ASHEVILLE – It’s not just the weather that’s cool around here these days.
It’s Asheville itself, according to the website Matador, which has christened our fair city as the number one coolest city in America. And the assessment, not to brag, is dead on.
“Visitors strolling around the cool art deco buildings or finding farm-to-table cuisine and craft beer everywhere they turn may presume Asheville has long been an affluent place,” Matador stated. “In reality, Asheville suffered decades of shuttered buildings, areas with a full-on ‘ghost town’ feel. But starting in the mid-80s, a group of visionary citizens led one of the most amazing economic transformations in the U.S. Forward to 2015: Calendars full of next-level music/arts/culture festivals, boutique hotels popping up all over downtown, and pound for pound the most thriving craft beer and local food scene in the country.”
Matador wasn’t looking for size as much as real heart in its “20 Coolest Towns in the U.S.” search. They also like a walkable community that has a “strong DIY or local movements around agriculture/food/drink/farm to table,” as well as “cool natural features close by, and ideally a significant part of their local economy is outdoor recreation.”
They were also looking for “cultural diversity to the point where even if the town is small it still has a ‘global citizenry’ feel. We like it when we can speak more than one language; we like it when the place is LGBT friendly.