City budget falls just one percent
Unlike deeply cut Albemarle, Charlottesville proposes a $141 million budget that will fall just 1.19 percent while still funding new sidewalks, storm water programs, parkland acquisition, and housing initiatives. The budget keeps the current 95 cents per $100 value tax rate and provides a $2.8 million economic downturn fund.
Updated 2:45pm
Read more on: budgetcharlottesville
102 comments
Thanks Albemarle! Raped again, to the tune of 18 million dollars, by Cville.
I like it, Uncle Gasbags.
"Neat, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Me angry!"
Read: You didn't understand the reference.
That's ok, dumb-dumb. I'll spell it out for you. Stuffed shirts, flighty airheads and dejected losers (DT Mall, your words) are a better commercial atmosphere than throngs of teenaged gang-members duking it out in front of locked-down storefronts (FS Mall). Get it?
Probably not - your prescription pshychoactive medications are no match for your stupidity.
Poor thing. (Me still cackling at your dumb a55!)
The Mertilator = Outskirts Guy.
No I'm not but if you want to think of me as them I don't really care, it just goes to show how blind you people all are at the fact that someone who has actually lived in the area so long understands how much better it could be except for the airheads who live here and the brain dead leadership. And how stubborn you all are changing anything despite the fact it would only make the city more prosperous. But I guess it plays into your laughable "Charlottesville tradition" to do things the wrong way then when ends don't meet charging more taxes and putting the burden on the productive. Like for instance making residency in the city so expensive by keeping retarded "historic districts" of little rathole 90 year old houses so that people have to live in nearby counties, then refusing to upgrade the roadway system to accommodate the extra traffic that ensues. Seriously, it's no surprise Charlottesville is such a socialist Democrat haven, only that demographic could be so bereft of any sense of cause and effect they could make such a mess of everything.
I daresay you'd have difficulty finding any circle (cretinous or otherwise) who would acknowledge your version of the "truth."
And I'll bet the Unabomber and Timothy McVeigh felt the same way you do.
Good luck with that.
No Dog In This Fight,
I think some of the comments made by the County residents over the city and it's residents' choices make the City residents annoyed at the County. I've been a resident of both, and I find the County to be as full of self-righteous self-entitled lazy people as in the City.
The Downtown mall leaves much to be desired in choice shopping, but I wouldn't hold up the 29North development as some sort of commercial mecca. The Mall used to have a lot of needs based businesses, and those were pushed out to meet the needs of wealthy county shoppers looking for cutsie baubles not supplied by box stores, forcing city residents choosing a truly urban/pedestrian lifestyle to commute to places like Pantops for food or supplies. The whole Belmont frakus is a classic example of how a small town commercial district meeting the needs of it's locality is destroyed for the benefit of discretionary fun dollars of outside patronage. What's wrong with the county businesses that they somehow can't meet those needs?
The real point here is that many county residents want the convenience and services of a city and often earn their bread in the city, but they don't want to pay for those conveniences and services.
Living in Nelson County is living in the county. Taxes are low. Services non-existent. That's county living. If that's what Albermarle County residents want, that's what they should do.
Mertilator: "Haha... self delusion... eat an $8 hamburger and tell myself it’s steak too [what the!!??]. Downtown’s nice in the spring and fall... carbon monoxide poisoning... Or paying $4 for a 8 oz. cup of beer just because some no talent strummers are playing?... Stockholm Syndrome... airheads who can’t walk in high heels get themselves hurt?... Napoleons..."
All I can say is, "wow." Anybody who mistakenly thought you to be rational now stands corrected. (I really hope "No dog in this fight" read your little diatribe.) As I said before with respect to Fridays After Five, feel free to never enter the city limits if it bothers you that much. You won't be missed. Clearly, you find everything within the city to be so odious. You have not been quite as clear about what type of "local scene" (your words) you prefer, or why you feel you can only find it in the County. I wonder about the genesis of your obvious disdain for the city and city dwellers ("mindless city zombies"). You really seem like a bitter, sad person who has a handle on what he/she hates. But do you know what you like?
For the record, 1) this mindless city zombie fully supports construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway (better put away that broad brush); and 2) blaming the city for lack of progress on an Eastern Connector seems a little unfair since (correct me if I'm wrong) it would be built IN THE COUNTY!
Gasbag: "Anna Wu, Fridays After Five, the large crowds present, and being able to legally drink beer in public isn’t what I consider the downtown mall.
Yes, those people like the bands and beer, but it isn’t the mall."
Then I guess I'm not really clear on what you consider to be the downtown mall. Do the restaurants count (which I mentioned in my earlier suggestion to you)? The locally owned shops and businesses? How about the Pavilion? The other smaller music venues? The street musicians and artists? The park-like, open atmosphere?
So Fridays After Five ain't your thing? No biggie. I think the weather's supposed to be a little warmer this weekend - head over to the mall on Saturday afternoon and have some lunch (or just take a stroll). I'll bet you'll see plenty of folks out and about who "like the mall."
Yeah "irrationally negative" in other words not afraid to call out a crappy money pit for annoying people anything else, who all cry out like excited chickens whenever anyone wants to do anything to improve it.
Hmmm ... tried to send this--hope it's not a dupe. But @Cville Eye. True dat on the housing bubble, but I don't agree overassessment of housing has been the city's salvation. The big source of the big year-end surpluses has been the lobster trap on the mall--the direct revenue it gives us and the indirect (meals taxes). I actually think the county was hurt worse by the housing bust. We had soaring assessments, but we never had the sitch they had--where the median price of new home construction was $800K and builders were whining they cdnt do affordable housing cuz it cost them $350 a sq ft to hit a nail. As for the Mall--I think that was a combination--the rebricking hitting at the exact same time as the world financial meltdown... And hasn't Cherry Avenue always looked like that? But Miss Vickers is right. It's gonna get worse before it gets better so we should stop the whining and the finger pointing and work together.
