David Forbes has an interesting article in today’s Mountain Xpress regarding a proposed apartment building on Chestnut St. and the underlying issues at work in getting it approved. Many are aware that Asheville has effectively stopped growing geographically. With the loss of annexation, Asheville boundaries will remain fixed for the foreseeable future unless the General Assembly chooses to arbitrarily deannex areas that are now in the city. In order to have revenues keep pace with the ever-rising cost of providing services, we’ll have to grow within our borders. This means more businesses and denser housing in the city. Both require attention to traffic loads and other livability issues.

I don’t know many people who are pro-sprawl, but if we can’t locate affordable housing in the city of Asheville, then we’re going to chew into the open space outside the city, increase commuter traffic on our thoroughfares, increase air pollution in our environment, and deny citizens the opportunity to work their way into the middle class. If we focus on concentrating people of similar income levels then we risk further social stratification that makes cities unhealthy.

I understand and am sensitive to aesthetic concerns, but there is an affordable housing crisis in Asheville that can not be ignored. Mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhoods are going to be a part of our smart-growth future. What we have to do is ensure that density and livability go hand-in-hand. That future invites us all to embrace the fact that we rise and fall together and that hardworking people need places in the city to live. Excerpts from Forbes’ article:

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