1 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Saber. I'm an Eeries and I'm 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: Lauren foc Obam and today we've got a bonus episode 3 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: for you. We do because Saturday, Saturday is all right 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: for a bonus interview. Yeah, yeah, you like my song 5 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,159 Speaker 1: that I just kind of I like reading songs. I 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: had a whole idea for a series where you would 7 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: just like have a conversation based on song lyrics. I 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: think it could work. I think it would be hilarious. 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,239 Speaker 1: Oh man, all right, putting this in our in our 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: ideas for terrible podcasts podcast, I think it's excellent podcast. 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: But okay, we can quibble over that later. Um. As 12 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: you know, we went to Asheville and we interviewed so 13 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: many people, and we've got so much great content that 14 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: we thought we would run interviews in their entirety almost 15 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: just about yeah and let you get the full feel 16 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: of what folks said. Of course, we will be pulling, 17 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: you know, the particularly relevant quotes from them into our episodes. 18 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: But yeah, today we're giving you the interview that we 19 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: did with Kevin Frasier, who is a historian in Asheville. 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: He's the executive director of West Carolina University. Programs in Asheville. Yeah, 21 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: he also owns I believe owns a board game bar cafe. 22 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: Board game cafe played that. I am still upset. We 23 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: did not get to play any board games. Oh I know, 24 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: or get their Their cocktail list looked really good. Um. 25 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: He's also the founder of Asheville by Foot, which is 26 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: a guided tour company around downtown Asheville, and the author 27 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,559 Speaker 1: of Legendary Locals of Asheville, which is a book about 28 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: Ashville's history. M hmmm. And he very well could be 29 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: in his own book or another, maybe the sequel one 30 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: day someone als will write it, because you don't really 31 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: want to include yourself, I guess. Yeah, that's a little 32 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: bit gosh, a little a little bit. And we wanted 33 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: to start with this one because while we did go 34 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: on a much anticipated and enjoyed comedy store, that was 35 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: a great foundation for information. He was the historian we 36 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: went to to put the history of Asheville in context. 37 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: So he's kind of less about food and more about history. 38 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: But it was very useful when we're trying to understand 39 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: how Asheville the food scene, in the beer scene, how 40 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 1: it became what it is. So this is much more 41 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: history focus, but very fascinating. It is. Oh yeah, we 42 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: couldn't help but present it to you because we loved 43 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: it so much and we hope you enjoy it. So 44 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: I grew up in Ashville, and when I grew up 45 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: in Nashville, this was not the place to be. It 46 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: was a really rough town. It was a city in 47 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies that really completely collapsed at that point 48 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: because of suburbanization, but because of a weak financial position 49 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: it had been in since the Great Depression, and so 50 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: things were most most of the buildings were boarded up. 51 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: Uh you know. The highlights were pawn shops and porn 52 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: stores and porn theaters. I've got a great photograph from 53 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five, as late as eighty five of the 54 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: Fine Arts Theater, which is one of our independent film theaters, 55 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: and the two features that day where Sassy Sue and 56 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: three on the waterbeds. Those are not allowed by law 57 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: in North Carolina any more, have not been for many years. 58 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: But it was just it was a place your mom 59 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: told you that you hadn't lost anything, you didn't need 60 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: to go back to find. You just avoided downtown. I 61 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: grew up in these parts and then I went to 62 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: college at unc Ashville and then went away to grad 63 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: school and ended up I went away to study African history, 64 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: of all things, and I did, and I still teach 65 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: African history now man. But I got interested in the 66 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: history of cities, in the history of American cities, and 67 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: happened to trip across a follow by the name of 68 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: John Nolan, who is one of the first professional city 69 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: planners in the United States, and happened to do a 70 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: project in Nashville in the nineteen twenties. And it's a 71 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: crucial project, his plan for Ashville, which was a very 72 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: early plan. I mean, we just think of city planning 73 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: is part of city government, and the teens in twenties, 74 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: cities hired a planner like you and I'd hired an architect. 75 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: It was a contractual kind of thing. It's not to 76 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: act to World War Two. They become part of civic government. 77 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: So it was sort of a big deal to hire him. 78 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: As he was. It was expensive affair, and Asheville ends 79 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: up putting this comprehensive playing together and then really following it, 80 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: you know, saidies do those and they put him on 81 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: the shelf and say big deal. But the city actually 82 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:20,720 Speaker 1: did something. It set on it for a few years, 83 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: but by did a great deal with it, and so 84 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: I was starting started studying this guy, and then started 85 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: studying Nashville and looking at urban Appalachia, which some people 86 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:34,600 Speaker 1: thought was sort of anoxy moron, but you know, from 87 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: us to Rowano to Frankly Pittsburgh, you know there are 88 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: significant parts of Appalachia that are urbanized. And uh So 89 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: I studied that and then came back and actually ended 90 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: up on the faculty of my alma mater, uh in 91 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: teaching history at u n C Ashville, and did that 92 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 1: for many years and then got into a university administration. 93 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: Still do that, and my main work is I um 94 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: worked for Western Carolina University, which is one of the 95 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: sixteen public colleges in North Carolina. The main campus is 96 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: an hour west in Jackson County school Boy eleven thousand, 97 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: regional kind of Prancis, but we also have a graduate 98 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: campus on the south side of Ashville, and I managed 99 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: that for the university and with that still do a 100 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: lot of talks about Ashville history because I just I 101 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: love an underdog, and this is one of the few 102 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: underdogs I've ever supported that actually won and has been victorious. 103 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: So that's been been great. And then, um, in addition 104 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: to well play, I own uh the walking to our 105 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 1: company here in town called Ashville by Foot, and we've 106 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: got great guides that lead folks around and tell them 107 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,159 Speaker 1: stories about Ashville and the architecture. So that's sort of 108 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: my background. Uh, you were talking a little bit about 109 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: the city planning that went on in the twenties. Is 110 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: that where we got all of the beautiful deco architecture downtown? 111 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: It is? And I'll actually I like just a couple 112 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,840 Speaker 1: of steps back, just to give you a whole little framework. 113 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: Ashville just starts off as a little sort of trading 114 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: post u uh, stopover point for livestock drovers in the 115 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: late seven teen hundreds and early eighteen hundreds, folks who 116 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: were raising animals up in eastern Tennessee, mainly on their 117 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: way to market in South Carolina. Uh, we're coming through 118 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: Asheville and so much of what's the central business district today. 119 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: We're big boarding houses with livestock pins in the back, place, 120 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: secure animals, dry, place to lay your head, you know, 121 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: a couple of hot meals, and you headed down the mountain. Uh, 122 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 1: Ashville's remoteness kept it very secluded for many years. It 123 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: kept it protected during the Civil War, Sherman was never 124 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: gonna march through Ashville. But then after the war in 125 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty, the railroad finally comes to Asheville, and there's 126 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: a group of local physicians actually that began to build 127 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: Ashville as a resort community, a place to come for 128 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: whatever ailed you. Fresh mountain air for pretty moderate seasons, 129 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,040 Speaker 1: pretty even temperatures. It's never especially hot for long here, 130 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: especially cold here. And there are also a number of 131 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 1: hot and warm mineral springs around the Ashville area. And 132 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: so we began to see a lot of folks coming 133 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: out of the industrial heartland in the north, you know, 134 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 1: the Philadelfia and New York, Boston who were would take 135 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: the train and come down to Asheville, and they were 136 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: coming for two weeks, four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, 137 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: which also tells us, you know, the folks who would 138 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: come to Nshville were people are pretty significant means, and 139 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: also the middle class, while burgeoning, still pretty small in 140 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: this period, paid vacations another fifty years in the future. 