RE: City Repair? and Asheville

---

Hello folks,

James Stewart here.  I live about an hour west of Asheville in the small town of Sylva, NC.  Thanks for the heads up on City Repair. 

Asheville does have a community garden: the Pearson St. Garden, part of the bountiful cities project.  Check it out if you are ever in the area.  Also, Sylva has a community garden as well: ShareCroppers Organic Community Garden.  It was only started last spring (a baby!) and for the sole purpose of growing food for the 'food insecure' in our county.  It was quite a success.  Everything, from land to seeds to tillers and hands, was donated.  I plan to carry it on, with some expansion and some changes, for as long as I can.  Check out www.communitytable.org for pictures of the garden opening and whatnot. Thanks.

Ok. Let me get on my soapbox of sorts.  All posts concerning the 'progressiveness' of A-ville are true.  But sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees.  Western NC is a pretty spectacular area with even more spectacular small progressive communities.  'My' town, Sylva, for example, boasts many attractions that are not normally found in towns of 4,000 individuals: excellent vegetarian, ethnic, or eclectic restaurants, good venues for live music, an organic grocery store, two health food stores, wonderful book and music stores, a thriving tailgate market, more bodywork therapists and yoga instructors than you can shake a stick at (yes, I am southern), and (most importantly) an atmosphere where careful, concerned, and vigorous debates are abundant and where all of our different selves and forms of expression exists peacefully.  If it seems I am making Sylva out to be something of a mountainous, fairytale land, that is not my intention. Rather, this post is just to say that Sylva and our other small mountain towns of Waynesville, Bryson City, Franklin, Cashiers, Highlands, etc. are like Asheville, but on a smaller scale and with more emphasis on 'community'.  Often, the little folks in the little towns are forgotten when discussions of 'progressiveness' happen.  Sad.  We are often some of the most progressive little pockets in our land.  Ok.  That's it.  I do encourage you to visit A-ville, Sylva, or any other town in WNC.  We're lovely folks out here. Heck, I'll be your tour guide if you come through Sylva.  Take care all.