The Art of Noise

The urban symphony  Asleep like the dead in a womblike curl of blankets, the silence is perfect. Snoring is the only sound, like a tree falling in the woods over and over, except no one is awake to hear it. Then at 6am my alarm clock honks, honks, honks, prying my eyes open. I go […]

We’re with the bands…

Fall. The leaves change colors. The sleeves get longer. And enduring sad girls with guitars replaces tubing on the James as the recreational activity of choice. The new cultural season is almost here, and C-VILLE has selected the best bets in music, art, stage, film and more to keep you busy from now until December. […]

Is it good? No. Is it better? No. Is it best? YES!

Happily, a couple of months ago, hundreds of you answered our call to fill out ballots (that Vespa giveaway sure helped, huh?). Then, our crack team of accountants from Price Waterhouse (O.K., our intern) tabulated the ballots. Now the results are in. Some winners are predictable (Christian’s, Chaps, C-VILLE) and some are more surprising (McDonald’s, […]

Saturated Fat

Hazardous waist Super-sizes and not-so-super exercises have born one nation under lard It’s a fat, fat world. More than 60 percent of all American adults are categorized as overweight or obese. And Virginia is expanding right in line with the trend. According to the Virginia Department of Health, 36.7 percent of adult Virginians are overweight […]

Is Rob Schilling Charlottesville’s Best Politician?

On May 9, 2002, Rob Schilling sat at his home computer and created a pair of posters lettered with the words "Thank You." With his wife—and constant companion—Joan, he then spent the sunny Thursday afternoon standing on the corner of McIntire and Preston, waving the signs and smiling at rush hour traffic. Two days earlier, […]

Global Crossings

For a small Southern town, Charlottesville’s looking mighty international these days. Locals can taste chicken souvlaki, examine a Panamanian carving, sip Indian tea, and watch a weaver repair a Persian rug—all within a couple of blocks of the east end of the Downtown Mall. In fact, the area is growing into an enclave of internationally […]

Dirty Secret

All that separates Tina Awkard’s front lawn from a chemical graveyard is a few hundred feet and a chain link fence. Yet Awkard, who moved here with her children three months ago, wasn’t aware that the “waste and lagoon treatment center” next door is a toxic dump with a file at the Environmental Protection Agency […]

Brawl on the mall

At the height of its short career, Danielson and Rolph’s company, D&R Development, held more than $10 million in Mall property. Onlookers credit two of their projects in particular––the Charlottesville Ice Park and the Regal Cinema building––for catalyzing the Mall’s evolution from a shell of empty buildings to an urban streetscape where people live, work […]

C-Ville 20

Brad Eure Once upon a time, newspaper publishers, television producers and radio station managers actually lived in the communities they served. Now, with more media falling into the fold of corporate conglomerates, the phrase “locally owned” is practically an anachronism. Brad Eure has managed to survive the dog-eat-dog radio market by staying tuned in to […]