*Get There Asheville is a city council questionnaire presented in partnership by Asheville on Bikes, MountainTrue, and Strong Towns Asheville.
Introductions
What would you like people to know about how you listen, learn, and lead?
I begin by listening to my community, learning the peoples’ values, priorities, concerns and opinions because I am in service to our residents. I inform my decision making with data, especially regarding transportation and housing needs, because we need to be forward looking and improvement focused and generally can learn from successes in similar communities. As a leader, I work to build systems that integrate and work best with robust, meaningful engagement and participation. This is because Asheville has many thought leaders with lived experience, expertise and deep caring about our community whose elevated voices can help produce better outcomes for all.
How do you most often travel around Asheville in your daily life, and how does that shape your experience of the city?
I drive, walk and bike. For work, I often travel to surrounding counties necessitating the use of a car. And to run errands, I try to consolidate trips using my vehicle. I also walk and bike all over Asheville. Walking and biking is a means to get from one place to another, but also recreational and social. Seeing a city on foot or on a bike changes your perspective. It allows me to see the challenges, deficiencies and enhancements in infrastructure across the city. I can experience a lack of sidewalk, a root in a greenway, a missing ADA ramp at an intersection, or a deficient bus stop, and understand in a first-hand way, where further improvements are needed.
What does equitable transportation investment look like to you in Asheville, and what experiences have informed how you think about it?
We do not have enough options for all people, particularly people with disabilities, and people who would either like to walk, bike, or ride the bus more or for whom walking, biking or riding the bus are their only affordable options. As mayor I have been working to improve transportation options by expanding multimodal infrastructure. I personally worked hard to promote the 2024 general obligation bond package, which will allow the city to build on the 2016 bond program that I also worked hard to promote. The concrete result is that the city can leverage millions of dollars for multimodal transportation, specifically in the areas of sidewalk and greenway construction.
I support continued investment in the Close the GAP Plan, to ensure that all have access to safe, connected non-motorized travel throughout the city.
Transit is also a transportation mode that I am proud to have expanded during my tenure, but which still falls short of meeting all the needs of people for whom a bus is their only affordable option. I will continue to support the improvement of Asheville’s public transportation system toward the ideal of efficient, frequent, reliable service.
My personal experience in advocating, voting for and funding multi-modal transportation projects has taught me to work with our tremendous community partners and advocates to make bold and brave decisions such as the Merrimon Avenue Road Diet which I unwaveringly supported.
Growth Patterns & Housing
These questions are informed by the Elevate 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan, Asheville Missing Middle & Displacement Risk Assessment and Living Asheville a Comprehensive Plan for the Future.
Federal transportation dollars to improve Asheville’s streets, sidewalks, and highways are spent according to plans developed by our local Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The recently approved Elevate 2050 plan lays out 3 potential growth scenarios for our area: Business as Usual, Consolidated Growth, and Dissipated Growth.
Of these three scenarios, which do you think would be the best growth pattern for the Asheville area?
Consolidated Growth. The consolidated growth pattern makes sense for Asheville as it is focused in more urbanized, walkable areas, especially places with existing infrastructure that supports shorter trips and encourages use of public transit, walking, biking and other modes of non-vehicle transportation. Asheville needs to concentrate new housing, jobs, and development in locations that already have a higher level of development, along dense urban corridors, rather than growing out. For this reason, I strongly supported a recent zoning change that increases the threshold for by–right multi family housing to be constructed on urban corridors. Consolidated growth leads to more efficient land use, increased walkability, and reduced overall vehicle miles traveled compared with a business-as-usual or a dispersed growth pattern. There are also many pro-social positive outcomes: walkable and more connected neighborhoods become more closely knit and resilient. From a city’s infrastructure investment standpoint, consolidated growth also maximizes the city’s resources to impact the highest number of individuals.
Do you accept the premise that housing growth is a strategy to prevent displacement? Share more about your views on housing growth and displacement?
Yes, I support housing growth partnered with the implementation of the anti-displacement strategies recommended by the Missing Middle Housing study. Growth in housing is needed to address the affordable housing crisis and provide much needed housing to the thousands of people identified through the Bowen Housing study. But, coupled with strong support for an increase in housing supply, there must be increased investment in our most vulnerable neighborhoods. I fought for the award of millions of dollars in CDBG-DR funds after Hurricane Helene, traveling to Congress multiple times, resulting in an award of $225 million dollars. 70% of these funds must be spent in low to moderate income neighborhoods. This is an unprecedented opportunity to scale up investment in vulnerable neighborhoods, ensuring residents can stay in their homes through programs such as home repair programs and economic recovery investments.
Research has shown that the cities that create more housing options for renters through building multi-family housing, do a better job at preventing and reducing homelessness.
Do you think allowing middle housing types like duplexes and quadplexes by right in all residential neighborhoods would be an effective strategy to create more affordable housing in Asheville? Share more about your position on missing middle housing as use by right.
It could be. The biggest reason some cities have high rates of homelessness and others don’t is not because of poverty, mental illness, drug use, or local politics, but because of housing costs and housing availability. Housing scarcity is directly correlated with the percentage of unhoused individuals in a community. Because missing middle housing is yet one more tool for growing housing availability and therefore affordability, I strongly support code changes that would make it as easy as possible to build missing middle housing. And, I say that knowing that some of the most challenging votes I have ever had to cast were for missing middle infill housing. These tend to be the most controversial votes, which is why I have worked hard to bring neighborhoods and developers together, before the vote, to hammer out the compromises needed to get this housing over the finish line.
Complete Streets
These questions are informed by Asheville’s Complete Street Policy.
