Breakaway Mountain Village (Pics)

[adamparish]

I live in Orlando, but I bought a lot in Mars Hill in a New Urban mountain village called Breakaway. I finally got some fresh pictures of the new village, and I posted them on my blog.

In case you are interested.

http://www.adamparish.org/blog/photos/

[rooster8]

I can't believe there isn't a retaining wall beside those houses. Looks kind of scary.

[cinco]

nice view. great looking houses - they look well built.

i am curious about a ski slope that far south in the blue ridge.... is there another one close to it or further south? this area doesn't typically get the amount of snowfall that watuaga or avery counties (just north of this project) get.

also, i don't know about the faux creek drainage ditch with the arched bridge... lol. however with those houses and views and the fact you would be living in one of the most beautiful parts of the country (IMO)... i could look past that minute detail. thanks for sharing.

[adamparish]

Breakaway could be a great catalyst for the area. It appears that the village is going to be a mountain version of Seaside, FL. Seaside is the original New Urban project, and it is really is a special place. Plus Seaside generates tons of tourist dollars for the Florida panhandle.

Give it some time, I think the village center in Breakaway will build-out nicely. If I get any more pictures, I'll make sure to share them.

[orulz]

There's an article in the Mountain Xpress that discusses a lot of the benefits and drawbacks that developments like this one in the WNC high country bring to the region.

http://www.mountainx.com/news/2006/1122slopes.php

Second-homers and investors buying into the hundreds of gated communities throughout the mountains bring much-needed property tax revenue to impoverished counties, which can do particularly good things for the school system, but the environmental consequences (disturbed watersheds, viewsheds, and runoff) as well as social consequences (higher overall cost of living in spite of little to no increase in per-capita income) can be quite negative if things get out of control. The fact that WNC is so attractive could make it so popular that it gets overdeveloped and regular folk can't afford to live there anymore.

Buncombe County's steep-slope development ordinance is a first stab at regulating this sort of development. Is there some way these consequences can be mitigated without shutting off the stream of tax revenue or blocking inevitable but reasonable development?