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I appreciate the advice...not an excuse but it's easier said than done sometimes. Since he got here he has worked two or three jobs at a time so there has not been much time for learning. Now he is dedicating himself 100% to it, but it's not going to happen overnight. Meantime, the problem still exists. Again, Thank you.
All I was trying to say about the Asheville area is that it is losing the mountain town charm.
And if you wanted to go as far as Vanderbilt making Asheville, you might as well say that Europeans made America. Yes, not everyone who moves into an area is bad for it, but the few who are really make a mark on those who have lived there.
The problem is that people moving into the area believe that their way of life is the way it should be without considering those who live around them. And that is why alot of people are upset with the newcomers to Asheville.
The second problem with Asheville is it is a mountain city and there simply is not enough room in Asheville for everyone. There is only so much space before all the roads are congested, all the jobs are taken etc etc.
Once this happens people will be moving further and further away from Asheville and inhabiting the outer areas and changing those areas from small towns to suburbs of Asheville.
you must realize that there are some folks who were "foreigners" who put Asheville on the Map. For Example, George Vanderbilt, who built the Biltmore estate, etc. was originally from New York.
Vanderbilt brought the railroad to Asheville, he did not put Asheville 'on the map'
He built one big mansion, and placed it in the middle of 10's of thousands of acres, and he was very proactive in conserving the land and the beauty.
To compare him to many that come today and bulldoze every tree on a mountain side so it won't impair their view is an insult to the conservation efforts of the Vanderbilt's. When you visit the house, stand on the veranda, and remember that if you can see it, he owned it, and protected it from development.
Vanderbilt brought the railroad to Asheville, he did not put Asheville 'on the map'
He built one big mansion, and placed it in the middle of 10's of thousands of acres, and he was very proactive in conserving the land and the beauty.
To compare him to many that come today and bulldoze every tree on a mountain side so it won't impair their view is an insult to the conservation efforts of the Vanderbilt's. When you visit the house, stand on the veranda, and remember that if you can see it, he owned it, and protected it from development.
Oh, comeon now, A.N., I wasn't comparing Vanderbilt to tree slashers. I was making the point that not all that come to town come here to ruin it. You blew right past my point.
I am an Asheville native who has recently moved to find a job. And I can tell you the job market for fresh out of college or high schoolers is completely dead for the age group of 18-30 year olds looking for a nice entry level job that pays well. And by well I mean able to afford a decent way of life.
This is no different anywhere else. Welcome to the real world. I moved here when I was 25, college educated and a similar attitude. I've had to work two or three jobs at a time, work jobs that I thought sucked, done without many luxuries I thought I deserved and I'm still here 10 years later. However, I never went without cable, food or a car to drive. I managed to pay off a college loan as well.
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Originally Posted by Podunk12
The problems that Asheville now faces are due to the previous mayor and city counsel and the current mayor and city counsel.
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Originally Posted by Podunk12
In 1996 Mayor Lenny Sitnick told Atlanta during the Olympics to bus the homeless here, and now they stay and keep coming. Try going downtown without being pestered every few feet.
The old city counsel was also strongly against growth. They voted down expanding interstates, highways, and even some roads. But people came anyways.
They also voted against big-box stores from opening, which is fine with me, but they came anyways.
They voted to keep Asheville small and quiet, they did not want a huge influx of people because there just is not the room for a large population in the valley.
Now the real problem came when the new mayor and city counsel arrived.
These people decided that Asheville should grow grow grow.
They have allowed developers to place homes all over the sides of the mountains.
They have allowed developers to smash as many homes on an acre as possible (which is an open invitation for people to move to Asheville).
They have allowed an enormous influx of people into a small area, which is making it over crowded quickly.
They allowed for the expansion of the interstates(which is GREATLY needed and has been for 10 years).
You're right when you identify the two mayors and the city councils as perpetrators. However, you attribute the current edition of city council with allowing rampant growth. They have NOT been good for growth. They rant about how expensive housing is in the area but then excessively regulate the builders thus causing the cost of housing to rise. Or, when a developer wants to build a high density building like the Ashton or whatever the name is, they want to limit the number of stories they can build, basically shake the developer down so the developer now pays part of the profits to some non-profit. What happens to the cost of the rest of the project? The cost rises. They are trying to control every aspect of growth in the Asheville city limits.
They dreamed up this storm water runoff scheme that is now a tax to homeowners. What does that do to the cost of housing in Asheville? It sure as heck doesn't lower it.
They are responsible for attracting more homeless folks to the area. I read a short article in the local rag talking about a homeless shelter and the need to limit the number of people they can let into their facility. Why? Because there are too many customers now. Why are there more customers now? Because the city council want to stop homelessness or some such pie-in-the-sky endeavor. The word is out now. Come to Asheville. They'll give you food, shelter and all of the potential donators that you could possibly ask "can you help a veteran out" or "I'm not from here and I need gas".
