Reading the letters in the Xpress Opinion section only amplifies the conflicts of people’s myopic focus or agenda.
One letter laments the out-of-control cost of housing in Asheville — an example, $1,500 for a one-bedroom basement apartment [“A Gentrified and Homogenized Asheville,” May 19] — followed by a letter advocating protesting the Raytheon plant, which will provide many well-paying jobs [“Demonstrate for Peace, Justice and a Green Transition,” May 19]. Does no one see these things affect each other?
If somehow these people were able to stop this production at Raytheon, it will only shift these good-paying jobs to another state and completely fail to have any effect on their ultimate goal. Want to stop the production of weapons of war? That is done in Washington, not on the livelihood of locals seeking a job they can support their families on. How utterly selfish on the already well-heeled.
Next, an opinion piece regarding the “save Charlotte Street” gang. OK, I get it: Those are some majestic old homes, but run-down and possibly a hazard or soon to be [“Future Vision: 101 Charlotte St. Deftly Balances Conflicting Priorities,” May 19]. Solution? Restore them to their original glory. What will that accomplish? Ah yes, homes worth well north of $1 million, which will only further worsen Asheville’s housing costs and shortages, which again is addressed in the first letter. Oh, by the way, this is also my neighborhood; I am not an outsider mocking the NIMBYs.
I feel confident that the most vocal on the latter two issues already have an income that exceeds the income necessary to live in Asheville and are secure in their housing.
To deny a well-paying job to local families because you disagree with Washington, D.C., and the military-industrial complex is selfish and futilely ignorant.
To deny a development of more affordable housing because you don’t approve of the aesthetics of the view or the assumed inconvenience of traffic is again just a selfish interest.
— Miles Bosworth
Asheville
America’s economy is sick. Housing was made into a “growth industry” during Clinton’s presidency. Currency inflation courtesy of our Federal leaders has created asset inflation (stocks and what else???…..housing). Double whammy.
To go backwards to a simpler, fairer economy will involve much more than I can detail here. Suffice it to say though that it will go back, one way or another.
I’m all for growth, but it’s actually not the responsibility of current residents to lower their standard of living to make room for newly arriving people anymore than it was for those living in LA or New York to accommodate me when I went there as a young man to work, save and then move to a less expensive place (Asheville in the 90s).
I’m sure that there will be some nice developments that blend nicely with current neighborhoods (Charlotte Street may or may not fit that), but there are also some that would increase population and traffic ten-fold (the Bluffs, for one), and it’s quite possible that some developments should be encouraged and accepted and others should be fought off and that would-be lifelong renters who will never be able to afford a home in Asheville should be encouraged to do what I did…go find a less expensive place for their future home…there are lots of nice areas that could be the next Asheville (the Asheville of the past, that is). Maybe it will even be a place where they don’t charge you 8 bucks to drink beer from plastic cups.
What’s shortsighted and myopic is failing to see that war and climate change are destroying life on this planet and that our very real local emergencies of houselessness and underemployment are direct results of the same voracious capitalism that is driving us to extinction. The answer is not to grasp for the crumbs from the table offered to a few workers or home buyers, but to demand that our public money be spent directly on creating good jobs and deeply affordable housing and so much more, rather than on feeding the 1% machine that is vacuuming up all the wealth and exploiting us all to death.
Thank you, Mr. Bosworth, for your thoughtful and well-reasoned letter.
“Those are some majestic old homes, but run-down and possibly a hazard or soon to be.”
Oh the irony… that these homes fell into disrepair by the current owners who are also the proposing developers of the Charlotte St. project that say these “homes are too decrepit, not safe and would cost way too much to repair but have I ever got a development idea for you!” lol
Good letter. Only item that I saw that was missed was the war on in town hotels, which of course spurs demand for short term housing, which in turn limits supply/raises rents for actual residents.
The hotels generally get built anyway—just outside of whatever boundary the keystone kop council selects, or the city if need be.
There is a 300-word limit on letters to the editor, plus I was only addressing the topics of letters in one issue.
For all of you who think wages are too low (if below $17/hour, they are) and housing prices too steep (yep!) and beer too costly (yikes, 8 bucks for a draught beer in a plastic cup?), here’s a link to an article about cities/towns with lower cost of living and higher wages. I’m telling you, I love it here (partly because I’ve been here a long while and got in while the prices were fair), but if you’re just arriving, the next Asheville (or Amarillo) might be somewhere else. I’m just being a straight shooter. It’s supply-side economics.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/10-us-cities-plenty-jobs-160000905.html