Gotta agree, Asheville is the gay capitol of the East, full of liberal tree huggers and gays. The towns on the outskirts and surrounding areas are absolutely beautiful and more traditional.
Not to mention retirees, yankees, and halfbacks (elderly who moved to Florida from New York and made it only halfway back). The place has become a tourist trap and living there if you're not a hippie or one of the above groups is very, very hard. Sorry, ch8r that's my bad side and I am a bit jaded about what has happened to Asheville in the past 10 years (not to mention much of the rest of my state).
For the good, unless the enviro-whackos have closed down the paper mill thereby increasing the price of land in Canton with the hopes of overdevelopment, I would suggest Canton. Just not downtown Canton. Beaverdam community just outside of Canton is/was still nice. You're still close enough to Asheville (about 15 miles) but still out in the country. I would almost say Woodfin but I fear by now that's probably been overrun with new housing.
I agree with Congressman Billybob that anywhere around Asheville would be good, but stay out of Asheville as it's become San Francisco East. I mean that in the sense that counter culture and PC has replaced what 30 years ago was a bluegrass and blue collar town. Also, the housing prices in Asheville are ridiculous(for NC).
Adjoining Henderson County has some very nice areas, in fact Hendersonville has a booming retirement community and one of the highest bank deposit rates per capita of any town in NC.
A bit farther S.W. is Transylvania County with the small town of Brevard(very nice) which is about 1/2 hour S.W. of Asheville. This is another location worth looking at.
On the other side of the Blue Ridge, one hour north of Asheville via four lane interstate is Johnson City Tn. It's a mountain town that is very similar to what Asheville was 20+ years ago. I recommend a ride up that way to check it out.
Thanks, John. Does anybody have information about a new development called Crest Mountain? I have their sales pitch. I'm looking for opinions. Thanks again!
(Please feel free to FReepmail, post in the forum, or ping your NC lists)