I live in Kenilworth and had a front-row seat as I watched the flooding of the Swannanoa in September. In fact, whenever there’s heavy rain, and I hear sirens, I know to check whether it’s that the river is rising and they’re closing the Biltmore Avenue bridge. That’s how common flooding is.
The tragic storm of 2024 wiped out many of the structures in the floodplain and the activity within them.
Wouldn’t it be great to remake this area?
It would be great to turn it into a floodplain with surfaces that are not impervious to rising water, like green space that people could use along the river. Extend the French Broad River Greenway along the Swannanoa. Help the people and businesses that are displaced to move into the blighted section of Biltmore Avenue north from Mission Hospital to South Charlotte Street/Southside Avenue.
This would extend South Slope excitement southward. It could be a new arts district.
Wouldn’t it be great?
— Wendy Ikoku
Asheville
