From Staff Reports 

ASHEVILLE, N.C.  — Southern Living magazine, following a vote by its readers, has ranked Asheville — long revered as “The Paris of the South” — at No. 3 in the magazine’s listing of the “South’s Best Cities 2026” that was announced on March 12.

Specifically, Southern Living recognizing Asheville as an “artsy mountain town with a penchant for an ice-cold beer, farm-to-table plate, and afternoon hike.”

 Meanwhile, Asheville’s top neighboring rival, Greenville, S.C. (a 74-minute drive from Ashville), was ranked No. 9 on the list.

As for Greenville, the magazine noted that the city is recognized for its thriving, walkable downtown, vibrant culinary scene, and accessible outdoor spaces like Falls Park on the Reedy.

Regarding Asheville, the magazine article also stated the following:

"Despite the widespread damage from Hurricane Helene in 2024, the city has bounced back, welcoming visitors with all the same energy that it has ever had.”

Meanwhile, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on March 13 that “the beloved Western North Carolina city beat out major Southern cities, such as Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta and Orlando” in “Southern Living, a well-known lifestyle magazine that highlights the American South..”  

The only two Southern cities to top Asheville in the magazine’s rankings were Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga.

Southern Living's top 10 cities in the South of 2026 are as follows:

Charleston, South Carolina

Savannah, Georgia

Asheville, North Carolina

Nashville, Tennessee

New Orleans, Louisiana

Lexington, Kentucky

Wilmington, North Carolina

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Greenville, South Carolina

St. Petersburg, Florida

In 2025, Asheville was also named the third-best city in the American South. by Southern Living. In 2024, “The Paris of the South” was ranked No. 5.

News 13’s “Comment Bubble” appearing after its story included the following assertions:

• Flowing — “Most likely the Office of Tourism paid for it. A lot of these polls require a payment of some sorts.

“I love my city, but this OVER-exposure needs to stop. Try to find a doctor, dentist etc. Also, WLOS does not report all crime or incidents. There was a suicide up on frying pan tower in the parking lot on March 5 and nothing was ever reported about the drunken driver that drove around the streets of Asheville, ran into cars and the police were blocking off the streets to get him. 

“The focus should be on rebuilding our city, affordable housing and lowering the crime rate that has become rampant — not enticing people to move to this area due to the lack of resources, especially after COVID and Helene. We should be focusing on our people who are still struggling from Helene.”

• Donwan — “Y’all keep voting Democrat.”

• BMW1967 — “Mayor's office probably paid them for that ranking.”

• Normal — “BCTDA does that job, Manny (Mayor Esther Manheimer) is too busy planning her wedding to Gov STAIN.”

• Correcto — “I wonder how many of these 10 cities had 4 shootings in one weekend, as Asheville did last weekend??”

• Apollo13 — “Clearly no one from Southern Living visited Asheville.”

• NoOne23 — “I sure hope people do their research on Asheville before they decide to come here. Funny thing is, so many ppl come visit, then say they will never come back because of the panhandlers, addicts, tents and trash everywhere....

“The money paid to be on this list would have been better spent elsewhere.”

• RiverGod — “Trust me, bro.”

• NCIDdoesntmakeyoulocal — “Nothing says ‘artsy mountain town with a penchant for an ice-cold beer, farm-to-table plate, and afternoon hike’ quite like multiple shootings and homicides every weekend. Solid pick, Southern homes (Living).”

• EHemingway — “How much did the Asheville Tourism board pay for this ranking? Something is ‘rank’ about this ranking...”

• Oldman63 — “Not sure about Charleston, but crime seems rampant in Savannah and Asheville. Savannah has a lot of shootings and robberies. I have lived at both.”

• Dirttyj — “Wonder what mayor manhater paid THAT consultant?”

Justadope — “2nd place cost $50k and 1st place cost $100k, we should have paid up for 1st place. Nothing but paid advertising, folks.”

• johnbarleycorn — “LOL is it April fools day already?”

• Donwan — “Crimes down 37%, people. Nothing to see here.”

• sarinthenervegas— “I've been here 10 yrs. and am glad I made the decision to relocate. It's not the 'artsy' factor, the beer or the food that makes AVL so great, it's the 'natives'. You won't find nicer people anywhere else so stop looking!”

• Scooter123 — “No wonder Charlotte is 18 — they ain't enough food on those plates to feed a cat.”