Asheville has a stunning downtown. It’s really well-designed and beautiful. Downtown is easy to get around without a car, but in general I think it would be much easier to live here with a car, unless you are an avid cyclist, because many of the things you will need/want to do will not be downtown. I stayed in West Asheville in the hostel and although I had heard it was very walkable I didn’t find it very pedestrian friendly myself. The buses run once an hour and only the poor people take the bus. I liked Asheville but didn’t feel drawn to move there. To me it felt like a rich resort town—-with an interesting mix of wealthy new-agey folks, hippies, and poor people. It’s definitely a mountain community. I think that if you love the outdoors this is probably a great place to live. If you are into bluegrass music and mountain culture you’ll love it. I love that it is gay and lesbian friendly, I’ve heard it has a great music/art scene, and it is definitely eco-friendly. I would love to visit again in the spring and fall. Overall I think it’s a really cool small mountain town although not what I was looking for.