141 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: So these are people of wealth coming to Ashville. Ashville 142 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: by the eighties and nineties had build a pretty significant 143 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: tourism trade. One of the key things that we were 144 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: very attractive to pulmonary patients, folks with lung conditions. We 145 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: sort of laugh about that today Nashville, because anybody who 146 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: moves to Asheville knows if there's something to be allergic 147 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: to in North America, it grows here. Allergy season can 148 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: be tough for new newcomers, but were particularly popular with 149 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 1: tuberculosis patients, to the point before the end of the 150 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,240 Speaker 1: century we had garnered the reputation as the tuberculosis capital 151 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: of the country. Exactly. You know, if you're writing the 152 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce brochure for the city, you probably don't 153 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: want it to say you got tb come on down 154 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: to Asheville. So there's a bit of a battle between 155 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: hospitality and medicine, and they battle it out, and in 156 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: the end, frankly, hospitalities got more political cloud and they 157 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: pretty much legislate that out of business. So ashe was 158 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: got a prett stiff tourism trade, and it's folks a 159 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: wealth and that's how the Vanderbilts get here. I always 160 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: thought growing up as a kid that it was really 161 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: strange how did these folks ever find Ashville? Well, the 162 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: truth is the folks of the Vanderbilt social class had 163 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: been coming to Ashville. What brought them here was one 164 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: of the youngest of the Vanderbilts, George Vanderbilt. His mother 165 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,839 Speaker 1: contracted malaria, which are much more common than than today 166 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: even in New York City. And he was the youngest 167 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who originates the Vanderbilt family of fortune. 168 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: He was a He grew up on a farm in 169 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: Staten Island, but then ended up being one of the 170 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: so called robber barons of the railroad age. It made 171 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: him a ridiculously, ridiculously wealthy man. And his youngest grandson 172 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: was was George. And so George and his mother come 173 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: here in a friend of the family, I fellow named 174 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 1: Frank Cox, owned resort hotel that was just not very 175 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: far from where we're at right now, and invited to 176 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: come and spend the been part of the summer. And 177 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: while they were here there on horseback ride and came 178 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: to a beautiful view of Mount Pisgo, which is out 179 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: to the west. That's our biggest peak in the county. 180 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: And he's tells and at least. The legend is he 181 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: tells his mother said, We've had such a great time 182 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: in Nashville that I'd like to build a summer retreat, 183 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: a little place that the family can escape the hustle 184 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: and bustle of New York. We were at the at 185 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: the Belmore earlier today. So absolutely, I mean, you know, 186 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: in the end, he thought he was gonna build a 187 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: little modest Italian villa and then gets inspired to build 188 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: a French chateau, and in the end it's you know, 189 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: not only is it the largest house in the United States, 190 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,559 Speaker 1: it's one of the largest privately owned homes ever in history. 191 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,079 Speaker 1: You know, there are there's only a handful of larger 192 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,199 Speaker 1: houses in the world. They are typically owned by monarchy, 193 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 1: like Windsor Palace, or the state formerly owned by a monarchy, 194 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: like for Sia or something like. I mean, even Windsor 195 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: is not that much bigger than when you take the 196 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: cathedral off, than uh than Bill Moore is. Maybe Bill 197 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: was four and a half acres of interior floor space. 198 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: I mean, it's like nine nine average American homes fit 199 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: in the banquet hall. I mean, it's crazy. How did that? Yeah, 200 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: we we were I feel like at least one of 201 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: one of the like the breakfast dining room, uh that 202 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: we were in. Dylan said, like, I'm trying to think 203 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: of how many of my apartments would have fit in 204 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: this single room, the one with the leather wall paper, 205 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: to you know, just a little something to do. What's crazy. 206 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: Here's the funny part. George was arguably the poorest of 207 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: the Vanderbilts, clearly all relative because he was the youngest. 208 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: But the big thing was when his dad passed his 209 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: brother those are almost twenty years as senior. So there's 210 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: a big gap between the eight kids. The the three 211 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: oldest brothers, four sisters, and then him, And so when 212 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: the time came to run the business, they did. He's 213 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: still a kid. He never worked a day in his life. 214 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: He didn't have to. He had significant inheritance and trust 215 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: and perpetuity from his grandfather and his father, and that 216 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:24,079 Speaker 1: let him be a man of letters too. He was 217 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: very well learned. He read and spoke eight different languages. 218 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: He was ridiculously well traveled. He they know today that 219 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: he made more than fifty trips to Europe in his lifetime. 220 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: I mean that's a lot of him by today standards 221 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: and when you can catch a flight and be there 222 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: and exactly all by ship. And so he, you know, 223 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: he decides to build this house here and uh and 224 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: I think his mother was very excited about it, and 225 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: I think part of the reason was he was in 226 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 1: his he was moving towards his late twenties, and he's 227 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 1: not married, which is a little long long in the 228 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: tooth in that day. Absolutely, it's a great way to 229 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: be seen as an eligible bachelor. It takes almost six 230 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: years to build it. He moves in Eve still not married, 231 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: much to his mother's chagrin, but he will marry uh 232 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,839 Speaker 1: In Edith Stipenson, dresser from an old New York family. 233 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: His best buddy will introduce them at a party in Paris, 234 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: and so she'll become the lady of the land and 235 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: h Billmore's their primary home, but they also had houses 236 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: in New York and d c. And Paris. In fact, 237 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: their house in New York's the only surviving Vanderbilt mansion. 238 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:31,719 Speaker 1: All the rest have been torn down, and it's for 239 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: Sauchi's headquarters on a Bullmore Bullomo. There was a couple 240 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: of Thames. It adds to the cache because so now 241 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,559 Speaker 1: people followed the Vanderbilts like we follow Hollywood stars today. 242 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: I mean, even you're in podunc Usa, some there was 243 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,079 Speaker 1: something in your newspaper about the Vanderbilt. So that became 244 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: a big deal to to come here. And even if 245 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: you didn't know the Vanderbilts, you know, you can tell 246 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: you he oh, we're going to ash when we're where 247 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: the Vanderbilts live. We don't know the Vanderbilts. We're not 248 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: staying with the Vanderbilts in their thirty two guest rooms, 249 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: but we're gonna be there, and so that just increases 250 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 1: the cash at the other thing is that's really important 251 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: to us is there were a group of artisans, architects 252 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,439 Speaker 1: and craftsmen that came to work a bit more who 253 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: were here for so long that they stayed. They basically 254 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 1: built new lives here, and that's why Ashville's got such 255 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: a great architectural collection that's much more substantial than most 256 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: cities this size have. We'll see Ashville really begin to 257 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: explode by the teens. Just give an example, the population changes. 258 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: Eight ninety the population was ten only ten thousand by 259 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: nineteen hundred, grown to sixteen thousand nineteen twenty. Were had 260 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: already twenty eight thousand, and in the ten years of 261 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: the so called Roaring twenties nearly doubles to well over 262 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: fifty thousand, which today you're like, oh, that's not a 263 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 1: big city. Fifty thousand. Actually, when you look at the 264 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: early twentieth century and you look at cities, particularly in 265 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: the South, and how they are evolving, to be at 266 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: that kind of growth rate in a short period was 267 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: very much assigned. It was on the path to being 268 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: a major city. And there develops a bit of what 269 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: I refer to as urban patriotism in Ashville that you know, 270 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: you got to be for Ashville. We're we're in for Ashville. 