Nestled between the Blue Ridge and Great Smokey Mountains, Asheville's mountain scenery and excellent quality of life make it a great place to live or visit. At 2,200 feet in elevation, Asheville is located on a plateau divided by the French Broad River and surrounded by lush mountains, many with elevations above 5,000 feet. Asheville is the county seat of Buncombe, which covers 656 square miles. It has a pleasing climate year-round - Mild summers and winters - and a spring and fall that linger to give you every opportunity to enjoy their showy display of color.

Asheville is the largest city in Western North Carolina and has become the regional center for manufacturing, transportation, health care, banking. professional services and shopping. Its diverse and vibrant economy offers a wide range of opportunities, in addition to being recognized as an entrepreneurial hotspot.

Take a walk through Asheville's Art Deco downtown and enjoy sidewalk cafes, antique shops or even an impromptu bluegrass jam. All that and the Blue Ridge Mountains too. Asheville is home to a thriving arts community, with a host of local galleries, drama companies, music rooms, and a symphony. It is also a great place for those who love the outdoors offering hiking, camping, mountain climbing, fishing, golf and whitewater rafting.

Asheville values its history as evidenced by a general store that dates from 1891 where you can stop for a root beer or licorice. You can also tour a 17th-century Cherokee village, or plan a day at Biltmore Estate, George Vanderbilt's 250-room Victorian chateau, complete with its own winery.

Asheville can be reached by air to Asheville Regional Airport, just 15 minutes from downtown by car. Two major interstates, I-40 and I-26, intersect just outside the city limits. More motorists exit and enter the nation's most popular scenic highway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Asheville than at any other point along the road's 470 miles linking Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with Great Smokey Mountains National Park in North Carolina.

The Energy of Asheville

Asheville has an expansive cooperative energy, meaning that the vibration of the region is one of new thoughts wanting to coexist with old - not replace them. Perhaps it is because the new Earth energy grid for this area has not yet taken hold, so both Earth energies are present - the old grid and the newly-forming grid. Architects, designers, landscapers, artisans and in general those careers specializing in creativity will flourish here. I also see growing opportunities for entrepreneurial enterprises as the new energy grid grows in influence. I foresee Asheville becoming a dynamic arts, music, and cultural area. Two significant Color Rays dominate this region - Yellow and Violet - so we can expect higher learning and spiritual expression to become a part of the psychic fabric of Asheville.

Asheville, N.C. Facts

Asheville Metro Business Research Center A Service of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce 30 Year Nominals Possible Sunshine 59% Clear (Mean)=97.2 days; Partly Cloudy=111.1 days; Cloudy=151.2 Days Annual Precipitation 47.07 inches   Annual Snowfall 13.3 inches   January Daily Temperature 36.7 F (Max) 45.0 F (Min) 25.8 F July Daily Temperature 73.6 F (Max) 83.3 F (Min) 62.7 F Annual Temperature 55.6 F   Number of Heating Degree Days 4,326   Number of Cooling Degree Days 818   Annual Average Relative Humidity 57% (1:00pm)   Avaerage Elevation 2,165 ft Asheville Regional Airport Monthly Averages JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC Year Temperature Average (41 years) 36.7 39.7 47.1 55.4 62.9 69.9 73.6 72.5 66.6 56.2 47.1 39.7 55.6 Average (2005) 40.8 41.8 45.4 54.5 60.6 69.5 74.5 74.0 68.4 58.5 48.3 36.6 56.1 Mean Daily Maximum (2005) 51.0 52.0 56.8 67.1 72.4 78.8 83.2 82.8 80.4 69.6 61.3 46.4 66.8 Mean Daily Minimum (2005) 30.6 31.6 33.9 41.8 48.8 60.2 65.8 65.1 56.3 47.3 35.2 26.7 45.3 Heating Degree Days (2005) 744 644 602 309 143 22 0 0 1 215 496 877 4,056 Cooling Degree Days (2005) 0 0 0 0 14 167 302 285 112 20 0 0 900 Precipitation (inches) (2005) 2.00 2.57 3.33 2.86 1.65 10.90 10.26 5.71 0.34 1.20 3.74 3.51 47.26 Source: National Climatic Data Center (Local Climatological Data 2005) The Ashevill Metro consists of Buncombe, Haywood, and Madison Counties.   Article taken from issue of INTUITIVE FLASH with permission of author Gordon Michael Scallion of the Matrix Institute.