Letter: North Asheville’s gentrified bullies fail to do their part

Posted on by Letters
Graphic by Lori Deaton

There’s something about Jessica Wakeman’s article [“Not on My Sidewalk: Neighborhood Backlash Derails North Asheville Emergency Shelter,” Nov. 8, Xpress] that misses the obvious by definition, which is that exclusive neighborhoods exclude, though it’s no less definitional than the Asheville Downtown Association parade committee’s attempts to implement apolitical policy.

But what angers me about it is the Episcopal Appeasement, spelled out in bold that lets North Asheville make millions off intimidation, along with Biltmore Forest and Montreat, while “East and West” do their part, so I really don’t see why the city or county tolerate these gentrified, shirking bullies.

I’m not seeing much understanding of free markets, either, on the part of either the Rev. Milly Morrow or too many “green” volunteers and tenants, who just don’t seem to grok how picking up litter raises the rent, the way the true underclass gets it. I hope these shelters realize that by sheltering people in neighborhoods, they reduce market demand, thereby enabling those sheltered, and other workers, to find permanent housing right nearby, which is the objective.

— Alan Ditmore
Leicester

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5 thoughts on “Letter: North Asheville’s gentrified bullies fail to do their part”

  3. Janio

    Growing up in Kenilworth, I often thought that it was odd that city owned and subsidized housing in the Kenilworth neighborhood seemed to be exclusive to that area. These families were just part of the neighborhood. I’m sure there was and is a benefit of not living in a big housing project. Not including larger housing projects of the time in more central areas of the city, the duplex and single-family dwellings scattered around Kenilworth, that have been there for decades, never seemed to be duplicated in other areas of the city. North Asheville always seemed similar to Kenilworth to me, and there were certainly spaces in that area to put subsidized housing. How does North Asheville get away with NOT doing it’s part to assist others?

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