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Asheville Buildings and Streetscapes (Part I)

monsoon

By monsoon
in Asheville

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Matthew Whistle-Stop

Matthew

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Great photos! The colors turned out nice, even though the weather looks bad. No one ever tells me when they visit. I only find out after finding the photos on the forums. :(

I actually like the veggie burgers and hot dogs. :P

StellaBlue is the most photographed place downtown. I see more photos on the web and on the forums of that place than I do of the Vance Monument and City Hall. I love live music and this city has a number of great places to experience live music. Some places don't appear to have live music, but at night they will almost transform into a live music venue. Of course, I still like the Grey Eagle. It's not the most attractive building and it's sort of hidden from tourists, but that's a good thing! I noticed you got a photo of Asheville Savings Bank. That was one of those historic buildings covered for years by an ugly 1960's metal facade. Back in 2002, they begain removing the panels covering the building's original facade to reveal the hidden early 20's Neo-Classical facade.

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Raleigh-NC Whistle-Stop

Raleigh-NC

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AWESOME presentation of Asheville!!! I've been waiting for this for a VERY long time. Asheville is a great place to visit and live in. There aren't words to describe Asheville's beauty and I am glad to see this thread. GREAT photos, monsoon. Can't wait for the second part.

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Allan Metropolis

Allan

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Awesome pics, Marc! I've been waiting for an Asheville thread. I've been there many times, but don't have any pics.

awsome photo's marc they are wonderful but god it looks so cold.

Don't even get me started on the cold! It's 7 degrees and cloudy, with winds between 20 and 30 mph right now. And tonight it's supposed to get down to -5, or even lower. The cold temps aren't going away anytime soon either - it's not supposed to get above 30 degrees anytime in the first half of this month :(. I should get used it though...the normal high this time of year is only 29.

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Matthew Whistle-Stop

Matthew

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103_0324.jpg

In this photo, you can see where the skyscraper was to be built.

That building was planned as a mixed use skyscraper and retail center, until the developer (Edwin Grove) passed away. Not long after, work stopped and the depression ended all talk of a high-rise above the arcade. It's HUGE and must be experienced in person to get the full effect of it's size and beauty. It is correct to call it a mall. This was one of the nation's first shopping malls and is one of only a few arcades still standing today.

16115.jpg

Original Plans for Grove Arcade as a Skyscraper! :o

That would be our tallest building if it was completed and looking at the arcade, just think how awesome the skyscraper would've looked! They now have better renderings of the skyscraper above the arcade in the building. I need to visit the arcade again with my camera and get a photo of those renderings.

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Matthew Whistle-Stop

Matthew

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They could build it as a residential tower, but it's not an accurate restoration, since the tower was never built. The cost would be extremely high. The stone work required would cost the most, requiring specialists or lazer cut stone. Older buildings have thicker stone facades, so it would require more stone than the average building of that height. Stone is one of the most expensive parts of a high-rise. Today, stone is around 1/4 to 1/8 inches thick and sometimes it's pre-cast in a factory or on site. Back then it was 4-6 inches thick and solid Limestone from a quarry. It was delievered on site and cut and carved on site. The elevators for the skyscraper are in place and I'm sure they built the central part of the structure to hold the weight. The design would have to be brought up to modern code, since it's viewed as new construction. The questions are: Can they get the money? Should it be done, since the tower was never built and wouldn't be historic like the rest of the arcade? Would the NIMBYs let it happen? :lol: NO :lol:

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tocoto Hamlet

tocoto

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From the pictures, Asheville reminds me of Saratoga Springs, NY. Although a fairly small city, it also has many great buildings from the turn of the 20th century, and is now mainly a tourist area. It was a health resort due to the springs and clean air. They also have a famous horse racing track there. What is the history of Asheville?

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Matthew Whistle-Stop

Matthew

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Thank you for the photos!

I don't think I can thank you enough for these. They've done a lot to get the word out about this city. I've tried to take a few photos of the two cities I represent on the forums during my school breaks, but I just don't have the time anymore to go on a big photo shoot. When I am at home, I miss my family and friends so much, I want to take advantage of all the time I have with them, before I have to go back to school. I also think that "outsiders" take the best city photos. That's just an opinion, but those who live outside a city know what surprises an outsider, because they are an outsider. A local is just taking photos of things they think outsiders may like, based on what they see or like in other cities in the forums.

I try not to use flash in my photos. It's a very harsh and unrealistic light. It's best to bracket and then adjust in a photo editor. I think you take excellent in photos. Even though the weather is bad, these are still very nice. The exposure and colors are great!

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Cotuit, you can make it in a hard day's driving.  I would guess that if you took I40 from Wilmington all the way to Asheville, the drive would be 7-8 hours. 

That's what I expected. I know it took most of the day to drive from Richmond to Bristol, VA. Up here I could drive through 4 states and be in Montreal in about 8-10 hours.

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  • 2 years later...
NcSc74 Burg

NcSc74

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I have seen photos of Asheville before but these were better. Just by the pics you would not know the location was in NC. I like winter weather especially around the holidays. It gives you a certain feeling that you can remember for a long time.

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