Category: Views

The rising use of credit checks, just to allow one to rent housing in Asheville, excludes much of its working class and increasingly pushes them out of the city they make possible There was an important point raised in the Asheville Citizen-Times‘ June 30 forum on family homelessness,…

Local photographer Zen Sutherland sends a before/after image to highlight the contributions — and plight — of artists in the River Arts District. The studios here were recently shut down by the city of Asheville, citing a lack of maintenance, code violations and safety concerns.…

Thank you, Asheville, for your amazing support of the Blade. In just one month, you’ve shown that reader-funded journalism has a future in this city Above: the skyline of downtown Asheville, photo by Max Cooper. One month ago today I went live with the Asheville…

The Moral Monday protests that brought out thousands in Asheville last year return Aug. 4. Leslie Boyd, a local health care advocate and protester, writes about why she participates. Above: North Carolina NAACP leader Rev. William Barber and other Moral Monday speakers at the first…

I moved to Asheville for college thinking I’d found a home. But between an impossible job market, a lack of amenities and a city filled with too many ghosts, it’s time to go. Above: Skyline of Asheville. Photo by Bill Rhodes. “Why are you leaving…

One view on the long, twisted road to making the APD evidence room audit public, and how it changed Asheville Above: District Attorney Ron Moore talking to press June 19, beside the 15-volume audit of the APD evidence room. Honestly, I never expected the day…

The city’s current tack amounts to exploiting artists’ work while ignoring them and pushing societal homogeneity. There’s a better way. Photo by Zen Sutherland. “It’s a waste of time debating the merits of illegal graffiti,” says Gus Cutty, a local muralist and street artist, but that has…

Low pay poses a major threat to Asheville and it’s long, long past time to stop pretending otherwise Art by Nathanael Roney, commissioned for the Asheville Blade. If a culture of juggling several jobs just to pay the bills wasn’t enough, if our fair city…

One of the organizers of Asheville’s Stonewall events writes about why the spirit of a riot 45 years ago is still needed in Asheville today. Above: A pride rally in Asheville, early 2000s. Why is Stonewall important? And why should Asheville commemorate the event as it truly…

Asheville’s current approach to diversity is like putting a bandage on a dirty wound. A better way will require a more politically and economically powerful black community — and the city truly addressing some hard history. Above: African-American owned businesses in downtown, before the East…