UP and coming; What price downtown Asheville?

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Asheville Planning and Development Director Scott Shuford: "Gentrification is one of those words that typically has a negative connotation. However, it has to be taken in context with particular circumstances. The opposite of gentrification is disinvestment, so the way I look at gentrification is 'reinvestment that displaces prior residents or businesses.'

"Disinvestment in Montford and many West Asheville neighborhoods ultimately set the stage for reinvestment that has created a fair degree of gentrification there. Disinvestment in the WECAN [West End/Clingman Avenue] neighborhood resulted in significant loss of structures, and this loss has contributed to a lack of reinvestment - and gentrification - in that neighborhood up to now.

"In downtown Asheville, it would be difficult to refer to any residential development as gentrification, since there has typically been no displacement resulting from the recent residential rebirth of downtown - the above-shop space was vacant. There has certainly been some level of commercial gentrification, however; for example, the Fine Arts Theater displaced an adult-movie house. Whether this is good or bad depends on your perspective.

"In The Block, new residential development and virtually any new commercial development will not result in gentrification, since no residents and few businesses will be displaced.

"On the whole, I believe that gentrification in Asheville, if you use my definition - reinvestment that displaces prior residents or businesses - has generally been a pretty good thing. Montford, West Asheville and downtown are all more vital and interesting places than they were prior to the level ofgentrification that they have experienced; historic structures have been saved and reused. However, thegentrification issue bears watching, particularly if there are no options for displaced residents or businesses to relocate or no opportunities for disinvested neighborhoods to gentrify."

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Asheville Community Resource Center: "Gentrification is the historical process where economic, social and political pressures systematically allow resources to be extracted disproportionately from oppressed groups."

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Real-estate appraiser Mac Swicegood: "I've worked all over Western North Carolina, and I've noticedgentrification. It's the exact same thing we did to the Indians - local inhabitants are being displaced. Many of the original inhabitants have to move to find a job; many work here but can't afford to live here."

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Mayor Charles Worley: "Gentrification is a sensitive issue, and I think it's important for our community to recognize where Asheville fits into the context of gentrification. Citizens, working together, can make the forces that create gentrification work in positive ways for the community if we balance opportunity with livability. I emphasize the word 'balance' here because it is so important when dealing with gentrification."