Located East of the Downtown Mall and flanked largely by 250 East and 20 South and more specifically “on the north by East High Street. The Rivanna River and the CSX railroad form the eastern and southern edges of the neighborhood. Meade Avenue creates the western boundary of the neighborhood,” Woolen Mills is a unique part of the City of Charlottesville, with a character all its own. There is more information online about this Charlottesville neighborhood than most. Biking distance to the Downtown Mall and Pantops for shopping (although driving to Pantops would be a better route if you’re concerned with self-preservation) and a very active homeowners’ organization (not Association)
“The Woolen Mills neighborhood is one of the earliest textile mill villages in the South, and though the neighborhood is threatened by development pressures, it remains largely intact,” says Historical Society executive director Dr. Douglas Day. “This exhibit is a labor of love, by a neighborhood with a mission, it is the kind of project we’d like to encourage from each of the area’s historic neighborhoods.”
Topography: Gently rolling hills, sidewalks in many places
Housing Prices: Unfortunately, there is no good way to search for homes for sale in the Woolen Mills area, other than looking at the results and knowing which streets are within the Woolen Mills ‘hood. Generally, prices range from $225k to $550k.
House Styles: More varied than most neighborhoods. Bungalow to Cottage to traditional single family to the occasional townhouse to a small new “green” development.
Proximity to Green Spaces: Good. Meade Park and Riverview Park are quite close
Broadband Internet Coverage: 100%
Schools: Check out the City’s interactive map, generally Woolen Mills kids will go to the Burnley-Moran elementary school.
– A recent podcast about the history of Woolen Mills
– A little bit of political controversy.
– They have their own website.
– Charlottesville Community Design Center
– The Neighborhood Plan laid out by the City (PDF)
– Google MyMap of Woolen Mills
Don’t miss one of the coolest displays of housing data there is, showing growth over the past 100 years.
For those residents of Woolen Mills – what do you love about your neighborhood? What would you tell to a prospective neighbor walking down the street asking questions?
Read all stories in the Charlottesville Neighborhood Series.
Technorati Tags: charlottesville, woolen mills
Hi Jim,
Many thanks for giving the Woolen Mills a shout-out on your excellent blog!
One of the coolest things about the WM is that it might easily be one of the most well-loved neighborhoods in C’ville by its residents, both present and past. The Woolies are a loyal, helpful, welcoming, and yes, feisty, bunch! That tradition goes back well over 150 years and even newcomers seem to take on those characteristics as well. Must be something in the air.
We greatly value our green spaces (Riverview and Meade Parks, and the pretty Rivanna Trail), our close proximity to the river, and the wildlife. The lots are generally quite spacious and we do a lot of vegetable and flower gardening. Folks that come here frequently comment that the neighborhood has a real country feel to it, despite its close proximity to downtown. We conider that a real blessing and guard that aspect most zealously!
We’re going to be getting a state and national historic district here very soon. The WM is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Charlottesville and we’re happy to honor our older homes and chapel.
On the negative side, we’ve had some growing pains due to zoning issues. A small portion of our neighborhood was zoned industrial back in the late 50s and so manufacturing directly abuts some of the oldest homes without any buffers or setbacks. Because of this small portion, some mistakenly think of the entire neighborhood as industrial, which has caused problems. We’re solidly residential, though, and are working hard to stay that way.
There are some neat houses for sale in the neighborhood right now. Hope this helps!
Victoria Dunham
Co-President, Woolen Mills Neighborhood Association (er, Organization)
Victoria –
Thank you so much for the great comment! Your response is one of the reasons I started the Neighborhoods series.
Again, thank you.
–Jim
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