From Staff Reports
The annual “State of Downtown” address in Asheville on March 19 “had positive points on subjects like homelessness, parking and safety,” Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on March 19.
Further, the News 13 story reported:
“‘We’re really seeing the fruits of our labor at this point,’ Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said. ‘We hope this momentum continues.’
“‘Perceptions have started to shift,’ Asheville Downtown Association Executive Director Hayden Plemmons said. ‘People feel safer downtown.’
“A poll by the Downtown Asheville Association showed 90 percent of people feel safer during the daytime in the city.”
The mayor said she hopes to see those numbers improve further after the recent downtown patrol partnership between Asheville Police Department and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, the TV station noted.
“We hope that the partnership (between the APD and the Buncombe Sheriff’s Office) continues,” Manheimer said. “We appreciate the support from the sheriff’s department downtown.”
However, News 13 added, “a statistic to improve on is that 45 percent of that same poll say they feel unsafe at night. On top of that, business-owners asked their workers and customers how they feel about their personal safety — 56 percent had concerns.”
Plemmons then said, “We’d like to increase lighting downtown. Make sure there’s more activation during the night, and the joint patrols between APD and the Sheriff’s Office will be a success in bringing people in and making them feel safer at night.”
The TV station noted, “More educational programs about the homeless community in the area is something the city will continue to invest in as well. This includes the Homelessness Learning Series taking place now around the area.”
Manheimer told the downtown group, “There are so many different providers throughout Asheville and Buncombe County who want to do good work and are doing good work. A lot of it is trying to get everyone to communicate and collaborate effectively to really make a difference.”
News 13 added, “One thing the mayor says she wants to talk about this time next year is improving infrastructure.”
To that end, Manheimer said, “We have some major infrastructure challenges,” she said. “I talked today about the cost of maintaining infrastructure. Whether it’s parking decks, streets, or sidewalks. As a city, what we’re looking at is another bond package in this fall election cycle.”
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