Walking downtown
A lot of long-time locals complain about how busy and crowded downtown Asheville has become.
Well, it was a ghost-town in the mall-era, back in the 70's, and when we started coming here in the early 90's, it wasn't much better.
We've seen Asheville transform itself back into the tourist town that it was in the 1890's, when northern and coastal folks came here in droves, through the 1920's, ended by the Great Recession. It's booming now.
Walking downtown this evening, I was struck with the number of young travelers there were walking about (these aren't regular tourists, but young folks journeying on a low budget from wherever). They're alternative folks and certainly part of the Asheville mix. I was rather glad not to see just the New York and Florida tourists, or our regional day-trippers, to be honest.
There was also the addition of heart-breaking homeless folks -- I'm seeing more older women since we've been back this spring, carrying belongings -- one woman I saw this evening looked just like me, with a black garbage bag of all of what she had, I think. I don't think she was just looking for the dumpster nearby. That's why I give as much as I can to our local food bank, which does widely regional distributions (Manna); they're part of the Feeding America network. We fortunately have a robust support network in Asheville to help folks get a meal, find a home, and try to get back on their feet -- it's certainly not enough, but it helps.
So I headed on to my writing group meeting, at a wonderfully socially-supported space at The Block. The owner is a social-justice minded person, so it's a perfect new space for this writing group -- I'd be there every month if I wasn't going to be elsewhere.
I'll be back in the fall.
There are places to be in between. Our part of Quebec now is a special place, too.
Well, it was a ghost-town in the mall-era, back in the 70's, and when we started coming here in the early 90's, it wasn't much better.
We've seen Asheville transform itself back into the tourist town that it was in the 1890's, when northern and coastal folks came here in droves, through the 1920's, ended by the Great Recession. It's booming now.
Walking downtown this evening, I was struck with the number of young travelers there were walking about (these aren't regular tourists, but young folks journeying on a low budget from wherever). They're alternative folks and certainly part of the Asheville mix. I was rather glad not to see just the New York and Florida tourists, or our regional day-trippers, to be honest.
There was also the addition of heart-breaking homeless folks -- I'm seeing more older women since we've been back this spring, carrying belongings -- one woman I saw this evening looked just like me, with a black garbage bag of all of what she had, I think. I don't think she was just looking for the dumpster nearby. That's why I give as much as I can to our local food bank, which does widely regional distributions (Manna); they're part of the Feeding America network. We fortunately have a robust support network in Asheville to help folks get a meal, find a home, and try to get back on their feet -- it's certainly not enough, but it helps.
So I headed on to my writing group meeting, at a wonderfully socially-supported space at The Block. The owner is a social-justice minded person, so it's a perfect new space for this writing group -- I'd be there every month if I wasn't going to be elsewhere.
I'll be back in the fall.
There are places to be in between. Our part of Quebec now is a special place, too.
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| Parc National du Bic, summer, 2018 |
I was sad to miss attending this event with you, but there will be more! The mix of people in Asheville is refreshing, although the homeless population is distressing no matter the city. I hope we all give of ourselves and our bounty as much as we can.
ReplyDeleteIt WAS too bad that you couldn’t get there— but do go to upcoming meetings as you can — I really enjoyed it.
DeleteBut I need to make a few more local contributions before decamping abroad, I’m thinking.