Greensboro News & Record Editor wishes Asheville could bottle its “vibe”

Allen Johnson, the editorial-page editor of the Greensboro News and Record, blogged about his recent trip to Asheville. Johnson came away with the impression that downtown Asheville is a diverse place full of great restaurants, brewpubs and a colorful street scene with “an ambiance and vibe rarely matched in other places we’ve been.”

Then he goes on to compare Greensboro and Asheville, which doesn’t turn out so well. The grass is always greener, right?

“Unlike Greensboro, there was activity on more than one street. There’s also a cool, nonjudgmental, live-and-let-live vibe in Asheville that I don’t quite sense in Greensboro.

How we get that here I don’t know. Maybe they could bottle it.

Only one complaint: They seem to close down a little early, even with all those young people with painted hair and tattoos …”

They … as in the entire town rolls up the sidewalks and shuts the gate? Actually, that’s a complaint we hear often from visitors — and who can blame them? Shops downtown open late, often close early and many close on Sundays, even during peak tourist times. Perhaps it’s our shorter work hours that give us our laid-back vibe?

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0 thoughts on “Greensboro News & Record Editor wishes Asheville could bottle its “vibe”

  1. Dionysis

    Nothing against Greensboro; I know some fine people there, but the city is a typical boring white-bread clone-like city, virtually indistinguisable from countless others.

    Boring.

  2. Barry Summers

    I’ve just checked the NCGA website, and there’s a bill in Raleigh that seizes control of Asheville’s ‘vibe’, and re-distributes it to boring communities all over the state.

    Expect a lengthy court battle.

  3. Dionysis

    “…there’s a bill in Raleigh that seizes control of Asheville’s ‘vibe’, and re-distributes it to boring communities all over the state.”

    Yes, but before any distribution begins, the secret vibe formula will be auctioned off to the highest bidding for-profit company, that will then be given preferential tax treatment (courtesy of those subsidy-loving NC taxpayers). Shortly thereafter, the winning company will begin production of the coveted product in China. Of course, an exclusive contract with (Great)Wal-Mart of China will be inked to sell it.

  4. D. Dial

    But didn’t the author know Asheville is a cesspool of sin, a veritable Sodom and Gomorrah. Greensborough is much safer staying white bread , homogonized and comfortably boring. Goodness to wish our plight upon the fine Citizens of Greensboro is practically blasphemous.

  5. Orbit DVD

    For a moderately-priced franchise fee, you can open an Orbit DVD in Greensboro.

    • Barry Summers

      Careful, Orbit. Don’t get too big too fast – that was Krispy Kreme’s mistake.

  6. Orbit DVD

    Careful, Orbit. Don’t get too big too fast – that was Krispy Kreme’s mistake.

    Now that’s one stock that I wish I had purchased on day one.

    • Barry Summers

      Not me. Mom taught me, if your Kreme is Krispy, it’s time to throw it out.

      Boom! Take that, Greensboro! Can’t get jokes like that down in the flatlands!

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