#1: When New Belgium came to Asheville
In the biggest news story of the year, a major national craft brewer chose to call Asheville home, bringing high-paying jobs and positive change to a riverside brownfield. But to paraphrase one uncertain neighbor, Asheville and New Belgium got married without meeting the family first.
Many residents’ excitement over the facility is now tempered with concerns over management of delivery truck traffic in and around a residential neighborhood with an aging infrastructure already congested during rush hour.
The rest:
Some other breweries also moved here, we hear: Sierra Nevada (to Mills River) and Oskar Blues (in Brevard). Only NBB moved to Asheville, near the river in the old stockyards area in West Asheville.
We’ve got a Trader Joe’s! In a story we broke here on Ashvegas, Asheville’s hippie cred is questioned as purported supporters of local go nuts for the arrival of a chain grocery. Already problematic Merrimon Avenue is going to get reeeeally interesting in 2013.
Authorities said they were searching for illegal synthetic drugs, but removed bongs and hookahs from the Lexingtown Avenue location.
Several other area Octopus Garden smoke shops were raided. We’re still waiting on details.
The Mike’s Side Pocket murders: The night before New Belgium made its annoucement, West Asheville was the site of a disturbing triple murder when assailant Steven Wike of Wilmington attacked and killed patrons of the West Asheville bar.
Wike was pursued and was himself fatally attacked by the brother of one of the victims, who will receive jail time for killing Wike.
The McKibbon Hotel controversy: The piece of property across from the Basilica of St. Lawrence was in the news all year, as residents protested plans for a hotel, and McKibbon, the company behind the questionable design of the Aloft Hotel, proposed yet another large downtown hotel.
Plaza? Park? We’re getting a(nother) hotel.
RAD gentrification: New Belgium is changing West Asheville and the River Arts District forever. For some RAD artists, change is already underway.
The Cargile deaths: In one of the most disturbing pieces of news of 2012, a married couple committed suicide together while on vacation. Dr. Leslie Cargile was a beloved physician in nearby Black Mountain. Her husband, a builder, helped manage the practice.
Their unexpected deaths stunned the town of Black Mountain, and Leslie Cargile’s many patients.
Moogfest divides, but will it conquer?: Nobody quite knows what to think of the divorce between AC Entertainment and Moog Music, which has resulted in two different electronic music festivals in Asheville in 2013: Moogfest with a new promoter TBA, and the new Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit.
Downtown renaissance, times two: Rebirth on the south side? The forgotten south side of downtown seems about to explode with new businesses. Meanwhile, The Block (Eagle/Market street area, Asheville’s former black district) is also set to be reborn.
And here’s some celebrities we spotted in Asheville this year! Because this is Ashvegas, after all:
Sandra Oh
Colin Farrell
Tricia Helfer
William Shatner
Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson
Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer
Jef Holm
James Franco
The Charlotte Bobcats cheerleaders