Some people say that Asheville is a great place to live. I am not disagreeing with that statement, but I would like to discuss with you the growing population of unwanted guests who are not only depleting this wonderful town of its wondrous small-town feel, but as also not even living in the houses they buy. That’s right—I am talking about second-home owners.
[A number of] people who move here and buy second homes are not only rude and obnoxious, but are also destroying the mountainside to have a view of Asheville. But this is not the first time this has happened. Asheville has gone through this before. Before the Great Depression in the 1920s, there was a big housing boom in Asheville. There was a big growth, and then once everyone had depleted Asheville of not only its small-town glory but its dignity and beauty, the houses were too expensive and this created an excess number of homes.
Now the same thing is happening. According to the Asheville Metro Economy Outlook, as of June 2006, home sales were up 10.3 percent and the average home price was up 7.8 percent. This is due to the fact that more and more people are coming to Asheville and buying second homes. We need a plan to stop this.
To stop this problem of unwanted guests, I believe that we should make it twice as expensive to build a house on the mountain and to make it twice as expensive to buy a second home anywhere in Asheville. To accomplish this, we need to start a petition to raise home prices for mountain homes and second-home owners.
But do not despair, kind people of Asheville who are not buying second homes. Look at Asheville now in all its shining glory. Though we may have to go through a period of despair and indignity, we will rise again. We will rise again like a shining golden phoenix.
— Duvey Rudow
Asheville
I think it’s a great idea to make housing here more exspensive…then the people like you will no longer be able to afford to live here. Little minded bigots. What is the difference between criticizing more well off people who have the means to buy second homes here and (stupidly) denying them the right to live here, as oppossed to denying blacks or hispanics or whoever the right to live where they want when they want, as long as they can afford it.
What are you talking about? You raise the prices and don’t suppport our economy when you live here for 1 month a year. YOU DON’T LIVE HERE, YOURE NOT LOCALS. You cut down trees on our beautiful mountains and make it so no normal people can afford to live here. Commit to our city our leave.
Hey angry person. Chill out. I worked for whatever I have and now I can do whatever I please as long as it is legal. If I can afford a mountaintop home (which I can), no angry fool can tell me what I can or cannot do. The only people who own the mountains are those who purchased the land. As far as normal people living here, gimme a break. The only thing normal about the average Asheville angry socialist is that they appear like humans until you engage them in conversation and then see how whacked out they are. And as far as cutting down trees, I got a chainsaw the other week and cut down 4 big ones to give me better sunlight for my garden. And as far as part time visitors, if it were not for us then how many people here would be able to even earn a living in this area? If you don’t like people like me coming here to enjoy hte fruits of our labor, you may as well leave or get used to it! Oh, wait! I am curious about something. Since Bush is responsible for most anything people around here do not like, please explain to me how he is responsbile for your anger at others choosing to live here and not have to follow your made up adolescent rules.