271 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: And one of the ways was this program for Progress, 272 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 1: which was based on that John Nolan planned the city Planner, 273 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: and that creates a whole explosion in growth in Ashville. 274 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: And one of the features becomes this interest in Art 275 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: Deco architecture. The first major building is the first Baptist 276 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: Church that Doug Ellington, North Carolina born, but at that 277 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: time Pittsburgh based architect did uh dugged us several buildings 278 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: in Ashville, and there are many others. One of the 279 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: we have one of the largest surviving collections of our deco. 280 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: It's not the biggest in the country. But one of 281 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: the things that's different saying like Miami is we've got 282 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: pretty much the full spectrum, from the very early becoming 283 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: more ornamented, looks a little bit like Art Nouveau as 284 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: it transitions all the way through the really highly ornamented, 285 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: like our City Hall is a beautiful, stunning example of that, 286 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: or the old sm W Cafeteria building from I mean 287 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: it's it's as quintessential as you get in that style, 288 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: all the way to the later period, which is a 289 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: little more what thereferred to as boilerplate. That it's it's 290 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: sort of layered architecture and starts looking like internationalism or 291 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: modernism as it becomes much less ornament So you can 292 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: see the whole the whole range here. But Ashville, because 293 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 1: of that program for Progress, really started going to this 294 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: wild building spree, preparing for being a major southern if 295 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: not a major East Coast city, and they began to 296 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: just invest and invest. They did nineties seven projects from 297 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: Nolan's plan, and all of that was funded in less 298 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: than four years through municipal bonds. So by the time 299 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: the stock market crashes and then a couple of years later, 300 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: the bank that owned that had held the city's money crashes. 301 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: The city in the county had a combined munic will 302 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: have more than fifty four million. It's a lot, and 303 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: to put in perspective today, that's seven eighty million dollars 304 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: for a town of fifty thousand, and in fact, it 305 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: was the largest per capita debt of any city in 306 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: the country. What's wild is by nineteen thirty two, when 307 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: most cities have started to declare bankruptcy, UH default on 308 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: their bonds, ash for refuses to default on the bonds. 309 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: Refuses to declare bankruptcy. So you know, we're good at 310 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: blatching stock. We pay our bills. And that's true. But 311 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: also know a lot of the guys in power own 312 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: those municipal bonds and if they didn't get their money, 313 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: then maybe their grandchildren would and that's who would. It 314 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: took Ashville nearly fifty years to repay those Depression ARA 315 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: bonds off and in the end, and it does so 316 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: on UH June nineteen seventy six, and then three days 317 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: later has a big bond burning ceremony as a sign 318 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: that the city had had paid it all off. It's 319 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: the only city in American history actually to will pay 320 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: all of its depression their bonds off, so something we're 321 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: proud of. But what it did is it crippled the city. 322 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,399 Speaker 1: So for much of the twentieth century, the city that 323 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: had been on this New York rist comes to Meteork crash, 324 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: and even after World War Two, while the rest of 325 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: the Sun bolt south, from Los Angeles to Atlanta to 326 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: Phoenix to um Miami, they're all growing by leaps and bounds, 327 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 1: we're only not growing. We actually recede in population. The 328 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 1: weird thing is, though, is the county will grow, particularly 329 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: as northern industry comes south. Cheap land, low cost labor, 330 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: very modest presence of unions that brings a lot of 331 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: that down and and our county, Bunkom County, would see that. 332 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 1: But the city itself remains very small. In fact, the 333 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 1: state wouldn't let it EnEx because it owed all this money, 334 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,160 Speaker 1: and so it keeps it real tight for a number 335 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: of years. That's why even today, you'll go to old 336 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 1: neighborhoods and we're just putting sidewalks in the first time, 337 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: and the neighborhood's been there only hundred years. But we 338 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: send any money to invest. But the other thing was 339 00:17:57,119 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: we didn't have any money to tear anything down either, 340 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: and that's why so much of our historic fabrics still intact. 341 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:07,360 Speaker 1: In Nashville. Things go really south by the nineties seventies 342 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: with suburbanization, though, and that was not just us, that 343 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: was ever even you know, Philadelphia, New York are really 344 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: getting hit heart as folks abandoned the city and they're 345 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,199 Speaker 1: out in the suburbs and shopping malls and shopping centers 346 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: come up, and the same thing happens in Nashville. And 347 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: once the department stores left the downtowns, the critical massive 348 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 1: people's gone, so there's not folks to go to the 349 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: boutique shops and the restaurants and the theaters and all that, 350 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: and so you end up like we did Nashville with 351 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: a pretty much an abandoned downtown. But almost as quickly 352 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: as we left, we had leaders that came back and said, well, 353 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,200 Speaker 1: you know, why don't we turn the misfortune of the 354 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: Great Depression into our fortune today? All this stuff still 355 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,920 Speaker 1: here and began about fifteen years before the rest of 356 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,919 Speaker 1: the country came back to the city. Ashville came back 357 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: to its city um and by the mid eighties. It 358 00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: initiates up period we refer to him luckily as the 359 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 1: Ashill Renaissance, and I argue that goes to about it's 360 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: about a thirty year period because at this point we've 361 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 1: revitalized and now it's what's next for us. We're not 362 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: recovering u broken downtown. We we've done that work. Now 363 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: what's next. And so you know, it's like you look 364 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: across the street and you see new condo towers going in, 365 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: a new apartment buildings and things like that. Sup frank 366 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: We play above our weight class and a lot of 367 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,920 Speaker 1: different things like food and drink being really on the 368 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: top of that. The music scene. Our music scene is 369 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: not what a town our size has at all. I mean, 370 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 1: we see major national and regional acts come through, and 371 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: I think part of that is where we're pretty close 372 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,920 Speaker 1: to Atlanta, We're close to Riley, we're close to Nashville. 373 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: How we're going close to Birmingham for that matter, relatively. 374 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: And because of that, I think folks going through and 375 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,440 Speaker 1: I think, frankly, they make a little Baycake coming to Nashville. 376 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: We'll play, we'll make our money, and then we'll get 377 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: to plus. Our venues are smaller and sometimes even big bands. 378 00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: You remember, like a few years ago Smashing Pumpkins decided 379 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: to do sort of a new tour and they did 380 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,479 Speaker 1: six dates in Ashville. They were in three cities. They 381 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: were like d C, San Francisco, and Ashville, and they 382 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: filled up in like fifteen minutes of being like but 383 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 1: partly they you know, they're like, we play a lot 384 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: of arenas, but sometimes it's nice to be with the people, 385 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: and so they're there with you know, they're like in 386 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: a place like the Orange Bill with folks. So and 387 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: then there's too great, really highly reputed national recording studios 388 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,920 Speaker 1: here in Ashville, and so we see a lot of 389 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: folks in the recording business come to do to do 390 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,439 Speaker 1: their work here in town. Stargazing is pretty easy Nashville. 