We stayed in Asheville last December. While some parts are gentrified and restored, others parts are very poor. In other words, you have extremes of wealth and affluence with hard poverty close by. This contrast continues somewhat outside of Asheville as well. We went North on the Blue Ridge Parkway for twenty miles and passed wooden shacks, like in Dorothea Lange photos, and then found ourselves in a little town with no less than six pottery studios, three coffee roasters, and full of new age silliness.
My brother, 10 years ago before he got his act together, was a delivery driver for a company that delivered frozen food that people had pre ordered. He delivered to Biltmore Forrest which is very exclusive & also to housing projects in the city. One time he was delivering in the projects & guys hanging out shot rubber bullets at him. When he gets to the address he finds people getting high & watching rap videos. There was also a couple having sex right in front of everyone. He was so happy to get out of there. He quit shortly after that.