Courtesy of Travel + Leisure magazine:

Jefferson’s spirit—forward-looking, yet rooted in the land and mindful of the past—lives on in the new Charlottesville. Like other Southern university towns, such as Asheville, North Carolina, or Athens, Georgia, this is a place where people drive hybrid cars and tend to care deeply about what they eat and drink, and where it comes from. At the C&O Bar—the dimly lit college watering hole of our dreams, with early R.E.M. and the Cocteau Twins jangling through the revelry—we ordered glasses of Stone Mountain Vineyards rosé, listened to trains whistle by, and watched a table of professors and students arguing over the wine list as though it were a political treatise.

Ah, the romantic depictions of the Charlottesville area! Keeping up with all the ratings our region gets is nearing a full-time job. Look for the press releases from the City of Charlottesville in the coming weeks. The danger inherent in all of these rankings is two-fold. One, even more people will come here (not necessarily a negative, depending on one’s point of view) and two – the City and County get complacent and rest on their laurels.

Hat tip to the incomparable cVillain.

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