In the winter of 1967, over 30 residents joined in a rent strike at Hillcrest Apartments. The movement lasted far longer than expected and soon spread across the city’s two other public housing projects.

In the winter of 1967, over 30 residents joined in a rent strike at Hillcrest Apartments. The movement lasted far longer than expected and soon spread across the city’s two other public housing projects.
In 1951, during segregation, the Asheville Housing Authority launched Lee-Walker Heights, the city’s first low-rent housing project built for African American residents. The city’s second, all-white housing project, Pisgah View Apartments, opened in West Asheville the following year.
Lee-Walker Heights isn’t for sale, but Asheville officials have a plan to redevelop it.
At their July 26 meeting, Asheville City Council members unanimously agreed to join the Housing Authority in applying for a $300,000 Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant (formerly called HOPE VI), which provides funding for a variety of community revitalization projects — many aimed at creating mixed-income housing and stimulating homeownership among low-income residents.
Last November, Citizens Awareness Asheville, an organization of community activists concerned about purported excesses and misconduct by local law enforcement, announced the formation of a “Copwatch” program. Such programs, active in cities including Los Angeles, Berkeley, Houston and New Orleans, involve volunteers going around neighborhoods on foot patrols, monitoring the activities of the police. Just […]