Ashvegas and the sweet spot

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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The Colorado Springs newspaper has a story on the writer of The Geography of Bliss, which names Asheville one of the happiest places on the planet. The author, Eric Weiner, says size matters:

Weiner feels that a sense of scale is important, that the happiest communities seem to have populations of from 70,000 to 120,000.

“Reykjavik (Iceland’s capital) falls within that range, and Renaissance-era Florence had a population of 90,000, where you get the benefit of cosmopolitan life but without a lot of the drawbacks.”

Which is why Asheville, N.C., intrigued him. The artsy town in the western part of the state ranks at the top of various bestcities lists and has become a magnet for many Americans seeking a slower yet still somewhat urbane lifestyle.

“It’s one of these places people are moving to, and it has a reputation for a high quality of life. It also has this population of 70,000, which seems to be the sweet spot (in terms) of population,” Weiner says.

Though he admits that some people are “hedonic refugees” — those who need to be in a particular place to be happy — he cautions that it’s probably not wise just to pack up and move to Reykjavik or Asheville on a moment’s notice. For one thing, if too many do it, the same old big-city problems will come, too.

“Uprooting yourself from your connections around you is tough,” Weiner says. “Those (hedonic refugees) who picked up and moved became part of that community. That’s why they’re happy there. But you can still pick up some of the lessons of these places without necessarily moving there.”