Liberal Place: Asheville, NC

The city has about 70,000 people and it is the largest city in the North Carolina Blue Ridge mountains. The draw back is that the job market for non-professionals is dismal. The economy is largely tourist and retirement based so wages are low. Also the surrounding areas tend to be very conservative yet largely tolerant of liberals.

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I'v been living in Asheville for several months now, When I first arrved, I thought I had died and gone to heaven but I no longer feel that way. First of all, the holistic movement is large and growing and I am finding it to be very evangelistic in nature...which is beginning to make me uncomfortable . I'm also having less than charitble feelings about the commercialism that surrounds the movement here. And, while everything holistic is easily accessible and readily available, I am not finding much of anything going in in the "secular" political arena. People seem to be either coservative or pollitically disinterested (this seems to be especially true of those who are into the "new age spiritualism).

Finally, and very important to me, this is not an area of great diversity as far as the people go. It is definitely a white Christian area and I really miss the interaction that can be found in more blended communities.

Please don't take the above as a blanket codemnation of Asheville. For many, I'm sure living here will be awonderful experience. I just have not found the essentials that are important to me.

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There is no question that Asheville and the surrounding area is surely a New Age Mecca. See http://www.newfrontier.com/aha for all the details. I have been here for 4 years and have found the place to be magical. I run the Tantric center here and I can tell you this is one liberal area!

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I went to school in Mars Hill which is located 19 miles north of Asheville and have spent more then my share of time in the city. I have to say that I love it! They have elected a woman mayor (Sticknic sp?) have a wonderful music sence with lots of great up and coming musicians, great hiking (the country is just a stone's throw away), and the annual summer festival 'Bele Cher' is a blast. The are is pretty liberal for the bible belt and has a few good LGBT bars and clubs. They also held 'Pride" events there for a week in June. So my vote is with Asheville, Nc as a good place to be!

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I was born in South Carolina and grew up in North Carolina, but moved away thirty years ago, having lived in New York, Hartford, Philadelphia and Washington. I knew Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountains then and have frequently visited over the years. The Asheville of today is something no one could have imagined back then. I think its vibrant arts and crafts scene -- not its New Age following -- is its big draw. The fact it is apolitical is a plus, as far as I'm concerned. I find it more genuinely tolerant than either San Francisco or New York, which tend to enforce a kind of political correctness on everyone and everything. That grows tiresome and impedes relationships across different political views.

Is racial diversity the only kind of diversity? Not really. Human diversity can be enormous within any ethnic or racial group. The "white Christains" named above is a vast category that includes some fairly remarkably diverse people from Michaelangelo to Abraham Lincoln to Robert Frost to Mother Theresa. So, give us all a break. Since many of the New Age people would not consider themselves practicing Christians, I'm not sure what the gripe is. What's wonderful is that the area, which is highly religious, is tolerant of this island of colorful New Age people and highly supportive of the arts community that has grown up there. And, the New Age people are tolerant of the surrounding Christian culture. This admirable combination is not often found.

Plus, there is more racial diversity than is commonly believed -- if that is the beef above. There is a small, but vibrant black community and nearby in Cherokee and the surrounding area are the descendants of the Cherokee Indians who did not go to Oklahoma. There are small numbers of many ethnic groups in the area, who add immeasurably to the quality of life.