Unhappy trails
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I wish there were more affordable housing–just as I wish I’d bought Apple stock in the 80s, or Coca Cola in the early 1900s.
But it’s more complex than people comprehend. Manipulating the market, giving tax incentives to developers, and destroying urban forests will very likely be our ruination. If you cannot afford to buy a place here, please consider finding your own Asheville–just as I did long ago when this place was affordable and I chose to buy land rather than stocks.
Abingdon, Roanoke, Johnson City, lots of great areas
If you are even in the hospital, don’t complain when you can’t get care because the nurse has to commute from Roanoke in snow storm because $600,000 for a house isn’t in her budget. Likewise, just accept it with good nature when your house burns down when the firefighter lives in Johnson City because he can’t afford $1, 500 a month for an efficiency apartment .
“I got mine, f you” is among the darkest attitudes humanity has ever devised, and this comment wallows in it.
So I think you’ve missed my point.
I’m not suggesting that people live in other places (like Roanoke and Johnson City) and commute to Asheville. I’m simply suggesting that people who’d like to own a home and build equity and create inter-generational wealth can do so in other places that are just as nice as this town. Read a few issues of Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine. They often highlight great places where there are jobs and more affordable housing.