The NGIC effect

Houses are built for people, and people generally must have jobs. Presumably in the mind of every local housing developer, perhaps tucked in a recess or perhaps beating violently at the fore, is the thought of how to catch some of the swarm of 800 government employees

Flight of the speculator

For all the media hype about bubbles bursting, 2006 turned out to be the second-best year on record for real estate sales. Still, the market is clearly in transition and has experienced a significant downturn from the phenomenal sales of 2005.

System will track deadbeat developers

The new Biscuit Run development has made some of the most grandiose promises in Albemarle County history—and so far we’ve only seen the proposed offerings in the transportation realm. One alone is estimated to be worth $5.5 million. Still on the way are pledges of affordable housing, land for a school, and whatever else the […]

Community Endorses affordable housing

Each holiday season, Holly Edwards, chairperson for Charlottesville’s Public Housing Association of Residents (PHAR) watches It’s a Wonderful Life. This year, she said at a City Council meeting January 2, “It resonated to me that George Bailey saved his family’s savings and loan to provide affordable housing for the citizens.”

Buying the median single-family home

Recently, the Charlottesville area was profiled on USA Today’s real estate pages, and it offered some pretty keen observations, such as: It’s expensive as hell to buy property here. If you were looking for a single family home—not a Walker Square condo—in the month of November, the median home price in Charlottesville was $317,410, up […]

Court cases to follow in 2007

Though the calendar turns to a new page, 2006’s court drama follows into the new year. Here’s the first installment in a series of hot cases to keep your eye on in 2007:

Guilty verdict in city killing

A jury on January 5 delivered a guilty verdict for Jermaine Leon Thurston, a 22-year-old who said he shot another man in self defense. Initially charged with second degree murder, Thurston acted without malice when he shot Lamont Antonio Reaves jurors decided in the Charlottesville Circuit Court, convicting him of voluntary manslaughter. On June 18, […]

New charge in trailer park murder

In an ongoing mystery surrounding a murder that happened in a Carlton Road trailer park in March 2004, the much-older boyfriend of 18-year-old Azlee Hickman has been arrested for perjury for statements he made during trial. Another man is already serving a sentence for accessory to Hickman’s murder, but prosecutors have yet to pin anyone […]

Sons of Bill

music It was the first time in a long time that felt like the presence of a “scene,” like Trax ’92 or The Hogwallers ’99. The Sons of Bill, who played their first ever gig one year ago opening for Monticello Road, used the holidays to their advantage for their anniversary show at Starr Hill […]

Infinite Jest

books Tell me about Infinite Jest. My God, how can I even begin? In 1996, David Foster Wallace was 34 when Infinite Jest, his second novel, was published. It was, in its hardcover first edition, 1,079 pages long, including 96 pages of endnotes. It was hyped and praised and criticized to the extent that its […]