If Asheville didn’t exist, those of us who have hungered all our lives for a place like this would be forced to invent it - or, maybe we were and we did? However it happened - blame it on the hog drovers that once passed through in number, blame it on the moonshiners, blame it on George Vanderbilt or blame it on the bossa nova - that which is uniquely Asheville is arguably more unique than anything else in the Tar Heel state. In Raleigh, we really are referenced as “those Asheville types.”

Mayor Terry Bellamy: Best Politician

Hence we find a dead-heat between All-u-can-eat Buffets and Car Dealers as our least-liked categories. Hereabouts a great buffet needs to include all-that-is-good-for-u, and autos are as likely to manifest as to be dealt for - with free bus service, who needs a car, anyway?

And where but in Asheville would an ecowarrior forest planner, an actor/director/producer and a man who provides free meals to the hungry snag top honors as underreported local heroes?

The “Category We Missed” voting went to three categories we once polled but have dropped. I wasn’t a party to those decisions, and I too like bartenders, movie theaters and ice cream, though not necessarily in that order.

- Cecil Bothwell

Local politician

Terry Bellamy
Robin Cape
Brownie Newman

Unsung hero

Hugh Irwin
Charlie Flynn-McIver
Adam Ripley

Best reason to live in Asheville

Mountains
Natural beauty/climate
Diversity
The people

Best reason to leave Asheville

Cost of living
Lack of jobs
Development
Too many rich people moving here