After years of complaints, Charlottesville (Albemarle) is (probably) getting a movie theater with stadium seating. Following Waynesboro’s lead , Albemarle’s Planning Commission has narrowly approved plans for a new theater at the Hollymead Town Center . An aside to Charlottesville’s paid journalists: Which took longer to get approval – the theater in Waynesboro or Albemarle?
Posts tagged Albemarle
Making Sense of it All – Where Is the Charlottesville Real Estate Market Going?
At the very least, I would venture to say that with housing starts and homebuilders’ stocks failing to reach new lows after hitting bottom well over a year ago, one can say with some degree of confidence that we have seen the worst of the housing recession.
…This trend — increased “outflow” and slightly reduced “inflow” foreclosure activity — means that lenders and loan servicers are 1) giving up on modifying mortgages when the borrower can’t pay, and instead repossessing homes and auctioning them off, but also 2) trying to manage the foreclosure pipeline to minimize the downward pressure on home prices. … For starters, a multiyear tidal wave of foreclosure sales has been inevitable ever since the housing bubble burst: Too many people had mortgages they couldn’t afford to pay, mortgages with a face value higher than the home’s new market price. … And then I’m hearing that: – There are 7 million foreclosures in the pipeline – what might those do to housing prices? – Some banks are seeking to vacate the lending business altogether. (from a conversation, no link) – Banks are delaying short sales in anticipation of Here’s the problem with politics – while I appreciate the necessity to achieve a “balancing act” it’s time to make a decision.
Stinkbugs in Charlottesville
Image courtesy of
Sometimes coincidences matter, and are fortuitous.
Yesterday I was at a final walkthrough with some buyer clients from out West and the conversation turned to stink bugs. What are they? Where are they from? What do they do? I knew they stink, and they seem to have replaced the bad lady bugs, aka Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles.
Stink bugs were bad last year. This year they’re worse. And they’re not from here.
The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), is found throughout Virginia although some isolated pockets of the Commonwealth have not seen this insect yet. The BMSB is an invasive insect not native to Virginia or North America. It was accidentally introduced near Allentown, PA in 1998 and has spread since that time. It feeds on a wide range of fruits and seed pods and has the potential to be a pest on peaches and soybeans. For homeowners, it is mainly a nuisance pest, as it invades houses in the winter looking for a place to over-winter.
Driving to my next meeting, I turned on Coy Barefoot’s show on WINA and heard last year’s conversation with Peter Warren, an entomologist at the Extension Office. The conversation was informative, useful and answered all of my stinkbug questions.
I recommend listening to the whole thing.
Update 24 September 2012: It turns out there’s a whole federal coalition tasked with going after the stinkbugs …
Riding a Bike in Charlottesville – Mountain Biking and More
If you’re curious about mountain biking in the Charlottesville area, road racing, and/or connecting with fellow bikers in the Charlottesville area, you will probably find this interview useful and interesting.
…When survey participants were asked to identify the three most important areas the cycling community should champion in the next few years, the largest percentage of votes, 82 percent, went to pushing for more bike lanes.
…I would ask about what the members are like, are they crazy riders or trail riders, where are the good trails, what types of events do they have, is there a weekly ride?
… Lastly: Bike Polo & Segway Polo Resources : Charlottesville Albemarle Mountain Biking Club (CAMBC) & their Facebook page Charlottesville Racing Club Bike Charlottesville Charlottesville Bike Club What is Single Track (mountain biking) Observatory Hill trails Mountain Biking Trails – Trails.com Rivervew Park in Charlottesville Rivanna Trails in Charlottesville Mint Springs Park in Crozet & Trails.com Preddy Creek (29 North area) Mountain Biking in George Washington and Jefferson National Forests Planners propose commuter bike trail from Rivanna Station military base to downtown Charlottesville
UVA is Getting Bigger – And We All Get a Clue
The University of Virginia Foundation has been given the greenlight to expand its research park on Fontaine Avenue.
…To get a feel for where UVA’s growth is going, spend some time perusing their 2008 Grounds Plan . The best sentence in the Charlottesville Tomorrow story succinctly pinpoints why the Charlottesville-Albemarle region chooses not to build roads .
…The most recent rezoning does not answer conclusively the future of the proposed Sunset-Fontaine Connector but does offer clues to how parts of it might be funded.
Buying a Home in Charlottesville – Title Insurance
Big thanks to Tim Kelsey in Charlottesville for dropping some title insurance knowledge and advice. I tell my clients that title insurance may seem to be worthless, but … if you end up having a claim against your property, the cost of title insurance will be far outweighed by the cost of hiring an attorney.
Funding and Intent Are Two Different Things
Two clichés come to mind: – where there’s a will, there’s a way – perfection is the enemy of progress People move to the Charlottesville-Albemarle region because we don’t have Northern Virginia traffic and congestion; it’s one of the reasons Charlottesville is one of the 10 most livable college towns . … The transportation section of Albemarle County’s Places29 Master Plan has been slimmed down to include only projects that have a reasonable chance of being constructed within its first five years. … I don’t know whether I’ve ever seen the business community campaigning against growth while the Piedmont Environmental Council and Southern Environmental Law Center are campaigning for growth : Carter Myers, a former member of the Commonwealth Transportation Board who owns several car dealerships on U.S. 29, said grade-separated interchanges would threaten Albemarle County’s bottom line. … But Jeff Werner of the Piedmont Environmental Council said the interchanges would provide a way for motorists to cross U.S. 29 without stopping, a necessary step in alleviating traffic congestion.