The traffic study work session next month should be interesting.As always, Cvilletomorrow has much more information as well as a podcast of the planning commission’s meeting.Wal-mart is finally coming to Greene County!… There has been much discussion locally about the merits of Wal-mart, but I do know that my clients in Greene will welcome this addition to their community. Soon they won’t have to go to Culpeper or CharlAlbemarle, Yesterday at an open house for a new development, I was interested to see that their solution, as approved by the County, to the affordable housing situation is to provide affordable “accessory apartments…. More at the County’s website.Fluvanna’s clustering is moving forward and Daniel has his thoughts on the newest Fluvanna development.Housing inventory is up, but development plugs on, and for many, that’s a good thing.
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Housing and Transportation costs
The Center for Housing Policy has released a fascinating report titled: A Heavy Load: The Combined Housing and Transportation Burdens of Working Families (PDF). It’s 32 pages long, so I have not had time yet to fully digest it, but the premise is fairly commonsense: It typically costs less to live farther from urban centers…. Driving farther costs more money.As I have noted before, important and clear parallels may be drawn between the Central Virginia and the Northern Virginia market:Among the regions studied,the Washington,D.C.–Baltimore has one of the least affordable housing markets. Both housing costs and housing as a share of income are especially high among the region’s outer suburban and suburban fringe areas.Except for married couples with children who bear the brunt ofthese high costs, Working Families are more likely to live in central city and inner suburban neighborhoods where housing costs and cost burdens are somewhat lower…. This is as true in central city neighborhoods as it is on the suburban fringe.In our market, by contrast, many of those in the City have taken advantage of the recent housing boom and sold their houses and moved out into th Counties…. Locally, just look at the numbers of people who are commuting into Charlottesville/Albemarle (CharlAlbemarle!).These are a few of the stories from my feed reader about this story:Bacon’s RebellionBusiness WeekCommenter EM Risse notes on Bacon’s Rebellion:Of course, as we all know by now, Autonomobility is a dead end. But shared-vehicle systems (aka, “mass transit”) cannot overcome random distribution of origins and destinations.For this reason, studies such as Albemarle’s recent one on residents’ opinions regarding growth serve only to perpetuate the myopic view which local governments continue to reinforce. Unless there is region-wide cooperation, transportation will remain as inefficient as it is today – and will only get worse.
Portland as “the” example?
Portland is often used as “the” example for how to manage growth effectively and efficiently…. Land use regulations affect housing affordability, sprawl, congestion, etc. Pretty much everything. How does Portland fit in?Did the Portland experiment work? After more than twenty-five years in operation, the results of the Oregon experiment are controversial and puzzling. Growth control in Portland, like the text of the Bible, seems to provide almost anyone studying it evidence to bolster a pre-existing viewpoint.Hmmm. How do we apply what they have learned in Portland to how we want the Central Virginia area to grow?… Where does the vaunted Neighborhood Model fit into the grand scheme?This Google search yielded some interesting results …… What seems to be neglected is an understanding of how all localities interact and connect.
Local traffic is truly a regional issue
An interesting discussion at cvillenews.com yielded, in addition to a thoughtful and cogent debate, this link that gives direction as to where the Charlalbemarle traffic is coming from.Who knew that an estimated 99 people commute from DC to Cville? Continuing to focus on transportation/infrastructure/growth issues on a county-by-county basis is myopic, short-sighted and frankly, silly…. Transportation and infrastructure are matters that are driven by and have a direct impact on the real estate industry and profession. More vehicular traffic on the same infrastructure will affect our quality of life.
Charlottesville Tomorrow
If pictures say one thousand words, this organization has and will have a lot to say.The press conference held today at the Paramount announcing their launch was attended by several members of their Board of Directors, politicians and, of course, the media…. They are a refreshingly non-biased organization whose goal is to educate the public on issues in a clear, concise manner that will foster discussion, public knowledge, involvement and action.Realizing that young people are not involving themselves due to choice or apathy, yet expect to have conversations about growth, environmental issues, transportation, issues, etc., the site has a blog. Blogs have proven to be an excellent and efficient format to engage young people and the public in general.Seeing Mitch van Yahres pitch his idea for a Ruckersville Parkway, Meredith Richards pitch cvillerail.org and Connie Brennan of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors ask for a regional partnership showed the level of interest and head start this group has already.In the words of Chairman Michael Bills, Charlottesville Tomorrow aims to be “profoundly non-partisan,” provide information that is “lucid, graphic and compelling” and an “advocate that people act.” Brian Wheeler mentioned the barriers to the public getting involved and their goal to help remove those barriers and that they want to “enable the public to learn more about the issues.”This group has high aspirations, more than adequate funding and superior leadership.
Expanding our horizons
If nothing else, hopefully this proposed road will broaden the typically myopic Charlottesville/Albemarle discussion of transportation. From today’s DP – Recently retired Del. Mitchell Van Yahres and two other prominent Charlottesville residents are promoting an environmentally friendly parkway to parallel U.S. 29 to the west.Ruckersville Parkway, a “very conceptual†idea according to proponent Gary Okerlund, would repurpose parts of Route 606, Earlysville Road and Hydraulic Road to become a 35- to 40-mph, two-lane alternative to hectic U.S. 29 in Albemarle and Greene counties….Step one (or even step 1a or 1b) really ought to be speaking to those who actually represent Greene. This could be a free road, and if it proposed by outsiders/neighboring legislators, the reaction will be negative.But one elected body has been left out of the process: the Greene County Board of Supervisors.
Wakeup Call: Does Charlottesville have enough water?
I have not yet listened to this Podcast (as my cable at home was down all night and afternoon), but the subtitle seems great in that it references “Central Virginia” rather than the myopic “Charlottesville”Listen to it at Charlottesville Podcasting Network. Our current and future real estate values are highly dependent on having sufficient infrastructure in place.