An interesting new Tumblr blog – The Cville People Project, a documentary photography project, was inspired by Humans of New York (http://www.humansofnewyork.com/ and http://humansofnewyork.tumblr.com/). I believe that we come to know a city through the…
Posts tagged 22902
Fewer Trees = Income Inequality
Fascinating.
Income Inequality as Seen from Space
I’d love to post some photos here about some of the areas in Charlottesville that might match this hypothesis, but won’t so as not to potentially violate fair housing laws.
That said, I’d be curious to know what you might find.
If you’re looking, use Bing Maps rather than Google Maps; Bing is much, much better.
Update 18 July 2012: Mashable has a long story on tree density’s relation to income.
Chloramines in Drinking Water – Debate Heating Up in Charlottesville and Albemarle
What’s a chloramine? You’d better find out. Charlottesville Tomorrow reports:
The Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority will hold a public information session on June 21 regarding the proposed use of chloramines as a secondary water disinfectant in the urban water supply starting in 2014.
I’m just starting my research on chloramines and don’t know enough yet to make an informed decision (one of the reasons I’m writing this post – to force myself to read and research chloramines. I know my clients will be interested; drinking water contributes to quality of life, and “quality of life” is one of the most important reasons people move to and stay in Charlottesville-Albemarle.
The EPA says that chloramines are safe, unless you’re a fish or plumbing.
Other concerns with chloramines in drinking water
Chloramines, like chlorine, are toxic to fish and amphibians at levels used for drinking water. Unlike chlorine, chloramines do not rapidly dissipate on standing. Neither do they dissipate by boiling. Fish owners must neutralize or remove chloramines from water used in aquariums or ponds. Treatment products are readily available at aquarium supply stores. Chloramines react with certain types of rubber hoses and gaskets, such as those on washing machines and hot water heaters. Black or greasy particles may appear as these materials degrade. Replacement materials are commonly available at hardware and plumber supply stores.
What types of rubber hoses and gaskets?
Drinking water is relatively cheap in Charlottesville and Albemarle (pdf).
How much would these rates increase if they were to choose the carbon filtration system instead of adding chloramines?
Chlormines in Charlottesville’s drinking water are yet another reason to live in Crozet:
Starting in 2014, the RWSA intends to replace chlorine with chloramines as the second step in the water treatment process, a project with capital costs of $5 million. The water treatment plants in Crozet and Scottsville, however, are recommended to receive a carbon filtration system with continued use of chlorine.
April 2012 Charlottesville Real Estate Market Report
Highlights:
– Days on Market (an inherently flawed data point) are down in Charlottesville, Albemarle and Fluvanna.
– Average Sales prices are down (not surprising)
– Total sales across the MSA are down (not surprising)
Thoughts/initial conclusions:
– More buyers are looking to be closer in/closer to stuff
– Good properties are selling and selling quickly
– Interest rates remain low – a good thing for buyers.
– I think we may have pulled the spring market forward a bit; the early spring may have pulled transactions into the earlier months of the year.
Dead simple Takeaways:
– Buyers: do your due diligence, don’t let emotion enter the equation and make sound, rationale decisions with the intent of holding the property for at least five to seven years
– Sellers: do your due diligence and realize that buyers most often don’t have to buy, but want to buy – it’s your job to make them want to buy your house. This means: price, presentation, perfection … and a great location and setting.
Cville Bike Lab – Community, Engagement, Bike Repair & Education
Weekly if not daily, I’m reminded that Charlottesville is a great place with people who are interested and invested in making Charlottesville a better place.
Cville Bike Lab is one of those “makes Charlottesville a better place” things.
If you have just under five minutes to spare, watch Spencer describe:
– What the Cville Bike Lab is
– What the Cville Bike Lab’s goals are
– The growing bicycle community in Charlottesville
– The coming peer to peer bike lending/sharing program (think airbnb for bicycles) and the sharing/interaction that will come from that exchange
– The part at 4:21 reminds me of something a friend is doing in Atlanta at a bank, Acru Wealth.
The Charlottesville Real Estate Market Update – In 8 Minutes or Less
Thanks to Coy Barefoot for having me on his excellent Charlottesville – Right Now! show this afternoon. I tried to provide clear, quick analysis of the good, bad and possibly ugly in the Charlottesville real estate market – positivity framed with market realities and some context.
Listen to the podcast below.
Describing “where we are” in the Charlottesville real estate market is extremely difficult to accomplish in a short period 0f time; luckily there’s the 1st Quarter Nest Report for more in depth insight.
I think this tweet best describes today’s real estate market:
18 homes closed in CharlAlbemarle last week; Days on Market ranged from 0 to 863. $/sq ft from $89 to $227.
#ThereIsNoOneMarket
As always, questions welcomed.
Cville Bike mApp – Track your Bicycle Rides for the Next Month
People want to be close to stuff, and they want to be able to get to that stuff easily. More often, in the City of Charlottesville and more urban parts of Albemarle, “getting to that stuff” includes bicycles. Now the Charlottesville MPO is seeking to capture data that will show how many are biking to places.
Walkability matters ; so does bikeability.
For the next month or so I’m going to be using the Cville Bike mApp to track my bicycle rides around Charlottesville and Crozet instead of MapmyRide.
On April 14th the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will release the Cville Bike mApp, a free, bike route mapping application for iPhone and Android phones. The App allows cyclists to record their trips and send the trip information to the MPO for transportation planning purposes. With an expected decrease in federal transportation funding, this data will help elected officials better determine where to target limited available funds for future cycling enhancements and improvements. This data input effort will also position the region to be more competitive for transportation grant funding. More specifically, the App will allow transportation planners to map cycling patterns, determine cycling corridors, identify cycling barriers and find appropriate locations for cycling facilities.
The MPO will be collecting cycling data over an approximately one month period – from April 14th to May 18th. Help local planners and elected officials improve cycling in Charlottesville and Albemarle by recording your bike trips using the Cville Bike mApp. Remember, mApp it for Better Biking!
I have no doubt that I could find significant and substantial data to support the opposite perspective, but in my practice, I have found that my clients value bicycle and walking paths and accessibility. Can I place a quantitative value on that? No; sometimes it’s a matter of “will they buy it?” Yes or No.
The League of American Bicyclists noted in 2010:
As we pointed out in our report, The Economic Benefits of Bicycle Infrastructure Investments, studies have shown that real estate property values increase with proximity to bicycle paths. People enjoy living close to bike paths and are willing to pay more for an otherwise comparable house to be closer to one.