“It’s going to take a historic effort to close the gaps in housing supply that are close to the places where people work, shop and entertain themselves and where there may also be options for walking, biking or taking mass transit.”

“It’s going to take a historic effort to close the gaps in housing supply that are close to the places where people work, shop and entertain themselves and where there may also be options for walking, biking or taking mass transit.”
“It’s the greedy, unrestrained development that is ruining Asheville and the surrounding communities.”
“Instead of decreasing the population of bears by killing them, why don’t we try limiting our production of food waste?”
Andy Baker has spent the last 17 years building a home for himself, his family and many others through his development projects in Western North Carolina. Originally from Michigan, Baker graduated from Purdue University with a degree in forestry before pursuing a career in real estate development. Earlier this year, the Southeast Regional Land Conservancy […]
LaKyla Hodges is the equity and education manager of Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.
“This building boom is on steroids, and it’s turning what was a quaint little town and quiet rural countryside into constant traffic congestion.”
Community members weigh in on the impact of visitors and “progress” throughout 2022.
“After World War II, we have built our cities as subdivisions, shopping centers, office parks and similar, all separated from one another, requiring motor vehicles to perform simple daily tasks. It’s not working.”
“What can our officeholders actually do? They can’t call a halt to growth and development, but they can stop or modify some particularly harmful projects.”
“’We must have ever more destruction of the environment to save it,’” chants the Kool-Aid quaffing Sierra Club.”
“Business as usual is not going to take us where we need to go as a community resilient to the worsening effects of climate change or one that strives for economic justice for those who live and work here.”
“So, sorry, but local development will proceed, and my view is that our city and county are doing all that they can to preserve our unique local identity and still allow for affordable housing, environmental protections, family farm protections and all of the many factors that make WNC a place in which we want to live.”
“This proposal to deregulate developers within city limits is dressed up with idealistic-sounding justifications like providing affordable housing, improving flooding and fighting sprawl.”
“But the solution to our overlapping affordability and climate crises can’t be to try to freeze our city in time, to shut our borders or to blame anyone who hasn’t lived here long enough to earn the right kind of Asheville cred.”
“Attacking one of the nation’s largest and oldest organizations devoted to protecting our environment and going after a great public servant like Ken Brame was pathetic.”
“This is effectively a giveaway to developers under the guise of providing affordable housing.”
“We don’t need more development in the city when our streets can barely sustain what we currently carry.”
“Milton Ready’s assessment is right on. An example would be the number of ugly hotels that seem to continue to be built, which makes no sense.”
“Until the professed advocates of affordable housing and assistance for the homeless get off their BUTS and honestly attack these issues, nothing significant will happen.”
“He did an excellent job in calling our attention to the wrongheadedness and shortsightedness that have turned our beloved town into a tourist mecca rather than a community that works for its residents.”