Monthly Archives: August 2009
Blog Problems Today
I don’t know what caused it, but RealCentralVA.com was mostly inaccessible today from about 0500-1400. It was either an attack on this site or my host or a mistake by by host, but either way it was extraordinarily frustrating. I think it’s all over, but I’m in the midst of sorting a few things out to make the site faster and more efficient. … Continue reading…
Here’s One Voice for Smaller Albemarle County Schools
The prospect of consolidating three smaller Albemarle County elementary schools is a troubling one – this is one of the areas in which economics may need to take a secondary position to sociological and societal benefits.
Anecdotally, smaller schools are better. Better for classes, for community involvement, for neighborhoods … for real estate values.
From today’s Daily Progress: (bolding mine)
A committee is calling for three elementary schools in southern Albemarle County to be shut down and replaced with one big school.
…
Red Hill, Scottsville and Yancey have about 525 students combined and are projected to have nearly
Twitter Week in Review
- Really looking forward to being on WNRN radio tomorrow morning at 11 http://post.ly/3N9m #
- Really looking forward to being on WNRN radio tomorrow morning at 11 ((jim duncan, radio, nature, play, bundoran farm, http://post.ly/3N9m #
- Never thought I'd be writing/blogging nearly 5 years in http://post.ly/3N9S #
- Going to the gym with National Association of Realtors' On Common Ground mag in hand. Good stuff this issue #
- Charlottesville folks – best place to buy a pre-made picnic basket for dinner? #
- Amazon tells me that Snow Leopard shipped today. I'm hoping for hard drive space recovery akin to @respres' #
- Now
WNRN Radio This Weekend – Nature, Play and Charlottesville Neighborhoods
I’ll be in sidekick mode on WNRN this Sunday … this is a paragraph written by Kate White, the "star" of this weekend’s show. I’ll be adding my input here and there, but I will primarily be discussing some of the neighborhoods in the Charlottesville and Albemarle areas that seem to be most nature-accessible as well as some that are close to parks, hiking and some of the other outstanding nature attractions in the area. Candidly, I’m looking forward to listening and learning.
"Join realtor Jim Duncan and Belvedere resident Kate White in a discussion with Rick Moore of The … Continue reading…
Charlottesville Rail Service for Tourists
Lamentably, the new rail service being launched by Amtrak will be targeted at tourists and leisure riders rather than those who might get more use from such a service – if it were timed appropriately.
Thanks to Congressman Tom Perriello for supporting a more intelligently-timed schedule. It’s embarrassing when working with clients from other countries who are accustomed to having transportation options – having to describe how we have virtually no efficient options other than cars for traveling or commuting.
From Charlottesville Tomorrow:
Meredith Richards, Chairman of the Piedmont Rail Coalition, and Congressman Tom Perriello (D-5th) convened a
Charlottesville is a Great Weekend Getaway
And it’s also a pretty great place to live.
Charlottesville* is “earning a reputation as one of America’s emerging wine destinations” …
Yep, we have quite a few vineyards and breweries, too. Did you know there’s a Charlottesville Beer Trail?
The Washington Post noticed earlier this year.
Charlottesville is certainly no microbrew capital like Portland, Ore., or Denver. But to its credit and beer aficionados’ pleasure, it has embraced making craft beers. The town and scenic surrounding areas boast four homegrown breweries and brew pubs (which, conveniently enough, are in the process of organizing an official Charlottesville beer
Charlottesville Real Estate Market – We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know
With all due respect to Don Rumsfeld …
Some segments of the local real estate market are absolutely seeing improvements while others are just beginning to experience significant downturns. Calls for an “end to the recession” however are premature and, in my opinion, irresponsible.
We don’t know:
- How many more foreclosures will happen in the Charlottesville/Albemarle/Central Virginia area. Heck, we don’t even know accurately how many there are now or how many are still out there that have not yet hit the market, nor do we know with any trustworthy accuracy how many foreclosures have sold this year, although … Continue reading…
What’s the Population Cap for Charlottesville and Albemarle?
Should there be a population cap for Charlottesville and Albemarle? Who should decide?
If the "maximum" population is X, what happens when we reach X + 1?
Make no mistake, ASAP is a slow-no growth organization; their URL is stopgrowthasap.org, for goodness sakes. That said, there is some merit to evaluating the impacts of growth on our region. I just wish that, with all such matters – politics, transportation, growth – there was a wider recognition that Charlottesville and Albemarle (CharlAlbemarle) are not isolated in the Central Virginia region.
If nothing else, hopefully this report will help … Continue reading…
