No charm offensive

As our increasingly dysfunctional federal government limps toward a deal to raise the U.S. debt limit, I think we all can agree that no one is going to leave this messy process covered in glory. But if there is one grating personality that rises head and shoulders (and teeth and hair) above the rest, it’s […]

Free speech is the new black

For this year’s photo contest, we called for local people, places and things. We got a lot of places, a solid pile of things—and not many people. Of the people we did get, an overwhelming portion were children, and while children have faired well in past contests (see winners for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009), […]

Bumpy ride

Will 2011 mark the beginning of a rebound for the local real estate market? A few recent numbers suggest so. For some local experts, shifts in the behavior of both buyers and sellers point towards a more stable and calculated market.

Red dirt alert!

Just when you thought the stretch between Hydraulic and Barracks roads couldn’t get any busier, a popular shortcut between the two roads closed July 5 for construction. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) closed the southbound lane of Georgetown Road, which sees a daily average of roughly 16,000 cars, for a pedestrian-friendly makeover that will […]

Take a bottle, shake it up

Three months after the bulk of the Kluge Estate Winery & Vineyard sold at auction for $6.2 million, Donald Trump has his name attached to a part of Albemarle County. His son, Eric, has a wine business to call his own, and has begun to spruce up the new Trump Vineyard Estates, slated to open […]

To bypass, or pass by?

If majority rules, then which majority will decide the fate of the Western Bypass? The $200 million-plus roadway was conceived decades ago and shelved in 2002, but was recently revived by Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) officials and four Albemarle County supervisors, and awaits a vote from the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) that will […]

Smoke 'em out

Down in Texas, there’s a three-tier system for judging good barbeque. If the restaurant’s logo contains an animal, it’s good. If the logo shows an anthropomorphic animal (a cow in a chef’s hat, for instance), the ’cue is even better. And if you come across a restaurant wherein the logo has an animal cannibalizing itself […]

Stand and be counted!

Violent crimes per 1,000 residents   Albemarle: 1.14 Charlottesville: 5.91 State average: 2.27 Population within one mile of a park/grocery/school Albemarle: 57-70 percent Charlottesville: 95-99 percent Metropolitan Planning Area: 70-80 percent Median household income Albemarle: $64,206 Charlottesville: $38,369 State: $60,316 Residential density Rural area: 0.08 dwellings per acre Urban area: 0.92 dwellings per acre Location […]

An unmovable feast

Imagine a bigger Charlottesville market—one that expands from its current location between South and Water streets into an adjacent lot. Now imagine that Downtown market site surrounded by new housing, retail and office space. That vision is precisely what the City Market Task Force recommended to City Council in a work session last Thursday night. […]

Political capital

Though anecdotal evidence might suggest otherwise, Virginia’s economy is actually doing quite well—especially when compared to the nation as a whole. Our unemployment rate is currently 6 percent, compared to a dismal national average of over 9 percent, and, according to a recent study released by USA Today, Virginia’s economy is now the 10th largest in the country.