391 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: You always sort of on any weekend see somebody and 392 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: people are starting. They're really funny, they're real good about it. 393 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,920 Speaker 1: They don't really bother folks. But then you'll hear something 394 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:47,400 Speaker 1: on the radio and be like, I was just at 395 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 1: the bed bathroom on I saw Glad It's night and 396 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: she was buying sheets. Okay, I think it's time for 397 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: an ad break. We'll be back after a quick word 398 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:10,560 Speaker 1: from our sponsor and we're back. Thank you sponsor, and 399 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,640 Speaker 1: back to the interview. It sounds like Ashville has always 400 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,400 Speaker 1: been a tourist town that a lot of here, Yeah, 401 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 1: tourists in health town. And so it's so interesting that 402 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:21,920 Speaker 1: you said medicine. Um, I assume that you mean like 403 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: corporations and not the kind of um, you know, snake 404 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:28,920 Speaker 1: oil kind of stuff that was probably going on in 405 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 1: the Victorian era. And for us, we've got a very 406 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 1: robust healthcare network. Our biggest employers are health Care System 407 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,400 Speaker 1: Mission Healthcare eleven employees. I mean, they're the biggest employee 408 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: this side of North Carolina. Actually part of that, we've 409 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: been such a popular retirement community too, and throughout western 410 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: North Carolina, first with the so called Greatest Generation and 411 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,480 Speaker 1: now with the baby boomers. Uh, there's a lot moving in. However, 412 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: we were at points last year that millennials were moving 413 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: into Ashville at a rate of five to one over 414 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: baby boomers. We've just become real to somethings and wanting 415 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: to move to ash What they like, the vibe, that 416 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 1: like the lifestyle. Uh, and even you know, now later 417 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: millennial says they're starting to think about raising kids that 418 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: you can. Ash One was a great place you can 419 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 1: do that and not have to jump back into maybe 420 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: what your stereotype perception of raising kids were when you 421 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: were you know, when your parents raised you and that 422 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 1: kind of thing that you can still sort of mix 423 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: all that. I mean, you know part of it as 424 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 1: you see families at the Brewer results. So that's a 425 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: pretty common common affair are are. But it's you know, 426 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,639 Speaker 1: like that our whole food and drink scene bust had 427 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: emerged out of the nineties in Ashville that we actually 428 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:40,679 Speaker 1: go back even back to the right at the late 429 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: seventies in the early eighties, particularly one chef Mark Rosenstein. 430 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,959 Speaker 1: Mark opened to restaurant called The Marketplace which is now 431 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:49,879 Speaker 1: a Wall Street but used to be on Market Street, 432 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: and um food storians really consider Mark in that group 433 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,439 Speaker 1: of the original farm to table founders around the country. 434 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: He was a very a pioneer in what came to 435 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:04,119 Speaker 1: be called farm to table, and now farm to table 436 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,679 Speaker 1: is so common in Asheville. We don't really call anything 437 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,360 Speaker 1: farm to table. That's just like calling it food. It's 438 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 1: just it was like used to I grew a garden 439 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 1: and had a little a little raised bed gardens in 440 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: the back and one time it's like, why am I 441 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: doing this? We have all this great organic process. I 442 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:25,680 Speaker 1: literally go down the street. Um, we've got tailgate markets 443 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: almost every day of the week throughout the city, and 444 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 1: so it's just a great food scene. But most of 445 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 1: most of that started to mature in the nineties. And 446 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: then you will met with Lea about her dad Oscar, 447 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: and Oscar is really very much the one that kicks 448 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 1: off crap brewing in North Carolina. One of the key 449 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: folks kicks it off on the East coast. You know, 450 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,479 Speaker 1: I think when Oscar opened Highland, I think they were 451 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: like fifty breweries in America. It's over five thousand now. 452 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: He said he used to have a hard time to 453 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:56,760 Speaker 1: even getting bottles, Like the first time he called to 454 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: get a bottle order, you know, he needed so many 455 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: thousand bottles and they didn't even know what to do. 456 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: I mean that they were used to, you know, Anahizer 457 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: Bush column and we need a million bottles or something 458 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: like that. So earlier, and the great thing to that, 459 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,359 Speaker 1: and I don't know if he wouldn't talk about it himself, 460 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: but Oscar grew the industry by being cooperative he always 461 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,640 Speaker 1: built an air of cooperation between brewers. He was never 462 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 1: threatened as other brewers opened, but just pulled them in 463 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,440 Speaker 1: and grew the industry as well as his business. Brewing's 464 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: really cooperative, I mean naturally it is, and I think 465 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 1: part of that um is very much um seen in Nashville. 466 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 1: I mean, you go to any place and they've done 467 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,520 Speaker 1: cooperative beer making with somebody down the street, I mean 468 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: their competitors. But nobody views it that way. Uh our 469 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: you know, we actually have a a beer editor. You 470 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: know how many cities have a beer editor? Right? T H. S. 471 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:52,560 Speaker 1: And Tony was saying maybe to me about a year 472 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: ago that in an agave weeks about three d fifty 473 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: different varieties of beer being brewed Nashville, which is crazy. 474 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: I mean, it's a lot beer and part of it too. 475 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: Oscar is one of the points. I said, you know, 476 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: we've got the critical massive breweries now and some of 477 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,120 Speaker 1: the big national craft players like Oscar, Blue and New 478 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,959 Speaker 1: Belgium and Sierra Nevada. But he said, the other thing 479 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:12,960 Speaker 1: is we have really good water in Ashville. We have 480 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 1: a lot of it. So that's so we've seen that 481 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,960 Speaker 1: grow both brewing and now distilling actually as becoming more 482 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,439 Speaker 1: and more popular in ash One throughout North Carolina as 483 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,880 Speaker 1: well and beyond. You know, sort of that moonshine kind 484 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: of corn liquor stuff. But everything from RUMs Tomorrow's to 485 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 1: Gen's and Geneva's and whatnot. There was that dearth of 486 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: of of brewing that was held over from UM. Was 487 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: that all held over from prohibition, right, and some of 488 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: that's even more challenging in North Carolina. That UM what 489 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,320 Speaker 1: grew crap growing more recently was when Northlina didn't make 490 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 1: a major change to go to high gravity beers. Frankly, 491 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: until the high gravity beers, it wasn't um. It just 492 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,440 Speaker 1: wasn't economically viable for most to think about having breweries 493 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:04,880 Speaker 1: because you were really limited in the in the kinds 494 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 1: of things you could could brew. And so that that's 495 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: made a big difference. The state has been a little slow, 496 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: but has been coming around. I mean, this was a 497 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:15,680 Speaker 1: state that went dry before the rest of the country 498 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: went dry, back before Prohibition, and then it sort of struggled. 499 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:20,879 Speaker 1: I mean, we didn't have what was called liquor by 500 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 1: the drink and Ashville, so I think like seventy eight 501 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: seventy nine, we didn't even have national chain restaurants because 502 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: no nobody, uh, none of those would come because they 503 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: had you know, they had bars. That's where the profit 504 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 1: margins aut. I mean, I remember when Red Lobster opened 505 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: up and people act like it was the second Coming 506 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: of Christ, and they're like, oh my gosh, red Lobster 507 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: here in Ashville. And nothing bad against Red Lobster. But 508 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: you know today people are sort of any know when 509 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: we make a little leap, when we secretly go to 510 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,880 Speaker 1: chain restaurants. We just don't tell people. You know, every 511 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: everybody's got the chain restaurant they go to and their 512 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,639 Speaker 1: buddy they go with, and they just don't. You just 513 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: don't say I'm going to the Olive Garden or whatever. 