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Old Posted Jun 28, 2012, 7:06 AM
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hauntedheadnc hauntedheadnc is offline
A gruff individual.
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Greenville, SC - "Birthplace of the light switch rave"
Posts: 13,338
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingchef View Post
of course, i know asheville has the nickname of ""the san francisco of the south." being a well know area for artists in residence for so many mediums, i found it strange that it was so expensive to live there. isn't tourism a huge part of the area economy? hardwood timber, logging, and planting nurseries?
it is the small nuances that set the community apart from other cities---big and small. you have so much for which to be thankful. w/ the eye you have for detail in many of the photos, you capture much of the spirit of the area. to be honest, i haven't done any home work on wiki or google, etc., but i think that the french broad river is near to that area, is it not?
Tourism is an enormous part of the local economy of Asheville, along with art (much of which is commissioned by buyers from outside the area), retail, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution. We're also making a name for ourselves in brewing. We already have about a dozen distilleries or breweries with more coming, including some big names such as New Belgium, which will locate in the River District, and Sierra Nevada, which is locating in the nearby town of Mills River. New Belgium in particular is expected to set the River District on fire in terms of renovation and development. The lot of them are also expected to attract other industries to help service the brewing interests. The latest one that I heard of was the expansion of a glass factory that provides bottles to some of the breweries.

Now, why did we attract the breweries? Our water. Supposedly it's some of the best in the country, and speaking of water, yes the French Broad River flows right through town.

To answer your other question, logging isn't a very large part of the economy, although it's present. There are a few nurseries and greenhouses, but we're not known for them.

Finally, thanks for your compliments. I'll do what I can to really capture the churches, but that will come down to who has their doors unlocked. Although, now that I think of it I did manage to capture some pictures of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in this thread from a couple of years ago. St. Mary's is located north of downtown in the Grove Park neighborhood.
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"To sustain the life of a large, modern city in this cloying, clinging heat is an amazing achievement. It is no wonder that the white men and women in Greenville walk with a slow, dragging pride, as if they had taken up a challenge and intended to defy it without end." -- Rebecca West for The New Yorker, 1947
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