Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin Nahum
Asheville seems a very photogenic town with its art deco buildings - quite unexpected given its location "out in the bush". Can you say a few words about why somebody chose to put a city there?
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Asheville sits in sort of a "bowl" surrounded by mountains, making it a natural place for a town to grow into a city given the rugged terrain around it. it had become a vacation destination for people seeking the good mountain air even before George Vanderbilt put up the Biltmore Estate around the turn of the 19th century. after that, the town prospered, and the first few decades of the 20th century saw the advent of the Grove Park Inn, Pack Square, the courthouse, and an abundance of Art Deco architecture. celebrities and presidents visited, giving it a sort of national profile.
when the Depression hit, development was stalled as the city incurred massive debt, and the city was determined to repay it, so they couldn't afford to tear down the old buildings to put up "modern" designs -- lucky for everyone, in a perverse way! (the debt was finally paid off in 1977.)
more recently, in the '60s and '70s, the mountains attracted counterculture types who gravitated to Asheville as the hub anchoring Western North Carolina. this fueled a massive folk-arts and music scene that still thrives today.
i lived there in the '70s and in nearby Black Mountain in the early '80s ... truthfully, i wish i'd never left -- great town, great people, great scenery!