Asheville is a typical mid-sized Southern city still trying to figure out what it wants to be. Thirty years ago it was still a kind of sleepy town, probably best known as the place Thomas Wolfe was from and wrote about. Today it's torn between people who want it to grow and people who are afraid of the change that growth brings.
It's an interesting place to be. The most common thing on the radio dial is still country music, but you can also take in the local symphony. Thanks to a temperate four-seasons climate and a thriving local health care industry, the Asheville area has become a popular retirement spot. It has become a fairly cosmopolitan city despite the continued presence of Southern Baptist influences (not to mention lots of smaller churches that make the Southern Baptists look cosmopolitan) on the local culture. When I was growing up near there, Buncombe County (of which Asheville is the county seat) was notable because it was a "wet" county and most of the surrounding counties were "dry" (for those unfamilar with the terms, a "dry county" is one in which no alcoholic beverages can be sold).
The Mountain Youth Jamboree, a local music festival held in Asheville, is widely famous in folk music circles. It also features the Thomas Wolfe museum and the Catholic church of St. Lawrence, a basilica with a copper domed roof. There are only two known churches built in this style, both designed by the same architect.
Several years ago, the Cherokee tribe opened a casino on their reservation about 40 miles west of Asheville; the biggest change this has made in the area is a significant increase in the number of pawn shops and check cashing stores.