A Western North Carolina city touched by its indigenous heritage, Gilded Age extravagance and an inclusive New Southern trajectory, Asheville garners a level of acclaim on par with larger destination cities. This booming mountain resort town is known for a dynamic mixture of merits, from its edgy art and music scene to its of-the-moment eateries and soaring mountainous landscapes. Asheville is an active community, one that allows the region’s lush natural scenery to course through everyday life, where outdoor recreation is a cultural cornerstone.
This rapidly evolving region has big-city appeal and small-town charm. The city ranked 29th in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 study, “Best Places to Live in the U.S.,” for its unlikely cocktail of simple Southern tradition with global influence.
Asheville’s eclectic offerings appeal to adventurous foodies, working creatives, diehard outdoors enthusiasts, and those simply seeking a scenic retreat. More and more people relocate here from larger metropolitan areas, turning to Asheville’s fertile terrain, mountain scenery and elegant urbanity.
Home to the famed Biltmore country estate, America’s largest private residence, and the extravagant Omni Grove Park Inn, a historic vacation getaway for the elite, Ashville’s enchanting architectural blueprint is rooted in old-world opulence.
The striking Art Deco styles marking downtown Asheville sit just south of historic Montford’s turn-of-the-20th-Century Victorians and west of Grove Park’s storybook stays. College-adjacent Five Points homeowners update classic Craftsman designs while residents of the River Arts District restore decoupage-style homes. Some settle in the suburbs in Biltmore Park’s turnkey 2000s builds or West Asheville’s quirky bungalows. East End’s comfortable contemporary respites are close to the airport and big box stores, while Town Mountain’s alpine offerings hide high in the hills.
The city’s median home sale price was $412,000 in December of 2023, up 11% from 2022. Housing costs here are about level with the current national median. A well-maintained home in the desirable historic district may list for $800,000, but buyers could find something similar west of the river for closer to $500,000. Especially lavish estates with five or more bedrooms, extra acreage and summit views climb quickly into the multi-millions.
Hugged by a sweeping arc of the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, Ashevillans soak up commanding views and endless outdoor entertainment. Known as America’s Favorite Drive, the recreational route extends a meandering 469 miles, its many stops branching off into arduous hikes that lead to the region’s best natural scenery. Visitors navigate through overlooks and splashing waterfalls, scaling great heights to reach the stunning blue-misted mountain vistas.
The French Broad River provides scenic views for some; for others it offers the opportunity for racing rapids and an exciting day outdoors. Locals also have easy access to the sprawling Pisgah National Forest, its dense forestry blanketing the opposite side of town, offering a wealth of trails carved throughout 500,000 acres of mountainous land.
The city itself is full of neighborhood pocket parks, most positioned along the winding riverbanks, where locals walk dogs or hop on the Wilma Dykeman Greenway for a run or bike ride. The Botanical Gardens on the University of North Carolina Asheville campus and the North Carolina Arboretum are best known for their long-cultivated assemblages of public gardens, filled with native plants like the city’s vibrant sprays of sweet-smelling azaleas.
This abundant farming region is known for exceptional local ingredients, plucked right from fecund Appalachian soil. This profusion of produce gives Asheville, a city of smaller stature, a leg up above denser urban areas like New York. Homegrown cafes, eateries, and cantinas leverage the rise of the farm-to-table concept, serving fresh, organic, locally grown ingredients to a city full of experimental eaters and open-minded gourmands.
A self-titled “Foodtopia,” Asheville is home to a burgeoning batch of decorated chefs, including James Beard finalists Katie Button of Curate, John Fleer of Rhubarb and Meherwan Irani of Chai Pani. The community also offers a broad culinary canon, ranging from indie-mex to Indian street food to new barbeque and stylish New South flavors. Farmers' markets pulse through main streets on a daily basis, where the community forages for produce and homespun wares.
A nationally recognized craft beer powerhouse, Asheville is ranked top in the nation for its number of local breweries per capita, positioning most thirsty residents close to a taproom. The famed South Slope corridor is home to 9 of the city’s staggering 40 breweries, including Wicked Weed, which gained global notoriety for its barrel-aged sours, and Green Man’s divey taproom Dirty Jack’s, where bartenders pour pints of its specialty brews.
