Where in the world is the West End Clingman Avenue Neighborhood?
It covers the area from the East shore of the French Broad River east to the Bacoate Forest and from Patton Avenue south to Lyman Street. The West End Clingman Avenue Neighborhood (WECAN) hosts a community garden, the Jean Webb and Owens Bell parks, an edible garden, a bus garage, several neighborhood businesses, restaurants, a café, breweries, a boat ramp, music hall, church, artist studios, galleries, three traffic circles, a pad ready for a new power substation, apartments, condominiums, modest houses, “McMansions,” public art, railroad crossings, a future greenway at Bacoate Branch and along the river, state highways and local roads. And wildlife: bears, deer, foxes, groundhogs, rabbits, moles, voles, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, snakes, turtles, skinks, hawks, crows, songbirds, hummingbirds have all been seen in WECAN.
What’s next?
On April 5, 1997 a dramatic fire at the Asheville Cotton Mill threatened the neighborhood on the west end of downtown Asheville by the French Broad River. The French Broad River has burst its banks several times. Now we are threatened with COVID 19. In the last 25 years, the City produced two neighborhood plans for the West End/Clingman Avenue Neighborhood and invested in the Clingman Avenue Streetscape and the River Arts District Transportation Improvement Plan, which stimulated development and increased property values and gentrification. The changes, however, are really just beginning. After many years of detours and delays, parts of the River Arts District are soon on track to be completed. Several other developments have been in the works for years and maybe, in another 25 years, we will be able to see what replaces the Dave Steel Company, the Ice Storage House, the S.I Bean Tile Company, the Volvo Dealership and the Stepp’s Stone Works.
What drives WECAN
People who love being here and people who care.
To learn more
Visit the City of Asheville Neighborhood Services webpage at www.ashevillenc.gov/neighborhoods.
Register your neighborhood! Submit your neighborhood information to the City of Asheville by working with Neighborhood and Community Engagement Manager Brenda Mills. Contact her at 828-259-5506 or BMills@ashevillenc.gov. You can access the form at www.ashevillenc.gov/neighborhoods. Already registered, please make sure to update your information.
Benefits of Neighborhood Registration
- Communications with neighborhoods on City and other initiatives that are important to neighborhoods.
- Notifications on public meetings, street closures and other information affecting your area.
- Improve the City’s ability to network with you and provide opportunities for you to communicate with the City and other interested neighborhoods.