Could Charlottesville Become a High(er)-Tech City?

in Albemarle Charlottesville on

Just wondering … as the trend of people, including younger people who don’t want cars moving to cities …

The WSJ lays out some of the reasons that tech companies are locating in cities –

Still, escaping sprawl is only part of the explanation. There are also the distinct lifestyle advantages of setting up shop in the hurly-burly of real urban districts. Compared with previous generations, today’s younger techies are less interested in owning cars and big houses. They prefer to live in central locations, where they can rent an apartment and use transit or walk or bike to work, and where there are plenty of nearby options for socializing during nonwork hours.

“It’s not that young people wanted to live in Mountain View in the past,” Mr. Suster blogged. “In fact, so many did not that companies like Google & Yahoo had free buses with Wi-Fi from San Francisco to their Palo Alto and Sunnyvale headquarters.”

In light of several Charlottesville companies being noted on the Inc 500 and 5000, notably Willow Tree Apps, SNL, Search Mojo and Silverchair,

The Daily Progress wonders the same thing while identifying some of the challenges Charlottesville faces:

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UVA’s Firing Range near Glenmore – Balancing Growth with Long-Term Firing Range

in Albemarle Growth on

UVA has had a firing range for a long, long time. Residents of the Glenmore neighborhood don’t like listening to it, so they’ve asked UVA for either a quieter range or for it to be moved. UVA, being state-owned, “is not required to seek permission from the county for construction on land it owns.”

Enter stalemate.

And yet –

A question came to me that I’ve been wondering for months –

Has this matter hurt Glenmore house prices yet?

I must say I wouldn’t dream of moving there after learning about this problem.

And this, readers, is why it is absolutely critical for buyers to do their own research on homes and neighborhoods and surroundings; real estate agents (I am one, but I do my absolute best to educate my clients about such matters) are not obligated to discuss/disclose matters outside the four corners of the subject property.

UVa’s in a tough spot – they’ve been there for many decades, while Glenmore has existed since the early ’90s, yet it seems that the recent “improvements” amplified the sound.

Compromise: why don’t UVa and Glenmore split the cost to implement the necessary solution?

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Will Charlottesville Aggressively Target Mixed-Use Redevelopment?

in Charlottesville on

If they take this statement to heart, we’ll have a more dense and more walkable/bikeable/liveable City in the next 10-20 years.

“By maintaining over 40 acres of cracked asphalt along a growth corridor such as Preston Avenue, we essentially … had five times less revenue produced from that corridor,” Galvin noted. “There is a price to pay for not redeveloping aggressively.”

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Tuesday Morning Reads – 28 August 2012

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

– Gentrification and Charlottesville – C-Ville – My favorite line of the week: “If Austin is fighting to stay weird, let’s us fight to stay a little bit country.”

– Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce Releases 2012 Jobs Report – NBC29 (and here’s the actual report)

– VDOT releases draft environmental assessment for Western Bypass – Charlottesville Tomorrow

– Latest trend in house design: “A home within a home” – Treehugger – for the boomerang kids or returning parents.

– Dear Internet – where should I live? — None of these are particularly accurate to Charlottesville, although WalkScore is accurate enough to ballpark walkability.

– How Young Homeowners Lost Out by Buying – The Atlantic – This is but another reason that I think a true “recovery” won’t be seen for at least 3-5 years.

– Why Home Prices Are Rising: The ‘Distressed Share’ – We’re definitely seeing this emerging in Charlottesville

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