Vision Asheville

[NcSc74]

I would like to see streetcars for this ecclectic ctiy. I think it would enhance overall feel of the area.

[voyager12]

Free bus service!

Also, I know Asheville is a relatively small city but come on...people up there are very community minded and it does not reflect that on this forum, start posting more!

[jr7777]

I'd like to see a more expanded downtown, including:

-a new arena, to replace the aging civic center

-a grocery store

-more parking

-more housing

[hauntedheadnc]

More density downtown, and in the River District, which are more than ripe for intense infill. I want to see tall buildings, and lots of them, in both places because unlike most around here I have no fear of height. Back when Asheville was really booming in the 1920's, I doubt you often heard many people blathering about how the courthouse (and City Hall, and the Jackson Building, and the Battery Park Hotel, and the Public Service Building, and the proposed Grove Arcade tower, and so on and so forth) was too tall and would spoil the "quaint small town atmosphere." Personally, I consider "quaint" my mortal enemy, and welcome any chance to stamp it out.

As an aside, you'll notice that it's typically people from much larger cities who consider Asheville "quaint." And that's only until they get a taste of how weird this town can be. Quaint places do not have people laying curses on one another in public or conducting Druid blessing ceremonies on Catholic basilicas.

Back on topic, I also want to see the upscale retail that is undoubtedly on its way to Asheville locate in tonier neighborhoods like Biltmore Park or perhaps Biltmore Village. Downtown and the River District were brought back from the dead by the freaks and artists, and we do them a disservice by chasing them from neighborhood to neighborhood when the yuppies get wind of how much they've improved a place and pour in to see for themselves. It's happening now as rents rise downtown. The artists are now moving to the River District and West Asheville. Having the upscale retail move to neighborhoods where it won't push people out will make Asheville a more comfortable city for all stripes of people, and people won't feel as thoguh it's us against them.

How do you reconcile heavy high-rise development on the parking lots of freakish neighborhoods? Easy -- mix the incomes, and encourage taller buildings for developers willing to set aside a portion of their project for lower and middle incomes. That way, they'll have the five floors of million-dollar condoes they originally planned to build, plus several more floors of affordable development beneath. Everyone wins. Further, there's an area between downtown adn the Medical District called the South Slope that is more than ready for dense development. Ideally, I'd like to see that 60's-vintage sprawl fall to make way for a forest of Vancouver-style apartment and condo towers. Of course, I wouldn't argue if Asheville enacted architectural standards that left these towers looking more like the art deco parkside towers of New York, either. I'd be happy either way, actually.