Mertilator: "...not afraid to call out a crappy money pit for annoying people anything else, who all cry out like excited chickens whenever anyone wants to do anything to improve it."
Right. Extremely rational. And not remotely negative... (This is me circling my ear with my index finger and pointing the other index finger at you.)
Mertilator,
I think the fact that you regard a burger joint (as outstanding as Riverside is) as the highlight of the local scene (whatever that means??) speaks volumes about your perspective. For some reason, you clearly have an inferiority complex when it comes to downtown. I couldn't tell you how many restaurants close each year in the city OR the county. But feel free to ask the guy who owns Arby's in Forest Lakes about the county's zoning boards if you think they're such hot stuff.
And nobody's begging you to come to a Fridays After Five. Please stay away. You would only ruin the good time.
No dog in this fight,
No offense taken. I love the county. Been a county resident off and on a few times over the years. Am currently a city resident. And I'm not being condescending at all. Just making light of an imbecile who seems to have a chip on his shoulder regarding all things within the city limits.
City and County SHOULD be working together, not constantly crying and moaning about a financial agreement that was entered into voluntarily years ago.
Gasbag,
When the weather warms up, go downtown after work one Friday. Grab a beer. Listen to some tunes. Stroll into a restaurant and have some dinner. The vibe everywhere will be upbeat but relaxed. And lots of folks will be there with you. They are the people who like it. You might be too. :)
That's what's called instinctively knowing the truth despite the fact no one in your circle of cretins will acknowledge it. A first step in the right direction.
Huh??!! Where are you coming from?! Captain Planet? Participation trophies? You have SERIOUS issues, my friend. Guys like you should stay away from Post Offices.
I believe I pointed out that the DT Mall is not perfect, but that's no reason to want to firebomb the place. (I still think you must've gotten your a55 kicked by some goth chick when you were in high school.)
Speaking of talking forever without saying anything, I'm still waiting for you to make a lucid statement that isn't laced with over-the-top vitriol.
Yeah because they have so much in common with a person who loves technology, is social, and yet thinks it's sad and morbidly funny that we have such easily solvable problems that never get fixed, and yet it constantly confounds everyone in town. More proof that you really have no thoughts that weren't put there by someone almost as stupid and that your grasp of reason doesn't make it past 3 word sound bites.
@Cville Eye--sorry didn't check in after about 10 a.m.--I almost put that source in. It was a figure at a Chamber luncheon back in 2006 where the topic was affordable housing. None of the moneybags dudes batted an eye. The $350/SF figure came from the wife of the chamber's then president. One of the panelists was talking about the difficulties of building affordable housing at $150/SF and she said something like, "150? 350 is what we're paying in the county."
no, i think it's outskirts guy. more and more people know his real name so I think he's switching to a new nom-de-online-plume. the venom and the hatin' and the superiority complex is the same, though.
Don't strain your mind on my account. I'm sure it's already got its hands full figuring out what breakfast cereal seems most "nouveau" and I doubt it could handle figuring out any actual problem.
Special K, I think you'll find much more accurate infomation about that period at https://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/Forms_Center/Departments/Board_o...
and here http://www.albemarle.org/upload/images/forms_center/departments/housing/...
The price per sq. ft. was averaging about half of what she said.
"Clearly, you find everything within the city to be so odious. You have not been quite as clear about what type of ââ?¬Å?local scene” (your words) you prefer, or why you feel you can only find it in the County. I wonder about the genesis of your obvious disdain for the city and city dwellers (”mindless city zombies”). You really seem like a bitter, sad person who has a handle on what he/she hates. But do you know what you like?"
No I just hate airhead mentalities like you who can't see past your own eyelids and parrot on and on about the overblown crap that no one except 5 dozen mindless blatherers talk about. I love the Corner, I like Barracks Road when it's not crowded, but to say Downtown is anything but a joke just shows how absolutely bereft of any taste or judgment you are. Look at the downtown of most other cities and you'll see good parking, good local bars and eateries that aren't giant ratholes or for wine tasting self-styled "socialites" who are sad laughingstocks because they think Charlottesville has some culture that doesn't exist. But don't mind that, some people paid some other people to say C'ville was "#1 in the country" or whatever 8 years ago so keep on clinging to that and the Civil War I guess, since the long departed past is the only place it has any prominence.
Like I said... Wow.
The culture of an area is what you bring to it, I guess Anna is enraptured by a combination of boring stuffed shirts and greasy high schoolers/burnouts. Which are its main attractions any time that's not Friday or Saturday night eight months a year.
"I suppose available commercial space has nothing to do with it. Apparently Mertil’s abundant grey matter leads him/her to think that we should just bulldoze the downtown mall and throw up a Cosco. Brilliant! Thanks Mertil! Because, as everyone knows, the true measure of a town’s quality of life is the number of big-box, chain department stores it has."
Damn right. If there was a Cosco/Walmart/Target/TGIF or some other chain in that area the downtown would thrive. Give people a place with useful stores and they will shop and spend. The town's quality is measured by peoples interest to be in that town and not by the number of old buildings that are serving no purpose.
Gasbag, ain't it always the transplants that don't like it and want to change it??? Like you said, go back to where ever they came from if they don't like the way things are done.
