Anyone hoping to hear simple answers to the complex problems facing Asheville and WNC undoubtedly left the Diana Wortham Theatre disappointed Tuesday night after the conclusion of the Citizen-Times forum on growth, “Growing Asheville For All.”
But the event, sponsored by PNC Bank and attended by hundreds of local residents, was never intended to offer simple answers. This forum, instead, was intended to put us on the road to asking the right questions. And in that we consider it a rousing success.
We’re thankful a group of talented thinkers from within the community lent their voices to Tuesday’s discussion: Former Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy, now an outreach coordinator for the Asheville Housing Authority; Jack Cecil, a commercial and residential developer and CEO of Biltmore Farms; Jeremy Littlejohn, CEO of RISC Networks, a tech startup headquartered in Asheville; John McKibbon, developer and CEO of the McKibbon Hotel Group; and Pastor Micheal Woods, executive director of WNC Rescue Ministries shelter downtown. They were joined by Panelist Mai Thi Nguyen, an associate professor at UNC Chapel Hill’s department of regional and city planning.
Our takeaway: Making a city that’s affordable for the people who work here is a key goal. Wages are a part of that. Housing affordability (and availability) is another huge issue. The rate of growth in general, and new hotel construction in particular, is a concern.
Along with the issues, some of Asheville’s strengths were identified. Cecil pointed out that we’re cursed and blessed by lack of a single large corporation dominating the area’s employment footprint. That means we can’t expect, say, a fancy new performing arts center to go up with Corporation X’s name on it. It also means decision-making is diffused among a larger group of stakeholders. Bellamy pointed out the city’s resiliency as it’s toughed it out through an economic downturn and a state government that at times has seemed bent on monkeywrenching local decisions and trimming local purse strings. And the panelists agreed that, unlike many areas, manufacturing never left — it just switched from large textile companies to firms such as smaller brewers.
No easy answers, but some outlines of possible steps ahead. Real-time polling helped moderators Casey Blake and Josh Awtry use audience input to steer the panel’s conversation to more directly answer community questions. A discussion of the hotel tax revealed a sentiment that it ought to be brought under local control. In addition to traditional tourism a push for conventions for interests in the green and tech sectors was greeted with favor. Respondents wanted to see developers be more accountable for creating affordable units.
The sentiment we most perhaps agreed with: “Until we all work together, nothing long term will be accomplished.’’
This forum was a start. If nothing else, perhaps it helped start to put a stake through the heart of some misconceptions.
One-size-fits-all answers won’t work here. Simple solutions are the province of charlatans.
The answers will be difficult. Here’s to a start on asking the right questions.
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