Your continued participation in this locally focused journalistic conversation — this project of growing and sustaining a healthy, vibrant community whose members speak up for the changes that matter to them — is the most important story of 2018 for Xpress.
“As diverse as we are, let us seek harmony and unity and prove that America is better than our fear and division by spreading the seeds of compassion and justice within us all.”
“The city allowed the builder to go through all the expensive steps required to get total approval from all regulatory agencies, and then several Council members announced their intent to vote against it because, in their great wisdom, they have made the arbitrary decision that Asheville already has too many hotels.”
“We must recognize that as long as we prioritize more hotels, more restaurants, more new construction (none of which is wholly bad), we must also acknowledge the consequences of those priorities — the displacement of people on the margins — and find ways to sustainably address them.”
“As we talked with people in community forums, we heard about places and events that are bringing people together, from public libraries to town commons to Friday night football games, and people wondered whether we could do more to build off those gathering places.”
“Let’s all make women reappear instead of disappear politically and the ‘year of the woman’ commonplace and not just about 2018.”
“To me, the biggest question of all is: What is our leverage to make sure this private corporation fulfills its contract?”
“At the very least, City Council or the Wildlife Commission could stage a ‘bear summit’ to document the number and character of close calls.”
“Bears are not the enemy! We’re the ones who have to decide if we’re going to be the enemy. Coexistence is possible: We can do it, but it’s a practice.”
“If we’re going to solve the addiction problem, we can’t just treat the symptom; we have to address the cause.”
“This is the perfect time to unwind, review, learn and rebuild the structure and environment to epitomize best practices — to create a system that, at its core, honors and promotes an ethical culture and is dedicated to the highest ideals of leadership, integrity, transparency and accountability.”
“Enough people are willing to trade square footage with mortgages for low-hassle, smaller spaces for rent — provided what they get in return is access to all the advantages of walkable, in-town living.”
“Asheville can become a gilded city, where locals drink from gold-plated reusable straws and feel good about themselves, or it can strive toward a more inclusive vision.”
“Suddenly, we will have two monuments to consider: the steel lynching monument and Vance’s.”
“When the members of this class were born, the nation and the entire world were in a panic — not because these particular little babies happened to arrive then, but because the Great Depression had begun.”
“As the Dogwood Health Trust forms its board, I urge its founding members to address the underlying determinants of our failing health by investing in a local food system with soil-building at its core.”
“Now we have seen release of body-cam footage, strictly illegal under state law absent judicial review. What was the aim? To embarrass current Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper.”
“We need city and county managers who, together with our elected officials, can tackle key issues and help us navigate this new reality called the greater Asheville area.”
“When local workers can’t find housing they can afford and our less fortunate population — including families with children — is one rent check away from living on the street, this predicament has reached critical mass.”
“The Project POWER/AmeriCorps team member is a huge part of helping us serve our mission and a huge asset to the community,” says Kim Clark, operations manager for Asheville Museum of Science.
“This spring, National Audubon Society scientists teamed up with the National Park Service to release a peer-reviewed study, which revealed that climate change is likely to have significant impacts on birds in over 270 national parks, including our own Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”
