“If only 1 cent of every room tax was contributed to the Home Trust Fund, we would collect $1.8 million dollars per year! Think about what a difference that would make to our housing shortage!”
Tag: Affordable housing
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Man with a plan: Okolichany takes the helm as Asheville’s planning director
“There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in planning: Each place is very different,” says Todd Okolichany, who began work as Asheville’s new planning director Sept. 8. “That’s a key value for me as a planner: recognizing the differences and uniqueness of each place.” Okolichany, 36, comes to Asheville from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he was principal […]
Homework: Solving Asheville’s affordable housing crisis
It’s no secret: The shortage of affordable housing in the Asheville area is one of our community’s biggest problems. Contributing factors include a growing population, the high demand for both apartments and houses, the particular challenges of building in the mountains and the low wages paid by many local employers. Earlier this summer, Xpress decided […]
Letter writer: How can local government help with affordable housing? Transportation
“There are two ways I see that local government can effectively address affordability. The first is to drop parking-space requirements for city apartment developments.”
Letter writer: Asheville’s population growth is slow and manageable
” In fact, seven of the 10 largest cities in North Carolina are more densely populated than Asheville. “
Affordable housing catch up: special coverage essays, all parts
The quest for affordable housing: an introduction to the essay project and the Bowen study showing the problems Asheville and surrounding communities face on the affordable housing question, by Tracy Rose. The following essays are part of a series in which local experts were asked: “What would it take to solve the Asheville area’s affordable […]
Letter writer: Asheville’s growth is not inevitable
In the period spanning 2012-13, 6,000 people migrated to Asheville. The law of supply and demand — not so much a law as a comment on how few developers and homeowners would accept anything less then maximum profit from the sale of their homes — dictates that housing prices will go up. The solutions to […]
Letter writer: City of Asheville is partly to blame for affordable housing problem
I’m curious about these local “experts” [“Collision Course,” July 29, part of Xpress’ affordable housing essay series]. Has anyone been interviewed who has been royally screwed by City Council’s collectivist legislation responsible for driving rental rates sky high? Years ago, Xpress covered the onset of my saga, regarding how the city initially forced me to […]
Affordable housing essay: Consider the bigger picture
“Basically, it’s going to take all hands on deck to change this dangerous trajectory of unaffordability and extreme gentrification.”
Letter writer: First, track history of affordable housing problem
“Let’s start asking how this problem came about and not just throw more money to try to correct the mess we are in today.”
Affordable housing essay: Bridging the financial gap
“Develop vacant city-owned land into low-income/workforce housing communities.”
Affordable housing essay: Increase density and funding, mandate inclusivity
“There are proven strategies for increasing affordable housing: 1) increase density; 2) increase funding; and 3) mandate inclusivity.”
Affordable housing essay: Asheville is a national leader
“City Council recently adopted a goal of assisting in the production of 2,800 new affordable housing units in the next seven years. That, however, is only about half of the city’s projected need over the next five years.”
Affordable housing essay: There are factors we can’t control
“We strongly encourage including a certain percentage of affordable houses or apartments in every project.”
Affordable housing essay: Student labor cuts costs, provides job training
“Whatever approach we take to affordable housing, it must include healthy, sustainable construction practices for the homes to be truly affordable in the long term. “
Affordable housing essay: Incentivize job opportunities
“Buncombe County government works proactively to incentivize affordable and workforce housing options as well as a diversified economy.”
Affordable housing essay: Support successful models adequately
“Hearing the voices of those most impacted by the housing crisis is vital to creating solutions.”
A place to call home: Affordable housing essays, part three
“Affordable housing is not just a housing problem,” notes Mike Figura, who owns Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty. “It’s a housing supply problem; it’s a wage problem; it’s an employment problem.”
Letter writer: There IS a silver bullet that could end the housing shortage in Asheville!
“So, if housing development restrictions in Asheville could be done away with, there would soon be ample housing for all at affordable prices.”
Affordable housing essay: How badly do we want it?
“The solution to the affordable housing problem is political and community will.”
Affordable housing essay: Going out of business
“Whenever people ask what we need to create more affordable housing, we say: capital.”