Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Edgy Mama seemed to take exception to our statement about rich folks living on Kimberly Avenue, something we here at Ashvegas just couldn’t let pass. So here we go:
Edgy Mama
By the way, the north part of Kimberly is NOT all rich folks, nor is the area around Kimberly all rich folks. And there are LOTS of North Ashevillians who are voting for Bellamy.
Ohhhhh Kayyy. Let’s have a look. Below, you’ll find the Buncombe County property tax records of homeowners along Kimberly Avenue. This is a swath of Kimberly. Before anybody gets their dander up, I found this information with an Internet connection, Google and about five clicks of a mouse.
Here we’ll see homes ranging in value from about $200,000 to half a million dollars. Let us note a couple of things: first, the values here are four years old, because Buncombe County only revalues property every four years. (By the way, we’ll all be getting new property values assigned with property tax bills coming in January.) So these values are low, because we know that property in Buncombe County has been soaring in value (to the tune of 30 percent increases in some neighborhoods such as Montford, according to people in the know.)
These values are low for another reason: we all know that the tax office doesn’t value property at its highest level. The office uses a couple of different methodologies to determine value, and the methods are loose, kind of like averages. We know, for example, that when we get our new property values assigned in January, the value will be lower than the amount we could actually get if we put our house up for sale right now.
Now maybe the term “rich” is all relevent. I guess I need to look up a government definition to bolster my argument. But none of my neighbors can afford a home valued at more than $494,600, the value of UNCA men’s basketball coach Eddie Biedenbach’s home listed below. None of my neighbors can afford a home valued at $200,000. Hell, a $150,000 home would be a reach.
So I don’t know where you come from, but from where I’m standing, Kimberly Avenue is for the rich folks. And I wasn’t mentioning the “area around Kimberly,” but give me some street names and I’ll look up property values and we’ll let that speak for itself.
Now, as for the political signs. All I’m saying is that I didn’t see any Terry Bellamy signs along Kimberly. That doesn’t mean nobody there is voting for her. I’m just saying that all the Terry Bellamy signs I’m seeing are down along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and in West Asheville, where the not-so-rich people live.
2 KIMBERLY AVE RANDY L RICHARDS $214,400.00
5 KIMBERLY AVE MAX L HANER & WENDY T $251,000.00
7 KIMBERLY AVE PETER J ROUSSOPOULOS & SUE M $278,000.00
12 KIMBERLY AVE PAULA KUNTZ LONG & LYNDON $384,700.00
24 KIMBERLY AVE JOHN G STEVENS $476,700.00
44 KIMBERLY AVE JONAS GOLDSTEIN & MERYL $364,200.00
46 KIMBERLY AVE WILLIAM J BYRNE & SHELAGH A C $336,700.00
56 KIMBERLY AVE RON C RAY & MARY S $330,500.00
60 KIMBERLY AVE WILLIAM E BLAIR & DANA H $426,500.00
62 KIMBERLY AVE STEVEN M HOWARD ET AL $482,100.00
76 KIMBERLY AVE MICHAEL POSEY $457,900.00
84 KIMBERLY AVE L CHARLES CARR & JOAN W $371,100.00
92 KIMBERLY AVE EDDIE J BIEDENBACH & BARBARA W $494,600.00
98 KIMBERLY AVE JUDI O WILLIAMS $409,000.00
104 KIMBERLY AVE REBECCA B KNIGHT $329,400.00
112 KIMBERLY AVE CECIL C BEUMER & MARGARET ANN $206,400.00
120 KIMBERLY AVE CHAS E RUSSELL & JEANNE H $221,600.00
150 KIMBERLY AVE ROSS WILLIAM MCINTYRE & URSULA $258,200.00
158 KIMBERLY AVE G EDISON HILL & HELEN C $349,000.00
159 KIMBERLY AVE CAROLE A GARDINER $433,700.00
160 KIMBERLY AVE MICHAEL J GOEBEL & MARTHA S $494,000.00
161 KIMBERLY AVE WALTER KOESTER JR & MERLE $363,400.00
162 KIMBERLY AVE KYLE R BOYD & MARTHA P $430,400.00
164 KIMBERLY AVE DONALD K REBACK & DEBORAH H $375,000.00
168 KIMBERLY AVE STEVEN I GOLDSTEIN & MERIDY $377,100.00
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Thank you, vote watcher. Eloquently argued. You rock!
