With the recession nearly a decade in the rearview mirror, the real estate market is once more robust in Jackson County — especially in the southern end of the county around Cashiers.

Sherry and Gary Patterson vacationed in Bryson City for the first time about 20 years ago and now they can’t get enough of it.

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Cashiers, introduced a bill last week to halt the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to ban floating homes on all of its 49 lakes.

Allen Alsbrooks serves on the Maggie Valley Zoning Board, and used to serve on the town’s planning board; he’s also been the owner of the Hearth and Home Inn on Soco Road in Maggie Valley since 2007, so it’s safe to say he’s got his finger pretty close to the pulse of Haywood County’s tourism-based economy. 

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“It’s the best year I’ve ever had,” Alsbrooks said. 

After years of a sluggish real estate recovery, the home market in Haywood County is on a noticeable upward swing. Houses are selling quicker, the inventory glut is finally shrinking and home prices are inching upward again. Second-home buyers and retirees are returning, and overflow from the red-hot Asheville real estate market is leading younger buyers to Haywood’s doorstep to boot.

An air of excitement and expectation reigned over downtown Sylva last week as crews and stars alike rolled in to film streets transformed into the fictional town of Ebbing, Missouri. 

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Crowds gathered on street corners, craning their necks for a view during scenes filmed outdoors on Sylva’s Main Street or keeping a more laidback watch during indoor scenes, hoping for a glimpse of the Hollywood A-listers cast in the big-budget film, called “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

Getting a movie to come to town isn’t something that happens overnight.

“Three Billboards” isn’t the only major filming project going on in Jackson County this month. Last week, ABC wrapped up a week of shooting for its remake of “Dirty Dancing,” turning the High Hampton Inn and Country Club into Kellerman’s Resort, circa 1963.

Haywood County could be turning a corner after a slow, stubborn climb out of the recession, according to some obscure tidbits of data hidden in the bowels of the county’s budget for the coming fiscal year.

Sylva’s town leaders spent a sunny Saturday indoors armed with pen, paper and heads full of ideas for bringing the small town toward a bright future. And while they may not have left the building with a perfect road map, the four-hour brainstorming session ended with some solid ideas for how to prepare Sylva for success.