So Asheville! Segway tourism downtown

The view from the West End of Mountain Xpress (as we like to call our end of the Miles Building) provides everything from a visit by N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue to … tourists on Segways. This scene was captured on Wednesday, May 26, as the visitors buzzed past the Flat Iron.

photo by Margaret Williams

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About Margaret Williams
Editor Margaret Williams first wrote for Xpress in 1994. An Alabama native, she has lived in Western North Carolina since 1987 and completed her Masters of Liberal Arts & Sciences from UNC-Asheville in 2016. Follow me @mvwilliams

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33 thoughts on “So Asheville! Segway tourism downtown

  1. Katie

    So Asheville?? So wrong! Asheville is about healthy living. These people need to be walking around AVL. Segways just encourage people to buzz by and not stop and smell the roses.

  2. Matthew

    Who started the, “So Asheville” thing…it’s stupid and about as funny as saying Ashevegas. Give it a rest. If you say or use these terms in public it makes you look like a idiot.

  3. shadmarsh

    I’ve come to believe that there is a special ring of hell just for Segway users.

  4. Carrie

    You can walk Asheville, corner to corner, in 20 minutes tops. Segways are still funny, though. Especially since you have to wear a helmet!! Why? You might fall 2 inches from the ground.

  5. Barry Summers

    I’ve come to believe that there is a special ring of hell just for Segway users.

    Hoarders and wasters spend eternity pushing an enormous stone against each other. Suicides and blasphemers are torn apart by dogs for all time. Traitors against country are encased in ice.

    What would be the eternal punishment for Segway riders?

  6. Michael Muller

    Just because these people look like they just got off the short bus doesn’t mean y’all have to be so vicious. I mean, really.

  7. Jeff

    People look SO GOOFY on those Segways. The people on them seem to show a hint of embarrassment in their expressions too.

    Segways have something in common with fat chicks and mo-peds… They’re a lot of fun to ride until your friends see you.

  8. Barry Summers

    Just because these people look like they just got off the short bus doesn’t mean y’all have to be so vicious. I mean, really.

    Says the guy who makes fun of zombies. Zombies have feelings, too, MM. Short, stubby feelings, crawling with maggots, but still.

  9. dpewen

    I think the segways are ridiculous and are only ridden by fat, lazy tourists. Get off the segway and get some frickin exercise!

  10. Barry Summers

    What pisses me off about Segways is very simple – the enormous amount of money, energy, creativity, natural resources, and pollution from its manufacture – all expended so people can avoid walking. It’s an emblem for the wastefulness and absurdity of our age, like the Hummer.

    That’s so NOT Asheville.

  11. ben

    sooo…..i cant ride a bike or skateboard or rollerblades on the sidewalk but it’s ok and not a hazard to to have segways on the sidewalk? Especially people that have never used one before? Oh wait….i guess there isnt any money made off of people riding anything else on the sidewalk…..nevermind. The fat get fatter, the lazy get lazier and Americand (and Asheville)keep catering to fat and lazy……nice work Asheville….

  12. TokyoTaos

    Hey, riding a segway is actually FUN. And it’s not like you get a chance to ride one every day. These people are on vacation – let them enjoy themselves. Jeesh!

  13. Barry Summers

    My criticism isn’t just about the Segways, it’s about calling this “So Asheville!” Are you a MtnX employee, by any chance?

  14. dpewen

    They are not Asheville … just fat and lazy tourists … but they could be from Hendersonville!

  15. Betty Cloer Wallace

    Oh, my.

    As per my loving nature, I will continue to consider just about anything that is called “so AVL” a positive until widespread local opinion and my own informed judgment really really really determines otherwise.

    Actually, I kinda like the sound of AVL referred to as so AVL as in so Taos, so Santa Fe, so Paris, so NYC, so (wherever).

    It’s merely an identifier of only a little piece of our fair city’s offerings, after all, not a referendum on the whole pie.

    I love Segways. Sort of like little toy cars. Or roller skates. And even better than (gasp!) skateboards for many people. And you will think so too when you age a bit and appreciate even a minor thrill having to do with better mobility.

    Even little Franklin has a Segway business with routes throughout downtown and the Little Tennessee River Greenway for their retiree population and tourists.

    BTW, who owns the local AVL Segway business, and what is their contact information? And their routes? Is this a local business that really needs to be so discredited? Or encouraged?

  16. dpewen

    I am retired and I would not be caught dead on one of these things! I will stick with mountain biking and road biking! Of course I realize some retirees have never exercised in their life … it is never too late seniors to get in shape!!

  17. killaure

    geez, y’all will argue about anything, although I do like the point about these things being allowed on the sidewalks. So Asheville, so many opinions:)

  18. Michael Muller

    Indeed it is a locally-owned business, Betty…called “Moving Sidewalk Tours.” They leave daily at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m from the Asheville Visitor Center and the ride covers a 2 to 2.5 hour tour of downtown, including the Grove Arcade, the Asheville Urban Trail and parts of the Montford Historic District.

    The Visitor Center is at 36 Montford Avenue and rides will cost you 55 bucks.

    For more information, scoot on over to: http://www.movingsidewalktours.com or call Wes at 828-776-8687 or email him at Wes@MovingSidewalkTours.com

  19. Barry Summers

    Gaaauuuggh! (hot coffee spurting from nose)

    55 bucks?1?

    hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

  20. Piffy!

    Damn, a poor-man’s pff?

    I didn’t think one get get poorer than I, but hey!

    Barry’s a player hater.

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