When Kit Cramer arrived at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce as president and CEO in 2010, Asheville’s downtown was the subject of much complaining about panhandling, trash and graffiti.
Fourteen years later, Asheville’s downtown is the subject of much complaining about panhandling, trash and graffiti. And the community is once again considering a BID.
“In an area with many other needs, it seems only sensible to address these needs. Actually, everything that improves the area in any way makes tourists like the area more.”
“The thought of being identified will send most of the homeless packing.”
City Council approved two technical amendments to Asheville’s panhandling ordinance at its Aug. 22 meeting. It passed 6-1, with Council member Kim Roney as the single opposing vote.
City leaders are considering tightening Asheville’s panhandling ordinances — which may include new regulations as to how and when drivers can give to roadside solicitors.
“It is blatantly obvious to me that there are many homeless advocates and agencies in such a small city, yet rarely do I read about collaboration and true problem-solving for the social issues among these agencies.”
While current city ordinances place some restrictions on panhandling, in most instances it is a legal means of making money. Bill Davis, spokesperson for Asheville Police Department, says police had received 95 calls for panhandling this year as of Aug. 17, the majority of which were requests for wellness checks out of concern for those in need.
Xpress staffers share their tongue-in-cheek prognostications for the coming year. Asheville-area conspiracy theories, complaints of the gentry, uses for the sinkhole and creative panhandling pitches are all on the list.
“In the final analysis, the dehumanizing discourse of ‘removing undesirables,’ which has become sadly normalized and increasingly vicious as of late, is irreconcilable with achieving the county’s stated goals.”
“Low wages, corporate landlords, lack of rent control, high prices, brutal traffic, the fake homeless, street crime and white collar crime have all combined to make Asheville an increasingly undesirable place in which to call home.”
“I want to help you, but I need to see that you will make an effort also.”
The Asheville Downtown Association will meet with city of Asheville staff and elected officials Oct. 21 to discuss a number of issues that “can no longer be overlooked,” according to an email to its members. The issues include trash, recycling, street sweeping, panhandling, transients, drugs and topless women.
When did Pack Memorial Library become a daytime shelter for ex-cons and strung-out drug abusers? Surely, a diverse mix is wonderful and an Asheville tradition, but this is nothing like that. There is no mix of children and everyday families and business people there. All I ever see, daily, are downtrodden, strung-out and scary-looking thugs […]
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Asheville’s downtown is more than a mere place — it’s a brand and an economic engine that needs protecting and constant fine-tuning. That was the gist of a presentation by Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority Executive Director Kelly Miller to City Council at its Oct. 21 meeting.
The Asheville Downtown Association held an informal ceremony to announce installation of its long-awaited donation drop boxes on Monday afternoon.
