Is local blogger Felicity, author of The Hangover Journals, the latest victim of Asheville’s so-called gentrification? Quite possibly. On April 7, she posted that she was informed by a “short unfriendly note” that she had 60 days to vacate the house she’s lived in for the last six years.
And the reason given? According to Felicity, there wasn’t one.
“No explanation was offered, just that they have “new plans” for the property,” she writes. “I bet they do. I bet they have plans to paint it and turn around and rent it for twice what I’m paying, or maybe they’re going to sell it (I’ve offered to buy it but they said no) or maybe they’re going to do what everyone else in West Asheville is doing and plop about 5 hideous modular homes on the lot and make big, big bucks. Whatever. It shouldn’t matter to me what they’re going to do with it but it does.”
But, getting kicked out of her house was only the start. In past week, further posts hint that Felicity appears to be giving up on the region altogether, echoing emotions that may seem familiar to many longtime residents.
“So more and more, I don’t know if I’ll stay,” she writes. “I have family here. I moved here because of my family; I’ve been coming here my whole life; WNC is a big part of me. My friends are here and I love them; I’ve built a whole life here. But I’m not certain, anymore, that this is the Asheville I’ve known and loved and I’m not certain either whether I belong here anymore.”
How will this story end? No one knows, but it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on her blog until it does.
— Steve Shanafelt
I really hope Felicity stays. She is one of a short-list of sweet friends that Helen and i have. Consequently we’ve informed our circle of other friends to keep an eye out for a dog-friendly two-bedroom rental with character (hopefully still in W. Asheville).
She does have a point, this town is teh suXX0rz. I’ve lived here for 29 years, and I have gotten to the point where I can’t stand it.
I’m sure I’ll get a lot of people saying “well, leave if you don’t like it” or “change happens, get over it”, but the problem is, that I have roots here.
I’m not saying that I have more of a right to be here than someone else, but I feel like the recent influx of people in the last 7-10 years has turned this town into something different. I can’t describe it, and for all I know, it could be me that has changed.
But I’m tired of it also.
Well….Jason and Zen, I have only been here for five years and in that time I think it has really changed dramatically. I moved here because I feel in love with the area back in my College days. I always wanted to move back to western NC and it was between Boon and Asheville. For me, Asheville just has more charm and character. Character that I often wonder if we are losing as I do not want to see it vanish. Asheville’s Character as it is what brought me here to begin with and I not one of those transplants that wants everything changed to my taste. I hope she stays to as she is part of what gives us character!
Ewww……Jason and Zen please don’t kill me over my major typos and grammar. I have been a little under the weather the past few days.
Has anyone thought that maybe part of the problem with this town is the character? A small town with a few interesting and different people is always fun, but when the interesting people leave and the different people begin act different because it’s expected, and they begin to outnumber the normal people and the interesting people(like I believe is happening to Asheville as we speak) it just seems to shift from a “quirky little mountain town” to “a town full of assholes”.
I moved here because of the “quirky little mountain” I had my fill of “a town full of ########” in the piedmont triad area which was one reason for relocating to begin with. However, I don’t think it’s just limited to Asheville. In some ways all of NC seems to be drifting that way.