Those darn transplants took ar jerbs!
"a $2.8 million economic downturn fund"
This 2.8 million dollar number sounds familiar.
"Yeah most places full of stuffed shirts, flighty airheads and dejected losers are peaceful, what’s your point?"
That's rich - commerce is enhanced with the addition of a little ultra-violence. Make sure to include that in your manifesto: "A Clockwork Mertilator."
"Oh right I’ve offended your retarded sensibilities so you have to defend them to pretend to have ââ?¬Å?bettered” me or something."
You poor thing. You're taking this so personally. How can a 100-person brawl that ends up shutting down a shopping facility possibly be a reflection on YOU?
Oh yeah, that's right - you're nucking futs!
If the planning commissions understood economics and would put the occasional big department store inside city limits (and working with it instead of acting like a bunch of little Napoleons) instead of creating some schizophrenic nightmare of scrunched up crap malls, it would draw business to the little speciality shops while allowing a tax base to grow. Instead they keep ugly 80 year old "historic" buildings that only get occupied by Cheech's Bong Shop because they're unfit for any self respecting business in the 21st century and contribute no revenue.
Aberdeen Barn is great, it would be even better if I could walk across the street to a Wal-Mart after I ate there.
Why don't you get off your "money is evil" kick and figure out how to work a balance sheet like people that make your cloud headed lifestyle possible?
Yepper: "Made possible by a higher city tax rate AND 18 million bucks courtesy of the county taxpayers”Š. Don’t be misleading cityresident."
Who is being misleading here? Without that "18 million bucks courtesy of the county taxpayers," many of those county taxpayers would now be city taxpayers because they would have been annexed long ago.
Made possible by a higher city tax rate. If Albemarle had the same rate as the city they could adequately fund the services that their growing population needs.
Stop whining Albemarle. You guys actually voted yes for this before the BOS approved it.
Trust me, Charlottesville would be MORE than happy to go back and do it over, annex the area and not even listen to your crying today.
You want lower taxes, AND what downtown Charlottesville offers, and to change the past and have the future. Try this, next time you want to go out and have some fun on a friday night, head on down to Crozet and make it happen. Dont even think about the Downtown mall...or our pools...etc etc etc
Made possible, I'm sure, by Albemarle County taxpayers.
Yeah, you were looking down on it being full of "teenage gang members", a stupid libtard euphemism for when they want to be racist but want to do it in a politically correct way. Another thing you can't recognize because you're delusional and can't step out of your own skin for 2 seconds. While you're just fine with the dirty goth losers and stinking hippies at the Downtown Mall who do even less with their lives but are acceptable to have around because they're big sissies and let you feel "diverse" while being anything but. "Not in my backyard," the credo of Charlottesville.
I only use cretin because they filter out other descriptive words that would apply more closely. And yes I know your tastes, you're just like every other wanna be "socially conscious" drooler in this town who thinks you're so aware because you eat hummus and pitas three times a week and have a cloth grocery bag and want to get a hybrid someday. When in reality you're a mindless sheep who has no taste and thinks that getting the similarly worthless approval of all your insular cultureless flockmates makes you "cool" and "antiestablishment" when all it means is that you've never done anything actually worthwhile in your life.
Wow. Project much? Actually, I was using the incident at Fashion Square to illustrate the point that the County has plenty of problems of its own for somebody to be casting aspersions elsewhere (Was I really that vague? Maybe for some [read: you]). As for the racial component, well you simply need to take another walk down the downtown mall to see how utterly off-base you are.
By the way, I drive a truck (and plan to for years) and ate McDonalds for lunch today. I don't have a cloth grocery bag and can't tell you the last time I had hummus. But thanks for playing.
Again, project much?
Bwah-hah-hah! You're priceless! (I nearly spit up my drink when I read that last bit.)
I'll leave the categorization of Charlottesville/Albemarle thug-life to you since you seem to know so much about it. It would appear though, that you've added a new grudge to the many you already held against the downtown mall - the ethnicity of its gang members are not to your tastes (whatever those tastes may be, and I have no inkling what you imagine my tastes to be since you know absolutely nothing about me). You know, it's funny - I don't remember any racial references in my earlier comment that would send a reasonable person off on such a tangent. Project your own biggotry onto others much?
"Cretin." You really like this word. Must've just learned what it means. Maybe learn a new one.
And feel free to point me in the direction of these "New Psychology/We're all winners" books you keep mentioning. I've never read any, but maybe I should so that I can understand what the hell you're rambling on about.
I certainly hope that one day your doctors will publish a paper about you. It would be fascinating to hear about your actual diagnosis. "Crazy" is just so vague.
P.S. Gasbag. I like the Mall.
And I like the Riverside Lunch. The two experiences are not mutually exclusive.
Neat, you are a perfect representation of the "cultural" cretins in Charlottesville. Making "artistic" references that don't even make sense in context to show how smart and witty you are, when it just makes you look both pretentious and stupid. Too bad you're not even observant enough to grasp the irony of that (or this sentence either probably). But don't worry, anyone who's not part of your little carnival of dimbulbs knows.
No straining required to see what a psycho you are. My bacon and eggs were yummy this morning. How about your antidepressants and Zanax cocktail?
Almost forgot... sorry to hear about the near-riot Friday night at your beloved Fashion Square Mall. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that IN THE COUNTY? Downtown Mall was nice and peaceful all weekend. (Me still laughing at your dumb a55!)
