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

Asheville’s mayor talks about her first year in office, controversies, a defense of the city’s actions, turf battles and more Above: Mayor Esther Manheimer, photo by Max Cooper In 2013 Esther Manheimer, after a term on Asheville City Council, won the mayor’s seat decisively. But her first year in office

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

The rising use of credit checks, just to allow one to rent housing in Asheville, excludes much of its working class and increasingly pushes them out of the city they make possible There was an important point raised in the Asheville Citizen-Times‘ June 30 forum on family homelessness, and one that hasn’t gotten

The city’s current tack amounts to exploiting artists’ work while ignoring them and pushing societal homogeneity. There’s a better way. Photo by Zen Sutherland. “It’s a waste of time debating the merits of illegal graffiti,” says Gus Cutty, a local muralist and street artist, but that has not stopped the argument from

Above: locals protesting Gov. Pat McCrory’s appearance at Moogfest on April 24 . Photo by Scott Owen. Our latest opinion column is from leftist activist and former mayoral candidate Martin Ramsey, who attacks what he sees as an attitude of “stay-in-your-placeism” from political decision-makers in Asheville and elsewhere. By Martin

In the five days since I posted An Asheville for the rest of us, I’ve been happily overwhelmed by the response. There’s clearly a real desire to discuss and address the issues raised; of how to create a functioning city for those of us that aren’t millionaires. One of the major

Skyline of downtown Asheville, looking toward the Flat Iron building. Photo by Max Cooper. By David Forbes The doldrums are over. “Real estate rebound in Asheville, N.C.” blared a recent headline from the Wall Street Journal. It’s the latest in a long, long line of major media outlets to refresh