The Charlottesville Area is More than Charlottesville and Albemarle
September 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This is me in the latest edition of Abode in the C-Ville Weekly. The purpose of the article was to expose people to the idea of looking at real estate in the more rural areas that surround Charlottesville and Albemarle as potentially better long-term investments.
Most of the attention in our area has always been focused on Charlottesville and Albemarle (heck, my personal site is titled “Charlottesville Area Real Estate”). Truth be told, however, the outlying counties (Fluvanna, Albemarle, Louisa, et. al.) have always provided a very attractive alternative to living in Charlottesville and Albemarle. They have been attractive because of their relative affordability.
The contrast in price between Charlottesville/Albemarle and its surrounds was quite stark a few years ago. The first buyer client that I ever worked with came to me looking for a home in Albemarle. For the home he was seeking at the price he could afford, Albemarle had 4 homes listed in the MLS. Fluvanna, on the other hand, offered 30 homes. Where do you think he bought a house?
That gap is now lessening, however. As the market became hotter and hotter, prices rose dramatically in the more rural counties. While those rural counties still tend to be more affordable, for a number of reasons, the gap has shrunk to the point that now people have a real choice to make when they come to the area. The spillover from Charlottesville and Albemarle has lead to economic growth in Fluvanna, Louisa, and Greene especially. This growth has made these areas more attractive to people who previously would only have considered living in very close proximity to Charlottesville. Growth on the west end of Richmond has also made Fluvanna and Louisa attractive to people who may work in Richmond, a market that didn’t really exist 3-5 years ago.
Is one area a better long-term investment than another? That question is much more difficult to answer, since there are vast differences within the counties themselves in addition to those differences in relation to each other. The real estate boom that the Charlottesville area has experienced recently has certainly changed the dynamics of the market. That C-Ville Weekly would even do feature story on real estate in the rural counties is just confirmation of that fact.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, fluvanna, louisa, greene, albemarle [/tags]
Zion Crossroads Providing Much Needed Commercial Development
July 18, 2007 | 1 Comment
Anyone who lives east of the Charlottesville/Albemarle area, knows all too well the drive into Charlottesville. For decades, residents of Fluvanna and Louisa especially, have made the drive into Charlottesville for dining, shopping, recreation, etc. That may soon be changing.
Zion X Roads (the area where Rt. 250, Rt. 15 and I-64 intersect) is quickly developing into the next major regional commercial location. There have recently been a few news articles regarding the planned development, which I will be covering in a few upcoming posts. On the horizon for Zion X Roads is a new Best Western Hotel (opening August 1), a Super Wal-Mart, a Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, an upscale outlet mall, and plenty of other retail and office space. Combine all of this with what already exists in that area, including the growing community at Spring Creek, and Zion X Roads is sure to offer area residents a viable alternative to traveling into Charlottesville. It may also attract people out of Albemarle and away from the south side of Richmond, now wouldn’t that be a feat!
Time will tell how the development at Zion X Roads will affect the Charlottesville area, but one thing is for sure– it is an area whose time is long overdue.
[tags] Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Virginia, Realtor, commercial development, Zion Crossroads, [/tags]
Do You Want Richmond in Your Backyard?
September 1, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Watching the local news last night, I came across this story. It would appear that our legislators in Richmond now find it necessary to dabble in the planning of counties and cities throughout the Commonwealth. You can read the law, as it will be enforced, here.
Any time big government steps in to do the job that it previously had allocated to local governments, there is always the danger of running afoul of the Law of Unintended Consequences. In this case, there is no possible way that those in the Capitol could have possibly considered all the things that affect planning and zoning in Virginia’s counties and cities. From what I can gather of the law, it would appear that the main concern of legislators is population growth and density, and how it affects development. My guess is that this is one more attempt to avoid what many people refer to as "urban sprawl." In case you don’t know what that is like, try visiting anywhere in the DC-Metro area for a few days. . .urban sprawl sucks.
