One hundred years ago, Asheville, North Carolina and Niagara Falls, New York were quite similar: Tourist-centric boomtowns that attracted visitors from their entire regions for their natural amenities, but kept people interested with their urban charms.

When the Depression hit, their paths diverged: Asheville boarded up its windows while Niagara Falls revved up its bulldozers. In hindsight, a comparison of the two cities provides a reflection of the legacy of urban renewal.

Asheville and Niagara Falls each began humbly, but underwent explosive growth in the late 19th century. Asheville became connected to the rest of the state via railway and soon established a strong economy built on tourism, trains, and tuberculosis sanitariums. Around the same time, Niagara Falls was booming in its own right. The city’s signature geographic feature made it desirable as a tourist destination, but it also benefited from another economic engine: the energy harnessed from the rushing water of the Falls. Both cities were trending upward.

Asheville's Debt: A Blessing in Disguise

But then Asheville’s fortunes changed. During an audit in 1929, the city discovered that they had $18,000 in their bank account, not the $5 million that they thought they possessed. The Great Depression was made even Greater, and the population stagnated for 60 years.

Asheville had one of the highest debt per capita ratios in the country, but it stubbornly and slowly paid the debt off instead of relying on federal money. In the following decades, highways bordering the city funneled consumers away from downtown and toward the new mall, but there was not enough capital or interest to tear down its numerous traditional buildings. By the late 1970s, much of downtown Asheville consisted of boarded-up shops along empty streets, yet it retained its traditional urban form. In paying off its debt, Asheville had unintentionally preserved its greatest assets: its historic buildings.

While cities across the country were demolishing swaths of their mid-rise buildings on gridded street networks, Asheville sat out urban renewal almost entirely.

Niagara's Windfall: A Dangerous Gamble

Niagara Falls, on the other hand, was one of the first cities to embrace urban renewal policies.