NYTimes Article: 36 Hours in Asheville

I saw this while reading the NYTimes today. Its one of the New York Times 36 hour travel guides. These guides are great for getting the gist of what to do when visiting a city. I know that I just published a blog about Biltmore a few days ago but I though this article was cool enough to point out on its own. I've actually only been to Biltmore and not to the city of Asheville itself. I hear good things though. Here's an excerpt of what the New York Times had to say:

Asheville is an Appalachian Shangri-La. This year-round resort town, tucked between the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, draws a funky mix of New Agers, fleece-clad mountain bikers, antiques lovers and old-time farmers. And what's there not to like? Charming yet surprisingly cosmopolitan for a town of about 73,000, Asheville has a Southern appeal all its own. There are lazy cafes and buzzing bistros, Art Deco skyscrapers and arcades reminiscent of Paris, kayaking and biodiesel cooperatives and one of the world's largest private homes — the Biltmore Estate, a French Renaissance-style mansion with 250 rooms. No wonder so many locals first
started out as tourists.

Check out the Asheville article at the following Link.

Charlotte's Oktoberfest

We attended the Charlotte Oktoberfest at the Metrolina yesterday. The event sold out two weeks in advance. At $30/ticket I find that quite amazing. There's definitely plenty of room to expand within the Mertolina complex as the actual beer stands only used up about 2/3rds of the space.

It was an interesting event but definitely not like the Oktoberfest in Munich. Although it was a great way to try new beers. I found the Highland Brewing Company and the Spaten beers were my favorite. There were over 350 beers at the event and all were free (in shot glass amounts) after the price of admission. What's cool is that no one seemed to get too drunk or rowdy. I hate drunken tough guys.

The weather was a perfect mid-70s and it was just a great day to be outside or even inside the beer serving buildings (But thise did get a little warm with the crowds. Its a shame that there wasn't a seated area and an Ompah band like the German Oktoberfest.

All in all it was a good event (Like the Walmart of wine tastings only for beer).

A Drought's Upside and Downside

What a beautiful September we're having! I don't think it has rained for more than an hour the entire month. Who can argue with temperatures in the mid-70s? In case you are reading this and don't live in the Charlotte area, we are in the middle of the worst drought in about 50 years and possibly the worst drought in recorded history. The drought is seriously affecting the lawns and agriculture but otherwise it has also brought day after day or perfect weather.

I visited a friends house on Lake Norman yesterday and what was previously lake in front of his now grounded boat dock, is an island. Its amazing how high the island rises in front of his place! The best benefit of this new formed island is that the geese seemed to enjoy the island over my friends lake side grass.

I wonder if this drought is a product of global warming or if it is part of the natural cycle of weather on planet earth? What do you think, is this global warming or is this just the natural cycle?

I will say that at this point people might actually enjoy the rain if it comes?

Biltmore Estate Wine

We're drinking a bottle of Biltmore Century Red Wine tonight. We actually bought the bottle on a trip to Asheville and Biltmore estates over a year ago. The Biltmore Estate is a great place to visit. Its the closest to a European castle that American has. Its not really a castle but the largest house in America. I highly recommend the land tour if you go to visit. It is very cool to see the Engineering accomplishments of the 1880s.

Anyways, the wine is good. We actually opened the bottle last night and I though that it was too bitter. But after a night of air out, it tastes great tonight. Visit Biltmore if you get the chance.

Found New Off-Leash Walking Trails

Have you ever wandered down Birkdale Commons Parkway away from the village. In case you haven't it has two side walks, a bike lane, and it is a wide street. At the end of the street is the Glens at Birkdale. If you keep walking through that 55+ community, you'll wind up on Babe Stillwell Road (thnk Charlotte's web). If you take a left, Babe Stillwell curves around a corner before dead ending into the McDowell Creek Water Treatment Plant. The Creek sits on a bout 1000 acres that I believe are preserved from development. Off to the left and right are trails that anyone can walk down into fields and the woods.
These trails are a great area for our dog to run around in. As the weather gets cooler and the ticks and snakes go into hibernation, we love to get outdoors. Our dog loves it too.
To and from the village this walk is about 3 miles and usually takes us about an hour because we walk slowly along the trails off Babe Stillwell.
I'll have to take some pictures to add to this post.

