03.30.07
Ghost Town Maggie Valley
Ghost Town Maggie Valley is reopening towards the end of May. We went here many years ago long before they shut down. You could take either a train or a ski lift to the top of the mountain. There were a few rides. The employees were dressed as if they were in the old west. There was a salon with can-can dances and gunfights in the street (fake). My kids had a good time. On the news tonight, it looked like the amusement park was going to be just like it used to be. Maggie Valley is about 30 minutes away from Asheville. A very popular ski resort is nearby.
warm cold warm weather
yesterday, I posted that it turned cold again. March is just unpredictable. Today, it was cold in the morning but it warmed up nicely. We were able to take a walk to the park without jackets. The weatherman said it was 65 degrees and expecting to turn warmer the next few days.
03.29.07
housing growth
Like the busineses, housing developments are going up everywhere. Land that use to be farmland is turning into housing developments. Unlike the businesses, houses are selling quickly, almost as quick as a house goes up. These new houses aren’t cheap either. Most new houses start at about $250,000 and up depending on their location. I dont know where the people are coming from that can afford the price of these new homes. Someone told me, that many of the people buying the houses are from New York and California where they sell their homes for alot more than they are buying a house for here. I’ll write more about the prices of houses when I look through the Sunday Paper’s real estate section.
Asheville businesses
Everywhere you look in and around the city of Asheville, seems like there are new buildings, businesses and housing going up everywhere you look. For example, Walmart already has a superstore off Swananoa River Rd. However, they are building 2 more super Walmart stores, one on Airport rd. the other behind the old Walmart store on Hendersonville rd. What gets me though, is the number of business buildings they are putting up. They are tearing down lots of trees in order to do this too. As I look around, I see lots of spaces for lease vacant and note that these spaces have been vacant since the building was built a few years back. It appears to me, that businesses are spreading themselves thin. Many of the new businesses that have gone in don’t appear busy. Some have gone out of business for lack of customers.