Photos via Jeffrey Pott, Matthew Paulson, Clark Mackey and Zen Sutherland; posted by Matador Network
“The girl you chatted up at WALK? You’d never guess she’s a world-champion kayaker,” reads Matador Networks’ description of Asheville in its just-published 20 Coolest Towns in the U.S. list. “The bearded bro who served you an IPA? You’d never know his brewery made a million dollars last year.”
No stranger to fawning lists, Asheville ranks no. 1 on this roundup. Why? Location, “an almost ridiculously welcoming, supportive local community” and “a chill Southern family-friendly culture.” The website outlines a perfect day in Asheville to include breakfast at Sunny Point Café, hiking and — here’s the surprise — stops at off-the-beaten-path watering holes The Crow & Quill and Tiger Mountain.
Matador Network’s list also includes Frisco, Colo.; Laguna Beach, Calif.; and North Charleston., S.C.
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About Alli Marshall
Alli Marshall has lived in Asheville for more than 20 years and loves live music, visual art, fiction and friendly dogs. She is the winner of the 2016 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize and the author of the novel "How to Talk to Rockstars," published by Logosophia Books. Follow me @alli_marshall
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10 thoughts on “Asheville named top “coolest town” by Matador Network”
julie
Uhh, really? This has to be a hoax, It is a cesspool for sure, not cool though…….far far from cool. Weird, yes
How many of these best of lists do you have to reference to remind yourselves how cool you are? Not to burst your bubble, but maybe you really aren’t that cool. More a caricature at this point.
Big Al
North Charleston? WTF? The last time I was there (granted it was 1998) it was just a bunch of warehouses and cheap motels.
AVL LVR
North Charleston is pretty awesome. Tons of new shopping centers, houses, etc. I stayed in a hotel there by the outlet mall last year.
bsummers
Nothing says “cool” like tons of shopping centers and outlet malls.
bsummers
This is as cool as America gets? OK… Gonna take some time to process that…
RedHotPoker
AVL is SOOooo OVER HYPED…it just ain’t all that people…it’s just NOT.
Jim
Southern culture isn’t in Asheville. Get real. It’s full of yankee rejects.
The only good thing about Asheville is the fact that rednecks like you don’t feel comfortable here. Most of the Yankee rejects I know move back to Iowa.
Will
With competition for cool like N Charleston, Asheville’s coronation of cool is amazing! Bet Dayton Ohio is fuming .
Uhh, really? This has to be a hoax, It is a cesspool for sure, not cool though…….far far from cool. Weird, yes
How many of these best of lists do you have to reference to remind yourselves how cool you are? Not to burst your bubble, but maybe you really aren’t that cool. More a caricature at this point.
North Charleston? WTF? The last time I was there (granted it was 1998) it was just a bunch of warehouses and cheap motels.
North Charleston is pretty awesome. Tons of new shopping centers, houses, etc. I stayed in a hotel there by the outlet mall last year.
Nothing says “cool” like tons of shopping centers and outlet malls.
This is as cool as America gets? OK… Gonna take some time to process that…
AVL is SOOooo OVER HYPED…it just ain’t all that people…it’s just NOT.
Southern culture isn’t in Asheville. Get real. It’s full of yankee rejects.
The only good thing about Asheville is the fact that rednecks like you don’t feel comfortable here. Most of the Yankee rejects I know move back to Iowa.
With competition for cool like N Charleston, Asheville’s coronation of cool is amazing! Bet Dayton Ohio is fuming .