Do you listen to yourself talk or is it usually just a mad dash to say the first semi coherent English that pops into your skull cavity? I give reasons why the Mall sucks and you say "overly negative" as if that's an answer. That's why I correctly assumed you were one of those airheads taught we should only "think happy thoughts" or whatever passes for education lately.
I'm actually starting to get a kick out of this guy. The little Napoleon who rails against little Napoleons. Poor little fella (snicker).
Mertilator: ââ?¬Å?I give reasons why the Mall sucks and you say ââ?¬Ë?overly negative’ as if that’s an answer.”
Let's explore some of these "facts" to which you allude:
- The Downtown Mall consists only of dime shops manned exclusively by surly stoners.
- All the Big Box stores locate outside of the city limits because of the incompetence of city decisions makers ââ?¬â?? without regard to space or transportation realities.
- Best Buy does not count a Big Box Retail chain because, well, you say so.
- Planning commissions are full of ââ?¬Å?little Napoleons.”
- Historic buildings should be torn down and their ââ?¬Å?Bong Shop” inhabitants replaced with Big Box Chains because old buildings are unfit for any self respecting business in the 21st century.
- People who disagree with you think money is evil and are not able to work a balance sheet.
- I guess it would be great if we all went back to pulling water out of wells with hand pumps too because that’s the way our daddy’s daddy’s daddy did it. (God only knows what you meant by that)
- deleted by moderator (Must’ve been a doozy)
- The ââ?¬Å?Downtown” experience means a half hour wait and a surly waitress and a small pitcher of beer. Like, John Grisham and Dave Miller forever, tee hee! (Who the hell is Dave Miller?)
- I’d rather eat at Riverside than any of the overrated alternating rathole or snobatorium restaurants Downtown, that’s for sure (and yes I’ve been to both). I think the fact one of the few exceptional exceptions to the low quality local scene is expanding outside the city limits proves my point well. How many restaurants in city limits close every year because of the tyrannical zoning boards or the crappy roadway systems they never improve or the airheads like you that mindlessly parrot your ââ?¬Å?Charlottesville tradition” mantra like a zombie? Or of course the bottom rung residents employed there who carry on the C’ville tradition of laziness because ââ?¬Å?Screw you, I’m better.” Has to be at least a dozen. (WOW, bitter much?)
- Friday’s after Five, now bringing you ââ?¬Å?Jeb and the Banjo Pickers.” Next week’s venue: ââ?¬Å?Fifteen Mustached Women playing Cello.” (again, WOW)
- Haha, yeah I wish I could have the self delusion necessary to eat an $8 hamburger and tell myself it’s steak too. (????)
- The Downtown Mall is one of the few places in the city that you can walk without carbon monoxide poisoning.
- The Eastern Connector will somehow be located within the city limits. (Really?)
- City Dwellers: a bunch of useless old ladies who get their knickers in a twist because their favorite tea shop got axed.
- The UVA Corner and Barracks road are the height of cultural sophistication, but the Downtown Mall is a joke - full of giant ratholes for wine tasting self-styled ââ?¬Å?socialites” who are sad laughingstocks because they think Charlottesville has some culture that doesn’t exist. Oh yeah, and the UVA Corner is located in the County. (Really?)
- The culture of an area is what you bring to it. (Still scratching my head over that one)
- Downtown Charlottesville is a crappy money pit that annoys people.
- Anybody who disagrees with you is an airhead, all of the world’s problems are the fault of Captain Planet and participation trophies.
Facts, huh? You, sir (or madame) are a sad little troll. And I am now CONVINCED that you got your a55 kicked by a goth chick in high school and never got over it.
Oh I meant Dave Matthews, sorry that I misremembered his name since he blows and barely ever played here but naturally Charlottesville people latch onto him like he was the next coming of the Beatles and really gives two rat farts about the place.
Actually Dave Matthews does a lot for Charlottesville. He makes sure to give back to the community financially, and not just to the big wigs either. He's been known to donate to small causes that the average Charlottesville resident isn't aware of, but it was brought to his attention and he made a nice donation. I'm not a fan of his music but I'll give props to the man for what he does.
Mertilator,
I think you would be happier in Lynchburg.
i'm pretty sure mert is the same t(r)oll who used to call himself crozetite or something like that. moved here for some reason and isn't happy. could go home but would rather bitxh. needs a hobby i guess and found this to do.
Yeah let's pretend nothing is substandard and everything's great, we're all winners as long as we try hard enough. This is what happens when you raise airheads on Captain Planet and everyone gets participation trophies, you get ding bats like this who talk forever while saying nothing.
Cville Eye: ââ?¬Å?'”Š head over to the mall on Saturday afternoon and have some lunch”Š' What is this obsession with eating hamburgers? Does Anna Wu = Five Guys?"
Relax Eyeball. Just trying to answer Gasbag's narrowly framed question of "who likes the downtown mall?" I didn't suggest he get a hamburger in particular (no, I don't work for five guys). The hamburger discussion was initiated by the lunatic who finds the culture of Riverside North, The Corner (which, by the way, is in the City Mertil), and Barracks Road to be demonstrably different and vastly superior to the Downtown Mall.
Fantastic, so one fight makes a more or less profitable place to do business worse than a crappy money pit that can't even afford advertising without help from the city. I guess it's because all those Abercrombie "thugs" (as if any of the real bangers went to Fashion Square) don't meet the skin requirements and read the same cretin books full of "we're all winners" New Psychology crap you read. Channel your inner racist much?
