{"id":6761,"date":"2026-04-25T14:52:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=6761"},"modified":"2026-04-25T14:52:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T14:52:03","slug":"asheville-north-carolina-has-become-a-scary-mountain-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=6761","title":{"rendered":"Asheville, North Carolina has become a &#8216;scary&#8217; mountain city"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>For years, Asheville,\u00a0North Carolina,\u00a0marketed itself as a mountain escape known for breweries, boutique hotels and Blue Ridge views. <\/p>\n<p>But residents and critics say a different reality has taken shape in the wake of Hurricane Helene: panhandling at intersections, public intoxication, encampments and an unsafe downtown.<\/p>\n<p>Carl Mumpower, a private practice clinical psychologist, lifelong Asheville resident and former City Council member who served from 2001 until 2009, said the city\u2019s current challenges stem from decisions made over decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsheville began its efforts to\u00a0address homelessness at least\u00a0three decades ago. This effort accelerated in the early part of this century with the first \u2018Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness,\u2019\u201d Mumpower told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat plan was ill advised but passed with a super-majority. At the time, I suggested to the council that any plan that removed personal accountability from the helping equation was doomed to fail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mumpower said the city has continued down the same path ever since.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat plan and subsequent plans have failed with equal enthusiasm.\u00a0Homelessness, drug abuse, and related\u00a0crimes\u00a0have increased relentlessly under the watch of local homelessness experts and a governing body that is dominated by liberal Democrats and those with an even more extreme view to the left. That lack of balance \u2014 the last conservative on the council was in 2009 \u2014 has led to a myopic repeat of errors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also argued that city leaders relied on ideas that were not grounded in practical solutions.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Asheville, North Carolina, once a tourist hotspot, is now plagued by homelessness, crime, and public intoxication. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs regards homelessness, Asheville has a persisting history of pursuing\u00a0fantasized interventions over more\u00a0realistic, measurable and trackable solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care, the local, government-supported coalition responsible for coordinating federal homelessness planning and services in Asheville and Buncombe County, said homelessness in the region is at its highest level on record in its latest count.<\/p>\n<p>Data from the group\u2019s 2026 Point-in-Time survey found 824 people experiencing homelessness, a 9.1% increase from 2025. That included 334 people living unsheltered, up 1.8% from the prior year. Nearly 500 others were in shelters or transitional housing, a rise the Continuum of Care attributed partly to expanded emergency shelter and transitional housing capacity.<\/p>\n<p>These \u201cfantasize interventions,\u201d Mumpower said, were accompanied by the city\u2019s pursuit of defunding the\u00a0police department.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe council\u2019s political dismantling of the police department \u2014 resulting in a 40% reduction due to retirements and resignations \u2014 has had a dramatic impact on crime in Asheville,\u201d he said. \u201cMost \u2018smaller\u2019 crimes are no longer enforced or realistically tracked, and return on investment costs have skyrocketed. We have officers who earned over $150,000 in overtime last year due to manpower shortages. Enforcement is not possible without adequate, motivated personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe direct impact on residents is increased and unenforced crime, direct exposure to intoxication and violent street behaviors, and burdensome\u00a0taxes\u00a0and fees to chase the recycled program pretenses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mumpower said many local residents have simply stopped going downtown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe single most common phrase uttered by county and surrounding area residents is \u2018I don\u2019t go downtown anymore \u2013 it\u2019s nasty, crazy, and scary,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Former City Council member Carl Mumpower blames \u201cfantasized interventions\u201d and police defunding for the decline. <span class=\"credit\">Jeffrey Greenberg\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He said tourism also suffers when disorder becomes more visible in the city center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTourism is impacted, and those we attract are often coming here not as families, but as partiers seeking to join the fray.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The issue has taken on added urgency in the aftermath of\u00a0Hurricane Helene, which devastated\u00a0parts of western North Carolina in September 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Whatley, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, said the storm worsened\u00a0hardship in the region\u00a0and exposed failures in the government response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest issue set that we\u2019ve been dealing with, obviously, is the hurricane relief coming on the heels of Hurricane Helene and the fact that the\u00a0Biden administration and Roy Cooper, when he was governor, failed miserably to help that situation in terms of following the hurricane,\u201d Whatley told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p>Whatley said that the administration\u2019s clearance of relief funds will assist residents to get back on their feet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs part of President Trump\u2019s government response, $1.4B was made available by HUD for\u00a0housing relief,\u201d Whatley said. \u201cAnd there also has been over the last month or so a lot of movement with FEMA in terms of the disaster relief that they\u2019re providing to homeowners there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re certainly not ready to hang up a mission accomplished sign by any stretch of the imagination. But federal relief that has been put into Western North Carolina is substantially more than has ever been given into North Carolina as a result of any storm by the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to Fox News Digital, the City of Asheville said that officials continue to focus on public safety.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>City officials launched new police patrols and a REST Team, as federal aid arrives for Hurricane Helene victims. <span class=\"credit\">Shutterstock \/ Kristi Blokhin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThis month we launched the\u00a0Asheville Police Department\u2019s Downtown Plan which will essentially double police patrols downtown \u2013 increasing day and overnight patrols and, in some cases, responding along with trained mental health counselors. Our\u00a0REST Team program\u00a0is an operational response to mitigate the effects of homelessness,\u201d the city said. \u201cIt uses specially trained Asheville Fire Department staff to engage with concerned residents and people experiencing homelessness to problem-solve and connect them to resources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A city spokesperson also noted that officials expanded their panhandling ordinance and continue working with community partners like the Asheville Downtown Association and its\u00a0ADID\u00a0program.<\/p>\n<p>Fox News Digital has reached out to Cooper\u2019s campaign, the Asheville\u2019s mayor office and the police department for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; 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