When you think about “complete streets” in Asheville, what does that idea mean to you in practice? Can you share an example of a place where you think we’re getting it right—or could do better?
Complete streets means building streets that can be used, safely, by everyone, not just those in a car. That means they’re planned and built to work for walkers, bikers, transit users, car drivers, people of all abilities, and for emergency services. This means building transportation corridors with sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes or bike paths, bus lanes and good transit stops, safe intersections and traffic calming, trees, lighting and spaces for resting and gathering. Where we got this right is the RADTP project in the RAD, incorporating protected bike lanes, traffic circle intersections, benches, transit stops, multiuse paths, etc. Where we could do better is the Merrimon Ave Road Diet, where the lane markings are inconsistent and confusing, there is no protected bike lane, and there are too many curb cuts.
Aside from budgetary constraints, what’s one barrier you see to Asheville becoming a safer city for people who walk, bike, use micromobility and/or assistive mobility devices?
Challenges include information, communications, divisiveness, politics and misunderstanding. From my experience in the early days of RADTP, there was great apprehension by some landowners in the RAD who thought greenways and multiuse paths would negatively affect their property. Change is hard but I am a fierce advocate for the continued retrofit of Asheville to multimodal transportation infrastructure because I believe, ultimately, it will benefit all Ashevillians.
Transit
This question is informed by the ongoing ART Comprehensive Operational Analysis.
Asheville is in the middle of a Comprehensive Operational Analysis of our bus system.
Residents were recently asked to consider two different network concepts: a coverage concept and a ridership concept. Which concept do you prefer for Asheville? Share more about your position regarding ridership or coverage.
The solution begins with a blended model between ridership and coverage. I defer to the transit users and experts as to which model makes the most sense for Asheville. While I have consistently supported public transportation and the funding needed to support it, while always looking for partnership opportunities to reduce cost, I am concerned about the capacity of the city to provide public transportation that people find useful in their everyday lives. With bus driver shortages and bus fleet challenges, ridership may be the direction the city must move toward, however, this decision will be made with the community.
Greenways & Trails
These questions are informed by Asheville’s Close the Gap Plan, Recreate Asheville & The Hellbender Regional Plan.
What informs your vision for Asheville’s trails and greenways, and how would you move that vision forward?
I continue to be a strong supporter of building out the trails and greenways envisioned by the community and captured in the many planning documents. This vision emphasizes practical, safe infrastructure that moves people from home to work, school, shopping, recreation, etc. in a safe way using whatever mode of transportation individuals most readily have available to them. I have had the experience of living in a city where greenways connected me to work, school and shopping and I lived without a car (Boulder). I have lived in a city where transit is so robust and accessible no other means of transportation is needed (Jerusalem). I have worked with multimodal advocates to prioritize projects in Asheville by experiencing first-hand the successes of other communities (Minneapolis). I also strongly believe that a city’s role is to build recreational amenities for people to enjoy not only for mental and physical health but to experience joy with one another, and this includes trails for hiking and biking.
In your view, can investments in greenways and trails support affordability in Asheville—and where should we be thoughtful or cautious?
A comprehensive, usable and safe network of greenways, trails, bikelanes, and other multimodal transportation options creates greater affordability because it creates greater accessibility. However, it is important to recognize the linkage between these enhancements and potential gentrification. Done right, by simultaneously adding affordable housing, job opportunities, and other elements needed to level participation, greenways and trails can support affordability.
Reconstruction
These questions are informed by Asheville acceptance of Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery and the ongoing French Broad & Azalea Parks Recovery Project.
The City has been allocated $225 million in CDBG-DR (Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery) funds from HUD to aid our recovery from Hurricane Helene. HUD approved the city’s initial plan to spend $125 million on infrastructure, $52 million on Economic Revitalization and $31 million on housing.
Within the $31 million to be spent on housing, $28 million is dedicated to building affordable housing while the remaining $3 million is for single family home repair.
Recently, the city has proposed shifting over half of the funds originally planned for affordable housing construction over to single family home repair. Would you support that proposed change? Share more about your position regarding affordable multi-family construction – v – single family home repair.
I answer this question with both/and. Asheville’s housing affordability crisis must be addressed in all possible ways including bolstering the construction of affordable multi-family housing and funding single family home repair. Single family home repair for income qualified homeowners helps ensure that residents are able to stay and age in place in their homes, which preserves existing affordable housing stock. This question is specifically referencing the CDBG-DR funds designated for affordable housing, and under federal and state requirements, and due to the originally underestimated number of damaged homes from Hurricane Helene, the city was later required to shift monies designated for mutli-family housing to single-family home repair. Historically and on a continuing basis, however, the city has and will continue to fund both affordable multi-family apartment construction as well as single-family home repair, as both are needed to address housing needs.
Director D. Tyrell McGrit recently shared an update with City Council on the Riverfront Parks Recovery outreach and findings at the Jan. 13, 2026 City Council Work Session. What stands out to you about the work so far, and why?
I am committed to building back better, the parks along the Swannanoa (Azalea) and French Broad Rivers. Since Hurricane Helene I have been working tirelessly to secure the funds needed to rebuild these parks, utilizing federal public assistance funds, hazard mitigation, and CDBG-DR. But this is a community lead process and the city has built a robust program to harness the peoples’ vision for how these parks can be so much more than what they were before the storm, while being built to better withstand future disasters that we know are inevitable. I have learned that in addition to this being a complex federal and state funding landscape and an expensive endeavor, the people are eager to see this work happen fast and well. The first major community event brought more than a couple hundred people out to provide feedback and provide guidance for their vision of these parks. And the city is also working to meet people where they are so no one person or group can drown out the quieter voices in our city. We need to realize a vision for all of the people and not just a handful of louder voices.