Places29 implementation puts transportation first

The redevelopment of the Route 29 corridor has been under discussion for years. Albemarle County has recently released the implementation chapter for Places29 Master Plan that lists the top priorities for transportation improvements and land use management, among others. Yet, these priorities are deemed necessary whether or not the master plan for the Route 29 […]

Downtown grocery store to open in September

To all those who are impatiently waiting for Trader Joe’s to open in Charlottesville and had once hoped it would locate downtown, don’t despair. Market Street Market, a grocery store and deli is getting closer to its grand opening in early September. Owners Steven Strumlauf and son Raphael (pictured) searched for the perfect spot to […]

Cost of creating water plan is tough to quantify

It’s been more than a month since the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) announced on June 25 that it had fired Gannett Fleming, the engineering firm that developed the community’s water supply plan approved in 2006. What does the change mean for the ongoing debate about the plan? Unsurprisingly, it depends whom you ask. […]

The devil went down to FloydFest

It’s so much easier being a hippy these days. Case in point: FloydFest, a four-day summer music festival held just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Floyd.  Instead of Woodstock’s food shortages of 40 years ago, FloydFesters face a stupefying abundance of choices: local, grass-fed burgers, tempeh reubens, Thai coconut curry and, yes, sushi. Some […]

Residents critique YMCA design, site plan

The controversy over the location of the Piedmont YMCA began in December 2007, when City Council voted 3-2 to grant the organization a 40-year ground lease on an approximately 5-acre tract of land in the western part of McIntire Park. Although the project has reached the critical design stages, opponents are still hopeful that they […]

New federal food safety regs won’t impact small farms

For the better part of a decade, members of the Virginia Independent Consumer and Farmers Association (VICFA) have been bringing local attention to what they say are grave threats to small farmers—namely, excessive government regulation. Locavores may have raised their hackles last week when reading that the Obama administration released a series of new proposals […]

Twenty years of local news and arts in the spotlight

Some bouts mean more than others. The struggle against bulldozers and development is no laughing matter. It concerns the look and temperament of a place, and if a battle is lost, hardly anyone can call for a do-over. What would that even mean? In light of major changes underway in McIntire Park, we consider the […]