The Changing Face of Asheville
I'm not an Asheville native. I grew up taking trips here from Charlotte while I was in high school, attending Bele Chere each year and prowling Lexington Ave, drinking 40s in the alleys. To a high schooler from polished suburban Charlotte, Asheville seemed like a haven for drifters, dirtbags and hippies. It was hard to believe a town like it could exist in North Carolina.
But now I understand that it couldn't.
Flash forward nearly a decade. My girlfriend and I just moved to Asheville this past September after living in Colorado for five years. Being back after all that time has given me a fresh perspective on the city I thought I knew.
Where are all the Hippies?
The first thing I wondered after being back in town for a few weeks was, where are all the hippies? It was the tail end of summer, the weather was still nice, but for the life of me I couldn't locate the traveling bands of banjo-toting oddballs the city was once notorious for. Sure, there were still a couple buskers outside of Malaprop's and on the corner of Walnut and Lexington, and the Pritchard Park drum circle was still alive, but it was clear that Asheville had lost most of the unique individuals it's culture was once derived from.
No More Breweries
Where I live in West Asheville, there's a graffiti writer who tags "No More Breweries". The tag is written in marker all over city trash cans and spray painted across vacant buildings up and down Haywood. It's a simple enough statement, but it makes me wonder—why would we want fewer breweries in Asheville? After all, this is Beer City. A recent analysis revealed that Asheville breweries contributed a combined $365 million in Gross Regional Product in 2016. That kind of revenue should make any resident supportive of our booming brew scene, right?
I think whoever's writing this graffiti is frustrated at the rapid gentrification of Asheville. Breweries generate a ton of wealth and create a plethora of jobs, but paradoxically they do so at the expense of local residents. When a brewery moves into a neighborhood and begins to gain traction, pricey shops and restaurants follow. This gentrification process increases property values, spikes rent prices, and locals are literally priced out of their own homes and communities.
Culture as Commodity
"Keep Asheville Weird" is a slogan I used to see on bumper stickers, t shirts and postcards, but now it's a rarity. Instead, "Beer City", "Beer'd City" and "Foodtopia" have become Asheville's new monikers. How has this shift affected the town? Well for one, beer, beards and food aren't that weird. In fact, they're pretty damn trendy. "Weird" can be hard to sell, but beer, beards and food? Just about everyone can get on board with those. So Asheville cleaned up its act, forced out the "weird" (is that why the hippies are gone?), and embraced popular culture.
I guess I'm just disappointed that Asheville's become another victim to gentrification.