The problem with this law is that the only consideration it gives is to cluster subdivisions. As far as I am concerned, the jury is still out as to the effectiveness of cluster subdivisions when it comes to controlling and directing growth, while at the same time preserving open space and the rights of property owners. In my home county of Fluvanna, for example, the Board of Supervisors approved a rural cluster subdivision ordinance in 2004. It drastically changed the way property could be developed in the county. To date, not one single cluster subdivision has been built. Now, a few are currently in the works, but no one is going to be able to accurately evaluate their effectiveness for at least 5-10 years.
Technical problems with the law aside, this is just bad legislation, if you ask me. I can’t think of even ONE good reason why delegates and senators from places hundreds of miles from my county should have ANY say over the planning and zoning of my county. In my opinion, the planning and zoning of counties and cities should be left up to the people directly affected i.e.– the citizens of those counties and cities. Perhaps the only thing more disturbing to me than the proposal of the law is that it was approved by a vote of 88-8.
People in Orange County apparently share my sentiments, and are planning to circulate a petition to all the county and city governments in the Commonwealth, asking them to voice their displeasure in the law.
Hmmmm . . . where do I sign?
Fluvanna County Reservoir?
August 23, 2006 | 1 Comment
Those of you who live in Fluvanna, or are at least familiar with it, know that public water is a big issue. Fluvanna recently partnered with neighboring Louisa County to build a pipeline from the James River that would carry water all the way to the Zion Crossroads area, in order to aid in development there. Fluvanna has already gained the necessary approval from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to build the pipeline, and is in the bidding process for the project.
The latest development in the water saga occurred at the most recent Fluvanna Board of Supervisors meeting, as reported in the Fluvanna Review. The following is from the Review Article about the meeting:
A possible complement to the proposed James
River water pipeline to the Zion Crossroads area has emerged. In a
presentation to the Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Plan work
session on Infrastructure, Mr. Minor Eager suggested that a reservoir
could provide water to the Zion Crossroads business corridor.Mr. Eager would build a 235-acre (about 1 billion gallons) reservoir on
his property, and fund it through the private sector. If constructed,
it would include a 360-degree water/sewer treatment facility, thereby
substantially reducing county costs for water treatment and storage.
Planning Commission members took the proposal under advisement.
I find this to be an interesting development. For starters Mr. Eager has been very active in the movement to preserve the rural areas of Fluvanna, and it is good to see that he is willing to step up and personally help the county. Secondly, he proposes to fund it through the private sector. This is significant in that Fluvanna is already planning several other public projects that are requiring increases in the property taxes of residents. As Mr. Eager is proposing the reservoir, it would not place additional burden upon the tax payers, while still achieving Fluvanna’s stated goal of increasing water availability.
I sincerely hope that the leaders of Fluvanna County will look very closely at the feasibility of Mr. Eager’s proposal. I am always an advocate of ideas that will serve the public good without reaching in the pockets of the public.
Monday’s Big Answer– 7/24/2006
July 24, 2006 | Leave a Comment
On Friday, I asked what the impact will be of Charlottesville losing coverage in the popular media. Now I give you my opinion. . .
There is certainly some portion of the population that has moved here due to the heralding of the Charlottesville Area by popular media. I remember distinctly that when Charlottesville was named a top place to live by Fodor’s, our office received a tremendous spike in phone call and Internet inquiries. Of course, some of this interest is casual, but some people actually decide to move places based on these rankings.
There is no doubt in my mind that this area is a great place to live. We have many positives (low density, major public university, low crime, great health care). It was only a matter of time before the popular media picked up on these things. What this did was begin to create competition among localities. Every locality wants to attract people in order to improve their economy, and as a matter of pride. For every area that was mentioned, there were 4 or 5 others saying, "Hey! Look at us! Look what we have to offer!" Now that Charlottesville would appear to be on the outside looking in, what will happen?
I think that, believe it or not, we are already beginning to see the effects of this lack of attention from the media. In the past, the community did not need to do its own marketing, there were plenty of outlets willing to do it for us. That is no longer the case. Now, the community cannot rely on people finding Charlottesville because they read about it in Money Magazine, or saw a story on The Today Show. The community must learn to market itself, and seek out publicity, if it intends to continue to attract residents and businesses.
