Asheville For All Endorses a “YES” Vote in November on the Buncombe County Affordable Housing Bond

We wrote recently about a November ballot proposal that North Carolinians should absolutely vote “NO” on. Today, on the other hand, we’re happy to endorse a “YES” vote on Buncombe County’s affordable housing bond measure for this fall.

And we’ll keep this one short.

This spring, we saw Asheville City Council approve a conditional zoning approval for 50 Coxe Ave., a project that Buncombe County undertook to convert some underused land that the county owned into mixed-income housing and retail that will bring diversity and 24-hour street life to downtown Asheville.

This exciting project is being funded, in no small part, by the county’s prior round of voter-approved bonds from four years ago.

We enthusiastically support the 2026 Buncombe County Affordable Housing Bond because we want to see more projects like 50 Coxe Ave. And we believe that using taxpayer dollars to do it is appropriate, good, and just, given that the housing gap has benefitted homeowners at the expense of renters. We also believe that the cost of the bond is a small price to pay for Buncombe County homeowners to see more sustainable growth for the region, and less precarity and more opportunity for their neighbors, friends, and relatives.

Make a plan to vote in November, check out our previous endorsements, and stay connected as more endorsements are coming soon.