Western North Carolina has built its identity around creativity, community and care for the natural world, attracting both tourists and transplants for more than a century. For a vibrant city like Asheville, surrounded by lush landscapes and scenic views, growth is inevitable — but sprawl doesn’t have to be.

For decades, restrictive housing policies and resistance to urban growth have:

• pushed new development outward.
• paved over forests and farmland.
• forced residents to drive farther for daily needs.
• increased the cost of housing.

We’re all occupying more space than ever before.

• From 1976 to 2006, land development in WNC increased 568% — from 34,348 acres to 229,422 acres — yet population increased only 42% in that same time.
• The result? An increase in average acres per person, or the “development footprint.”

The current housing shortage affects us all.

• Asheville and its surrounding area need more than 34,000 housing units within the next 5 years to address affordability and sustainability across our region.
• Without change, rising costs will push vital members of our community — teachers, artists and service workers — farther from the city, fueling more sprawl and damage to the natural environment.