Market Street Plaza Renamed – Now West2nd

Downtown Charlottesville continues to evolve. No matter how you name or brand it, the West2nd, neé Market Plaza, is going to reshape Downtown Charlottesville. More information on the project is here. We noticed the sign yesterday morning when walking from Nest to a meeting; one of the benefits of walking and knowing an area is being able to note new things.   Sean Tubbs with Charlottesville Tomorrow, naturally,…

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A Disco Ball, House under Construction, and Trespassing

Well, this is scary.

Parents: do you know where your kids are?

New construction – not just new homes, new hopes, dreams, operating systems … but opportunities for thieves to steal tools, vandals to start fires and parties and shootings, apparently.

From Richmond:

A house under construction in an upscale Chesterfield County neighborhood where three young people were shot, two fatally, may have been randomly selected as a party house after the gathering was promoted on Instagram and drew 200 to 300 people, police said today.

Relevant Charlottesville area story

 … bolding mine.

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(Urban) Planning for Self-Driving Cars

I don’t know the answers, but it’s worth the conversation and awareness. How are Charlottesville/Albemarle/Central Virginia planning for self-driving cars? They’re coming. Uber swallows self-driving truck startup Otto for $680 million Columbus’ smart city win may lead to autonomous trucks Local smart city planners want big government to butt out Jobs that can be performed by machines eventually will be performed by machines.  One day, society…

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Monday Reading – AirBnB, Smart Homes, Affordable Housing

“Can I AirBnB this?” is a question a lot more of my clients are asking. Everyone wants to tax AirBnB. Here’s how to apply to be taxed at Charlottesville’s site. Albemarle County are considering (they will) taxing AirBnb. I wish they would date their documents. Interesting point from a County recommendation in November 2015: “Albemarle County is currently at the statutor y5% cap for Counties; cities do…

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