514 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 1: You know, you just you just go because I got 515 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: the bread sticks and whatnot for those cheddar Bay biscuits 516 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: at the Red Lobster, I mean delicious. Um. We we were, 517 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: we were saying earlier, how strange it is, especially coming 518 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 1: from Atlanta, which is a very corporate town, um, you know, 519 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,440 Speaker 1: with with Coca Cola and all of those other big 520 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: corporations having their headquarters there, coming here and not really 521 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: seeing many large corporate chains anywhere near downtown, like I 522 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 1: think I've counted, oh, I don't know, or Taco Farmburger 523 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: and Farmburger and those are small. Those are small chains. Yeah, 524 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: Like even even in terms of clothing stores, like I 525 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 1: think I saw an Urban Outfitters, but that was like, 526 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 1: that's the biggest name that I've seen. There's an anthropology 527 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: around the corner. Both of them took a big hit 528 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: when they opened. But I mean there was some protests 529 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,920 Speaker 1: about national chains being downtown US. There's no Starbucks down 530 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,200 Speaker 1: town though. The word is they've really have been looking 531 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: hard to find a spot. But you know, there's like 532 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: fifteen Starbucks out in the county, so you can still 533 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,119 Speaker 1: go go do all that. But even out in the county, 534 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,199 Speaker 1: it's not even as much of a hard split as 535 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 1: it used to be by downtown versus out in the 536 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,880 Speaker 1: in the verbs, the burbs have got great stuff now too. 537 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,400 Speaker 1: Sometimes they've got second locations of downtown. What's getting funny 538 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,959 Speaker 1: is we've got some of our great restaurants have now 539 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: started to expand around as well. To blow Honey is 540 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,400 Speaker 1: a great example. Um where I'm having dinner to night, Chaipani, 541 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:31,919 Speaker 1: there's a decator. Have you been to the Decator one. 542 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,439 Speaker 1: They're fantastic and Marwanti just I mean he was up 543 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,280 Speaker 1: for the James Beard this year on Indian Street Food. 544 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: How awesome is that? And it's funny you'll hear people 545 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: it's not people are name dropping. It's still a small town. 546 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: You know. The folks people say, oh yeah, I love 547 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: going to Katie Button's place, and you know they're telling 548 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: like going to Crane, which is probably one of the 549 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 1: most beloved restaurants in town. You can it's one of 550 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,720 Speaker 1: those it's very popular with visitors, is still popular with 551 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: locals as well, and you know it's a three or 552 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 1: four week wait to get a little reservation to get in. 553 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,719 Speaker 1: It's so interesting that you that you studied uh African 554 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: history that you still teach it, because I wanted to 555 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:14,240 Speaker 1: ask about It's weird coming from Atlanta, um, which is 556 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: such an integrated population, and coming to hear where it 557 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 1: seems like there are very few people of color and 558 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: it still is a Southern city, like a lot of 559 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: the a lot of the foods, a lot of the 560 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: culture is Southern. But I mean it's Appolachian too. But yeah, 561 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: could you could you speak a little bit to why 562 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,680 Speaker 1: that is sure. So you know, inherently Asheville has a 563 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: smaller African American population, even going back to mid nineteenth 564 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: century history. And part of that had to do that 565 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: there was not significant plantation agriculture in western North Clina 566 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: just because the landscape, unlike the eastern part of Akolina, 567 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: whre they had these gigantic farms. But that does not 568 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: mean there was not slavery in western arth Calina. That 569 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: becomes a real misunderstanding and and I think sometimes people 570 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: want sort of skip them be like, oh, yeah, we 571 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,160 Speaker 1: somehow we're better than that. No. No, as a region, 572 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: we've not been better than that. And and there was 573 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: word sleeves, but the number was smaller, and that has 574 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 1: definitely been part of that inheritance. That said, though, after 575 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: the Civil War, we were a very popular city for 576 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 1: freedmen to relocate to. They were drawn to Asheville looking 577 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: for new opportunities. There were folks like Isaac Dixon. Isaac 578 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: was this amazing bootstrap story of this fella who you know, 579 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: sort of comes at Nickel in his pocket, starts working 580 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,479 Speaker 1: mainly for the Patent family, I believe, which was an 581 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: old Ashville family, and starts his own businesses and then 582 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 1: gets very concerned about African American school kids are mainly 583 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: their winning schools for them to go to, particularly after 584 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 1: the infamous plus e versus Ferguson, you know, the codified 585 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: jim Co laws, And in a story that we still 586 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: don't fully understand, he gets appointed to the school board. 587 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: I cannot imagine there are many African Americans on Southern 588 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,240 Speaker 1: school boards at the turn of the twenty century. And 589 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,479 Speaker 1: he gets the city to to build schools. Um they 590 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,960 Speaker 1: were segregated schools, but schools for African American UH students, 591 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:11,480 Speaker 1: and and so with that there's a it's an intriguing heritage. UM. 592 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: In the nineteen sixties, there were students at the then 593 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,600 Speaker 1: all black high school, stevens Lee High School, who were 594 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:24,760 Speaker 1: so inspired by those four amazing young men at Northlina 595 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: and t University that started to sit in movement at 596 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: to Warlworth in Greensboro, and they did the same thing, 597 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,400 Speaker 1: and they formed a score of the Asheville Student Committee 598 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: on Racial Equality and began in the nineteen sixty one 599 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: their own campaign of desegregation to really great success over 600 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: about a four year period. And so we've definitely had 601 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 1: really important and strong leadership that carries through. Population wise, 602 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: though in the city it's about half of what the 603 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: average population in North Carolina about twenty six percent of 604 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 1: all North Collinians or of African descent, and Ashville it's 605 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,800 Speaker 1: about thirteen percent of all lash Villains are of U 606 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: are of African descent. One of the challenges that we're 607 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: very concerned about is some of our key areas that 608 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:13,800 Speaker 1: have begun to see more recent about revitalization or new 609 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 1: development are adjacent to historically African American neighborhoods, and so 610 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:23,560 Speaker 1: the gentrification that wraps around that is it is very 611 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 1: much a concerning thing for us in Nashville, because we 612 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:30,640 Speaker 1: don't want success to come create failure for somebody else 613 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 1: not of their own doing either um and so that 614 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: that's a lot of the conversation today about how do 615 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: we how do we balance those things in Ashville, And so, 616 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 1: you know, I think it's something in meeting things in 617 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: around town we are talking about how do we as 618 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,600 Speaker 1: a city make sure that it is clear that we 619 00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:56,360 Speaker 1: are a welcoming city for anybody to to find what 620 00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 1: they're looking for in Ashville. You know, the first thing 621 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: gets you so much as I'm out when higher education 622 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: with the term we use a lot, but that he 623 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: can almost lose its meaning. But I think fundamentally, cities 624 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:17,720 Speaker 1: that aren't welcoming will become irrelevant. You've got to everybody's 625 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: got to feel welcome, and it gets to a point 626 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,360 Speaker 1: that you want to see everybody and not just people 627 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:24,800 Speaker 1: that look like you. Um. And if you're in a 628 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: place that that's not the case, it'll be irrelevant to you. 629 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,080 Speaker 1: We still have some more interview for you, but first 630 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: a quick break for word from our sponsor, and we're back. 631 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 1: Thank you sponsor. Let's get back to the interview. Can 632 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: you can you speak at all to how I guess 633 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: technology and industry. I mean, I know that the railroads 634 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:55,400 Speaker 1: were huge and um and Asheville was one of the 635 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: first places that had a bunch of different transportation related 636 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 1: innovations in North Carolina. I think I think I've read 637 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: that on Wikipedia. You know, if it's on Wikipedia, it 638 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:11,959 Speaker 1: has to be Actually, you know today it's been vetted 639 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: so many times. It's actually not as bad as that. 640 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:15,960 Speaker 1: You can actually find some real gems in all that. 641 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: But anyway, it's a good resource for resources, right exactly. Yeah, 642 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:23,480 Speaker 1: I mean so I mean, if we're talking about sort 643 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 1: of the ashvill economy today, the tech sector is a 644 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 1: is a really strong growth there. Ifact one of the 645 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,799 Speaker 1: things that we're in an easy city. If you can 646 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:34,680 Speaker 1: be wherever you need to be, you don't have to 647 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:36,920 Speaker 1: show up at a particular office. And we have a 648 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:40,240 Speaker 1: ton of folks that are telecommuters that work for Atlanta 649 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:44,320 Speaker 1: based companies and Raleigh based companies and Boston based companies 650 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:46,920 Speaker 1: that don't have to be there, and they be anywhere 651 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:48,399 Speaker 1: in the world, and they choose to be here because 652 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:50,920 Speaker 1: they're like the lifestyle of Ashville, like the folks that 653 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:52,680 Speaker 1: are here, and so we see a lot of that. 654 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:57,759 Speaker 1: But we also have a number of homegrown businesses in 655 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:02,719 Speaker 1: Ashville that do great work, from high tech