"I think the fact that you regard a burger joint (as outstanding as Riverside is) as the highlight of the local scene (whatever that means??) speaks volumes about your perspective. For some reason, you clearly have an inferiority complex when it comes to downtown. I couldn’t tell you how many restaurants close each year in the city OR the county. But feel free to ask the guy who owns Arby’s in Forest Lakes about the county’s zoning boards if you think they’re such hot stuff.
And nobody’s begging you to come to a Fridays After Five. Please stay away. You would only ruin the good time."
Haha, yeah I wish I could have the self delusion necessary to eat an $8 hamburger and tell myself it's steak too. Downtown's nice in the spring and fall because it's one of the few non-park places you can walk without carbon monoxide poisoning since city roads are the most laughable ever, but actually buying things there? Or paying $4 for a 8 oz. cup of beer just because some no talent strummers are playing? Yeah right, you must have severe Stockholm Syndrome, or like I've been saying, just have no taste. Is it worth $4 million to revamp just so some airheads who can't walk in high heels get themselves hurt? Only in the minds of Napoleons who need their power trip fix.
"Lots of businesses in the city collectively have thousands of workers that don’t live in the city”Š but over and over folks in the city rally against helping those businesses succeed by getting their employees and customers to work and shop in the city. A road that shoots workers and shoppers into the city? don’t even try it”Š (see Parkway, Meadowcreek; see the eastern connector) Yes, we need public transit and bike lanes, but California proved that even if you stubbornly refuse to build roads, growth still comes and quality of life goes downhill”Š"
Bingo. Because every mindless city zombie is scared to death of losing the "tradition" of crappy malls and an inadequate roadway system, the C'ville area is going to remain a tangled mess with an increasingly worse tax base. And of course instead of fixing the actual problems, it's easier to leech off productive areas so a bunch of useless old ladies don't get their knickers in a twist because their favorite tea shop got axed.
Here's a concept. Could it be that the city has been -- gasp! -- well led and well managed? That the budgets, based on a tax rate that many have scoffed at as insanely high, have in fact been realistic and adequate to meet the demand for services? (Many of which are not, by the way, available in the county.)
Here's another thought. Could it be that the city's development decisions -- the WIDELY vilified new zoning (Maurice Cox's vision) that created the new mixed-use zones; the joint venture on the Pavilion; and many others -- have been beneficial to the bottom line, turning a place that folks thought of during the reversion debate as a sinking ship into something that might not be a cash cow but that is certainly self-sustaining?
The county had the opportunity to get out of the revenue sharing agreement in the early '90s by accepting David Toscano's reversion idea. Y'all didn't want us. We were too poor. We were going nowhere. And you laughed when you got the Legislature to give us the big kiss-off... So we reinvented ourselves -- really, what else could we do?
And we did it under stewards who were certainly not perfect and who loaded us up with unintended consequences -- but whose main idea was keeping an eye out for what we'd do in case of a rainy day. A rainy day that we knew was coming. (And I always thought Gary O'Connell was Henny Penny. Now I'm saying thank you Gary O'Connell.)
The county made different choices--to the tune of around a quarter per $100 in lower taxes. It made folks feel superior during the flush times. And feeling superior for a long time was its own reward... until this year ... when it suddenly was not.
All I can say to Bud, Yepper, Gasbag, Mertilator and all the rest is ... bitter much? If you feel screwed on the revenue sharing agreement then be assured that there are plenty of other agreements -- struck when the population of the city and the county were roughly equal -- where we have gotten screwed.
And I'm thinking the city would be SO open to ending revenue sharing. We'll just take that little lot right across from the Kmart. What did they call that again? Albemarle Place? And the Fashion Square Mall--or maybe Pantops. And we don't mind taking the residents. Under us, they'll get some nice landscaping, a break on the parks and pools they're already using and curbside recycling.
Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.
Special K, the city was doing well financially for the last eight years because of the housing bubble. Currently, the Mall is full of vacancies for residential and commercial uses, Cherry Avenue looks shell-shocked, W. Main looks abandoned and Preston Avenue looks like it's looking for a purpose. The city's salvation has been mainly the constructon of new housing and the over assessment of existing housing.
Mertile: "Oh yeah those burgers at the Nook sure are different from the ones at Riverside or pretty much Applebees for that matter because of that ââ?¬Å?Downtown” experience which means a half hour wait and a surly waitress and a small pitcher of beer. Like, John Grisham and Dave Miller forever, tee hee!"
Wait a second. I'm no fan of the Nook either, but The Riverside is a locally-owned business in the city limits (perhaps you are only familiar with the one up by Forest Lakes). By your professed rationale, since it's not a national chain, and it's located in the city, it must suck. "Freebird!," right?
Careful, your stupid is showing.
Dear County Residents,
As a taxpayer who pays for you to drive on our streets, use our parks (I'm looking at you softball teams), swim in our pools (Anyone else notice it was all non-city residents who stood up and complained last year about the city closing McIntire Wading Pool?), you can gladly have your money back.
However, expect to pay a toll every time you enter the city and use one of our parks for free.
I'll gladly have you know, I don't shop in your stores. If it ain't in the city limits, I don't bother.
I suggest you do the same.
Way to go though on increasing funding to the SPCA over the schools. Nice to know a dog is more valued than your children.
city resdent, are you telling me you never leave the city limits?
taterhole: "Damn right. If there was a Cosco/Walmart/Target/TGIF or some other chain in that area the downtown would thrive. Give people a place with useful stores and they will shop and spend. The town’s quality is measured by peoples interest to be in that town and not by the number of old buildings that are serving no purpose."
