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Is progressive Asheville Obama鈥檚 vision for America?

Hip, environmentally aware, self-reliant and undeniably quaint, Asheville, N.C is a progressive鈥檚 vision of what America could be. But mountain liberalism comes at a price.

Okay, maybe the Obamas鈥� Asheville, N.C., trip is just a romantic getaway and a chance to grab some 12 Bones BBQ, as the White House suggests.

But you know something is going on when even the local 鈥渢ea party鈥� affiliate welcomes Obama to their 鈥渕ountain paradise.鈥�

Critics like Hoover Institution fellow Shelby Steele have complained that Obama鈥檚 鈥渦ltimate vision, he has not been very clear about.鈥�

So given that the Obamas 鈥渒ind of fell in love鈥� with the Buncombe County burg during a debate prep visit during the 2008 campaign, could Asheville itself be a clue to what the President is thinking when he talks about 鈥渢ransforming鈥� America?

'Hillbilly-hippies'

Founded as a health resort, the little city of 鈥渉illbilly-hippies,鈥� entrepreneurs, musicians, retirees, and community drum circles is, indeed, a progressive鈥檚 vision of America.

Nestled in the oldest hills on earth, Asheville (pop. 70,000), the first East Coast city to require sustainable green construction, is a sort of experiment in environmentalism that has made the city the gateway to the new Appalachia and gotten it listed both as one of America鈥檚 鈥渉appiest places鈥� and as one of the 鈥渂est places to reinvent your life.鈥�

But it also represents conservative fears about what President鈥檚 intentions might wreak: A dearth of high-paying jobs, relatively high taxes, large numbers of homeless and other wards of the state, a high crime rate, and a progressive ruling class perhaps more interested in maintaining quaintness than thickening residents鈥� wallets.

鈥淎t least as far back as the arrival of the Vanderbilts, it has been a haven for artists, innovative types, sophisticated thinkers, and people who want a little something more out of life than the average,鈥� writes former resident Thomas Osborne on . 鈥淎sheville is cultured and educated, perhaps more like a New England town, but amazingly friendly and polite, like a piece of decent southern aristocracy.鈥�

To be sure, the visit also fits into Obama鈥檚 鈥淲hite House to Main Street鈥� program, where he will travel next week to the struggling small towns of the Midwest who first gave him real traction in the 2008 campaign.

'A guy like the rest of us'

And compared to other presidential vacations to tony Martha鈥檚 Vineyard, this trip represents a 鈥渕iddle class鈥� vacation to portray Obama as what Dolly Jenkins-Mullen of the University of North Carolina calls as Congress ponders a crackdown on Wall Street.

Politically, the visit 鈥� the President鈥檚 fourth to North Carolina 鈥� also could be a signal, , that his popularity in North Carolina, a state he stole from the Republicans in 2008, is turning as Democratic support fractures.

But if Asheville is indeed an Obama vision for America, there鈥檚 a stark lesson about the impact of soaring debt in hard times to glean from the city, as well.

The city鈥檚 success today 鈥� embodied by its rich catalog of Art Deco buildings 鈥� came at a price.

As a result of the 1920s building spree, Asheville 鈥渆ntered the Depression with the highest per capita debt in the country,鈥� writes New Hampshire native Terry Pindell in 鈥淎 Good Place to Live.鈥�

鈥淎ll across America, governments declared bankruptcy, further contributing 鈥� to the national depression. But Ashevillians鈥� stubborn mountain pride led them to choose a different path [which] made Asheville what it is today. They created a sinking fund to pay off every cent of the debt, no matter how long it took. [T]he debt wasn鈥檛 retired until 1977. For forty years Asheville lay in an economic cocoon 鈥� a long sleep.鈥