Browsing Category Politics

Virginia’s General Assembly Reconvening Soon – Pay Attention! (2012 edition)

in Politics on

The Virginia General Assembly reconvenes in 8 days. 8 Days until our part-time legislators make decisions that affect our lives. Start paying attention now at Richmond Sunlight.

Between the House and the Senate, 169 bills have been filed so far. Everything from eminent domain to bicycles not needing to wait two minutes at an intersection, to forcing concealed weapon holders to carry proof of licensure to the “are you freaking kidding me?! – “Causing telephone to ring with intent to annoy. Raises offense from a Class 3 to a Class 2 misdemeanor for causing a telephone or digital pagerto (sic) ring with intent to annoy.”

While you’re getting up to speed, figure out who your legislators are – and then start tracking their bills and votes and contact them. Also, go to VPAP and figure out who’s giving money to whom – for example, the Virginia Association of Realtors’ PAC spent over $30k on entertainment. Politics are expensive. And time-consuming.

Pay attention folks – from the deadly serious to the blindingly stupid, these are our legislators, and we are responsible for them.

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Albemarle County Could Get 4G Mobile Service

in Albemarle Politics Technology on

While the internet is the new infrastructure, mobile infrastructure is crucial. I’ve had clients in the Charlottesville – Albemarle area choose to not buy property because 1) hard-wired internet accessibility – fiber (very limited), or DSL or cable – is not available and/or 2) Reliable cell phone service is not available (GSM AT&T and T-Mobile) tends to be worse than CDMA – US Cellular, nTelos, Verizon, Sprint).

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that “The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has voted to pay a consultant to determine if the county’s existing policy on cell towers will impede implementation of the next generation of wireless communications services.”

Infrastructure – wired and wireless is crucial for quality of life, competitiveness and economic development. Let’s hope the County figures this out.

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Walk Score of Charlottesville, Virginia

What is Walking Distance to You? (in Charlottesville)

in Albemarle Charlottesville Politics Transportation on

“Walkable houses in Charlottesville” – one of the more frequent requests I get both from buyer clients and from visitors to this site.

But “walkable” means different things to different people.

Clarifying and pulling out buyers’ true intents is one of the most useful skills a good real estate agent brings to the table. For example, when a new buyer client tells me that he wants to be within “walking distance” of the Downtown Mall, I always follow up with:

“What is walking distance to you?”

Your response of “less than 30 minute walking distance” is why I asked … my non-American-based clients have a much more liberal definition of close (usually less than 30 minutes or 2 miles) than do my American clients (less than 10 minutes or 5 blocks).

So the question is – what does walkable mean to you?

As I do with a lot of the stories that make it to this here real estate blog, I started by asking on the social networks – Twitter, Facebook and Google+

The City of Charlottesville has a lot of highly “walkable” homes, using Walkscore as the guide, and there are an awful lot of condos in the City of Charlottesville that offer walkability.

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City-County Revenue Sharing, Albemarle County Redistricting and Property Taxes

in Albemarle Politics on

Three big stories if you live in (or are considering moving to) Albemarle County:

– Your elementary schools need balancing and need to be redistricted. (always check your school district before you buy!)

(Update: these are the options for redistricting Hollymead and Baker Butler)

– Rob Bell is seeking to revisit the revenue sharing agreement between the City of Charlottesville and the County of Albemarle. (

– Albemarle County is working on its budget for the next fiscal year.

Now would be a good time to start paying attention to these three stories that will be bigger when they actually happen, as is usually the case.

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HR 1746 – If you’re An International Buyer Looking to Purchase in a College Town

in Albemarle Charlottesville Politics on

This might be the program for you if if you’re a wealthy foreigner who needs a Visa, if you buy a house (in Charlottesville) “worth” at least $500k, you can get a Visa.

1: Anything to stimulate investment in the US could be construed as a good thing.

2: Per usual Congress doesn’t understand reality; there is a distinct difference between appraisals and assessments.

3: The want Canadians to visit, too.

In order for the housing market to be allowed to find bottom and thus find its way to balance and recovery, the federal government needs to get out of the way. Let the market work. Stop trying to “fix it.” You can’t. You’re neither competent nor disinterested enough to make intelligent, rational decisions with respect to the housing market (or anything, really).

But … If this bill gets passed, I will gladly represent buyers who choose to take advantage of what it has to offer.

I couldn’t find much about this bill online, but this is one perspective – Misguided Schumer-Lee Bill Offers Visas for Foreign-Born Homebuyers

Read the whole bill – HR 1746 – on OpenCongress.

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Vote!

Elections 2011 – What’s on Your Ballot?

in Albemarle Charlottesville Fluvanna Greene Politics on

“Politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed often and for the same reason.” ― Mark Twain

We vote on Tuesday in what’s termed an “off-off election” meaning … fewer people vote, so your vote will matter more. Please vote.

Here are a few resources:

– Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Candidate information

– Charlottesville Tomorrow’s Charlottesville City Council Candidate information

– Unfortunately, Charlottesville Tomorrow doesn’t cover the other important races, but luckily The HooK offers snapshots of the various races, including Albemarle County School Board (I’m endorsing Ned Gallaway for this race), Soil and Conservation District (I like Lonnie Murray)

– cvillenews gives a succinct rundown of which races are on the ballots. I’d clip a bit of Waldo’s post, but really, just read the whole thing.

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