“Why do we have two governments overseeing the same 45-mile jurisdiction?”
Tag: Affordable housing
Showing 148-168 of 358 results
Expert idiocy: The Gospel According to Jerry
“We seem to be mesmerized by the adage that an ‘expert’ is a person with a briefcase who comes from more than 50 miles away.”
Council approves affordability changes for RAD development
Sixth time’s a charm? Asheville City Council approved new affordability conditions for the RAD Lofts mixed-used development slated for the city’s River Arts District, the latest in a string of conditional zoning amendments approved by Council since 2013.
RAD Lofts developer seeks to reduce affordable units
More than six years after first approving the project, Asheville City Council is circling back to the mixed-use development known as the RAD Lofts. During a public hearing at Council’s meeting of Tuesday, Jan. 14, officials will be asked to substantially scale back their affordability requirements for 235 housing units at the site. The previously […]
Letter: Tourism imposes tax on the rest of us
“In order to house, clothe and feed your family with an income that insulting, you need support from subsidized housing, subsidized transport, food banks and other charities.”
Readers shared views on development, politics, the environment and more in 2019
How did Xpress readers process all the local news and changes this year? Here’s a look at the topics that generated the most commentaries, letters to the editor and online comments in Xpress in 2019.
Letter: Asheville needs to keep critical mass of artists
“If Asheville is to maintain its extraordinarily vital art scene, it needs to maintain the critical mass of artists who comprise the heart and soul of that scene.”
South Slope development approved despite traffic concerns
Downtown traffic is about to get a lot worse, according to Asheville City Council member Sheneika Smith. “Because this project is so massive and we’ve already accommodated for almost 1,000 parking spaces — which is equivalent to, we’ll say, 500 vehicles flowing up and down this major area where our bus terminal is — I […]
South Slope development seeks affordable housing incentives
Asheville City Council will consider two requests for Land Use Incentive Grants and a Housing Trust Fund Loan request for new affordable housing developments during its Tuesday, Dec. 10, meeting.
Letter: We owe artists an opportunity, not a living
“Can their industry seek a profitable and sustainable level without community funding? We owe them an opportunity, but not a living.”
Housing costs still rising despite stagnant wages
Down from 460 homes in November 2014, only 63 houses listed at less than $200,000 were available for sale in Buncombe County as of July 2019. Median rental costs in the area have also increased at a 5.4% annual rate over the same period.
Letter: In defense of Montford
“No one I know is against apartments. In fact, we have many on every block, and they are welcome neighbors.”
Letter: Actually, it’s an amazing Pit of Potential
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our community to meet several of its goals with one carefully crafted development project.”
Is Asheville’s creative community getting priced out?
“Many artists, creatives, musicians and performers are leaving due to the rapidly increasing cost of living, putting Asheville’s culture at risk,” says Stephanie Moore of the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design. Despite a flurry of concern and initiative, local leaders and developers are finding that providing affordable living and working space for the area’s working artists remains a difficult challenge as property values and rents continue to climb in the city.
Elitism and scapegoating won’t solve Asheville’s congestion, affordable housing and sprawl
“Housing is in short supply and unaffordable. Rather than take an honest and comprehensive look at the issues, barriers and contributors to the problems, however, we in Asheville have smugly chosen the easy way out.”
News briefs: City plans Haywood Street improvements; announces affordable housing work session
Council to discuss temporary hotel ban The city’s Planning and Economic Development Committee voted on Aug. 29 to put the question of imposing a temporary moratorium on new hotel construction to the full Council at an upcoming meeting. First proposed by Council member Julie Mayfield, a moratorium could give the city time to develop new […]
When neighbors attack: How Asheville Nextdoor discussions go south
“So much for the popular Nextdoor mantra, ‘When neighbors start talking, good things happen’; a more accurate one might be, ‘When judgmental locals start talking, local places get unfairly dissed.'”
Letter: Transplant counters ‘Dissatisfied’ view
“In fairy tales perhaps, evil outsiders raise their own rent, but in reality, rents are set by local property owners and local real estate developers.”
Commission weighs $680K Habitat for Humanity loan
Habitat plans to use the money to provide down payment assistance for 38 affordable housing units at its proposed Old Haywood Road neighborhood in West Asheville. Households earning 80% or less of the area median income ($52,800 for a family of four) would receive $20,000 toward a home purchase.
Asheville City Council plans affordable housing, hotel moratorium discussions
On Friday, Sept. 6, said Council member Julie Mayfield, the city will hold an affordable housing work session to explore options such as tiny homes and housing voucher acceptance for long-term rentals. Mayfield also announced that Council plans to discuss whether the city should temporarily ban new hotels in the city during its Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting on Thursday, Aug. 29.
Asheville City Council to consider $530K loan for Homeward Bound on July 23
Beyond the city’s loan of more than $48,000 for each of the 11 affordable units in West Asheville, which will be deferred for 30 years and accrue no interest, Homeward Bound is also seeking roughly $280,000 in commercial loans and has received $89,153 in federal HOME funding administered by the Asheville Regional Housing Consortium.