January 29, 2016 9:53 PM

bump

by Anonymousreply 121August 28, 2016 12:29 PM

What's the deal? Hippies/gays/creatives seeking cheap living space and in a college town in a red state, followed by hipsters followed by yuppies. Assholes from out of state swarm the place, old buildings are torn down or "refurbished" into overpriced cookie cutter condos, the creatives can no longer afford the place/the ones who had the money/foresight to buy when it was cheap sell and the next place heats up. And so the cycle goes.

by Anonymousreply 122August 28, 2016 3:17 PM

Gorgeous place.

by Anonymousreply 123October 6, 2018 6:16 PM

Granolaville?

by Anonymousreply 124October 6, 2018 6:22 PM

Why doesn’t it make them weird hippies because they don’t shave? Body hair is perfectly natural on both genders

by Anonymousreply 125October 6, 2018 6:47 PM

*does

by Anonymousreply 126October 6, 2018 6:52 PM

I lived there for 5 years. The joke was, if you threw a rock into a crowd you would hit a massage therapist. Wages kept going down as more and more educated easterners flooded the area. Loved the location but it became impossible to make a living. This was before the condo-mania and mass marketing as the next big thing. it's probably the San Fransisco of the Appalachians now.

by Anonymousreply 127October 6, 2018 6:56 PM
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