Ask any Sylva long-timer, and they’ll tell you that Main Street today looks a lot different than it did ten, five or even just a couple years ago. There’s an energy, a bustle, and a new cohort of businesses moving in to drive the feeling.

Young people growing up in a small town usually have one main goal — to get out.

Three women in Franklin have been able to weave their multiple talents together to run a successful downtown business.

It is the heartbeat of a town and its people.

While some communities pride themselves on their Christmas, 4th of July or Memorial Day festivities, the town of Canton showcases Labor Day — a time every year when any and all cheer the workingman, the blue-collar nature of a place as special and unique as its inhabitants.

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• So, why Canton?

It’s a question I get a lot. “Why do you like Canton so much?”

Strolling Main Street in downtown Canton mid-morning, the steam stacks of nearby Evergreen Packaging rise high into another bluebird sky day in Haywood County. Train cars shuffle to and fro in the rail yard surrounding the enormous paper mill.

Sitting down next to each other, it’s pretty apparent that Pat and Zeb Smathers are father and son.

The Bryson City Board of Aldermen is formally asking for public input after mulling over the idea of closing Fry Street in downtown for almost a year.

Based on public input and survey results, it appears the overwhelming majority of folks in Sylva are opposed to creating two-way traffic in the downtown area. 

Begonias are blooming and umbrella-shadowed tables awaiting lunchtime as the finishing touches go into the newly renovated Depot Park in Sylva.