Okay, I have to take issue with your definition of rich. I’m with Edgy Mama on this on — the fact is that the average home price in Asheville is somewhere around $230,000, which is close to what a lot of the homes on Kimberly and the surrounding area sell for. The notable exception being the strip referred to above as Mansion Row.
I get tired of hearing that folks who have figured out how to afford an average or even slightly above average home in Asheville are rich (with connotations of elitist). In the end all it does is mask the real issue which is that average jobs here pay crap. We need to work on fixing the wage issue, not drawing a divide around people who have managed to graduate to a salary above the $36,000 average for Asheville.
The disconnect between salaries and housing prices here stinks. Good for the folks who figure out how to make it work. I wouldn’t want to live across from the golf course either (too fond of checking the mail in my night shirt), but let’s get a little perspective.
On the yard signs, I like the Mumpower houses where it looks like the owner thinks that putting 20 signs in their one yard will somehow counterbalance the fact that they’re the only yard in view with signs.
Interesting observations! My 10 year old last fall would ride down Kimberly on his school bus most days. He made the comment – “Mom, why do all those rich people on Kimberly vote Republican?” I’ve tried to help him understand that I have some Republican friends (and even rich friends) and that God loves everyone 🙂 (even George W)
On bus #9 today I saw zero Dunn signs at the Pisgah View Apts.
The divide is clear, but will Mr. Vegas be right with his predictions……..
Let’s wager on this, make it more interesting.
Yard signs are generally a poor way to judge exactly how an election is going in a particular area. Yes, in virtually any election Republican yard signs out number Democratic ones on Kimberly Avenue by quite a margin. But virtually all of Kimberly Avenue is located in voting precinct #4 the North Asheville Community Center which regularly delivers hefty margins to Democratic candidates. John Kerry won 71% of the vote there in 2004, even though Kimberly Avenue was full of Bush/Cheney signs. Likewise, although Kimberly had several houses with Dunn, Mumpower, and Hebb sings in the primary, Terry Bellamy finished first in the Mayoral primary with Charles Worley in second place. Dunn was back in 3rd.
In the council races the top three vote getters in the primary were, in order, Holly Jones, Robin Cape, and Chris Pelly. Carl Mumpower finished in fourth place just three votes ahead of fifth place finisher, and Jones and Cape’s fellow Match Our Mountains endorsee Keith Thomason, with Bryan Freeborn in sixth. This is in line with the precincts results in past City Council elections — more neighborhood friendly candidates perform better there than CIBO friendly candidates. (Brownie Newman finsihed first there in 2003). Most other north Asheville precincts have displayed similar results over the years. Translation? Republican voters in north Asheville live disproportionally in Kimberly Avenue even though expensive homes are not limited to Kimberly.
Personally I would not want to live on Kimberly Avenue even if I could afford it. The road is a thoroughfare and offers little peace or privacy. But then again, could it be that such appeals to people who WANT to live on a thoroughfare with such expensive houses so that all will know that they have “arrived” and would it come as a huge surprise that many people of that ilk would indeed be Republican?
Nice work Ash! Here in South Asheville there are a lot of Terry Bellamy signs along Shiloh and London roads. Be interesting to see the housing values in those ‘hoods.
Okay, guy. Point taken. Though you stopped your exercise at 168 Kimberly, where Kimberly home numbers run through about 630. So, you are hitting Mansion Row, the area between Edwin Place and Farrwood, just opposite the Grove Park Golf Course (yes, it’s nice to have your view landscaped for you).
I don’t live on Kimberly, but between Kimberly and Merrimon. And before you go looking me up on the internet, we bought our house for $185,000 in 2001, and it was a stretch for us, but a very good investment, because you are right about property values in Asheville. Based on recent sales in our hood, I could probably sell my house now for over $300,000. So yes, I guess in the larger scheme of things that makes me rich. But, in truth, we are house rich only and couldn’t really afford to sell this house and stay in North Asheville. Even if we wanted to, which we don’t.
Also, Ash, there was a potluck dinner tonight on Horizon Hill for all the North Asheville Progressives which the progressive candidates for council attended. I did not go as I was at another hood party, but one of the first things said to me as I walked into the party was, “Can you hook me up with a Terry Bellamy sign?”