ASHEVILLE – Residents here have a reputation for getting involved. It’s not unusual for people to pack a rezoning hearing or for a building proposal to draw mass protest.

But it wasn’t always so.

More than 25 years ago, neighborhoods were loosely organized at best, and homeowners sometimes heard about major changes to their communities only after they happened, said Haw Creek resident Barber Melton.

The group of concerned citizens that would grow into the influential Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods organization first met in a living room 25 years ago to talk about the direction of Asheville.  That group included residents Max Haner, Barbara Hodgson and Barber Melton—a Haw Creek resident and tireless organizer who will be honored during a Friday, June 13 dinner to mark CAN’s silver anniversary.

As recently as 15 years ago you could walk down the deserted sidewalks of downtown, passing in front of empty storefronts covered in plywood. Today downtown is, as it should be, the vibrant heart of our region. It is not a coincidence that the local economy, after decades of struggle, has finally shown some signs of life as downtown has been revitalized. A healthy downtown reduces the local tax burden everywhere else in the city and county, it draws jobs and tourism to our area, it contains the largest portion of our shared history and it is our best opportunity to create a level of sustainability that goes beyond lip service. If any of these matter to you then downtown matters to you.

Things change. In the early 1980s, the streets in the Grove Park neighborhood were mostly traveled by the residents. Some tourists drove up Macon Avenue to visit the much smaller Grove Park Inn, open only from April through October. Other Ashevilleans drove Kimberly Avenue, delivering children to Jones School or perhaps on the way to one of the several businesses located on Merrimon Avenue.

Today, those streets may look the same … in structure perhaps, but definitely not in use.