Housing Slow Down

So what do you think? How will Charlotte and Birkdale fare with the housing slow down?

Charlotte's Housing Slow Down

As we walk the neighborhood we can't help but notice that it is taking longer for houses to sell in Charlotte. The Charlotte Observer reported that Home Sales have drop significantly and that new housing starts have declined by one third year over year. At the same time the average house price rose 7% in the past quarter. My thoughts on the housing slow down are that I am glad I bought in Birkdale. Although houses seem to be taking longer to sell here they are at least selling. One house on our street Sold By Owner within three weeks of posting the sign. Two other houses also sold on the street. Speaking with recent and prospective buyers it seems that the slow down here is because people elsewhere (NY and California) can't sell their houses there to actually move here.
It seems that things outside of Uptown, the Lake, and Birkdale village aren't looking so good. Many of the run of the mill sub-divisions (the ones without a built in attraction) are battling foreclosures and acres upon acres of new houses. Moss Creek is a new sub-division along NC 73 and down the road (about 7 miles) from Birkdale that is being hit hard. As the sub-division is still being built the builder has offered significant enticements to new buyers. That has hurt the resellers already on the market so they have been forced to lower prices. Now, who wants to buy in a sub-division where current owners are losing money on a house they recently bought. We just had two friends who lost their $5000 deposit in Moss Creek after they pulled out of the pre-construction contract. They figured that it was cheaper to loss the $5000 up front that it would be to ride out the market where recently purchased homes are down about $15,000. In a sense, Charlotte has so much vacant forest and farm land that the new home potential is what has held down prices here and is what will also hurt existing home owners as the market declines.
Of course, the decrease in new home permits tied with the fact that Charlotte is still one of the top "move to" destinations in the country may mean that existing home owners could come out ok. Also, what all this means for Birkdale is that it seems the consensus among new home buyers (or maybe it is the hope of existing home owners) is that Birkdale Village is a safer bet that the surrounding sub-divisions because Birkdale itself is an attraction. Prices may not rise as fast as they have in the past but at least homes will continue to move as they have been all summer.

Biltmore Park

This post is in response to a comment from my first entry. Cathy, commented that Crossland is building 'Biltmore Park' near Asheville, NC. She had asked some questions about traffic and vadalism:
Cathy,
Birkdale is a great place to live. Seeing your neighbors at the gym, the cafe, the restaurant, or simply strolling the village provides a wonderful sense of community. Ironically, Birkdale has definitely increased local traffic outside the village, however, the traffic increase is significantly less than if Birkdale was a normal mall or shopping center. Since a few thousand people live within walking distance thats a few thousand less car trips required. I personally walk to the stores and even to the supermarket for quick items. As for the vandalism, I feel perfectly safe here. We do have lots of teenagers in the village on weekends but they would be present at any mall and they are not rowdy or disruptive as I have seen in other places. We do connect to two separate major thoroughfares but not many people cut through the residential section of the village. I don't think its very convienent to do so. Perhaps, the biggest complaint that people make about Birkdale is its lack of parking. On Friday and Saturday nights when the live music is playing there is usually a line of cars circling looking for a space. It doesn't concern me because we walk to the village but I do know that the tight weekend parking has deterred my coworkers from coming to Birkdale. In the end, I love living here. Other than uptown Charlotte there is no where else that I would like to live. For us, it is the perfect blend of suburban and urban lifestyles. It seems that many people agree with us because Birkdale houses are priced at a premium compared to the surroundng subdivisions. Also, the houses here have appreciated faster and seem to be holding their value better in this downturn. I hope that Biltmore Park does as well as Birkdale.