With major decisions at stake from policing to energy to housing, Asheville’s elected officials, bureaucrats and locals are off to an early start fighting over the shape of the coming budget Above: CFO Barbara Whitehorn, who heads up the city’s budget efforts. File photo by Max Cooper. Locals packed City

Airbnb-style rentals are a massive, controversial issue in Asheville. The Blade’s built a map to show where they’re being halted, who’s profiting, who owns them and more as local government continues to wrangle with this complicated behemoth Above: a shot from the Blade‘s interactive map showing the impact of Airbnb

Asheville’s political culture is lately turning to wealthy executives to craft the response the affordable housing crisis. Excluding the people most affected by the crisis while giving leadership to those who caused or profited from it is a bad idea. Above: a map of city areas by median income, from the

Council votes, reluctantly, for a developer’s relocation deal and sets the stage for some upcoming conflicts over transit, elections and more Above: Vice Mayor Gwen Wisler. File photo by Max Cooper. One of the biggest votes of the year passed without much remark in Asheville City Council’s chambers on June 14,

The Lee Walker Heights overhaul is one of the largest housing deals in Asheville’s history. It just took a major step forward, as the city also cut a deal with Duke. A look at the complicated history of power, poverty and race behind the project Above: The Lee Walker question,

While City Council wrangled over short-term rentals and the future of the city, I sat with the crowd in an overflow room. Here’s what I witnessed Above: City Hall under renovation, file photo by Bill Rhodes. The Aug. 25 Asheville City Council meeting saw a big fight over short-term rentals

A budget, housing and monuments take center stage at the last Council meeting before the summer break, with more on the horizon Above: Asheville City Council member Gwen Wisler. File photo by Max Cooper. The spring and early summer are typically a big time for local politics. City government —

Council runs into multiple demanding situations, including the housing crisis and a public irate about the actions of a power giant, in a packed meeting Above: Asheville City Council member Gordon Smith. File photo by Max Cooper As our longtime readers know, our Council reports usually come out on the

A deeper look at short-term rentals and how, in the hands of the wealthy, they will hollow out our city — something that’s already happened around the country Above: Part of the Carolina Lane/Chicken Alley area, where some former apartments have been turned into short-term rentals The “sharing economy,” as

There’s a major debate about the future of Asheville’s public housing. Here’s a regularly updated account of what’s happening and why it matters. Above: a 1964 booklet from the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville touting “urban renewal” programs. The devastating impact of that program continues to cast a