Tonight marks the first of several candidate forums highlighting the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors elections…. In no particular order, but under the sub-heading of Growth: Affordable Housing, the environmental impact of growth, infrastructure, planning and development, water, jobs and last but not least, taxes.Make no mistake, this is an opportunity to change the direction of our County in a positive way; the status quo is not always the best direction. I encourage all to educate themselves, attend the candidate forums if possible, listen to any available podcasts …… One of the primary complaints that I hear from the public is that they hear about changes in the County only after they have been voted on. Speak up now.
Date Archives October 2005
Growth, politics and the market (morning reading)
Tom McCrystal has a nice post.Conserve energy.The NYTimes causes a stir this morning with a report on the housing market.Greene faces its future with their Board of Supervisors elections.Development issues in Louisa and Fluvanna.Everything in this region always comes down to money, politics and growth.
October Newsletter
I have just release my October Newsletter. Please email me if you would like me to mail or email you a copy.
Wine Talk
Did you know that October is Virginia Wine Month?To celebrate, Tastings of Charlottesville has partnered with Wordcast Productions to produce the first Charlottesville/Central Virginia wine podcast. If you are interested in the region’s wine, this is an excellent listen. Central Virginia has an extraordinary number of excellent vineyards that consistently produce excellent wines…. I believe that this in an excellent opportunity to accomplish a few things – first, to continue my love of wine, second, to be a part of a format that I believe will only grow and three, increase my business’ and my blog’s profile in a segment of the real estate market I believe to be very desirable.
Urban transit and the monorail
This discussion over at Slashdot sheds some light on why the monorail project in Seattle appears to be coming to a crashing halt.Is mass transit economically feasible?… As a result, these cities tended to emphasize a “build up, not out” approach to development resulting in more compact cities realtive to their size.Then came the concept of Suburbia….country living for everyone…. It also means that unless it’s a fairly comprehensive network (even more expensive) it’s ridership will be relatively low.We’re not ready yet to address mass-transit or the requisite land-use policies and issues that are involved. Urban sprawl and all that it entails ensures that urban transit will be expensive, whether using fossil fuels or mass transit.This and this are two of the more interesting parts of the discussion.
Roundabouts and the Meadowcreek Parkway
The merits of roundabouts seem to be gaining traction in the Charlottesville area, thanks in part to efforts of groups such as the Free Enterprise Forum, and a few in Loudoun County. On the other side, however, is a Supervisor in Loudoun County – from a Leesburg Today article by Dusty Smith – Snow seeks to defund the project, asking supervisors to send letters to the county’s congressional delegation and to the state, suggesting that the federal money be redirected to hurricane relief in the Gulf states and that any state funds earmarked for the projest be shifted to improve Rt…. “Other people have needs.â€Efficient transportation is not a mere convenience, but one of the primary responsibilities of government…. The Free Enterprise Forum’s Review of Reasonableness states that Our brief assessment suggests that the 2/3-lane hybrid roundabout concept is the preferred grade concept: it can accommodate future traffic volumes, likely can be built within existing right-of-way, and is compatible with the 2-lane Meadowcreek/McIntire and 4-lane U.S. Route 250 roadway configuration.Again from the Leesburg Today article – “analysis indicates that at locations where single lane roundabouts have been installed there has been a 68 percent decrease in the total accident rate/million vehicles entering the intersection, 100 percent decrease in the fatal accident rate/million vehicles, an 86 percent reduction in the injury accident rate/million vehicles and a 41 percent reduction in the property damage†as a result of accidents.How does one argue with these results?