Editor’s note: This essay is part of a series in which local experts were asked: “What would it take to solve the Asheville area’s affordable housing problem?” Housing in Asheville is simultaneously booming and in crisis. The summer of 2015 seems to be culminating in trends that are several years deep. Construction has been on […]
“Why is the focus on “affordable housing” and not on “affordable living”? The official “affordable housing” definitions focus narrowly on rent; transportation costs are ignored.”
What would it take to solve the Asheville area’s affordable housing problem?
“For every job created with a subsidy that doesn’t provide a living wage, let’s provide a genuinely affordable home.”
Surrounded by mountains and crammed into a 45-square-mile valley, the city of Asheville is bursting at the seams, suffering from a severe housing shortage, skyrocketing rents and home prices, overcrowded streets with no place to park, and an abundance of lower-paying, tourism-based jobs.
“We must address the housing crisis now, before it’s too late. I believe this can be done by requiring employers to pay their employees a living wage — which, like affordable housing, is also an endangered species here.”
“The free market isn’t good at providing housing for low- to moderate-income folks. … For builders, a lower-cost home is almost always a lower-profit home.”
“We believe that a rigorous case-by-case evaluation and review of proposals and programs by groups that are on the front lines of the problem is the best way to reduce workforce housing costs.”
“Safe, affordable housing is a step toward opportunity and success but not the final destination. It’ll take accessory units, manufactured homes, cooperatives, land banks, increased density, small homes and apartments to address the lack of supply.”
“Every day, our case managers work to find safe, affordable places for our clients to live. Now, however, we simply cannot find those homes.”
Forget “Keep Asheville Weird.” For many locals, the motto might as well be: “Make Asheville Affordable.”
“if the city of Asheville really wants to fulfill the mayor’s promise to Michelle Obama to end veteran’s homelessness, it is going to have to figure out a way to fund and build a veterans apartment building or create some affordable housing for veterans another way.”
“If you are upset about the lack of affordable housing in Asheville, consider these numbers — the true monthly costs of being a landlord.”
Members of Code for Asheville, a local Code for America brigade, are taking steps to help alleviate one of the city’s biggest problems: the affordable housing crisis.
The Asheville City Council has approved construction of 477 apartments in two developments — one in East Asheville, whose residents wore “Keep Oakley safe” stickers and urged denial of the project. Council members cited a demand for housing and a promise of $200,000 to improve sidewalks in the area.
On Jan. 27 Asheville City Council will consider several economic incentive deals, apartment development requests and a housing study that will help shape policies for years to come.
People in the Oakley community are raising concerns about a new 300-plus-unit apartment complex planned for the East Asheville neighborhood, expressing worries about everything from potential traffic and safety issues to the fact that only 10 of the development’s planned residential units — which are nearly all rental properties — are designated as affordable housing.
The billowing local debates over affordable housing and pedestrian safety are pivoting toward a long overlooked section of West Asheville. A proposal for a major new apartment complex at the corner of Hazel Mill Road and Clayton Avenue just north of Patton Avenue is steering the discussion.
Contention sprung from unexpected corners at the Asheville City Council meeting on Sept. 9, as Council members and a land developer stared each other down on rental rates and safety commitments for a proposed residential development on Sardis Road. Complicating the debate was the fact that about half the development falls within the city limits. The applicant — Winston-Salem Industries […]
As the sun rose above St. Basilica of Lawrence, a crew bustled to raise small shelters in the hot parking lot across the street. The largest building was about 10 feet wide and 13 1/2 feet long, its arched walls and ceiling giving plenty of headroom to passersby who stopped to check it out. Nearby, several […]
This combo meal of two different local stories — such as this and this — is a better value than purchasing two separate cartoons.
