Once a charming mountain retreat, Asheville, North Carolina, now grapples with rising crime and homelessness, unsettling its community and discouraging visitors.
Perched in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville has been cherished for its welcoming atmosphere, embodying its motto of “quality of service, quality of life.”
Yet, the city’s 95,000 residents express concerns that their quality of life is diminishing as homelessness becomes increasingly pervasive.
The issue has led to more visible encampments and frequent panhandling throughout the city.
“Homelessness, drug abuse, and related crimes have increased relentlessly under the watch of local homelessness experts and a governing body dominated by liberal Democrats and even more extreme left-leaning individuals,” said Carl Mumpower, a lifelong resident of Asheville, in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Mumpower further commented, “The most common sentiment among county and surrounding area residents is, ‘I don’t go downtown anymore – it’s become nasty, crazy, and scary.'”
Mumpower argued that Asheville has struggled to address homelessness since about three decades ago, slamming what he perceived to be a liberal bias among local leadership.
‘That lack of balance – the last conservative on the council was in 2009 – has led to a myopic repeat of errors,’ he told the outlet.
Republican US Senate nominee Michael Whatley criticized the state of Asheville, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene
Asheville has about 95,000 residents and is the most populous city in western North Carolina
At least 824 people experienced homelessness in Asheville last year, according to city data. That marked a nine percent uptick from 2025. A homeless person in the city is pictured
Mumpower said Asheville had a ‘persisting history of pursuing fantasized interventions over more realistic, measurable and trackable solutions.’
At least 824 people experienced homelessness in Asheville last year, according to city data reported by Blue Ridge Public Radio.
That marked a nine percent uptick from last year, largely due to the continued effects of Hurricane Helene in 2024.
That marked a slight uptick from 739 in 2024, largely due to the effects of Hurricane Helene that September.
‘Asheville began its efforts to address homelessness at least three decades ago,’ he explained. ‘This effort accelerated in the early part of this century with the first ‘Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.’
Mumpower, who who was a City Council member from 2001 until 2009, called that plan was ‘ill–advised.’ Mumpower told Fox News Digital.
‘At the time, I suggested to the council that any plan that removed personal accountability from the helping equation was doomed to fail,’ he said.
The disgruntled local said ‘that plan and subsequent plans have failed with equal enthusiasm.’
Lifelong Asheville resident Carl Mumpower said locals were now afraid to go to the ‘nasty, crazy and scary’ downtown area because of the rising crime and homelessness
Mumpower pointed to Asheville’s ‘political dismantling of the police department’ as one of the roots of the issue.
The Asheville Police Department has recently operated at just 60 percent capacity, according to the Asheville Watchdog.
‘Most ‘smaller’ crimes are no longer enforced or realistically tracked and return on investment costs have skyrocketed,’ Mumpower said.
He added that ‘enforcement is not possible without adequate, motivated personnel.’
Republican US Senate nominee Michael Whatley has also blasted the city’s current state, specifically focusing on its response to Hurricane Helene.
‘The biggest issue set that we’ve been dealing with, obviously, is the hurricane relief coming on the heels of Hurricane Helene and the fact that the Biden administration and Roy Cooper, when he was governor, failed miserably to help that situation in terms of following the hurricane,’ Whatley told Fox News Digital.
Whatley praised Donald Trump’s administration for approving North Carolina’s $1.4 billion grant request for housing relief, which happened last April.
The homelessness problems in Asheville were exacerbated by Hurricane Helene in 2024. People walk past a homeless person on the street there
Asheville said it had launched a downtown plan this month which would ‘essentially double police patrols’ in that area of the city
‘We’re certainly not ready to hang up a mission accomplished sign by any stretch of the imagination,’ Whatley said.
‘But federal relief that has been put into Western North Carolina is substantially more than has ever been given into North Carolina as a result of any storm by the federal government.’
The City of Asheville told Fox News Digital that it had launched the Asheville Police Department’s Downtown Plan this month, which would ‘essentially double police patrols downtown.’
It also pointed to its resource and engagement support team as an ‘operational response to mitigate the effects of homelessness.’
‘It uses specially trained Asheville Fire Department staff to engage with concerned residents and people experiencing homelessness to problem–solve and connect them to resources,’ the city said.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Mumpower, Whatley and the City of Asheville for further comment.
