Letter writer: East Asheville gets short shrift from city and county

Graphic by Lori Deaton

East Asheville is not known as the “hip” place to live in Asheville. It isn’t a historic district or what has been newly described as an innovation district, but it does have wonderful neighborhoods with over 20 percent of the population of the Asheville.

Despite these numbers, it has been ignored in many ways. We have less than 9 percent of the city’s sidewalks. The city Parks and Recreation Department leased out our community center without talking to the library staff, who used it for children’s programs. They also didn’t speak with the community associations, which used the space for meetings, educational and social programs and which now pay local churches to use their space. The city promised a Tunnel Road Corridor Study several years ago but has not followed through with it.

The county has also put East Asheville on the back burner. The East Asheville branch library has been on the county’s project improvement list since 2002 and has been bumped off that list several times. It is currently scheduled for the 2019 fiscal year. This 50-year-old library is the fourth-busiest in the system and is inadequate for the current needs in space and technology. The city owns the library building, so if the library is to remain in the same location, the city and county will need to work together to bring an updated library and community space to East Asheville.

The families of East Asheville deserve a new library, a community meeting space and a study of the Tunnel Road corridor to improve walkability, safety and to encourage new types of businesses for our citizens.

— Jeanie Martin
Asheville

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13 thoughts on “Letter writer: East Asheville gets short shrift from city and county

  1. Lulz

    LOL, your money is at the brewery off of Fairview Rd. Ask Wong to refund over a million of it because it’s people like him that are stealing the money from people like you. And causing even more headaches with the strain on the water system, waste, and law enforcement where your taxes go up even more under the guise of fees to make up for it. So while people like him are celebrated by the those that don’t have a clue, people like you get to do without LOL. Don’t get ran over now.

    • Bright

      Great observation! I’ve seen that for years…now “that brewery” is becoming a music venue, and believe me, the sound is heard all over our neighborhoods! When “the brewery” was contacted about this, they said that they would “send out notices to let our neighbors know what to expect.” Whoopee. Certainly shows real concern for their neighbors.

      • Lulz

        LOL, Wong is exactly what the lefty loonies rant about. No different from the Wall Street companies that get government freebies on one end, then set policy and laws on the other. Or in this case, allowed to ignore them lulz.

  2. OneWhoKnows

    technology has reduced the need for public libraries…get with the times!

    just think, your new library money, $2 MILLION, was stolen from the taxpayers to GIVE to the art museum! no outrage about that ?

    • Yared Sharot

      In Israel, we consider all libraries to be fundamental to our children’s education.

  3. OneWhoKnows

    we have more than enough libraries in most every town in america…and it doesn’t matter what Israel does…

  4. Curious

    Is it time to have city council elections by district to make sure that all areas are represented? It appears that North Asheville voters decided this election.

    • Lulz

      LOL, I agree. But the lefty loonies on the northside will put up a fight. They have the time and money because many are former government employees with big fat pensions. And have the time to put into making sure that not only do they gentrify the area from anyone they disagree with, but also the lower class who they assume lack intelligence lulz.

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