Tag Archives: 22902
Riding my Bike from Downtown Charlottesville to Belvedere Neighborhood
It can be done. In under 20 minutes.
If the City of Charlottesville would finish their side of the Meadowcreek Parkway, the ride would be a bit faster and easier.
I rode my bike from Nest to the Belvedere neighborhood today because I wanted to:
1 – Be able to tell my clients/demonstrate it could be done
2 – Save gas
3 – Get exercise
4 – Enjoy the insanely beautiful if inconsistent weather we’ve had today.
Mission accomplished. In under 20 minutes.
Find more Bike Rides in Charlottesville, VA
Note to my wife: I wore my helmet. Continue reading
Christmas Trees in and Around Charlottesville
Oh, Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree …
Where do you get Christmas trees in (around) Charlottesville?
The place where we used to cut ours when I was a kid is now a subdivision.
Here are a few where you can cut your own:
- Ralph’s Christmas Trees in Nelson County
- Foxfire Farm in Buckingham County
- Bit-O-Honey Farm in Fishersville
- An aggregate site for pick your own Christmas trees
- Greene Meadows Farm in Greene County
- Kris Kringle’s Tree Farm in Nelson County
(The ones in Nelson get my vote as they’re on the Brew Ridge Trail)
And here are a few favorites for pre-cut Christmas trees -
- The Ivy Store on 250 West
- Boy Scouts’ locations all around town (we frequently get ours in from the ones in Crozet)
- AM Fog in Nelson (just before Blue Mountain Brewery on 151)
- In Albemarle Square, they have trees and are a local family that has been selling trees and wreaths for over 100 years Continue reading
City of Charlottesville Real Estate Market Update – First Ten Months of 2011
One big notation: I’m no longer comparing today’s real estate market; what happened in 2005 – 2007 and before is interesting, curious, anomalous and ultimately irrelevant to today’s real estate market. EVERYTHING is different now – interest rates, economic outlook, international economic events, gas prices, employment trends – making comparisons between this market and that market is a distraction.
The City of Charlottesville’s real estate market is unique – its mix of homes – single family, condo, townhouse, the fact that is has a relatively smaller percentage of newer construction and its more dense and urban location make it quite distinctive from the surrounding markets.
First, the bullet points:
- Active Listings – Fewer than last year, but still too high.
- New Listings – Fewer than the past two years and trending down; this is a very good thing. As fewer houses come on the market, more houses will sell and we’l be able to find our way through the current spate of houses on the market. *
- All Pendings (Under Contracts) – Higher than the last two years; this is a very good thing. People are buying real estate.
- New Pendings (Better reflecting current market activity) -
- Sold Listings – Slightly higher than last year.
I’d love to include the numbers and charts for Days on Market and the List Price to Sales Price ratio, but I have found that the only, only, only way to run these numbers with any degree of accuracy is to do it manually. For specific properties and neighborhoods.
Note also that these numbers and charts are for everything – single family, attached and condos – your market will vary.
* I’m not totally convinced that the houses that are coming on the market in the Charlottesville and Albemarle real estate market are the ones that buyers want to buy - whether size or energy efficiencies, I think that the inventory we’ve seen over the past 18 months has not quite matched to what buyers want, and this is a reason that we’ve seen the new construction market in the Charlottesville area do so well.
Now, the charts and graphs …
Showing Houses in Charlottesville – On a Bike
Well that was fun. Saturday, I showed a few houses to buyer clients. And we each rode our bicycles; and I’m looking forward to doing it again. April was my first time showing a house on a bike and I’d been looking forward to doing it again. As this was my first time showing multiple houses with clients, I learned a few things.
If being closer to bike paths equates to higher property values, what better way to experience bike paths and on a bike?
Notes/lessons learned:
- Riding a bicycle is an infinitely better way to learn a neighborhood than riding in a car – taking in the smells (think Belmont BBQ), the sounds (trains in Charlottesville), topography (if you’re planning on commuting via bike).
Eminent Domain in the Charlottesville, Take 2
I’ll be 50 before this road is built. (that’s just less than 15 years) Curiously, it’s taken nearly two years to get to this point ; Rachana Dixit reported in the Daily Progress June 15, 2009 : Charlottesville officials will attempt to exercise eminent domain to acquire the land necessary for Hillsdale Drive Extended’s first section, which is being built as a part of the new Whole Foods grocery store. The city is trying to get roughly 1.5 acres that are privately owned to start the multimillion-dollar road project, which would begin before the store’s construction. Those behind the new Whole Foods — Meadowbrook Creek, LLC is developing the property at 1801 Hydraulic Road under a 99-year ground lease that began in 1964 — agreed that the first portion of Hillsdale Drive Extended would be built as a condition of the project. But the road, designed to connect Hydraulic Road through the Seminole Square shopping center to Hillsdale Drive in Albemarle County, cannot be constructed until the land has been designated for public use. Continue reading
More Condos coming to Belmont – The Coal Tower Project
When following the links below, keep in mind two things: 1 – If you don’t own it, it’s going to change (one of the most common things I tell my buyer clients 2 – Growth and development moves interminably slowly; only journalists and lobbyists seem to be able to effectively track said progress.
… Plans call for a mixed-use project, with 64 townhouses (four above a parking structure), 118 condos, and a commercial segment that includes restaurants and retail on 2.77 acres of the site, Creasy says.
… The coal tower, a longtime landmark, is now becoming a focus of residents’ worries about connectivity, traffic and an altered skyline as it moves closer to redevelopment at the hand of Coran Capshaw.
… As an aside, cvillenews pointed out in 2006 how there was going to be a green condo construction project ,* which I noted in 2007 briefly in my Belmont neighborhood story . Continue reading
Bypass, Skyscrapers, Bike Lanes – What Infrastructure does Charlottesville (City) Need?
Might as well tell them . (of course, I’d wager there would be different votes should the follow up question be: now that you have expressed your wishes, would you be willing to pay for these improvements?) The poll is on the City of Charlottesville website . … Other: Real cooperation between the localities on infrastructure collaboration that is inclusive of all forms of transit – pedestrian, bicycle, vehicle – that is focused on what is good for the entire community. 
“… in the next 5 years …” I don’t know if that’s optimistic, delusional or dishonest. Continue reading
What Does “Livability” Mean in Charlottesville/Albemarle/UVA?
What do they hope to produce that will allow people of the Central Virginia region to move from here to there more efficiently, whether on foot, bike or automobile? … These include: • A performance measurement system, • a common land-use and transportation map, • identification of specific “livability strategies,” • recommendations for changes to local regulations, and • a plan for voluntary changes by the public and organizations to improve livability in the community.
…“It’s an opportunity to get in and learn a little bit about what we have been doing in past plans that gets us where we are right now,” said Cilimberg. “Part of this is a little bit of history and how we have evolved to where we are as a community in our planning processes.” Continue reading
