Picture-postcard mountain city becomes a hotbed for crime and homelessness leaving locals frightened and scaring tourists away

By WILKO MARTÍNEZ-CACHERO, US REPORTER Published: 21:50, 25 April 2026 | Updated: 21:59, 25 April 2026 A picturesque mountain city has turned into a hotbed for crime and homelessness, severely unsettling locals and deterring tourists from visiting. Asheville, North Carolina, has long been touted as a city with a homely feel on the Blue Ridge Mountains which embodies its motto of 'quality of service, quality of life.' However, locals in the city of 95,000 residents have claimed that quality of life has turned dour as the city struggles to deal with rampant homelessness. This has caused encampments and panhandling to become much more common around town. 'Homelessness, drug abuse and related crimes have increased relentlessly under the watch of local homelessness experts and a governing body that is dominated by liberal Democrats and those with an even more extreme view to the left,' Carl Mumpower, a lifelong Asheville resident, told Fox News Digital. 'The single most common phrase uttered by county and surrounding area residents is 'I don't go downtown anymore – it's nasty, crazy and scary,' Mumpower added. 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. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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