The Western North Carolina region’s raw materials provide a welcome haven for artists and art lovers. The city’s art scene attracts ceramicists who dig into the mineral-rich clay and landscape painters who render the pointed silhouettes of the picturesque mountain ranges. Asheville’s deeply rooted arts background was sown by the Black Mountain College experiment in the early 1900s, which brought New York City’s acclaimed Avant Garde into town, including prolific art figures like Cy Twombly, Jacob Lawrence, and Robert Rauschenberg.
Nowadays, Asheville’s trendiest enclave is the River Arts District (RAD), where artist studios and collectives breathe new life into mural-clad brick warehouses along the French Broad River. Nicknamed Paris of the South, this is home also home to The Grey Eagle and Magnetic Theater, which thrum with live music beside the visual artists busy at work. The enclave hosts regular gallery walks complete with workshops and demonstrations complemented by delectable local provisions from the bars and restaurants next door.
Locals can also take in the thriving art scene at The Asheville Art Museum, at the heart of the city, or visit The Folk Art Center – Southern Highland Craft Guild Center, known as the oldest craft retailer in the nation. The center is devoted to Appalachian arts and conveniently also a jumping-off point for exploring the Blue Ridge Mountain trails.
Asheville City Schools has an overall grade of A-minus from Niche, taking the number 13 spot of North Carolina’s 115 school districts. The district is comprised of nine schools, including Asheville High, which offers extracurriculars as impressive as its historic campus, an iconic Asheville landmark with a clay tile roof and prominent central tower. The School of Inquiry and Life Sciences Asheville (SILSA) is another standout, a separate school sharing a campus with Asheville High. SILSA integrates off-campus activities and project-based learning into a college-ready curriculum. The public school’s approach is intended to prepare 21st-century learners for a fast-paced job market.
The University of North Carolina Asheville is centrally located, immediately north of downtown. The school regularly appears on the U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” list. It’s also recognized for its Pell Grant success, placing among the nation’s top 100 for social mobility – a category that rates success in advancing economically disadvantaged students. The university flanks the city’s Five Points neighborhood, where locals enjoy the pristine campus as much as its students.
Many downtown Asheville locals live car-free lifestyles, with easy access to public transit and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. Interstates 26 and 40 are the city’s primary arterial connectors, stretching statewide. Lots of locals take advantage of the public bus service, Asheville Transit System, which serves the city with 18 routes. Asheville is also a bike-friendly area with lanes built into many main roads, offering scenic rides across the city. The Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), named the second-fastest growing airport in the country by Bloomberg News in 2018, offers direct flights to major hubs like New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.
Asheville’s economy is driven by more than just the creative class. The relatively small city population is 95,000, up from 83,000 in 2010, gradually pulling in more members of corporate America with headquarters for trailblazing employers like Mission Health. Asheville ranked as the seventh fastest-growing tech hub in the nation, according to LinkedIn.com, with a reported 29.7% growth from 2019 to 2022. It’s also named one of the Top 50 Small Cities to Start a Business by WalletHub.com, 2022. Education and health services are the current leading local industries, followed by leisure and hospitality, retail, and government offices. The city’s development plans include a new $400 million, 12-story Mission Hospital tower, the largest project ever built in the city.
Statistically, Asheville’s crime rate is higher than the national average, with property crime accounting for the overwhelming majority -- about 86% of the city's total. The city has seen a significant decrease in property crime over the past few years, while violent crime has trended upward at regional and national levels. Asheville’s figure rose roughly 17% from 2021 to 2022, according to an article from the Asheville Citizen-Times. Most incidents were aggravated assaults. The City of Asheville launched a Downtown Safety Initiative to investigate concerns and develop a sustainable approach to community safety. The pilot period ran from May through June of 2023, during which time city staff tested actions with potential to improve safety downtown. The program is currently ongoing, offering services including an increased Asheville Police Department presence downtown.
