Update: NC mountain blogger Watauga Watch reports: "Beware of mega developers bearing political promises!"
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Not long ago, I was traveling up US421 toward Boone. I rounded a curve over a hill and was hit with the scene below.
What it shows is an off-campus student housing development called Mountaineer Village that was made possible by the clear-cutting and removal of part of a mountain. It is about as insensitive and out-of-place development as I have ever beheld, and I have seen some really bad developments.
Back in July, I was looking over the excellent Blue Ridge Blog and came across a post called In Memory of Paradise and read what she had to say about the loss of the scene below. I noticed the developer's name and posted my take on the whole thing. This bucolic scene is part of what was destroyed for the 'progress' pictured above.
After doing some inquiring, it seems the locals don't hold the developer in very high esteem. An email I received from a Boone resident (who wishes to remain anonymous) offered this:
"Many folks up here are really amazed at the audacity of a developer naming his company 'Mega Builders.' His apartment complex can be seen from the new Doc & Merle Scenic Hwy for miles away.... (W)e now have the Great Walls of Boone. Seriously, these walls are MEGA WALLS. The big joke around town is betting on which hurricane is going to bring down those walls. The developer literally dug out a mountain to build these apartment buildings."
"... I can not see how our community is benefiting from Mega Builders. (T)his is the first view of Boone that visitors are now greeted with. The biggest problem is that there is not a stop light in or out of the 2000 (+) Mountaineer Village so traffic in am and pm is a complete bitch."
Mega Builders is owned by County Commissioner candidate Mike Winstead who states on his website:
"We will continue to grow and develop. Therefor, we must have controlled growth that looks to the future. I believe controlled growth can be achieved by having more mixed use development and zoning.... I have built and developed throughout the state, and have seen how different communities handle growth and development. I feel I would be very qualified to help lead Guilford County in growth management."
Indeed.
The reason I bring this up now, is because the publisher of a local alternative weekly called this morning. Seems he was "Googling" around and came across my original post on this and wanted to know what else I knew. Not much, but I sent him what I had.
10:08:10 AM 
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