There’s something about Jessica Wakeman’s article [“Not on My Sidewalk: Neighborhood Backlash Derails North Asheville Emergency Shelter,” Nov. 8, Xpress] that misses the obvious by definition, which is that exclusive neighborhoods exclude, though it’s no less definitional than the Asheville Downtown Association parade committee’s attempts to implement apolitical policy.
But what angers me about it is the Episcopal Appeasement, spelled out in bold that lets North Asheville make millions off intimidation, along with Biltmore Forest and Montreat, while “East and West” do their part, so I really don’t see why the city or county tolerate these gentrified, shirking bullies.
I’m not seeing much understanding of free markets, either, on the part of either the Rev. Milly Morrow or too many “green” volunteers and tenants, who just don’t seem to grok how picking up litter raises the rent, the way the true underclass gets it. I hope these shelters realize that by sheltering people in neighborhoods, they reduce market demand, thereby enabling those sheltered, and other workers, to find permanent housing right nearby, which is the objective.
— Alan Ditmore
Leicester
