[Regarding “‘Invest Back Into Our Community’: Local Leaders Call for TDA to Reduce Its Tourism Marketing Budget,” Nov. 22, Asheville Watchdog via Xpress:]
I say we reallocate (don’t cut!) Tourism Development Authority funds to support local needs, especially those related to tourism. If we plan well, we can achieve multiple important goals. For starters, we don’t need more parking or to attract more car usage in Asheville, though perhaps there could be more “Park & Ride” locations outside the city. I believe we need to follow the example of other cities that have responded very practically to their growth and traffic issues by making it unnecessary to have a car — for both tourists and some locals.
That means good public transportation. It would be great to have a train system around Asheville — to and from the Asheville, Charlotte and Greenville airports going to destinations in and around Asheville — including some of the small towns nearby. I would include depots in Hendersonville, Lake Lure, Black Mountain, Candler, Canton, Waynesville, Silva, Franklin, Brevard, Cherokee, Maggie Valley, Hot Springs, Weaverville, etc., and numerous stops along the way, including “Park & Ride” locations.
A layout of trains could be augmented with vans or small buses around local areas, and with paths for bikes or scooters that people could rent (especially right downtown). Various new entrepreneurial businesses could spring up, such as retail stores and child care centers along the train and van routes. Such a system of public transportation would serve locals, including downtown employees and those in the tourism industry, as well as attract more tourists. It would make it easy to get here and back from airports, to support our economy and to enjoy our beautiful mountains. It also would go a long way to support clean air!
With a good system of public transportation, we can focus TDA and other funds on providing a more “walkable,” people-oriented design that again would serve both locals and tourists. I’ve long envisioned the entire area around Prichard Park connecting with Pack Square Park as one large plaza. Specifically, it would be closing the roads around Prichard Park (College and Haywood streets down to the civic center) and closing Patton Avenue going up to Pack Square, possibly leaving Biltmore Avenue open to traffic, but have a large, safe area for people to cross Biltmore.
I imagine this area being like a beautiful European plaza, bustling with both locals and tourists who travel easily and safely around to various businesses and lively destination points. And those could include the Whitewater Wave in the French Broad River at Riverside Park planned to open next year or a new pickleball court along the South Slope and numerous other fun things in and around Asheville.
While implementing these ideas would be expensive at the outset, I believe that building the train system would generate tremendous funds immediately, especially those from area airports. And this could help fund the rest and much more. In the long run, I believe we would save money and more directly create a beautiful, abundant and resilient future for tourists and locals alike.
— Gaya Erlandson
Candler
