An eye-opening opinion on transportation
Read the first response to this post at The Road To Ruin. If you can, read the whole thing. ... new heavy rail systems appear much less energy-efficient than new bus services, when the energy needed to build roadways and track, the energy needed to…
Smart growth raises housing prices?
Our region ought to learn from other regions' mistakes ... Thanks to the Washington Times: Economists increasingly are concluding that the shortage of affordable housing in Washington and other major U.S. cities on the East and West coasts is a result more of man-made restrictions…
How can we pay for transportation needs?
The Washington Post has an article discussing how localities are preparing for the real estate market downturn: At the same time, officials increasingly are looking at what would happen if the housing market flattens so significantly that it no longer provides enough tax money to…
Growth, roads and APF’s
What happens when the Commonwealth does distribute some of its budget surplus and the County remains firm in their anti-growth strategy? The DP notes that: If state officials allow localities to pass adequate public facilities ordinances, as they're known, local governments could reject developments based…
Albemarle County BoS meeting … growth issues come to a head
If you are concerned, curious or just feel ignorant about where the Albemarle County growth process/issue, take 30 minutes to listen to this podcast provided by Charlottesville Tomorrow. I have attributed the quotations to the appropriate Supervisors and have indicated my uncertainty where necessary. One…
Eminent Domain update
This post at Bizzy Blog highlights some of the national and individual state movements towards protecting individuals' property rights, in response to the SCOTUS' Kelo ruling. Unfortunately, the author comes to this conclusion: I'm not happy with the idea that the “staying power” is already…
Land use, APFs and the public good
There is a good discussion over at the Road to Ruin about this article in the DP that highlights the conflict, yet necessary relationship between private developers and the public good/public infrastructure. Note also Bacon's Rebellion's discussion about the recent forum held by the State's…
Rivanna Village public forum
This is a good idea. From Jessica Kitchin's story this morning in the DP: On Tuesday, the 88-acre development will be the focus of a town hall meeting in the designated-growth area that surrounds it. "The residents of the Village of Rivanna will have NO…
December Forum Watch is out
The Free Enterprise Forum has published online its Forum Watch for December. This is an excellent resource for educating yourself about the goings-on in public policy, growth, etc in the region.
Where is Albemarle Growing?
All over. From Brian Wheeler's SchoolMatters: Where is Albemarle Growing?: I recently updated my analysis of the Albemarle County building reports from the past two years which document each quarter where new building permits are being issued in the County. These do not reflect newly…