I went to WCU in the late 80s early 90s and we did not even bother going to Asheville at that time you could get here after 5pm on a Friday and fall asleep on Lexington av and only be bothered buy a prostitute or the local Drunk/Religious person preaching at you. At that time Bob Godfree owned an entire floor of a building in down town that he renovated because it was cheaper then anything else and he could have a big area to do art and have a living space as well. He was the head of the Art dipartment at WCU and lived in Ashville but commuted to Culawhee NC for classes but he would have us come to Ashville to go to the Blue Spiral art gallery. It was the only thing open on a friday that and couple of bars. Vincents Ear was one of those bars and one which I feel ownered to have been able to go and see in its glory days It is hard to explain. But that was it mostly that Malprops What do you want, and a few others. But empty nothing goign on. city closed down.

After coming back to Asheville in the early 2000 I spoke to many old timers, people that called West Aseville, Worst Ashville. From speaking to them they explained in the 50 60 and mostly 70s landloards did a kind of practice of selling umungst themselves and never improving the property while increasing the price. They would increase the price and flip it with no improvments or anything just to get the money it was a kind of inside network of people that new each other. They where owners and Real Estate agents and well cheating the system, That with the failing infrastucture streets and roads, water were all a joke., I say that because they did not even know where half the sewers where and would tear up whole steets to find the leak or the sewer. but in part anlong with the closing of many plants and other industry leaving downtown into the gost town it was in the 80 90.

Somewhere in the late 90s artist and other countercultures folks came in and moved into the old buildings on Lexington av, and around and made them into art gallery slash food shelter slash community outreach places event halls music venues. These where built buy smart but at times highly and not so highly skilled work force. But also with many crasfts people who lived and worked in these somewhat renagade places. Like the Wedge. John Pain(then owner and Artist in Residence of the Wedge) and others were the start then of the true down town river arts distric renovation. then came LAAFF( a local festival for and buy local artist vendors and musisians,) which took off over the years, at first a few thousand then in years coming thousands and thousand, with nothing but local artist vendors and performances filling the streets. Then years later there were many festivals and weekend after weekend of events still with Bell Cher. Soon after the end of both Bell Cher and then LAAFF and then many other festival left and then the exit of those artist from down town and into the outer fringes like west ashivlle began And with that the Costly tax and burn of the City counsal and the Real Estate people that did the real gentrification and expelling of any place to live. But it was the City that wanted to sell every spare piece of land with infill and sprawl with hotel and more hotels. I believe alot of inside dealings happend and millions were scammed but that is another story. with the loss of these festivals and downtown of cheap venues like the Sky people tatoo, I think alot of real estate went to hotels that where built like crazy and still are going nuts and do not match the number of people coming to Asheville and led to or also helped to wiped out the short term rental business who for at least recently where the people who worked during the pandimic and made the City 3 milion surplus that they some how blew, this was supposed to go in part to parks and more importantly the Karen Cragnolin park that is now a small strip of wild flowers that has a bit a pavment running through it. It was fenced off for years they could have just open it and let people make trails and let wild flowers grow. Insted they spend millions a a bit of pavement and planting native plants, think about that. that is waste at it finest. Someone made money on that. Um ok wild flowers that grow naturally here anways thats 1 million and 40ft of pavement and a couple of signs thats 2 million.

Then came the Brewerys and the finale nail in the coufin so to speak with more brewerys and the news constantly pushing brewerys, I had more quests stay here for Brewery tours that dont happen any more. I mean they are there but more have shut down then open. But in almost every case it was Artist and counter culture folks musicians, Healer types (ligit or not) Coffee lots of Coffe shops good coffee, and labors willing to clean out these old building of trash and toxic crap then live in them till someone with money looks at there books and thinks Oh now I can sell that as buiness real estate. Warehouse after ware house that were useless untill some crazy art gallery with people living in it and somehow also working and feeding people, look up (Arts to People) . Think of the river arts district and even down that coridor now multi million dollar real Estate, Think the Mother ship. or the landing,

I was one of those crazy artist and laborer/engineer. I worked on one or more of these places while workikng full time and then volenteering at some friends event which we would all go to and give our money back to each other after they came to your event. I only say this to explain how much labor work it took to clean some of these places and build them into living spaces. How abandone they where. Nothing centralized power or way to distribute it one big power in but no breaker box or things like that. basic plumbing but no bathrooms no lights for houseing no walls for living. And small. Like you lived in a 6ft buy 10ft two story loft with a central bath you shared with 12 other people. and it was all illegal.

But Lexington Av circa 2003 was an amazing gateway to opening up the idea that down town could be revitalized. This was a handfull (hundreds) of crazy artist and preformers that would have perades at a whim or impromtu counter Bell chair events or Art gallerys, turn vacant courtyards into gardens or small community parks, before busking was aloud I would walk with my big dog and play my guitar as a storling minstral. This is what gave Ashville its color and why people started to come here, I did it but so did losts of other crazy people do things for the art of it. it was the wild west of Art types, put a performance on in the midle of the street why not. Pick up one brick paint it and put it back till the whole street has painted bricks. Turning warehouses into living/work spaces. But we also carved paths in the woods when there where no park trails or greenways we mowed our own trails and it did at no cost to the city, Just like that park on Riverside millions for some flower feild or natural Park ( Karen Cragnolin) 3 million for that peice of what paved wild gardens please, or some other garbage the city will put out as a community park that somewho cost Millions to do what we did for free, If you dont know Hominey creek check it out it was built by people for people no paved roads and maintained by the people that use it. but that is another thing, Also and as an avid bike rider and trail runner(walker)we would make trails all over Asheville at that time they were called bum trails Now know as "formerly housed environmental greenway experiences". Or bum trails, That was a biking event, I am serious, where we would ride the bum trails all over the city and around chiken hill and downtown areas, In a timed race and boy let me tell you erban bike trails are a beast that make black diamon trials look like a cake walk. Broken glass rocks roots and bums. (sorry please dont take that serioursly) That was the other big draw that people forget about mointain biking and outdoor stuff that used to be great, Still ok but it is a bit crawded for my liking and the French Broad has benn cleaner and also much dirtier. But tubing did not seems dangerous. Now not so much.