I was drawn to Asheville by hopes for happiness, a supportive community and education. I found low pay and few opportunities before I was forced to leave Above: Downtown Asheville at night, photo by Bill Rhodes This is the latest in our Leaving Asheville series, featuring the stories and perspectives

As Asheville struggles with low wages and bad working conditions, thoughts on what might have to change for it become a union city Above: Johaunna Cromer and her son Tejuan at the recent HKonJ march in Raleigh. Cromer, a local fast-food worker, has joined with the labor advocacy group Raise

It’s not just Asheville. In a region where abject poverty and mansions rub shoulders, about 10,000 households rely on housing assistance to survive Above: the numbers of public housing units and housing vouchers in each county in WNC. Chart courtesy of Carolina Public Press As many of our readers know,

Routs, truces, clashing views and more as Council closes out its year with the latest chapter in the development wars Above: the future sites of the River Mill Lofts and Hazel Mill Roads projects, on the city’s development maps. Historically, few things pack Asheville City Council chambers like fights over

Asheville’s diverse — if you’re white and cisgender. For trans people and many, many others, it’s a far harsher place Above: the Transgender Pride Flag. It may be awhile before this one hangs on City Hall. Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an international day to remember those killed due

Asheville’s workers are badly underpaid. Local government could change that by requiring businesses to pay a living wage. Will they? Above: a map from the National Low Income Housing Coalition showing how many hours working for the current $7.25 minimum wage are required to afford an average apartment across the

For over a decade my family tried to make our lives in Asheville. But by this year, we simply couldn’t make it here anymore. Above: Downtown Asheville at night. Photo by Bill Rhodes. A few weeks ago, we ran a column by Noor Al-Sibai, a young journalist and writer who’d

Behind downtown’s shortened and disappearing benches is a struggle about the future of the city’s public space By David Forbes On Walnut Street, there exists a particularly odd bench, one that attracts comments from locals and tourists alike. It’s clearly supposed to be, well, a bench, but it’s far too

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