West Asheville - what is the status?

[groovetube66]

Drove around West Asheville this weekend and was wondering what is going on with the area. There are a lot of homes for sale and many nice bungalows but Haywood Avenue looks to be either in transition or slumping a bit. I noticed some closed businesses including a couple that appeared to have been startup restaurants. My wife and I are pondering relocating to the area and she is interested in opening a business but is wondering if there will ever be enough foot traffic on Haywood Ave for a little retail establishment. Thanks, and sorry for my earlier inappropriate post.

[happydestiny]

My wife and I are relocating to West Asheville from Charlotte. We searched with an agent all over the city for 7 months and did our homework. We were seeking a neighborhood and home with a sense of community and possibilites for the future. We just closed on a 1926, beautifully constructed, craftsman home. I am an artist and through my work I travel extensively all over the country. Our humble opinion is that West Asheville is a true community at the begining of a major revitalization (see onhaywood.com) The Vermont Ave area we chose is full of young families. There is a tremendous stock of historic housing and commercial buldings still to be renovated and reused. It reminds us of the North Davidson Arts District in Charlotte which has turned into a vital thriving small town within a city. That area was also revitaized by a couple of artists with vision. Spend some time looking around West Asheville and you cant help seeing the potential.

Drove around West Asheville this weekend and was wondering what is going on with the area. There are a lot of homes for sale and many nice bungalows but Haywood Avenue looks to be either in transition or slumping a bit. I noticed some closed businesses including a couple that appeared to have been startup restaurants. My wife and I are pondering relocating to the area and she is interested in opening a business but is wondering if there will ever be enough foot traffic on Haywood Ave for a little retail establishment. Thanks, and sorry for my earlier inappropriate post.

[archiham04]

I think West Asheville has enormous potential. Particularly the potential to become a true "arts district", something that North Davidson is having a harder time claiming with skyrocketing home prices.

[orulz]

There is an article in the Citizen-Times about the energy and artistic "vibe" that's been on Haywood Street west of I-240 for years finally bridging the highway to the east side.

This neighborhood used to be depressed and rather dangerous. It's gentrifying, and land values have increased substantially, though they haven't reached stratospheric heights yet (land was pretty drastically undervalued before.)

This is the one where the I-26 connector has the potential to do the most damage. Hopefully the highway can be designed and built without tearing this neighborhood apart.

[ChiefJoJo]

I think I know the area--I was just there 3 weeks ago. It kind of reminded me of a nicer, quainter version of Hillsborough St in Raleigh. If I have it right, Heath Schuler (former UT QB running for the US House) has his office there. It's not too far from I-26. Do I have that right?

[orulz]

Yeah, you've got that right - the main section of this historic West Asheville thoroughfare is bisected by I-240 / "Future" I-26. There are two areas along the corridor where the commercial development is more concentrated. The article dubs its subject "East Haywood", located logically just to the east of the highway. The more established, somewhat larger concentration is dubbed "West Haywood" and is located a mile or so west of the interstate.

Based on the address (735 Haywood Rd) Heath Shuler's office is located in the middle of "West Haywood."

[orulz]

In other West Asheville news, yesterday's TRC agenda contained the following items from West Asheville:

CONDITIONAL ZONING

1. Consideration of the Conditional Zoning request for property located at 22 Virginia Avenue. The conditional zoning request seeks the rezoning from RM8 (Residential Multi-Family, Medium Density) district to CB II CZ (Community Business II Conditional Zoning) district, for a proposed telecommunication tower. The owner is West Asheville Presbyterian Church and the contact is Katie Schick. The properties are identified in the Buncombe County tax records as PINs 9638.14-24-5246, and 5178.

Planner coordinating review

[ChiefJoJo]

OK, the area I saw was along Haywood Rd from Patton Ave to Brevard Rd. I was coming from a friends home on Leicester down Patton and then down Brevard to 26 east. Haywood's a really cool spot. I need to head back there and look around a bit more.

[orulz]

Check out This article - mostly about 919 Haywood Road.

Turns out much of Haywood Road is zoned as CBD (historically, this was the CBD of West Asheville, before the two towns merged.) This stipulates attractive streetscapes and buildings that address the street, but has no limitation for building size or height. So, they're talking about applying the 'NCD' district which is similar to CBD but has a 4-story height limitation.