One realtor tried to market the area north and south of West Main Street as “midtown,” though it hasn’t really caught on.The city calls the area south of West Main “Fifeville” after the Fife family, who once owned a farm in this area…. According to a UVA oral history of the area, Castle Hill was home to prominent African Americans and whites at the turn of the 20th century, until, in 1912, the city resolved that it should be illegal for whites and blacks to live next to each other and “the whites moved away.”This law was struck down by the Supreme Court a few years later…. Joe Mallory, an African American man who grew up nearby, had been buying and renovating houses near the intersection with the help of the Piedmont Housing Alliance in 2002.Mallory’s efforts, along with a police crackdown on prostitution, the success of the Downtown Mall, the growth of the University, low interest rates, etc. drew investors, speculators, and homebuyers in search of value to Castle Hill…. The neighborhood association has succeeded in stopping (for now) two proposed condo projects, one on Estes Street, near Walker Square and the other at the corner of Ridge and Cherry.Proximity to the Downtown Mall and the UVA Medical Center (for those of us who work there) is the main attraction of Castle Hill.
Browsing Category Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods within and without Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville Neighborhood – Belmont
Contract today’s image of Belmont as a hot bed of urban hipsters living in gentrified Victorians walking and riding bikes to the Downtown Mall with this fascinating paper written in 1980 by James H…. Mr. Buck’s prediction came true:Belmont has, in the past, somewhat of a bad reputation, but critics need to take a new and closer look at this promising neighborhood of the future.Its proximity to the Downtown Mall is one of the driving forces behind its growth. When selling a house on Hinton Avenue a couple of years ago, I was astonished to find that the tenant had no idea where my office is – on the busiest corridor in the area – because he never left the Belmont/Downtown Mall area…. Condos are the latest trend, with (LEED certified) green condos on the way, and new construction condos generally have not suffered the same drop off that condo conversions have.
Charlottesville Neighborhoods – question for readers
Do you love your neighborhood?… As part of the series, I would love to include stories written by those who actually live in the varied neighborhoods. While I have lived in Charlottesville for nearly 20 years, and have been in real estate for six, I have actually lived in just a few of the neighborhoods. So, consider this a “help wanted” post!
Charlottesville Neighborhood – Downtown Mall
While not technically a “neighborhood,” the cultural hub of the City of Charlottesville is the Downtown Mall…. One of the better and more selective lists has been compiled by the University of Virginia Law School.The cultural draw emanates from the Mall to all neighborhoods with even a peripheral or tangential relationship to the Mall. Far-flung neighborhoods are frequently marketed as “walk to the mall,” when, in all reality, that “walking distance” is more equivalent to a healthy bike ride. Some of the more popular neighborhoods that are within a reasonable walk to the Mall are: (links are to large PDFs)10th & PageBelmontFifevilleLocust GroveMartha JeffersonNorth DowntownRidge StreetStarr Hill Woolen MillsNote that not all parts of all of these neighborhoods are “walkable,” but most are walkable, if not bike-able.An interesting podcast that touches on the history of the Downtown Mall can be found at CvillePodcast.
Neighborhoods of Charlottesville series
Tomorrow begins an ongoing series on the neighborhoods in and around Charlottesville, Virginia…. If you want your neighborhood listed, want to write your own description about your neighborhood, or have link you want added, please contact me or note you comments below…. Dislike?Within the City of Charlottesville, here are the neighborhood association contacts…. To eventually cover every neighborhood in the area – not just those in the City of Charlottesville, but within the County of Albemarle, Fluvanna and (slightly) beyond.