Can’t believe what’s happening to my hometown
Change is difficult for most people. Watching my humble hometown turn into an unrecognizable place is a hard pill to swallow.
As I travel across the county and see the demolition of certain buildings and spaces that remind me of childhood or my grandparents, it isn’t easy. Yet locals who were born and raised in this community bear the brunt of these growing pains. We have accepted the once good-paying manufacturing jobs leaving over the past 30 years. We’ve watched housing prices increase to the point a one-bedroom apartment goes for nearly $2,000 as if we’re in a booming place like New York City.
I recently had someone argue that Western North Carolina prices are not New York City prices, yet if you take a look at the numbers we’re actually paying more for housing than those folks — if you consider the median income. It’s a sad day when you can no longer afford to live in your hometown. Or afford a home. Affordable housing does not exist. Instead, we might allocate a tiny percentage of luxury apartments be used for low-income housing? Leaders tout new “affordable” homes for sale between $300,000-400,000. Ha! But I digress.
Our home is being loved to death. Each year our national park posts record setting numbers of visitors. Residents can’t enjoy the natural beauty of our area without being shoved off trail by crowds. Our favorite hiking spots are covered in trash to the point Max Patch was forced to close for camping.
These visitors do bring money to the area, but not everyone is dependent on their dollars. For years us locals have been repeatedly reminded of how we simply would not survive without these outsiders. Single-industry economies have been created to exert absolute control over the people, politicians, and land while the wealth flows out of the mountains.
Appalachia has been exploited for years. Our resources — whether it’s coal, logging, or prime mountain views — have been ruled by absentee owners interested in making the highest profit available from our natural resources. As a result, most of the Appalachian folk have been dependent upon and at the mercy of one industry. Unfortunately, Haywood County’s industry is now tourism. Low paying hospitality jobs or small businesses offering less than fast food wages for college educated persons. Sign me up.
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While visitors and second-home owners bring some money into our community, the botheration of their impact falls on locals. Our school system is faced with a choice of getting rid of locally paid teachers due to lack of funds. Enrollment is down. School board is scratching its head like “we don’t know why this is happening.” It’s because there are hardly any decent jobs and no one can afford to live here. I’m no PhD but c’mon, it’s not rocket science. Our infrastructure can barely sustain the traffic. Drive down any main thoroughfare within the towns of Waynesville or Canton and risk the need for an alignment after hitting 10 potholes.
What, if any, solutions are the local politicians proposing to actually help us locals? It’s election season and we’re starting to see all the same campaign slogans about “values” and “vision” yet rarely do any of the officials in this community’s government actually solve our problems. We see a lot of them hawing around difficult issues. “We need a task force!” “We need to spend thousands on a study!” Though the answers are glaringly obvious. Common sense is out the window. Sometimes I read through the utter nonsense that spews from these elected folks’ lips and literally want to bang my head against a wall.
If we’re going to keep relying solely on tourism as our bread and butter, can we at least move toward making those people pay? An example for fixing the horrific roads might be implementing parking meters or paid parking in downtown areas. Other tourist destinations of smaller size like Tybee Island expects visitors to pay for parking. Yet in downtown Waynesville, a year-round tax paying resident might drive around for a half hour while searching for parking. Why not issue a parking sticker for town residents and if you’re not inside city limits, you pay for parking. Simple solution. You might even create a job or two by hiring meter maids.
And don’t get me started on occupancy tax money. Our county generates a lot of occupancy tax yet the state says to use it for marketing, tourism related expenses, funding tourism related capital projects, beach renourishment and very little goes into a general fund for non-tourism use. Seems like a no-brainer that the occupancy tax money should at least in part be used to repair our infrastructure, pay for emergency services and fund our schools. Stuff we actually need.
I’m just another ninth-generation local scratching my head and wondering, when is the madness going to end? We’re at a point of no return but can we at least get some people with enough sensibility to respond to complex problems with actual resolutions? Or do we get more of the same and eventually leave the area for good because we’re not part of the cool kid, out-of-state lunch table that can afford overpriced seats?
(Packer is a multi-generational local who lives in Waynesville. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
