Housing Is a Moral Imperative

Why Buncombe County Must Act Now

Affordable housing is not a side issue. It is not a niche concern or a talking point to be dusted off during election season. It is the foundation upon which every other promise we make—to workers, families, seniors, and young people—either stands or collapses.

Right now, too many people in Buncombe County are doing everything we ask of them and still falling behind. They work full time. They contribute to their communities. They serve our food, care for our children, teach in our schools, staff our hospitals, and keep our local economy running. Yet they are being priced out of the very place they help sustain.

That is not a market failure alone. It is a moral one.

When rent rises faster than wages, housing stops being shelter and becomes a source of fear. Families are forced to choose between rent and medicine, between childcare and groceries, between staying rooted and being pushed out. Teachers commute an hour each way. Service workers live doubled up or on the edge of eviction. Young people grow up believing they’ll have to leave home just to survive.

A community that cannot house its people is a community in trouble—no matter how strong the tourism numbers look on paper.

Housing should be understood the same way we understand roads, schools, and clean water: as essential infrastructure. Without it, nothing else functions properly. Economic development stalls. Small businesses can’t find workers. Emergency services are stretched thin. Homelessness increases—not because people failed, but because the system did.

Some will say this is simply how the market works. But markets are shaped by policy, priorities, and values. We already intervene—through zoning, tax incentives, public investment, and regulation. The real question is not whether government plays a role. It’s whose interests that role serves.

For too long, housing policy has favored speculation over stability and profit over people. We have allowed homes to be treated primarily as financial instruments rather than places where lives are built. The result is displacement, insecurity, and a slow erosion of community trust.

Affordable housing is not about handouts. It is about fairness. A person who works a full-time job should be able to afford a safe place to live in the community they serve. That principle cuts across political lines. It is rooted in basic dignity.

And dignity matters.

When people feel secure in their housing, everything changes. Children do better in school. Workers are healthier and more productive. Seniors can age in place. Neighborhoods become more stable. Civic life grows stronger because people feel they belong.

This is not theoretical. Communities across the country that have invested in mixed-income housing, workforce housing, and protections against displacement are seeing real results. The question is whether Buncombe County is willing to make those same commitments—or whether we will continue to manage crisis after crisis without addressing the cause.

We need policies that expand affordable housing supply, protect renters from predatory practices, and support first-time homebuyers and working families. We need to align wages, transportation, and housing so that people are not punished for doing honest work. And we need the courage to say that the health of a community is measured not by how attractive it is to outsiders, but by how well it cares for those who already call it home.

Housing is not a luxury. It is not an afterthought. It is a moral imperative.

The future of Buncombe County depends on whether we are willing to act like it.