Check out Charlottesville Tomorrow’s 47-page study KEY FINDINGSWith respect to policy issues related to land use, infrastructure, taxation, transportation, and leadership, the survey results indicate: * There is strong public support for policies, like phasing or time based zoning, that would set a schedule for the rate of new development in Albemarle County’s rural areas…. * 81.4% of respondents indicated they support the use of tax dollars to purchase rural development rights if it would permanently protect the land with conservation easements…. When asked about government’s efforts to have developers pay their fair share for infrastructure, 42.2% of respondents were satisfied.Local politics, growth and infrastructure issues impact the real estate market in often dramatic ways – every one of these issues affects buyers’, sellers’ and other residents quality of life.Interesting notes- We need to keep and protect our rural countryside from becoming over developed – 93.9% In order to permanently protect rural land from development I’d be willing to pay a bit more in real estate property taxes – 57.5% Property owners should be able to do what they want with their land, regardless of the impact on neighbors. Decisions about keeping our rural countryside intact should be left entirely to the owners of that property – 33.5% So, we need to protect our countryside, but only a think majority is willing to pay to protect that countryside.
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Charlottesville MSA apparently is a risky place to get a loan if you’re a minority
Feel free to use a pseudonym.Pull the files from the top three local banks (or more), and compare apples to apples on applications – credit scores, income, debt ratios, the whole thing, and report those findings…. Now.More at Inman (paid subscription required after tomorrow) – interestingly,The study found greater racial disparities in high-cost loans made to middle- to upper-income minorities than to low- to moderate-income borrowers.Are the disparities found more at the huge national banks, or the small, private ones? I don’t want to speculate on which ones, but I’d say that the problems are likely the function of systemic breakdowns and the people involved rather than companies directing their lenders to discriminate.Hopefully this story won’t go away.If possible, I’d like to see a greater breakdown, by locality, of the numbers. The Charlottesville MSA comprises Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene and Nelson (and Louisa, although it’s not included in the numbers).Update 7/13/07: The Daily Progress has an article today that shows that raises three interesting points:1) Out-of-state lenders specifically targeting black borrowers may be the primary culprits.
An interview with Curbplaces.com
To my knowledge, they are the only local search site in town other than our local gorilla, mycaar, which has proven to be an addictive site visited by voyeurs, active buyers and sellers and homeowners checking in to see how their property’s value is doing…. Right now there are four of us in the company and we work out of an office on Water St.Q: What is CurbPlaces.com?A: CurbPlaces.com is a website for exploring real estate in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.Q: What inspired you to start a local real estate search site?A: Several things…. I’d also like to expand beyond real-estate to other location-specifc services ( i.e. services that would work well with maps).Q: Who is your audience?A: Anyone interested in residential Charlottesville / Albemarle real estate.Q: Are you going to focus solely on Charlottesville/Albemarle or will you seek to expand to the greater Central Virginia region?A: The goal is to build the best site for Charlottesville that we can…. And tell a friend.Q: Are there any sites that you seek to emulate or learn from?A: I’m NOT a fan of the big Real Estate 2.0 players: zillow, housevalues, redfin etc. For a lot of reasons, but mostly because they come across as too impersonal and corporate.
CurbedPlaces continues to improve
Slowly but surely, they are coming along. Local real estate search site CurbedPlaces continues to improve. There are bugs (the street I grew up on is nowhere to be found, and the map goes blank when I search for it), but it remains intriguing to watch. I still think that ShackPrices remains the local real estate search to beat and/or model.
Finally! We are really no longer the #1 place to live
The “#1 City” slogan is no more. But how does the new one, “A Great Place to Live for All of Our Citizens” work with the new tourist website, Pursue Charlottesville?
How many Town Centers do we need in CharlAlbemarle?
Just in CharlAlbemarle — Hollymead Town Center (29 North)- Old Trail Town Center (Crozet, West of Charlottesville)- Belvedere Town Center (North Central Charlottesville) – link not yet live- Albemarle Place (Central Charlottesville)- North Pointe (29 North)- The Downtown Mall (City Center)- Eventually there will be one in or around the Biscuit Run development to the South of the City.Update 05-02-2007: Here is my first attempt at Google MyMaps; it was too easy.What are the effects and impacts of the proliferation of town centers?… More shopping.From a real estate perspective, these may have very different and varied effects:- One will be that some buyers will want to be as close as possible to the town centers to take advantage of the “walkability” of what these town centers will offer.- On the flip side, the town centers will drive perhaps an equal number away from these town centers; these people want access to the shopping offered, but don’t want to see or deal with the town centers and the traffic, congestion, sounds, smells, etc. on a daily basis.- And even further, some will be driven further out in the rural areas so that they can get as far away as possible.What is the common denominator?… Any transplants to C’Ville who are willing to share their perspective?Update #2 05/02/2007 – Interesting and relevant article from the WSJ blog today.Right now, my husband and I are still renting, but we have started to think of making the big purchase…. I have no problem moving somewhere for a year or two and then trying something different; my husband dreads moving and wants to hold off until we find the perfect place – so we will stay put for a while.
Charlottesville is the #2 place to retire young
So says CNN and BestPlaces.net.Specific criteria used in making up the list of best places follow: * Population growth: We wanted positive growth since 1990…. * Economic health: current unemployment rate below 4 percent and job growth greater than 10 percent for the past five years. * College presence: one or more major and/or highly competitive college in the vicinity. * Recreation and arts and culture score in the top third for nearby major metropolitan areas.This is a good place to start if you are looking for homes in the Charlottesville area.(Take that, Jeremy!