manufacturing to 656 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,440 Speaker 1: um you know, apps and computer programming and things like that. 657 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:08,800 Speaker 1: We're not trying to be the new Silicon Valley or 658 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: Silicon Mountain or anything like that, but just I mean 659 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 1: that's sort of talk about trying. I mean, that's what 660 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 1: everybody's been trying to do. But we um even a 661 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:22,479 Speaker 1: nearby community Massing, which is pretty rural county, they've begin 662 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:27,440 Speaker 1: putting greater investment in broadband infrastructure because there there are 663 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,359 Speaker 1: a lot of folks that want even a more rural 664 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:33,239 Speaker 1: kind of lifestyle, but they're high tech employees and they're 665 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: seeing fruits from that from those efforts already. H Manufacturing 666 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,239 Speaker 1: still very strong in North Carolina on the whole, even 667 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: with the pretty much loss of textiles and furniture in 668 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,799 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties, but we still have a great deal 669 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:51,480 Speaker 1: of growth around that. And Buncomb County has a very 670 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:55,840 Speaker 1: strong manufacturing economy. Uh that sports along Ire County, but 671 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:58,680 Speaker 1: a lot of the surrounding counties re really have tens 672 00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:01,400 Speaker 1: of thousands of folks that live in in Jason Counties 673 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 1: and then come into work in Buoncomb County. That inflow 674 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,279 Speaker 1: is tens of thousands every day. Um, and we'll see 675 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: that in We've seen other regional economies around around the country. 676 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 1: But it's strong here and and probably will be that 677 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 1: way for the next fifty years for sure. Speaking of 678 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,120 Speaker 1: where where do you think Ashville is going? Um, I 679 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:26,319 Speaker 1: think our We don't think Ashville's going. I think we'll 680 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 1: continuen see population growth in Nashville. I think it'll be 681 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:35,720 Speaker 1: more limited than some of our sister institutions around our 682 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,759 Speaker 1: sister cities around North Carolina, Menya, Riley, and Charlotte are 683 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,920 Speaker 1: huge crowd cities. We don't want to be big a 684 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: city of that scale. Um. I think I think we'll 685 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:51,120 Speaker 1: continue to be a popular destination for folks u and 686 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,720 Speaker 1: looking for weekend visits. We're great. We're a really great 687 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,759 Speaker 1: driving destination that we're saying tons of folks. Gosh, I 688 00:36:57,840 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: just heard the figures on our airport. In five years, 689 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:01,959 Speaker 1: less than five years, we will have double from about 690 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 1: a half million passengers over a million this year. And 691 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,360 Speaker 1: so we're seeing but that's both good for us to 692 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 1: live here in folks that are that are coming in. 693 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:16,759 Speaker 1: We're definitely struggling with becoming a popular city in the 694 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,560 Speaker 1: real estate issues that that brings. We you know, you're 695 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:23,560 Speaker 1: framing under the rubric of affordable housing. That's a much 696 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:26,600 Speaker 1: more complicated thing than that. For us. It's a supply 697 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:28,840 Speaker 1: and demand. It's good old Kanes in economics. If you 698 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,400 Speaker 1: don't have enough supply and the man's high enough, the 699 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 1: prices jack up. And that's exactly what's happened with us. UM. 700 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,280 Speaker 1: We just were in it was Forbes this week about 701 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:41,760 Speaker 1: being in one of the top twenty five emerging boom markets, 702 00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:44,520 Speaker 1: and we've been a boom market before. And frankly, we 703 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:46,719 Speaker 1: were all talking thought even the past few months we 704 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,680 Speaker 1: were not dipping but cooling a little bit. But Forbes 705 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,279 Speaker 1: was like, no, no, that's not what's happening. Um, you're 706 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 1: just getting ready to even hit higher heights on that. 707 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,239 Speaker 1: And that makes us anxious. Though. If somebody pointed out, 708 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,080 Speaker 1: and it's sort of harsh, this at what good city 709 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 1: do you know is cheap to live in? And well, 710 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: that's true. This and all the pier cities that folks 711 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:09,160 Speaker 1: be like, well, you know, Ash reminds me a lot 712 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,439 Speaker 1: of a smaller Portland or Austin or Boulders and those 713 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:16,520 Speaker 1: are crazy expensive cities to live in. Um. And not 714 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:18,879 Speaker 1: that that's something we're aspiring, and we're we'd be glad 715 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: to to rewrite that chapter. But I think that that 716 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:25,359 Speaker 1: will be be a challenge for us. And in hand 717 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:29,719 Speaker 1: in handing that is transportation. Um. We uh, we're we've 718 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:34,359 Speaker 1: outgrown our infrastructure right now for the automobile and part 719 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,400 Speaker 1: of that growth we're seeing downtown people are tired of 720 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:40,080 Speaker 1: getting the cars and they're wanting to to walk places. 721 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,760 Speaker 1: The other thing in somebodys This seems a little preemptive 722 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:44,920 Speaker 1: to talk about. There's a great deal of conversation that 723 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:48,319 Speaker 1: goes on Nashville about autonomous vehicles, which seems a little 724 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,359 Speaker 1: space age, but already we're starting to see those pull 725 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:55,040 Speaker 1: up more than we thought, and and our transportation folks 726 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:57,840 Speaker 1: have begun seriously having a conversation about what would that 727 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,759 Speaker 1: look like. You know, do you not have parking decks 728 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:03,720 Speaker 1: now you've still got cars. You don't want robot cars 729 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,399 Speaker 1: just roaming the streets at all time, and they gotta 730 00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:09,239 Speaker 1: go somewhere because it's also not good energy wise. You 731 00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:11,840 Speaker 1: don't want them just using up energy waiting on the 732 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:13,800 Speaker 1: somebody pulled their phone now and bring it, call a 733 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:16,160 Speaker 1: car to them. So it'll be interesting to see how 734 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:21,520 Speaker 1: the impact that that laugh h I think we're are 735 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 1: you know, one of our challenges, it's and it's the 736 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:28,319 Speaker 1: really best challenge to have. Our unemployment is ridiculously low. 737 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,560 Speaker 1: It's the lowest in North Carolina and has been for 738 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:33,960 Speaker 1: over three years. It's the lowest has been here since 739 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,799 Speaker 1: like two thousand. It's like three point two three point 740 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:40,399 Speaker 1: four this week, which basically means you don't have unemployment UM, 741 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:44,000 Speaker 1: it's just frectional unemployment of people moving jobs and in fact, 742 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:47,200 Speaker 1: in metro actual there's more than ten thousand taking jobs 743 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:49,759 Speaker 1: right now. And so we were actually running to the 744 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:54,080 Speaker 1: issue of having enough people to support the instructure that's 745 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:57,200 Speaker 1: here and growing in terms of business and manufacturing and 746 00:39:57,640 --> 00:40:01,719 Speaker 1: other related because even things like UM, nonprofits are huge, 747 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:03,880 Speaker 1: it sounds weird to say non profits are big business 748 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,480 Speaker 1: in Ashville. UM, there are so many region, local, regional, 749 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,640 Speaker 1: and national nonprofits headquartered in Nashville. Then at one time 750 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:12,320 Speaker 1: there was a figure like one out of every eleven 751 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,879 Speaker 1: people were employed by nonprofit in metro Ashville. And I'm 752 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:17,880 Speaker 1: not sure what the current status status is are that 753 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 1: it's a lot of folks. I mean, that's a it's 754 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 1: very common to be meeting folks and they work for 755 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:26,880 Speaker 1: non profits in town for sure. So you kind of 756 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:32,520 Speaker 1: mentioned the the vibe of Ashville and that's why people 757 00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:34,879 Speaker 1: move here, and it's really interesting to talk to someone 758 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:38,359 Speaker 1: who's from Ashville. UM, and what do you think since 759 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:42,239 Speaker 1: we are sort of trying to focus in on food 760 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:46,640 Speaker 1: and drink, but but in general, why, why do you 761 00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:50,920 Speaker 1: think what is the vibe to you and what what 762 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,239 Speaker 1: brings from our experience so far, the food and drink 763 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:58,040 Speaker 1: scene has been amazing. Why do you think that is 764 00:40:59,239 --> 00:41:03,200 Speaker 1: so the bigger sort of vibe? I actually go back 765 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:05,960 Speaker 1: to an old there's a bit of old Appalachian sensibility 766 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,040 Speaker 1: of live and let live, and who am I to 767 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,400 Speaker 1: judge you? Or put another way, if you stayt of 768 00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,400 Speaker 1: my business, I'll study your business. And part of that 769 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:17,319 Speaker 1: really means that it's not tolerance I don't really care 770 00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:21,480 Speaker 1: for that word, but just acceptance and that we may 771 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,600 Speaker 1: not see eye to eye and that's okay. I don't 772 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:26,719 Speaker 1: hate you because you don't agree with me, which on 773 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:32,800 Speaker 1: a cultural perspective nationally, that's a little short and happening 774 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:37,839 Speaker 1: today Ashville to that sort of food and drink vibe, 775 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,279 Speaker 1: I think you still can connect with all of that. Um. 776 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:45,040 Speaker 1: There's a couple of things that that went on. You know, First, 777 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:47,960 Speaker 1: in the late sixties and early seventies, we had folks 778 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:52,160 Speaker 1: moving to Ashville out of places like northern California, you know, 779 00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:54,400 Speaker 1: the so called flower Children, hippie movement and all that, 780 00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:57,680 Speaker 1: and they were drawing to Asheville a couple of reasons. One, frankly, 781 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,399 Speaker 1: it was cheap to be here, and so for young 782 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:03,280 Speaker 1: folks looking for a place to be and maybe they're artists, 783 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:06,640 Speaker 1: or maybe they were interested in farming or or whatever 784 00:42:06,719 --> 00:42:08,960 Speaker 1: they were interested in. And this sort of jived and 785 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:13,080 Speaker 1: worked well for that. Also being in the Appalachian Mountains, 786 00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:16,479 Speaker 1: arguably the Appalachians of the oldest mountain range in the world. 