CvilleTomorrow has an excellent summary of the recent North Pointe hearing, highlighted (in my opinion) by Supervisor Ken Boyd’s question;“I have [a question] for staff and the applicant. On the one side you feel like you have met the neighborhood principles, and staff says you haven’t met the neighborhood principles…. Sean Tubbs with CvillePodcast continues his superlative efforts to inform the public with this interview with Senior Planner senior planner Judith Wiegand and Harrison Rue of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. Podcast is here.More can be found at the Places 29 website. I missed the hearing last night, but look forward to the accompanying analyses by the local media and bloggers…. Everybody is impacted by 29 – the email I received from a potential buyer searching for a weekend home is telling – Driving back on Sunday, we ran into hellacious traffic starting in Culpepper (sic) that continued until we exited the beltway. Our feeling is that the benefits that you reap from having a place in the country are vitiated by the tortuous drive back to D.C. We’re now thinking about a place farther away for longer stays…. I will contact you in the event that our plans change.
Browsing Category Politics
A Summit for bloggers
One of the great things about the Charlottesville area is the opportunity to connect with others in a variety of interesting and unique ways. Last year the inaugural blogging summit was held in Charlottesville – an unprecedented and unparalleled meeting of many of Virginia’s bloggers. Blogging has grown nation- and state-wide in the past year; the Charlottesville blogging arena has grown significantly, if not exponentially and has become a great source of opinions and information on what “is” Charlottesville. This year brings another summit – this time at the Darden School at UVa.Politics tend to populate much of the blogging world, and for good reason – politics elicit opinions and politics impact everybody in one way or another. Norm at OMT has a succinct summary of the evolution of this year’s summit. The lineup of speakers is truly impressive. Kudos to the organizers.Yet another thing to look forward to this summer.
How will fuel prices affect development?
In many, many ways. My prediction is that telecommuting and higher-density developments will become much more prominent in the next five to ten years, due the forces of economics and necessity.QandO reports this morning that high fuel prices are here to stay.Counties are feeling the effects on their developments.PropertyGrunt has an excellent report on the effect of ChIndia on the real estate market, begun poignantly with a quote by Napoleon:“China is a sleeping giant. Let her lie and sleep, for when she awakens she will astonish the world.â€zFor some perspective on gas prices, check out this graphic -Courtesy of the WSJ.Finally, for a related (albeit time-consuming) read, check out this discussion on Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances and unintended consequences.Bacon’s Rebellion is up.
Where are these negative ads?
I have heard a great deal about the purported negative ads being broadcast by WINA. I caught the tail-end of reports on WVIR and and watched the report on WCAV (who has some of the ad text, thankfully)There are new radio ads that go after incumbent Republican Rob Schilling, and they are attracting fresh attention to next week’s City Council elections.I have yet to actually hear the ads; are they online anywhere? It would be a shame if the Democrats went negative. I like to think (idealistic, I know) that reasonable people can disagree – even in a campaign – and disagree with healthy camaraderie and class. *WINA – please podcast your shows!
Friday afternoon …
I was in class all morning, so am in the midst of catching up. I leave you this Friday with these – (which have interesting headlines, but I haven’t read them all yet)If Michigan Is Looking at Rapid Transit, Can Virginia Be Far Behind?TDRs, a Step in the Right DirectionMedia Hype? on the emerging buyer’s marketWhy do planners favor automobiles?
Morning growth reading (and listening)
CvilleTomorrow continues to provide sunshine on Albemarle County’s processes. The two most recent buzzwords, “phasing” and “clustering” are on their way to prominence. My first question is – why has it taken the BoS this long to question the pace of the County’s growth?Orange, Louisa and Fluvanna are in the Commonwealth’s top 100.
Kelo’s legacy
UVA Law School’s Julia D. Mahoney has an interesting paper on the fallout and legacy of the Kelo decision: Kelo’s Legacy: Eminent Domain and the Future of Property Rights. Here is the abstract:Judging from the furious public response, one might imagine that Kelo v. New London, which upheld the condemnation of homes for mixed-use redevelopment, represented the abdication of judicial oversight of legislative and administrative decisions to condemn property for ostensible “public use”. Yet, if anything, the opposite is true. The Court’s leading precedents prior to Kelo mandated near total judicial deference to condemnation decisions. By contrast, the majority opinion in Kelo implied, and the one concurring opinion — written by a member of the majority–underscored, that the “public use” limitation constitutes a real check on exercises of government power. Increased judicial oversight could yield benefits. Even though courts may not be superior–or even equal to– legislatures and agencies in their capacity to grapple with the complex moral and economic issues involved in eminent domain, the fact that courts may veto condemnations can serve as a powerful check on undesirable behavior.Hat tip to the Property Prof Blog.