I know you focus on the C’ville area but I wonder if you have any thoughts on the Lynchburg area. We went looking for a second-retirement home two years ago and started with C’ville. We found it too expensive and the housing stock not particularly attractive in our price range so we went on down to Lynchburg on a whim and found it charming with lots of nice older homes at affordable prices. Do you think Lynchburg has a future of growth like that hitting the C’ville area? – Frank in Seattle

“We found it too expensive and the housing stock not particularly attractive in our price range” is a common complaint about the Central VA region. Lynchburg is growing; matter of fact, they could be “next.”

When I read in The HooK (cannot find the link) that Oliver Kuttner is moving some of his creativity there, I foresee quite a future. Interesting note here indicating his plans “for rehabilitation of the property.” Oliver is only one person, but he has been quite the visionary in Downtown C’Ville.

Lynchburg does not have the University as the major draw. They have a University, but Liberty does not have the cachet nor size that UVa. does. As far as I know (and I certainly do not purport to be an expert on Lynchburg) it does not currently have the cultural opportunities that C’Ville has.

As important as the above, if not moreso is Charlottesville’s proximity to D.C and Richmond. Our central location provides relatively commuter(!) access to these localities.

In closing, everywhere is growing. My crystal ball does not see Lynchburg as having the same type of explosion as that currently being seen in the Central Virginia region. That said, I am known to be wrong from time to time, and more crucially, many people are being priced out of the Central Virginia market and Lynchburg and Waynesboro are seeming better and better options.