787 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:19,480 Speaker 1: Our French Broad River so named because it was the 788 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:21,840 Speaker 1: broad River that went west into French territory in the 789 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:24,399 Speaker 1: owl days. People like it's a weird name. Um, that's 790 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:26,640 Speaker 1: I remain one of our two rivers that go through 791 00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:28,839 Speaker 1: through the county. It's the third oldest river in the world. 792 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:31,400 Speaker 1: And so with that there are also people drawn to 793 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:36,840 Speaker 1: Asheville for a bit of that. I mean, you may 794 00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:39,319 Speaker 1: frame it a spirituality or the connection to the land 795 00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:42,680 Speaker 1: part that goes of course back to Great Cherokee heritage 796 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,600 Speaker 1: in Western Carolina as well, and so folks can get 797 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:49,520 Speaker 1: drawn to that. And then there was this time by 798 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:51,640 Speaker 1: the eighties and nineties and I actually put it back 799 00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:54,399 Speaker 1: of all things, back to tobacco. Uh. Some folks will 800 00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:57,319 Speaker 1: remember that it's in the nineties and the Clinton administration 801 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:02,280 Speaker 1: that the federal govern it started winning these big cases 802 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:06,680 Speaker 1: against a big tobacco and and it was a real 803 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:09,279 Speaker 1: hit on tobacco to the point that tobacco was not 804 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:11,640 Speaker 1: as profitable cropp fell Tobacco has been a huge crop 805 00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:14,799 Speaker 1: in North Carolina for you know, a couple hundred years, 806 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:17,680 Speaker 1: and a lot of folks in western North Carolina where 807 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:19,960 Speaker 1: it was always harder to grow than eastern North Carolina. 808 00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:22,719 Speaker 1: Again that sort of landscape and whatnot, And so they 809 00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:24,840 Speaker 1: got out of it. And as they were looking to 810 00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:26,920 Speaker 1: get out of it, there was a group called the 811 00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:31,480 Speaker 1: Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project that started getting folks into stainable agriculture, 812 00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:35,960 Speaker 1: namely around food production. And so there is no table 813 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,200 Speaker 1: and farm to table without the farm. And so the 814 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:42,320 Speaker 1: farm started growing at the same time the table was 815 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:46,720 Speaker 1: growing in Ashville. And so we began to see farming 816 00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:52,240 Speaker 1: for food really both coming back and really growing in Ashville. 817 00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:55,560 Speaker 1: And and that's really helped support that scene. So you 818 00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:59,080 Speaker 1: got folks like like Mark Rosenstein starting the marketplace that 819 00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:02,879 Speaker 1: could get to uh local produce. Early Girl Eatery down 820 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:04,840 Speaker 1: the Streets a great example. They were one of the 821 00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:07,080 Speaker 1: first ones. You know, if they could get it local, 822 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:09,359 Speaker 1: they got it local. And that's pretty standard. I mean, 823 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:11,480 Speaker 1: you even go to chain restaurants in Ashville, and there 824 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:14,920 Speaker 1: literally are stickers on the menu that they buy their 825 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,200 Speaker 1: meat at a grey nutcap farms or something like that 826 00:44:17,719 --> 00:44:20,080 Speaker 1: that even though that's not where their national supply normally 827 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,839 Speaker 1: comes from. So I think that going hand in hand. 828 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:26,600 Speaker 1: And again, once you get a bit of a critical mass, 829 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:28,920 Speaker 1: and frankly, when you've got enough people to both live 830 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:32,000 Speaker 1: here and visit here to come and eat, you can 831 00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:35,600 Speaker 1: you can make some of those jumps and food and 832 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:39,239 Speaker 1: put a lot more restaurants per capita than you would 833 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:43,359 Speaker 1: would expect to see here for sure. And there's also 834 00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:46,760 Speaker 1: a great air which is the Ashville rest Independent Restaurant 835 00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:51,880 Speaker 1: Association UH is extremely good at what they do and 836 00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:56,720 Speaker 1: promoting and supporting UH the local restaurant and food culture. 837 00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:59,320 Speaker 1: And so it's a very cooperative and people help it. 838 00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:01,840 Speaker 1: Again they're in a petition with each other, but I 839 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:05,000 Speaker 1: mean literally, like at Well Played our Board Game Cafe, 840 00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:07,360 Speaker 1: there are times we ran out of something and we 841 00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:10,400 Speaker 1: can go next door to the Laughing Seed and you 842 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:12,480 Speaker 1: know it's barring a cup of sugar, so to speak, 843 00:45:12,760 --> 00:45:14,920 Speaker 1: and and we help each other out like that all 844 00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:19,360 Speaker 1: the time. There's not there's not a sense of cutthroat 845 00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:22,359 Speaker 1: competition in the food scene here, and then we've gotten 846 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:23,920 Speaker 1: to the point that we're just sort of proud of it. 847 00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:28,040 Speaker 1: Katie Button, for example, that has curtained Nightbell. Katie made 848 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:29,640 Speaker 1: it all the way to the last round of James 849 00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:31,719 Speaker 1: Spirit this year, and we were sort of following her 850 00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:34,600 Speaker 1: like it was a sports team, just Katie's gotta win 851 00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:36,279 Speaker 1: this year. Of course the Kati didn't get it this year, 852 00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:38,719 Speaker 1: but we're like, Katie's got we we gotta just gotta win. 853 00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:41,320 Speaker 1: And you know, in any given year, we've got anywhere 854 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:44,319 Speaker 1: from uh two to four folks up for a James 855 00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:47,160 Speaker 1: Beard in some way, and so that that becomes a 856 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:51,759 Speaker 1: little bit part of the hometown culture. Even Yeah, that's 857 00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:54,600 Speaker 1: that's great. Everyone that we've spoken to is spoken to 858 00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,880 Speaker 1: the point that that that even the competition is is 859 00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:02,120 Speaker 1: friendly and collaborative. The challenge can be is that of 860 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:06,640 Speaker 1: course people still vote by their feet or they're backside 861 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:08,919 Speaker 1: in the seat, and and so it can be tough 862 00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:13,479 Speaker 1: that you know, if you don't bring bring some game, 863 00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:18,080 Speaker 1: you don't if you don't last um restaurants come and 864 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:22,160 Speaker 1: go in Ashville offense um, So you've gotta bring you 865 00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:26,839 Speaker 1: gotta bring some game for sure. Like like bar food 866 00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:30,000 Speaker 1: Nashville and bar food anywhere else, it's pretty serious food. 867 00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:35,360 Speaker 1: You just can't get away with basics. Um, what what 868 00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:38,279 Speaker 1: do you think? This is a big question, but I 869 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:43,319 Speaker 1: what nostalgia wise, when you think of ash ellis someone 870 00:46:43,360 --> 00:46:46,600 Speaker 1: who grew up here? Especially, Um, what is the food 871 00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:50,360 Speaker 1: that comes to mind? What is the food that like 872 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:53,400 Speaker 1: brings you back to Nashville. So it's funny growing up 873 00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:56,440 Speaker 1: in Ashville growing up in Appalachia. I mean I definitely 874 00:46:56,640 --> 00:46:58,279 Speaker 1: you know, grew up in the household where we had 875 00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,480 Speaker 1: country Fried's day can we had pinto beans and corn 876 00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:03,800 Speaker 1: bread and green beans and things like that. But and 877 00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:05,839 Speaker 1: weirdly sort of grew up in Nashville. It was also 878 00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,239 Speaker 1: about moosaka and span a cop But we have a 879 00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:12,400 Speaker 1: really big Greek Orthodox population in Nashville, and uh, for 880 00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:15,200 Speaker 1: a number of years a number of the local restaurants 881 00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:18,160 Speaker 1: were owned by Greek families. And so you might go 882 00:47:18,239 --> 00:47:20,360 Speaker 1: and it had dinner fair and didn't get some meatloaf 883 00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:23,840 Speaker 1: and you know, carrots and cream beans. But then you 884 00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:27,800 Speaker 1: could also get you know, bostico and and moussaka and whatnot, 885 00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:31,080 Speaker 1: and so that that was also part of it as well. 886 00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:34,120 Speaker 1: It's funny that Ashville Citizen Times are our local paper. 