Letter: Slowing gentrification via litter

Graphic by Lori Deaton

In response to Sarah Brownlee’s letter, “Asheville Needs Stricter Litter Laws” [March 28, Xpress], I hope very much that the shirt I have been wearing almost daily to the soup kitchen is helping slow gentrification.

It says, “Don’t pick up litter or they’ll raise rents,” and I hope desperately that Brownlee is observing its effect on the low-income tenants who read it, so it can slow gentrification by reducing housing demand, especially among the liberal elite.

— Alan Ditmore
Leicester

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6 thoughts on “Letter: Slowing gentrification via litter

  1. Scotty_Mack

    Good work Alan! Sad all we have to fight back with is litter and letters. Now if we could banish real estate from the town entirely somehow…

  2. Enlightened Enigma

    You might be a _________ if you throw trash on the ground expecting another human to pick it up.

    What word would you use to fill in the blank ?

    Intelligent people don’t litter. Be intelligent.

  3. jason

    You will never slow gentrificaiton. Eventually, we will run all the dirt bags out of town!

  4. Stan Hawkins

    Asheville City Council are speaking about millions of dollars in budget shortfalls while funding a very liberal agenda that is supposed to be the answer for folks in your circumstances. Why is that not working out for you should be the question?

    Now, if revitalization of property and areas of the city will increase city property taxes, what do you think they are going to do to cover that shortfall? The answer is, raise revenue through any means they can including what you define as gentrification which is actually revitalization of property or buildings.

    Instead of understandably taking out your frustration with litter, why not go to City Council and ask them; what are they doing to attract higher paying jobs to this area so that people can afford to live and pay rent? The answers can be found in the attitudes and actions of Council and Commissioners. Another hotel, bar, or restaurant is not going to solve the problems and may even result in further deterioration of the structure of the local economy.

    In summary, why is a very liberal City and County Government not able to solve the issue of affordability. While you are at it, check out all their connections to all the non profits and ask your self why not spend our time on For Profit organizations that will pay higher wages? There, you will find the answer to your circumstances.

  5. ApePeeD

    You can destroy a neighborhood, as in Detroit, to the point that housing is so cheap that eventually entire neighborhoods get razed to the ground. That, my friend, is real gentrification.

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