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Originally Posted by Podunk12
But the one thing that Asheville simply cannot supply to people is careers. There just are not enough good careers in Asheville for people to get their foot in the door. Sure, you can work retail, then be the retail manager, then even maybe an area manager. But we all know that those numbers dwindle very quickly from 100 entry retail, 10 manager, 1 area manager. So there just are not enough of those jobs available.
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Originally Posted by Podunk12
Also, there are no longer as many manufacturing companies because the city taxes have risen so much over the past few decades they have moved.
This is why more than 70% of the people I know from Asheville have moved to find work or moved to keep their job when the company moved.
I see lots of opportunities for jobs here. You won't start out at the top of the food chain but you can work your way up. The manufacturing jobs moving away had nothing to do with City of Asheville taxes. I don't get where you draw that conclusion. Expand your scope of blame to the general tax environment in the U.S. and you'll be more on target.
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Originally Posted by Podunk12
The city is also "cashing in" on the Biltmore name by naming everything after it. Such as Biltmore Lake which is 20 miles west of Biltmore and use to be called ENKA Lake (Which is also where many of the blue collar workers who built this city lived, aka Rednecks and who will admit it.) Another quick example is Biltmore Park, which is 15 miles south of Biltmore in Skyland. It just sickens me that to give the facade of wealth throughout the area they are naming everything Biltmore.
Biltmore Farms has nothing to do with the City of Asheville. They are a private entity. Enka Lake is not 20 miles from Biltmore. The lake is still named Enka Lake. The development that now surrounds it is named Biltmore Lake. There are lots and lots of jobs generated by all that building going on just around that lake.
Biltmore Park is within the Asheville city limits. It has added greatly to the tax revenue of the City of Asheville. It is not 15 miles south.
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Originally Posted by Podunk12
My biggest problems with Asheville is this; They are inviting way too many people to move to the area and they are forcing the people who built this wonderful area out and replacing them with "foreigners" who are destroying the areas way of life and heritage. Give it a few years and Asheville will be gone and replaced with some pseudo-Asheville full of well-to-do out of towner's and an over populated area. The heritage, history, and culture that use to be, and is still hanging on, will be gone within 10 years. I'll bet you will see the Asheville-Hendersonville metro area on the map soon.
I agree. Asheville and Hendersonville are growing together. But, who are we to stop it? People need a place to live. Who are we to deny them the right to move here? Are we the only ones that are allowed to enjoy what the area has to offer? Don't like it? Move out west. There is plenty of room out there. The East Coast is only going to get more crowded. If you think that there are too many people moving here why not think of a way to make a living off of that? These people need health care, food, tailors, mechanics, bakers, insurance, lawn care, lawyers, teachers, day care, trash pick up, tree removal, etc, etc, etc. No one is forcing anyone out. A lack of initiative and willingness to work hard for something are probably more of a cause of forcing someone out that anything else.
I'm not trying to attack you. I think your line of thought is on the right track but you just need to delve into the facts a bit more to truly see the facts of the situation.
Last edited by Appalachian State; 05-09-2008 at 12:47 PM..
Reason: Tired to fix quote tag
All these comments are really making me skeptical about moving up to Asheville. I truly fell in love with North Carolina the last few times I have visited up there...so much so that I am planning to move up there in June. I find it so peaceful and beautiful. I live in West Palm Beach and I can no longer stand living here. The home prices, prices in general, the people that can't bring themselves to say hello on the street, the traffic, everything. The only one pro around here is that the jobs for hispanics still exist. My husband is Cuban and has lived here for three years. His English is very rough and every time he has made an application in North Carolina, they have belittled him tremendously. He has applied for jobs in landscaping, carpentry, golf maintainance, dishwashing. He is an electronics technician, as well as a carpenter, plumber, overall handyman, and has extensive knowledge of golf course maintainance. He is willing to work in just about anything. Problem is again, his English. I know the people in Asheville may not be used to Hispanics in their area, but wow. I on the other hand, speak perfect English and I applied for two jobs and I got both of them because both of the supervisors were from Florida and are very open minded. I am feeling a little frustrated and becoming something I have never been...stereotypical. Can anyone give me a little guidance?
Maybe your husband should try working on his English?
I have lived just NW of Asheville for 9 years now and have come to hate the place. Their liberalelitist UBERZONING has driven the housing prices sky high until it is basically a tourist trap and economic basket case with just the kind of fake diversity described so well. Now the Ashevillian fakers are trying to take over the county so affordable rents require commuting to a neighboring county and not just outside the city limits.
In other words the place is just not worth bothering with unless you have money. Well that has become the USA across the board. Moving to places like asheville one needs to understand they are not just moving to another community in the country. Tourist trap places, granola type places, are not all that homey to live in to begin with. Its a beautiful area to visit, a shame its not really a place most could live, affordability or mindset.
Terrible, terrible place. When we told one of the homeless we were from Florida he started to throw tomatoes at us. Then we tried to go into a restaurant and they were so rude because we said we were from Vermont. The next day we went back and wore sandals and all was well.
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