We know that in order to meet the challenge of Asheville’s housing crisis, we need more housing options within our cities. Middle housing types like duplexes, townhomes, and ADUs will create more sustainable communities for people in all stages of life, as well as create the conditions for transit-friendly, bike-friendly, and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.
Here’s where we need your help to make that happen. The French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization (FBRMPO), our branch of a federal transportation policy-making organization, is updating its Locally Coordinated Plan. They have a community input survey open until June 30th. This is an opportunity for you to tell them that our current sprawling land use patterns make it harder for local governments to provide transit effectively.
They are asking for community input so that they can best examine mobility of all kinds around our region, especially taking into consideration the needs of older adults, individuals with disabilities, low-income adults, and underserved communities.
As our housing crisis continues pushing many of these vulnerable residents further from the city center, it becomes harder for local governments to connect these residents to the transportation and mobility services they need. It just costs more to serve people living further from the places they need to go. It also means local governments are asked to provide more miles of infrastructure including sidewalks and crosswalks, which further lengthens the backlog of needs for these kinds of roadway safety improvements.
The last two questions of the FBRMPO survey are open-ended, asking “What is something you want to make sure transportation providers, human services agencies, and/or advocates know about transportation?” and “Do you have any additional comments or suggestions for transportation in our region?” These are places where you can advocate for developing more housing options in our cities and towns as a way to help our transit services serve more riders more effectively. Building up and within our cities creates more sustainable, well-connected communities. Fill out the survey by June 30th and make your voice heard.
