Photos: Lexington and Rankin now connected by public walkway

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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It cost Asheville the lovely urban garden at Shady Grove flower shop at 65 Lexington, but there’s something new downtown: A set of stairs that lets you walk down from Rankin Avenue (parking deck area) through a new public walkway and courtyard that opens onto North Lexington, across from Mela Indian Restaurant.

It takes four flights and a few landings to make it down one of downtown’s steepest stretches. It’s not the shady haven the former courtyard garden was, but the new downtown walkway has leafy landscaping and even chairs and a bench to sit on.

Walking up the stairs to Rankin Avenue:

The walkway from the Lexington Avenue entrance. That’s the Rankin Avenue parking deck at the top:

Learn more about future plans for the area here (Mountain Xpress): Big changes coming to Lexington and Rankin Avenues

In the image below, the green balloon marks where the walkway opens onto North Lexington.