Wow! Have you ever even BEEN to Charlottesville? You sound as though you've never even passed through. We have this downtown mall. Alot of people really seem to like it. You should visit sometime.
deleted by moderator
Cville Eye - He might leave the city limits but 29 is state funded corridor.
"Wow! Have you ever even BEEN to Charlottesville? You sound as though you’ve never even passed through. We have this downtown mall. Alot of people really seem to like it. You should visit sometime."
You could say I have been there a few times.
I am willing to bet that more people shop and browse at that little place on 29 in 2 hours than visit downtown during a full day. Throw Walmart/Sams in the mix and we are probably down to 1 hour.
Fertile Mertil: "Wow an average Charlottesvillian, can’t imagine for a second anyone in the world would be less than ecstatic about a bunch of stores just because it’s THEIR stores. Narcisssism squared."
Wow an average hayseed yokel, can’t imagine for a second anyone in the world would be less than ecstatic about a bunch of stores just because they're the same friggin stores found in every other backwater in the country! Lemming to the infinite power.
Still waiting for the address of that bong-shop you live in, by the way.
It's still in the county (and city too for that matter). He never visits anybody in the county or pick apples? Been to Cabell Hall or Alderman Library?
Oh yeah those burgers at the Nook sure are different from the ones at Riverside or pretty much Applebees for that matter because of that "Downtown" experience which means a half hour wait and a surly waitress and a small pitcher of beer. Like, John Grisham and Dave Miller forever, tee hee!
I'd rather eat at Riverside than any of the overrated alternating rathole or snobatorium restaurants Downtown, that's for sure (and yes I've been to both). I think the fact one of the few exceptional exceptions to the low quality local scene is expanding outside the city limits proves my point well. How many restaurants in city limits close every year because of the tyrannical zoning boards or the crappy roadway systems they never improve or the airheads like you that mindlessly parrot your "Charlottesville tradition" mantra like a zombie? Or of course the bottom rung residents employed there who carry on the C'ville tradition of laziness because "Screw you, I'm better." Has to be at least a dozen.
No offense, Anna Wu, but your attitude toward county residents is what makes people hate the city. I don't have a dog in this fight, but you need to ease off your high horse and try and be more welcoming. City and county should be working together, and not be condescending toward the other.
taterhole: "I am willing to bet that more people shop and browse at that little place on 29 in 2 hours than visit downtown during a full day. Throw Walmart/Sams in the mix and we are probably down to 1 hour."
Great! But I've never seen a free concert at Walmart, or had dinner outdoors on a warm summer evening in the parking lot of Sam's Club.
quote: "We have this downtown mall. Alot of people really seem to like it. You should visit sometime."
I keep hearing that. But I have never met anybody who likes it. Who are all these people who like it?
Oh, yeah, you bring up a great point with free concerts. Friday's after Five, now bringing you "Jeb and the Banjo Pickers." Next week's venue: "Fifteen Mustached Women playing Cello."
Can't we all just get along?
hey city resident... before you bust on non-city dwellers for driving on your roads they aren't driving on them to peep in your windows... they are on their way to spend money that the city uses to build pools parks and roads... (and the occasional green roof)
I would imagine if the county residents boycotted the city and vice versa the city would cry uncle first...
...by the way old timer 250 and 20 are also state roads are they not?
County Drools!!!: "No danpri, we’ll come into your town and raise a ruckus, force you to pass ridiculous noise ordinances, pee on your lawns and then drive away in our SUVs and guess what? There’s NOTHING you can do about it!! Thankfully Rob Bell and Bob McD are about to take that 2.8 million BACK. Every single year; straight up."
It appears to me that (even without the 2.8 mil that Delegate Bell is helping you renege on) you are still paying $18 million a year for the priveledge of coming into my town to act like a horse's azz. And there’s NOTHING you can do about THAT!! Every single year; straight up.
I don't even live in Belmont, so knock yourself out! Thanks for the cash.
Best Buy doesn't have nearly the volume a Wal-Mart or Target does (translation for Anna: less tax revenue) and even so was very lucky our Circuit City sucked and closed down or else they'd be hurting. You'll notice all of the big department stores start building right where the city line ends, doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out why although unfortunately for Anna it does take a minimal amount of grey matter to fathom.
quote: "Stop whining Albemarle. You guys actually voted yes for this before the BOS approved it."
Well, actually, this is where the problem lies. The folks in Albemarle County voted for the revenue sharing agreement. The ones whining about the agreement now are all the transplants who moved into Albemarle County over the last few decades who thought they were getting away from high taxes, traffic congestion and over population. They need to STFU and pay their taxes. Or go back to where they came from. :)
"The culture of an area is what you bring to it..."
You simply must share the location of this bong-shop that you frequent. I can only assume that you are high right now, because I don't know what the HELL you are talking about...
"I guess Anna is enraptured by a combination of boring stuffed shirts and greasy high schoolers/burnouts. Which are its main attractions any time that’s not Friday or Saturday night eight months a year."
Did you get your a55 kicked by some goth kid in high school? Or did somebody wearing a tie make fun of your mullet? Is that why you have this chip on your shoulder? Look dude, I come off in this thread as some sort of cheerleader for the DT Mall. The reality is that I appreciate many aspects of this area - city AND county - and try to enjoy them all. IS the DT Mall perfect? Of course not. Are there "boring stuffed shirts and greasy high schoolers/burnouts?" Of course. But you'll find those everywhere else in this area too, including Fasion Square, Barracks Road, the Corner, etc... I guess I just cannot understand why somebody can have such an irrationally negative attitude toward something that I regard as a pretty nice amenity for this area.
