Reporting in from Asheville: the tech scene here is incredibly small. Most of the people I know here in town that are working in any sort of tech space are remote workers. Asheville is indeed a city that's seen a lot of growth over the past 15/20 years and is often talked about in the same way as Austin; I'll often hear someone say, "when I moved here in YYYY, is was so great; I miss the old Asheville." The city officials seems dead set on promoting tourism and not supporting a tech industry. I'm still here because I love this town and want to help promote the its tech scene.
My old boss moved to Bend, OR, but was surprised when I did not follow him. He did not give me a pay raise to afford the $400k entry house for my family. I could have lived out in the sticks, but wanted to be able to walk to downtown, like I do now.