In response to Karen Ramshaw’s thought-provoking article about housing and density [“Let’s Be Honest, Asheville: Elitism and Scapegoating Won’t Solve Congestion, Affordable Housing and Sprawl,” Sept. 11, Xpress], I have to defend Montford as I would if one of my kids was attacked.
I’ve lived in The Montford Historic District since 1980 and have weathered a lot of challenging situations to protect the integrity of our beautiful neighborhood. No one I know is against apartments. In fact, we have many on every block, and they are welcome neighbors.
The problem with this proposed Starnes Avenue project is that it does not follow many rules in the Historic Resources Commission’s guidelines and will have a huge effect on parking. If it was smaller and more sensitive to the design guidelines and the environment (like the proposed greenway along Broadway), I think it would be welcomed.
— Susan Roderick
Asheville
Amen. Same situation with Fuddruckers craziness over on Charlotte St. last year.
Certain “rabid” types in city government see ‘affordable housing’ or even ‘more housing’ as the end that justifies the means. They would ruin the city with poor rezoning decisions and delusions of everyone riding bikes or walking in the very near future.
There are other, more pragmatic approaches to this issue that better balances existing neighborhood integrity with needs of others.
Don’t let them steamroll you.