887 00:47:34,239 --> 00:47:37,480 Speaker 1: Just at an article last week on with them who 888 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:41,359 Speaker 1: did on the tin uh Tin top restaurants. The people 889 00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:44,480 Speaker 1: remember that that are not around anymore, and it's funny 890 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:46,279 Speaker 1: to sort of see what some of the themes in 891 00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:48,320 Speaker 1: one was. When I just mentioned called Stone soup and 892 00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:50,400 Speaker 1: I remembers the kid, I mean, they were doing artisan 893 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:54,439 Speaker 1: before anybody used artisan noise as a phrase for food, 894 00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:56,759 Speaker 1: and it was exactly was a soup and sandwich shop 895 00:47:56,840 --> 00:48:00,080 Speaker 1: that did their own home baked breads. And those of 896 00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:01,960 Speaker 1: us who I was as a kid growing up, the 897 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:05,560 Speaker 1: people remember it to the point that literally the staff 898 00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:09,680 Speaker 1: has reunions. They get together that used to folks that 899 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:12,719 Speaker 1: used to work at this restaurant. You know, I don't 900 00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:14,840 Speaker 1: think we've seen there are things that come and go, 901 00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:20,320 Speaker 1: but it's not how to put it's not excessively trendy 902 00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:23,320 Speaker 1: and Nashville, for example, we don't we don't have a 903 00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:25,920 Speaker 1: toast restaurant. You go to San Francis going to the 904 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:28,440 Speaker 1: toast restaurant, and I got nothing wrong with toast restaurant, 905 00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:32,600 Speaker 1: but those are ones that probably at least in the town. 906 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:37,719 Speaker 1: Our size won't have a longevity. Folks typically try to 907 00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:43,759 Speaker 1: open with some longevity intended. Um, and not just sort 908 00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:48,200 Speaker 1: of cat catching a trend. For sure. There's a you know, 909 00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:50,880 Speaker 1: it's a lot of small plates more recently though, and 910 00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:52,360 Speaker 1: I think part of that comes to folks like me 911 00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:54,279 Speaker 1: and you know you love a sampler, Ye try a 912 00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:57,920 Speaker 1: little bit. This is that. The other thing I think, Um, 913 00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:01,480 Speaker 1: the distilling scene is actually really interesting. That's begun to 914 00:49:02,400 --> 00:49:06,000 Speaker 1: fall of the Nashville and it's tied to a U Finally, 915 00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:09,080 Speaker 1: what was a late maturing craft cocktail scene. We were 916 00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:12,520 Speaker 1: so beer center to Nashville that the craft cocktail was 917 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,680 Speaker 1: not particularly strong, and then we we saw folks like 918 00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:19,680 Speaker 1: Sovin Remedies. That is hands down my favorite bar in town. Um, 919 00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:22,520 Speaker 1: and they're not only do beautiful, beautiful drinks, but great 920 00:49:22,560 --> 00:49:24,799 Speaker 1: great food as well. I think they're chef just kind 921 00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:27,400 Speaker 1: of buy to the James Beard House. Graham's going to 922 00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:29,239 Speaker 1: be doing a doing a thing up here in a 923 00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:34,880 Speaker 1: couple of weeks. And they're also uh, the owner his 924 00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:39,239 Speaker 1: partner has a urban farming and they do infill on 925 00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:42,520 Speaker 1: lots and front yards and do CSAs out of that. 926 00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:45,719 Speaker 1: But then they also you know, it is produced for 927 00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:48,040 Speaker 1: the restaurant as well, and I just love that. I mean, 928 00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:51,960 Speaker 1: that is such a great way to connect, connect in 929 00:49:52,040 --> 00:49:54,320 Speaker 1: with land, connect with food and know who's who you 930 00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:57,080 Speaker 1: buying your food from. Uh. And so I think that 931 00:49:57,280 --> 00:50:00,200 Speaker 1: scene has been uh one that was a little later 932 00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:04,560 Speaker 1: for us, that has finally become stronger. The other things 933 00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:10,160 Speaker 1: we're actually seeing other food manufacturing happening in Nashville. We 934 00:50:10,239 --> 00:50:12,600 Speaker 1: talked about the food scene in terms of what's what 935 00:50:12,880 --> 00:50:16,520 Speaker 1: well we go to restaurants, but the actual food production 936 00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:20,440 Speaker 1: scene is pretty robust as well. Everything from Roots Hummus, 937 00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:26,040 Speaker 1: which has become a major regional and growing national hummus maker, 938 00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:28,839 Speaker 1: and they did great flavors of it that you get 939 00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:30,880 Speaker 1: in a restaurant, but you can also buying the store, 940 00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:36,120 Speaker 1: to Bucci Kombucha and they have become one of the 941 00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:40,879 Speaker 1: major national players in kombucha and other kinds of fermented drinks, 942 00:50:41,080 --> 00:50:44,640 Speaker 1: like they just started even doing stuff overseas in South Korea. Uh. 943 00:50:44,880 --> 00:50:49,880 Speaker 1: There's soda makers have We've been seeing red Devils of 944 00:50:49,960 --> 00:50:52,640 Speaker 1: most recent one waynes Weil soda jerks from a couple 945 00:50:52,680 --> 00:50:55,920 Speaker 1: of years ago and they're still in production. Chocolate making. 946 00:50:56,080 --> 00:50:59,480 Speaker 1: French Ball Chocolate Lounge literally makes tons of chocolate and 947 00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:03,719 Speaker 1: they're now building a new production facility here. Most of 948 00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:07,080 Speaker 1: their tonnage literally tonnage goes to their main shop downtown, 949 00:51:07,239 --> 00:51:09,440 Speaker 1: but they're gonna start, as I understand it, do UM 950 00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:15,120 Speaker 1: craft chocolate for uh commercial use like baking chocolates and 951 00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:19,240 Speaker 1: choo chips and syrups and whatnot. And having the restaurant. 952 00:51:19,280 --> 00:51:22,480 Speaker 1: We we actually don't have many great choices for chocolate 953 00:51:22,840 --> 00:51:26,120 Speaker 1: that it's just the big global commercial stuff. There's not 954 00:51:26,239 --> 00:51:28,279 Speaker 1: if you're looking for a more craft brand, there's just 955 00:51:28,560 --> 00:51:30,279 Speaker 1: not a lot to turn to, and so they're going 956 00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:32,359 Speaker 1: to fill that niche. So I think that's the other 957 00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:36,799 Speaker 1: part of food and drink that can get missed in Ashville. UM. 958 00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:38,440 Speaker 1: And then the list just goes on and on of 959 00:51:38,560 --> 00:51:42,040 Speaker 1: the of the folks who make you know, everything from 960 00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,879 Speaker 1: jams and jellies to to just great you know, time 961 00:51:44,960 --> 00:51:47,680 Speaker 1: of day you know day foods from great bakeries and 962 00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:50,560 Speaker 1: and other kinds of food like that. So we're and 963 00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:52,520 Speaker 1: then some of the times, you know, the demand on 964 00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:56,040 Speaker 1: that's has really sometimes outstripped the supply, and so we've 965 00:51:56,080 --> 00:52:00,320 Speaker 1: seen some maneuvers and growth having to happen because of 966 00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:03,120 Speaker 1: a neat need for that, and that gets, you know, 967 00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:04,719 Speaker 1: for some of those businesses, it gets them at that 968 00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:08,320 Speaker 1: point of thinking, at what point am I getting beyond local? 969 00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:11,399 Speaker 1: And I've become a bit I'm becoming my own big 970 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:14,480 Speaker 1: multinat and not a big multinational, but you know, major 971 00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:16,600 Speaker 1: affair and of course the other and y'all, maybe I've 972 00:52:16,600 --> 00:52:20,000 Speaker 1: already sampled a little bit there. But are the food 973 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:22,440 Speaker 1: trucks and of course a lot of cities are have 974 00:52:22,560 --> 00:52:26,280 Speaker 1: seen uh good food truck scenes. It's interesting for Ashville, 975 00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:29,560 Speaker 1: we don't actually allow food trucks to be on the sidewalks. 976 00:52:30,200 --> 00:52:33,560 Speaker 1: They have to either be in designated lots or tied 977 00:52:33,640 --> 00:52:36,120 Speaker 1: with another business. So most of our food trucks are 978 00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:39,560 Speaker 1: actually at the tap houses and they cycle around all 979 00:52:39,760 --> 00:52:43,960 Speaker 1: of the beer production facilities, um sometimes one by one 980 00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:47,239 Speaker 1: or sometimes two or three, but that's typically where you 981 00:52:47,360 --> 00:52:51,439 Speaker 1: go find. There's just recently forty some fifty some food 982 00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:55,160 Speaker 1: trucks in Ashville with I mean everything from Indian to 983 00:52:56,320 --> 00:53:01,640 Speaker 1: Korean fusion, Korean Mexican fusion to French and the grilled 984 00:53:01,719 --> 00:53:04,839 Speaker 1: cheeses and sort of everything in between. Yeah, we were 985 00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:07,400 Speaker 1: I don't remember what brewery it was at. We've penned 986 00:53:07,400 --> 00:53:09,239 Speaker 1: a number of them, um, but what one of them 987 00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:11,080 Speaker 1: had like a food truck of the day board up 988 00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:14,080 Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, oh, oh, that's the gig, 989 00:53:14,239 --> 00:53:17,160 Speaker 1: Like this is how I mean, that's great And you're 990 00:53:17,160 --> 00:53:20,600 Speaker 1: now finding places and unexpected there's a good story. Actually 991 00:53:20,840 --> 00:53:24,920 Speaker 1: are the unexpected restaurants. For example, it's the Great Tai 992 00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:29,520 Speaker 1: Food that's at the Exxon um or it's the there's 993 00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:33,280 Speaker 1: a place up north this woman makes he's fantastic homemade 994 00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:36,439 Speaker 1: tortillas and she's like in the back of the gas 995 00:53:36,480 --> 00:53:39,880 Speaker 1: station as well. And it's in those they make and 996 00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:42,080 Speaker 1: when they sell out, they sell out, you know, their 997 00:53:42,160 --> 00:53:46,680 Speaker 1: their homemade there. Uh. There's even and its rumors of 998 00:53:46,760 --> 00:53:50,880 Speaker 1: sort of the hidden restaurant seeing that are in people's 999 00:53:50,960 --> 00:53:55,799 Speaker 1: houses that just are not they're not official, but people 1000 00:53:55,920 --> 00:53:59,320 Speaker 1: go and and uh and have their own little little setups. 1001 00:53:59,760 --> 00:54:03,800 Speaker 1: So there's h that food is very robust, and I 1002 00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:09,000 Speaker 1: think in Ashville, frankly, it's feeling a bit more to 1003 00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:13,960 Speaker 1: me what my Europeans friends feel about food of just 1004 00:54:14,200 --> 00:54:16,919 Speaker 1: really demanding quality. Why am I going to put junk 1005 00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:18,960 Speaker 1: in my body? This is my body, Why am I 1006 00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:21,240 Speaker 1: gonna put all these chemicals and all this other stuff 1007 00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:25,279 Speaker 1: and so, and now there's enough critical mass that it's 1008 00:54:25,600 --> 00:54:29,640 Speaker 1: actually financially viable for these farms and producers in the region. 1009 00:54:34,400 --> 00:54:37,319 Speaker 1: And that's the end of our our interview. This our 1010 00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:41,040 Speaker 1: first bonus interview from Nashville. There will be more. Yes. Yes. 1011 00:54:41,560 --> 00:54:44,280 Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed it and found it as informative 1012 00:54:44,560 --> 00:54:50,320 Speaker 1: as we did. Um and we hope to hear from you, 1013 00:54:51,719 --> 00:54:55,359 Speaker 1: from you, from you, all of you listeners out there. Yes, 1014 00:54:55,480 --> 00:54:58,719 Speaker 1: please yes. If you would like to email as you can, 1015 00:54:58,880 --> 00:55:02,160 Speaker 1: our email is Hello at savor pod dot com. We're 1016 00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:05,080 Speaker 1: also on social media. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, 1017 00:55:05,200 --> 00:55:08,239 Speaker 1: and Instagram at savor pod. We do hope to hear 1018 00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:10,720 Speaker 1: from you. Thank you as always to our super producer 1019 00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:12,840 Speaker 1: Dylan Fagan. Thank you to you for listening, and we 1020 00:55:12,920 --> 00:55:14,719 Speaker 1: hope that lots more good things are coming your way.