I’m torn between Obama being either so naive he actually thought he could pull off some of these big things or was he just spouting empty campaign promises he knew in advance would never happen.

Gordon, The creative class has NEVER taken off here. Too many people in the creative class moved here, and guess what, NAME ONE high tech firm that said ” Asheville is the place to move our HQ to”, where are the big paying jobs, heck you have more web wannabe, software companies here than you do decent doctors. Go ahead cite your thin sources for which you make these assumptions. You are so misguided. Richard Florida enjoys his laurels, book sales, and public appearances for people like you who would rather beleive in theories and assumptions. Tell me, how many recessions have their been for either RF or yourself to state your assumed facts?! BTW- Companies have opened shop to cater to the weather center, but most of them are from out of state… Oh, and one more thing, the center is another government funded enterprise. Cool place, great people, and neat stuff, but not exactly IBM when it comes to hiring tons of folks.

We care, when is your last day in town? Perhaps somebody will throw a parade.

by travelah
on 02/08 at 06:02 PM
TOPIC: Domestic-partner benefits would …

“Are homosexuals leaving Asheville over this issue?”
Well some of us are. We do look at what a city has to offer. Being “gay friendly” means nothing if we are still discriminated against and an employer can fire you because of your sexual preference. Exactly what makes Asheville “gay friendly”?

Thank God someone in the local media has finally taken a calm, common sense look at this. The hysteria whipped up by Matt Mattan of WWNC (Clear Channel) and Russ Bowen of WLOS was ridiculous. They (especially Mattan) fomented the idea that this was “taxpayer money” being used for the conference (when it was airport fees)and that the airport authority had shady bookkeeping to boot. Some poor misled protester greeted Susan Fisher at the airport with a sign accusing her of “sinking” the NC taxpayer, and a caller to Matt Mattan’s show even declared that the board members should be “thrown in jail” upon their return! Then the Citizen-Times tried to get in on the action by doing a print-only “expose” of Advantage West’s travels….when Advantage West is charged with marketing Asheville to the rest of the country and the world! What a pitiful chapter for the mainstream Asheville media. I noticed that the Xpress didn’t take the cheap route and pile on, which impressed me very much.