Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville (/ˈæʃvɪl/ ASH-vil) is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States.[7] Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the most populous city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most-populous city. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,589,[8] up from 83,393 in the 2010 census.[9] It is the principal city in the three-county Asheville metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 417,202 in 2023.[10][4]
"Asheville" redirects here. For other uses, see Asheville (disambiguation).
Asheville
United States
1797
Governor Samuel Ashe
Asheville City Council
- Sandra Kilgore (vice mayor)
- S. Antanette Mosley
- Kim Roney
- Sheneika Smith
- Sage Turner
- Maggie Ullman
45.86 sq mi (118.76 km2)
45.47 sq mi (117.77 km2)
0.39 sq mi (1.00 km2) 0.85%
2,134 ft (650 m)
94,589
93,776
11th in North Carolina
2,080.20/sq mi (803.18/km2)
1,149.6/sq mi (443.9/km2)
417,202 (US: 131st)
Ashevillan
37-02140[5]
1018864[6]
Parks and recreation[edit]
Asheville is a major hub of whitewater recreation, particularly whitewater kayaking, in the eastern US. Many kayak manufacturers have their bases of operation in the Asheville area.[116] Some of the most distinguished whitewater kayakers live in or around Asheville.[117] In its July/August 2006 journal, the group American Whitewater named Asheville one of the top five US whitewater cities.[117]
Asheville is also home to numerous disc golf courses.
Soccer is another popular recreational sport in Asheville. There are two youth soccer clubs in Asheville, Asheville Shield Football Club[118] and HFC.
The Asheville Hockey League provides opportunities for youth and adult inline hockey at an outdoor rink at Carrier Park. The rink is open to the public, and pick-up hockey is also available. The Asheville Civic Center has held recreational ice hockey leagues in the past.
Government[edit]
Local government[edit]
The City of Asheville operates under a council–manager government, via its charter. A mayor and a six-member city council are elected at-large for staggered four-year terms. The City Council appoints a city manager, a city attorney, and a city clerk.[119] The City Council appoints a vice-mayor from among its members. In the absence or disability of the mayor, the vice-mayor performs the mayoral duties. City Council determines the needs to be addressed and the degree of service to be provided by the administrative branch of city government.
In 2005 Mayor Charles Worley signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and in 2006 the City Council created the Sustainable Advisory Committee on Energy and the Environment. In 2007 the Council became the first city on the East Coast to commit to building all municipal buildings to LEED Gold Standards and to achieve 80 percent energy reduction of 2001 standards by 2040. Also in 2007 the Council signed an agreement with Warren Wilson College stating the intent of the city and college to work together toward climate partnership goals.[120]
Following President Donald Trump's decision to remove the United States from the Paris Agreement, Mayor Esther Manheimer was one of the original 61 mayors to commit to uphold the agreement in the city.[121]
On July 14, 2020, the Asheville City Council voted unanimously to approve reparations to the city's Black citizens. The move came during the 2020 George Floyd protests. The resolution called for increased investment in Black communities in the city. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners soon followed the adoption of the measure.[122] The protest also started a move to remove and replace the Vance Monument in the city; that decision is still underway.
Infrastructure[edit]
Transportation[edit]
Asheville is served by Asheville Regional Airport in the southernmost portion of the city,[140] and by Interstate 40 (east-west),[141]: I-40 Interstate 240 (north loop from I-40),[142]: I-240 and Interstate 26 (north-south).[141]: I-26 Additional major roadways providing access to Asheville include U.S. routes 19 and 74, and North Carolina state routes 191 and 280.[143] Passenger rail service is not available for the city. The city operates Asheville Rides Transit (ART), which consists of sixteen bus lines,[144] providing service throughout the City of Asheville and to Black Mountain, North Carolina.
A milestone was achieved in 2003, when Interstate 26 was extended nine miles from Mars Hill (north of Asheville) to Johnson City, Tennessee, completing a seven-year 1⁄4-billion dollar construction project,[145] part of a twenty-year 1⁄2-billion dollar construction project through the Blue Ridge Mountains. Work continues to improve Interstate 26 from Mars Hill to Interstate 40 by improving U.S. Route 19 and U.S. Route 23 and the western part of Interstate 240. This construction will include a multimillion-dollar bridge to cross the French Broad River.[146]
The Norfolk Southern Railway passes through the city, but passenger service is no longer available in the area. The city was last served in 1975 by the Southern Railway's Asheville Special (New York-Washington-Asheville, ended, 1970; Asheville-Salisbury, ended, 1975). Before that, it was served by the Southern's Skyland Special (Asheville-Columbia-Jacksonville, ended, 1959) and Carolina Special (Cincinnati-Goldsboro and Charleston branches, ended, 1968). In 1968, passenger service shifted from Asheville's station to the nearby Biltmore station. The Asheville station, built in 1905, was demolished.[147]
The North Carolina Department of Transportation has proposed the restoration of train service between Asheville and Salisbury, as has Amtrak.[148][149]
In 2020, the city received a $US1 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to be used primarily on the ART bus transit system.[150]
Public services and utilities[edit]
The residents of Asheville are served by the Buncombe County Public Libraries, consisting of 11 branches located throughout the county; the headquarters and central library, Pack Memorial Library, is located in downtown Asheville.[151] The system includes a law library in the Buncombe County Courthouse and a genealogy and local history department located in the central library.
Drinking water in Asheville is provided by the Asheville water department. The water system consists of three water treatment plants, more than 1,600 miles (2,600 km) of water lines, 30 pumping stations and 27 storage reservoirs.[152]
Sewer services are provided by the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County, power provided by Duke Energy, and natural gas is provided by PSNC Energy.
Asheville offers public transit through the ART (Asheville Rides Transit) bus service that operates across the city and to the town of Black Mountain. Routes originate from a central station located at 49 Coxe Avenue.[153]
Asheville's sister cities are:[154]
In popular culture[edit]
Author Thomas Wolfe (d. 1938) was born and grew up here, writing about the city; he and O. Henry (d.1910) are buried in Riverside Cemetery.[155] Other authors with Asheville ties include Charles Frazier (Cold Mountain), Chicago poet Carl Sandburg (d.1967 in his home in Flat Rock),[156] and F. Scott Fitzgerald (who wrote while staying at the Grove Park Inn).
Thomas Wolfe's debut novel Look Homeward, Angel (1929) is set largely in Asheville and features a protagonist recognizably similar to the author; the town is named Altamont in the book.
The 2008 film Anywhere, U.S.A. was locally produced,[157] and won a Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The character Harrison Shepherd, the narrator and protagonist of Barbara Kingsolver's 2009 novel The Lacuna, lived in Asheville.[158] Asheville is featured as a location in the 2009 novel One Second After by William R. Forstchen (an area resident).[159]
The 2012 film The Hunger Games was filmed near Asheville,[160] as was the 2017 film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The North Carolina tourism board has developed a guide for visitors interested in sites used in the film.[161]
