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I try to stay close to home during the leaf peepin' season for the very reasons you outlined! It gets crazy . . .
What I advise people wanting to leaf peep is "buy a paper map of the state. Better - a topo map that displays side roads. Look at Google maps. Anything but the usual "let's drive to Boone and look at the leaves!"
I took this picture several years ago in an area about an hour and a half north of Boone. The roads were deserted of just about everyone except for some obvious locals (judging by their speed and seeming knowledge of the curves).
Looking at the plan on the HCPress website, I do like that the retail space will be facing the road as well as the hidden parking garage. Still, Shadowline is in great need of improvement and I do wish this was actually affordable housing.
I can't help but think this is just another Florida developer taking advantage of the land and making a development only for those with money. Sigh. It would be nice to see someone come in and actually want to improve life (maybe an Eco friendly development or something) instead of destroy it.
Having seen what some "Florida Developers" have done in our neck of the woods, my prayers are with the folks in the Boone area. And I'll go down to the church and light a few candles for y'all as well.
How are these "FL developers" obtaining the land? Who is selling it to them? Surely not (*ahem...cough cough*) locals, they wouldn't do that for the money... now way...
I am amused when I read about the need for 'local developers' to jump into any project, build 'green', and make it 'affordable'. No developer here, but I have done a couple of spec houses, an apt complex, and a strip mall, as an investor. The permitting alone, on the commercial strip/apt side, is rigorous to say the least, in any state.
As for lower cost rentals, if the land is cheap, (not), and construction and permitting costs are cheap, (not), then selling prices/rents/leases could be less expensive, too.
Difficult to make everyone happy, even as 'we' try to spread our money around, to others...
Last edited by motordavid; 10-27-2013 at 06:52 PM..
If you knew most of the local developers around here, you'd know that words like "eco-friendly," "sustainable," or "appropriate" are the last thing on their minds.
I'm in development, in FL. I used to live in AVL which is why I frequent this board.
All I'm saying is, if ppl are complaining about out-of-staters building in their area, why aren't local developers doing it?
I can think of a few reasons: Locals have roots that run deep with the land in these mountains, and maybe there aren't any local developers willing to scrape it up. Maybe the land offered is not that good, and the local developers know it. Florida developers, as evident by what they've done in Florida, and in some cheezy developments here, could care less about this beautiful mountain land. They "hit and run". Maybe the local developers can't afford to pay the prices that the FL developers will pay. Maybe the County Board members don't have much "ComSense".
Where is this in relation to the Harris Teeter and 321? My Mother In Law has a home in Boone and we go up frequently, but I can't place this exactly.
FWIW, we were up Oct 19/20 and didn't run into bad traffic issues although we did have wait times at restaurants (20-30 min, not bad). Had a great walk on the greenway. MIL likes to walk, but doesn't really like to hike. No tourists on the greenway. It was all locals and beautiful leaves and the Watauga River. We thought about Bass Lake (another of MIL's faves), but realized that was likely to be overrun with leaf peepers. The greenway was great.
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