Posts tagged Albemarle

Cville Bike mApp – Track your Bicycle Rides for the Next Month

in Albemarle Charlottesville Politics Transportation on

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.

Cville bike mapp

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.

Download the Android mApp here.

Download the iOS mApp here.

Read More

204 More Homes Coming to Rio Road?

in Albemarle Charlottesville Growth Transportation on

Looks like I need to update my post from December pondering what Rio Road is going to look like in 5 years.

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports:

The site of a former wastewater treatment plant near Pen Park is under consideration for the construction of 204 homes in both Albemarle County and Charlottesville.

I’d agree with Planning Commissioner Green:

Commissioner Lisa Green encouraged Lopez to further interconnect Lochlyn Hills with the city.
 
“In the city, what makes a neighborhood is [people] getting out and walking to the Downtown Mall,” Green said. “Although I applaud all the well-thought-out improvements to the trails, people want to walk to their jobs downtown and I’m not so sure they’re going to do that through the woods.”

Not planning for or accommodating non-vehicular traffic (you know, walking and biking) is irresponsible and will, to many buyers, reduce the desirability and marketability of the homes.

Read More

There Is No Answer to “How’s the Real Estate Market in Charlottesville?”

in Albemarle Charlottesville Market statistics on

I’ve said it before:

– When Evaluating the Charlottesville Real Estate Market, IGNORE National Data

– When Assessing the Charlottesville Real Estate Market, Read More than the Headlines

and here’s a taste of how conflicted my news feed and streams are –

Making Sense of Headlines – My Conflicted Inbox

I’ve been saying this to clients for the past couple of days; in light of today’s Case Shiller report I thought I’d share what I’m seeing:

Read More

Charlottesville Real Estate Market February Update

in Albemarle Charlottesville Market statistics on

Contracts are up in the Charlottesville area – significantly. Prices are down, inventory is down, sales are up. There is some positivity in the market; multiple offers, while not “the norm” are definitely common.

As I’ve said to clients: properties that are priced well*, in great condition, and in great locations tend to be selling well.

Nest Report – Feb 2012

I’m still trying to make time to run a few different numbers – breakdown of property type, etc. I’m doing these for my clients on property-specific instances frequently) but haven’t been able to do it for here …

* Priced well is part science, part art, part data analytics and part luck, sometimes not in equal proportions.

Read More

Match Day 2012 – Are the Residents going to Buy?

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate UVa on

Match Day happens every year and March 16, 2012 is Match Day for the medical folks – the day in which they find out where they are going to do their Residencies. I’ve worked with a lot of UVA Residents over the years, and they’re all unique and different, but also tend to have very similar criteria, the foundation of which tends to be “no more than 20 minutes from UVA Hospital”.

For the first six or seven years of my career, 2001 – 2008, incoming medical Residents comprised a significant portion of the Charlottesville real estate market. Since 2007 – 2008, most of that segment of the market has chosen to rent; in other words, the 0 – 5 Buyer has gone.

2011’s real estate market feels a bit different; a lot of buyers are coming back to the market. I’m still uncertain as to what impact Residents are going to have, as I’m betting that quite a few are going to be reluctant to take on more debt.

Student loan debt is crippling our country:

How does the housing bubble debt compare? If you add together mortgages and revolving home equity, then from the first quarter of 1999 to when housing-related debt peaked in the third quarter of 2008, the sum increased from $3.28 trillion to $9.98 trillion. Over this period, housing-related debt had increased threefold. Meanwhile, over the entire period shown on the chart, the balance of student loans grew by more than 6x. The growth of student loans has been twice as steep — and it’s showing no signs of slowing.*

But … if you are a medical Resident moving to Charlottesville thinking about buying, there are quite a few options on the market now that meet the typical criteria – at least three bedrooms, two baths, under 20 minutes to the UVA Medical Center.

This year, I’d be surprised if many (any?) incoming UVA residents move to anywhere other than Charlottesville or Albemarle; prices have declined such that looking in Greene or Fluvanna is likely to be a choice rather than a fallback because nothing is affordable in Charlottesville or Albemarle. It’s going to be interesting.

If you’re searching, search for homes by proximity to UVA (I’d use 1 Hospital Drive)- I’d be inclined to keep the maximum radius at 10 miles; in our market that should be sufficient to keep the drive time under 20 minutes.

Read More

Charlottesville People Want Transportation Improvements

in Albemarle Charlottesville on

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that “Nearly seven in 10 local residents say a need exists for a bypass of U.S. 29 around Charlottesville, according to a new survey. But almost as many said they would be in favor of exploring alternatives to the approved Western Bypass if they cost less and were effective in relieving congestion.”

Basically, Charlottesville people want transportation improvements – whatever they may be.

www.cvillepedia.org_mediawiki_images_20120308-JACS-CvilleTomorrow.pdf-1.jpg

Keep in mind, Charlottesville traffic is relative; to those of us who live here, twenty minutes is a far drive. To those not from here, twenty minutes is short. And no, we’re not used to Northern Virginia traffic.

Read More