Letter: Transplant counters ‘Dissatisfied’ view

In response to Rachael Bliss’ [July 3 Xpress letter] “The Dissatisfied Move In”: Your fairy-tale [letter] belies your lack of understanding of the big picture here and in the rest of the world.

I wonder how the Cherokee feel, knowing that your moving here in the 1830s displaced them from their tribal lands and now you call it your town.

Asheville has been glamorized by websites and senior organizations as one of the best places in the country to retire.

Certainly no one wants to pay more than they need, whether they have money or not, and those moving here have no control over prices set by your local people. They just come and pay, if they can afford it.

I moved here after being begged three times to help a failing pharmaceutical company, which the FDA was considering shutting down. They could not find anyone smart enough in all of North Carolina to do the job.

My work kept 3,000 local employees working, some of whom travel from as far away as Tennessee just for a chance to work.

If you feel so much hatred against people not born here, please give me your full name and address, and when I leave, I will give it to the 3,000 people who may lose their jobs. I am sure they would like to talk to you up close and personally.

I am from up North. Everything is 30% more expensive there. At least it was, because as I moved into a rented apartment in Black Mountain, rents climbed weekly. In one year, the rents went up 49%. I would have loved to tell my landlord that he had to reduce my rent to keep it fair for you.

In fairy tales perhaps, evil outsiders raise their own rent, but in reality, rents are set by local property owners and local real estate developers. Developing forests and grasslands into condos is the work of local millionaire property developers and your politicians. If you don’t like it, perhaps you should go to a town meeting or vote.

I looked up taxes on the government websites, and it clearly shows those places you demonize pay more in federal taxes than they get back in services. A portion of the up-North taxes are redistributed to North Carolina to pay for your schools, police, roads and social services. You can’t even survive on your own taxes.

Interesting that you present Asheville as a kind of heaven, but it is also noted for a serious heroin problem. No one from up North came here to experience drug crime.

I came to save people’s jobs and for the career challenge, and I was comforted that Black Mountain was not only one-third cheaper than where I came from, but the town is populated with the most civil and warm people I have ever met; that is, except for you.

— M. Keilp
Black Mountain