Annual State of Downtown event focuses on investment­, opportunit­y

At the Asheville Downtown Association’s annual State of Downtown luncheon, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer and Buncombe County Commission Chair Brownie Newman touted lists of major public projects and initiatives that benefit downtown. Meanwhile, urban planning consultant Joe Minicozzi argued that tax revenue data show more municipal investment in downtown is both warranted and needed.

What’s next for Haywood Street site?

One clear winner from the 2015 City Council elections: local hopes for a public space for the city-owned lots facing the Basilica of St. Lawrence and the U.S. Cellular Center. Not so clear: exactly what kind of space Asheville needs and who will pay for it. The city’s Planning and Economic Development committee took up the hot potato issue to try to figure out how to move forward.

Asheville Buskers Collective continues discussing downtown busking issues

On Tuesday, Jan. 20, several members of the Asheville Buskers Collective met in the conference room above the French Broad Food Co-op for a post-holiday regroup, aiming to find consensus about what buskers do, who buskers are and whether (and how) enshrining their needs in city ordinances is a realistic possibility. Several weeks after a previous […]

Local Matters: Downtown Heroes, more expense woes for County Commission and some very strange foods

In this week’s Local Matters podcast, freelancer Christopher George talks about the Downtown Heroes celebration, Xpress news editor Margaret Williams talks to reporter Jake Frankel about this week’s Buncombe County Commission meeting, and Xpress food writer Mackensy Lunsford talks about her new project to eat some fairly strange foods in local restaurants.