"... head over to the mall on Saturday afternoon and have some lunch..." What is this obsession with eating hamburgers? Does Anna Wu = Five Guys? If the downtown mall was doing that well comercially, we would see a lot more shopping bags and a lot less vacant apartments, offices, and storefronts. The Mall is dead Monday - Friday day, Monday - Thursday night and not thriving on Saturday nights. It is what it has been for the past twenty years, a park with a few commercial adjuncts and no amount of cheerleading is going to change that. That's why we continue to spend millions on the public areas and subsidize the merchants advertising dollars with money derived from merchants in other parts of town.
The amount of taxes generated from Barracks RD Shopping Center far exceeded the amount from downtown at least 15 years ago. The difference has become so large that they haven't reported the figures in the paper at least 15 years ago. Just about the time people started criticizing the amount of tax money being poured into downtown in an attempt to draw more people downtown for reasons other than Fridays After Five which now lasts 15 out of 52 weeks.
No, Cherry Avenue hasn't always looked like that. With a supermarket, eateries, bank brankc, 7-11, laundromats, bread outlet, multiple filling stations, etc. it was a thriving commercial district.
Miss Vickers, what do you mean by tourists, people who want to visit Monticello? Or do you mean visitors? As for retirees, a large number of retirees do not want housing that does not provide complete single-floor suites (living, kitchen, bath and bedroom at the minimum) and that's hard to find around here. So there's a limit to that market.
Special K, where the figure of $800k for the median price of new construction in the county come from. I've read quarterly real estate reports for central VA for several years and have never seen anything close to that figure.
The total brick facelift on the mall is still ongoing. And it was $7+ million, not $4 million.
Now its city vs county? What happened to black vs white and liberal vs right wing?
The city and county will really see some serious issues when the feds and state cut back even more. We had better all get prepared for more service cuts or more taxes or most likely a combination of both.
Both governments are full of career people who get raises every year and whos health insurnce goes up becuase of their age regardless of inflation. We really need to work together to bring tourism money into the area to give us more reveneue that does not burden the schools. We should also consider enticing retirees to relocate here since they don't have children in school and rarely cause problems with the police and court system which can be costly to the taxpayers.
(Me chuckling) Yeah, Ted Kazinsky thought he could fix everything pretty easily too. Have you written YOUR manifesto yet? Here's a three word sound bite for you, psycho: tick, tick, tick...
Re: Riverside... not a fan of businesses that think they own the concept of the greasy spoon hamburger on a paper plate... if I need a burger in the Forest Lakes area its Martin's or the chain...(five guys)
Re: the City vs. the county... well, the city seems to think they don't owe anyone anything and the county thinks it is getting the shaft on the current revenue sharing agreement. I understand much of the county angst...
That agreement was in 1982... well before my time... when I came here in the mid 90s, the city was threatening to revert to a town... and one option being bandied about was to revert to a town... annex land that way... and then reincorporate. That got stopped by the legislature...
Lots of businesses in the city collectively have thousands of workers that don't live in the city... but over and over folks in the city rally against helping those businesses succeed by getting their employees and customers to work and shop in the city. A road that shoots workers and shoppers into the city? don't even try it... (see Parkway, Meadowcreek; see the eastern connector) Yes, we need public transit and bike lanes, but California proved that even if you stubbornly refuse to build roads, growth still comes and quality of life goes downhill...
Now the county has tried stupid stuff too... they think that if they cut their funding to the regional library system, folks in Greene and Madison and C'ville should suffer for it. The school stuff is stupid too... I'm all for lower taxes, but even though I don't have kids, I realize that if I have to pay an extra $200 a year in taxes to get good schools, that school's reputation will add $5k+ to value of my house down the line when I sell it. Look at the current price difference for equivalent homes on opposite sides of the Greene/Albemarle border.
But damn! The county is cutting left and right and not giving teachers raises... and the city is getting a multi-million dollar check from the county and giving out holiday bonuses...
I don't know... why the animosity?
Anna Wu, Fridays After Five, the large crowds present, and being able to legally drink beer in public isn't what I consider the downtown mall.
Yes, those people like the bands and beer, but it isn't the mall.
The issue of transplants is interesting. One of the tragedies of modern America is local government almost everywhere being run by elected officials who got there by appealing to the interests of people who are "just passing through".
I don't know how you could pull the numbers together, but I'm curious about registered voters in Albemarle County. What percentage lived here 5,10,20 years ago and how many years is the average time a voter lives in this county. I recall well when the revenue sharing agreement was reached and why. It was at a time when the "strip-malling" of 29N was in full swing. A man named Leonard Farber I think had just gotten mad at the city because they jerked him around with his permit application to put in a shopping mall in that triangle between between 29, the bypass, and Hydraulic rd. He went on up the road and built Fashion Square Mall with the county's blessing. The city was all set to grab all that prime commercial real estate and gut the county's tax base. So the county considered it a good deal at the time and it probably still is a good deal.
The Mertilator: "You’ll notice all of the big department stores start building right where the city line ends, doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out why although unfortunately for Anna it does take a minimal amount of grey matter to fathom."
I suppose available commercial space has nothing to do with it. Apparently Mertil's abundant grey matter leads him/her to think that we should just bulldoze the downtown mall and throw up a Cosco. Brilliant! Thanks Mertil! Because, as everyone knows, the true measure of a town's quality of life is the number of big-box, chain department stores it has.
I bet you prefer Appleby's to the Aberdeen Barn too.
