Day: September 17, 2015
Homework: Solving Asheville’s affordable housing crisis
It’s no secret: The shortage of affordable housing in the Asheville area is one of our community’s biggest problems. Contributing factors include a growing population, the high demand for both apartments and houses, the particular challenges of building in the mountains and the low wages paid by many local employers. Earlier this summer, Xpress decided … Read more
Lisa Wingate writes about Melungeon people and Federal Writers’ Project in new novel
The Sea Keeper’s Daughters is part history and part mystery. It follows the stories of three characters: present day restaurant owner Whitney; her grandmother Ruby, who lived in the Excelsior hotel on the Outer Banks; and Ruby’s twin sister Alice, a member of the Depression-era Federal Writer’s Project, stationed in Western North Carolina. Author Lisa Wingate presents her book at Malaprop’s on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Survey findings may help stem the loss of farms in WNC
Making a living as a farmer is tough anywhere, but it’s particularly true in the North Carolina mountains. Western North Carolina lost 18 percent of its farms — more than 2,800 — in the 15 years between 1997 and 2012. And the majority of existing WNC farmers today are nearing retirement age — many of them without heirs who plan to keep the farm going.
