Should UNCA Build Housing on Land That It…

Should UNCA Build Housing on Land That It Owns?

July 2, 2025

This member commentary post does not necessarily reflect the views of Asheville For All or its members.

Sorry! The title of this blog post is pure clickbait. I’m not really going to answer the question in the title.

I do have some thoughts on the UNCA proposal to develop its “millennial” campus and the “Save the Woods” campaign that has arisen in its response. But I’m going to keep most of those thoughts to myself!

Instead of answering the question, I’m going to suggest that we need better questions when we talk about land use in Asheville.

So let’s back up. Consider how YOU might answer the question:

Should UNCA build housing on land that it owns?
[ ] yes
[ ] no

Now consider a different question:

UNCA students, faculty, and workers need housing. Where should the city push for such housing to be?
[ ] on campus property
[ ] in the Five Points neighborhood
[ ] somewhere outside the city far away from me, and far away from the campus

Or maybe this question:

UNCA can no longer rely on funding from the state government, and needs to explore new avenues for revenue. (This is a trend that just about every state is experiencing.) Should we:
[ ] give up, and diminish the presence of education and research in Asheville
[ ] encourage UNCA to leverage its landed assets by strategically renting it out
[ ] have UNCA fire more staff, close more programs, and reverse course on the school’s recent promise to help low-income students

These questions are all tilted in various ways, for sure. And maybe I’m being a little obnoxious in the last one. (Again, my intention is not to endorse the specific current UNCA plan.)

But I want to make the point that there’s something different with the last two questions that the first one lacks. They are structured in a way that illuminates trade-offs.