Alerted by a press release and filed under “for what it’s worth:”

Correction: Not just “a” best place, but “the” best place to live. (the press release links to the 2005 “Best Places” – I’m looking for the 2012 press release and data; in the meantime I’ve provided up to date median home prices below) Note that they haven’t updated the text in several years. The median prices have changed.

Update: Turns out the press release was from 2005. 🙂 Either way, this is a great opportunity to note that

1) I’ve posted median home prices for Charlottesville – Albemarle
2) Sperling’s current listing for Charlottesville still has inaccurate median home prices.
3) Don’t trust everything you see without verifying. 🙂

Median price for Single family homes in Charlottesville – Albemarle in 2012: $328,000 ($325k in 2010)
Median price for Attached homes in Charlottesville – Albemarle in 2012: $226,900
Median price for Attached homes in Charlottesville – Albemarle in 2012: $142,000

“1. Charlottesville, VA

Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, most areas of this idyllic city are accessible by foot or bicycle. Charlottesville enjoys clean air and water, and pleasant weather year-round, highlighted by especially beautiful fall foliage. Nearby Shenandoah National Park offers a wealth of recreation opportunities. Charlottesville is home to the University of Virginia, which strengthens the area’s healthy economy by providing steady jobs and a wealth of amenities and entertainment. Homes are not cheap (median home price $225,000), but the cost of living is manageable. The city’s low unemployment rate and significant recent job growth promise continued prosperity. As more and more people learn about this year’s best city, Charlottesville may find staying affordable and sprawl-free is its greatest challenge!”

Interestingly, this is the first time that I can recall a list noticing that there’s more to “Charlottesville” than “the City of Charlottesville”. Even though the City of Charlottesville prominently displays its “best places to live” – from 2004 – on its site.

Charlottesville is a great place to live … but I think these lists do a disservice to Charlottesville (and likely other areas) due to their inaccuracies.

We’ve been on these lists before (2011). And in 2010.

I always wonder if these list writers have ever been to Charlottesville.

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