In the comedy As You Like It, Shakespeare wrote about a land called the Forest of Arden. Life is simple there. Shepherds tend their flocks. Young men carve poems in trees. But despite her many charms, Arden can baffle even the sharpest.

Amazingly, south Buncombe County's Arden, named by local novelist Charles Willing Beale in honor of Shakespeare's famed woods, produces the same combination of happiness and confusion in residents and visitors alike.

"I live with an Arden P.O. box number, a Fletcher mailing district, and a Skyland Fire Department," says Sandy Samz, a local resident.

What baffles Samz most is that one of these communities doesn't even exist.

"The fact is, Skyland only exists in the post office," says Ryan Cole, battalion chief at Skyland Fire Department.

Here's why the areas can be so mind boggling:

Asheville's unprecedented growth rate has successfully swallowed Skyland whole, leading some to believe that Arden could be next.

Generally, driving up Hendersonville Road, Arden is the area just north of Fletcher and Skyland runs along U.S. 25 south of Biltmore Forest.

Last spring, Men's Journal listed Asheville as one of the top 20 best mountain cities in North America.

"Asheville will be the next Charlotte," says Sandy Blair, a Coldwell Banker Broker/Realtor. And that, Realtors know, makes Arden-Skyland a developers' goldmine.

Think Biltmore Park times a hundred.

Consider the new Southridge Shopping Center, just off I-26 at the Arden/Asheville Regional Airport exit. The shopping complex boasts a myriad of stores -- including Lowe's, Target, Best Buy, and Pier One Imports -- all primed to attract shoppers from Henderson County.

"It's so convenient to have all the shops you need in one place," says Mountain Home resident Stefanie Conway, "and close by."

However, icons of the past still survive if you know where to look. Asheville Fire Department Captain Mike Roland beams when speaking about Kutchie's Key West restaurant.

"They have the best and biggest burgers around," he says, illustrating their monstrous size with his hands.

Owned and operated in Arden for three generations by the Pelaez Family, Kutchie's -- located on U.S. 25 where Skyland gives way to Arden -- is a family friendly eatery complete with homemade Key Lime Pie, hand carved steaks, and a variety of seafood to tantalize every taste. But it's the fresh-ground cheeseburgers that inspire the most attention.

"We get people who come up from Florida�even Chicago�just for a cheeseburger," says twenty-year-old Santino Pelaez.

And, if you ask politely, they'll even pile your burger with toppings�as you like it.