It seems like every time we turn around, yet another highly respected media outlet is overrating Asheville — a city that we love but that is still deeply in a recovery mode from the devastation wreaked by Tropical Storm Helene — as a “must-visit” city for 2025, despite the ample evidence to the contrary.

Indeed, everyone we know (especially the natives) think the sudden hype elevating Asheville to the level of near-perfection is a joke. 

And those we interact with wonder why these media outlets would risk ruining their reputations with such nonsense. This newspaper is asked whether there is pressure from the Asheville powers-that-be — or some form of compensation involved. Who knows?  

Just in the first two months of 2025, Asheville has received (in our view, ridiculous) accolades from the following:

• The New York Times newspaper — In mid-January, The NYT stated that Asheville is ranked 16th on its list of “One of the “52 Places to Go (in the world) in 2025.”

• Southern Living magazine — In late January, Asheville was named by the magazine “one of the 25 best places to visit in the South in 2025.” (The 25 places were listed in no particular order.)

• Forbes Travel Guide — In mid-February, Forbes named Asheville “A top 12 world destination for 2025.” (The 12 world destinations were listed in no particular order.)

In response to the recent rankings of Asheville, a posting on the internet in response stated the following:

“No, it’s not a good place to visit OR move to. Prices are over the moon for houses and rentals, traffic is so bad you are normally in stop-and-go traffic regardless of where you go, or what time it is. Area natives are being priced out of a place to live and having to move. No, Asheville doesn’t care about anything but your dollars.”

Certainly, we can safely say that Asheville, nicknamed “The Paris of the South,” was a beautiful city at one time, but because of the Sept 27 storm damage and an obvious uptick in all kinds of crimes, we are hearing — increasingly — that neighboring Hendersonville or the nearby Greenville, S.C., area would be a better choice to visit, at least for now.