Well I'm glad you're the end all be all of anecdotes. Most everyone from Greene and the southern end of Madison County drives down 29 to one of those stores for a good portion of their supplies, especially the ones that commute to Charlottesville for their jobs. And it's not like everyone buys big ticket items there either, the smart ones shop online where you can get discounts from low overhead operations. Best Buy sells new releases and basic technical expertise to people who have no idea about technology, there is no way they have the market share to take in the 5-10 million yearly that either Target or Wal-Mart sell.
Specialty shops no matter how much square footage they have aren't the biggest tax getters.
quote: "Best Buy doesn’t have nearly the volume a Wal-Mart or Target does..."
I wouldn't bet $5 on that. In the last 5 years my family has spent maybe $2,500 in Walmart. On the other hand, we have spent around $10,000 in Best Buy (laptops, big screen televisions). Combined with the fact Best Buy most likely saw a tremendous increase in sales when Circuit City went out of business.
The Mertilator: "Then instead of big department stores that contribute to tax revenues we’d get two more Starbucks, fifteen more dime shops manned exclusively by surly stoners and all the stores that actually bring in revenues would have relocated to Greene or far up 29."
You mean like Best Buy? Nimrod.
I will agree that smart people sit on their money and do shop around. But not one online merchant has ever beaten the price on any big screen television, desk top computer or laptop computer I have bought from Best Buy. You just have to watch closely online and in stores to know when and where to buy.
A transplant who's only lived here 28 years and thinks it's the height of morbid comedy how the willfully ignorant and those with the highest ratio of voice box to sense make all the decisions. I guess it would be great if we all went back to pulling water out of wells with hand pumps too because that's the way our daddy's daddy's daddy did it.
Here's a link to a copy of the actual revenue sharing agreement: http://www.cvillenews.com/2010/02/12/revenue-sharing-agreement/ I believe it states that the city is prohibited from establishing such things as commeter taxes while the agreement is in place. Also, I do not believe that State law allows a municipality to annex just the commercial properties adjoining; it must ann4ex the adjoining residentail properties and provide any urban amentities that are non-existent, usch as water, sewer, sidewalks, etc. It's not a something for nothing win for the city. That's why the terms of annexation are worked out in court and the agreement is binding.
"Trust me, Charlottesville would be MORE than happy to go back and do it over, annex the area and not even listen to your crying today."
Then instead of big department stores that contribute to tax revenues we'd get two more Starbucks, fifteen more dime shops manned exclusively by surly stoners and all the stores that actually bring in revenues would have relocated to Greene or far up 29. Cutting off your nose to spite your face - a Charlottesville tradition.
No one has ever been denied the right to pay additional money to the government to fund any service they want. If people want to pay more, they may. But they don't have to reach into other people's pockets for things they want.
For God's sake, get over it, folks! Stop the whining! Albemarle agreed to the revenue sharing plan rather than give up land and a tax base to the city. Had Albemartle not agreed to it, the land would have been annexed decades ago with success. Target, Lowes, Walmart, etc... and the airport would probably be in the city limits now. :)
re:"Made possible by a higher city tax rate. "
Made possible by a higher city tax rate AND 18 million bucks courtesy of the county taxpayers.... Don't be misleading cityresident.
Rodney Thomas said on the Coy Barefoot show tonight; that he, and others, were able and willing to pay higher taxes, but that he worried about those who could not. Why not raise the rate and give assistance to those who genuinely would be hurt by this, as the City does.
Click on podcast at Charlottesville Right Now with Coy Barefoot to hear Mr. Thomas's comments:
http://www.wina.com/
Gasbag's right, and the city can still annex property if they get the inclination(with a little help from Richmond).
Be happy the city hasn't thought of instituting a commuter tax on people who work in C'Ville but don't live here. They tax everything else, which is probably why they can spend away without a significant deficit.
No danpri, we'll come into your town and raise a ruckus, force you to pass ridiculous noise ordinances, pee on your lawns and then drive away in our SUVs and guess what? There's NOTHING you can do about it!! Thankfully Rob Bell and Bob McD are about to take that 2.8 million BACK. Every single year; straight up.
City .. County .. County .. City WGAFlyingF? They are all crooks!
Deleted by moderator. (Opinions are okay, insults are not.)
write it down I bet we will be the proud owner of an ice rink soon whats 4 mill between friends
quote: "Gasbag, ain’t it always the transplants that don’t like it and want to change it???"
Yeah. Like the ones who moved here, bought houses in Forest Lakes, and now they want all the commercial signs restricted in their "neighborhood", like Arby's for example. What the hell did they expect when they bought in a "neighborhood" so close to a commercial district? :)
Wow. Sounds like we've found our next city manager! I certainly hope you throw your hat in the ring, Mertil. You'll probably get lots of support from the scads of folks not on the Planning Commission who want to see historic buildings torn down and replaced with Mega Lo Marts. Good luck with that.
By the way, please direct me to the nearest "Cheech's Bong Shop" in Charlottesville. I gotta get me some of what you're smoking. (For the record, I am not aware of a single head shop in this 'burg.)
Also, never seen a Walmart yet that I would feel comfortable crossing the street on foot to reach. They're usually either situated on very busy highways or set apart from anything else nearby.
Your hysterics are hilarious though! Don't even know me and talking about "money is evil." Priceless! Delusional, but priceless!
Yeah most places full of stuffed shirts, flighty airheads and dejected losers are peaceful, what's your point? Oh right I've offended your retarded sensibilities so you have to defend them to pretend to have "bettered" me or something. Well have fun, it still doesn't change the fact the Downtown Mall sucks and is a complete moneypit waste.