Many in the real estate industry have grown complacent. It has always sort of been assumed that, "if you built it, they will come." That used to be true, because people were hearing about it all over the place. Now, that is not so much the case. New subdivisions that have plenty to offer are finding out that it may be a bit harder to convince people to move here when they don’t have the popular media to rely upon for help. A developer or builder used to be able to say, "It’s great to move here. You don’t have to believe me, Money Magazine says so." Now, that can’t be said. The Charlottesville area is going to have to do a better job of publicizing the great features of our area.
Like it or not, we live in a media/ratings driven society. Information is everywhere, and readily accessible. Everything in our lives is ranked in terms of quality, size, affordability, etc. and those rankings are publicized on everything from cars to clothing stores, to schools, to places to live. If Charlottesville still wants to be desirable to the general public, it is going to have to find a way to continue to attract attention from the places that control the attention of the public.
Hopefully, losing some popular media coverage now will help the area in the future in that it will force people to go out and work to attract attention. It will cause people to look for things that make the Charlottesville Area attractive, and publicize those things. If this doesn’t happen, and people just sit back and say, "oh well, it was good while it lasted," then I am afraid that perhaps Charlottesville truly has jumped the shark.
Technorati Tags: best places to live; jump the shark
Friday’s Big Question– 7/21/2006
July 21, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Time for Friday’s Big Question . . .
Perhaps the most interesting post I made this week was about how Charlottesville is no longer listed in Money Magazine’s 100 Best Places to Live. About 2 months ago, the cover article in The Hook posed the question– Has Charlottesville Jumped the Shark? My question for you is this:
What is the impact of Charlottesville losing coverage in the popular media?
Just in case you were wondering, find out what it means to Jump the Shark.
Technorati tags: jump the shark; best places to live
Monday’s Big Answer to Development Question
July 17, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Well, after the 2nd edition of Friday’s Big Question, there was a 100% increase in the number of responses. Albeit, that meant that there was only 1 response (thank you Bryan), but we have got to start somewhere, right? At any rate, I encourage all of you to not only read the blog, but to respond to the posts that you find. Trust me, it will make things much more interesting.
Now for my Big Answer . . .
Area localities certainly have their hands full when it comes to achieving a balance between the desire for increased development and the desire for sustained quality of life. The attractiveness of the Charlottesville area is a double-edged sword. One the one side, people are attracted here because of the slower pace of things, the rural character of the land and scenery, and the overall quality of life. On the other side, the more and more people that move into the area, the easier and easier it becomes to erode the very things that brought people here in the first place.
Luckily, most of our public officials are very aware of this situation. To that end, most localities have developed a Comprehensive Plan to deal with growth. Most of the time, these plans involve selecting areas in a county that are designated for growth, and selecting areas that people would like to see remain undeveloped. These plans usually involve planning for infrastructure and capital improvements as well. Of course, every county’s Comprehensive Plan is just that– a plan. It is not written in stone, and as the elected officials change, and the residents change, so can the plan. That, however, is a good thing. Area localities need flexibility when it comes to dealing with growth and development issues.
In my opinion, the best thing that area localities can do when it comes to balancing development and quality of life is simple– stick to the plan. If you trust that the things you have decided to do will lead you in the right direction, then just do those things. Of course, other issues will most certainly arise; but if the plan is good to begin with, it should be much easier to handle unanticipated issues.
How does sticking to the plan apply to growth and development? Well, for starters, any proposed development needs to be carefully considered at every stage in the process. It begins in the Planning Commission, and ends with the Board of Supervisors. Every proposal needs to be put up against the Comprehensive Plan to ensure a good fit. All aspects of a proposal need to be considered as well. It isn’t quite as simple as just putting a shopping center in one place, or 100 homes in another. Every proposal has its drawbacks and its benefits. All of those things need to be examined before a decision is made.
To summarize, balancing development and quality of life is not going to be easy. It is going to take time, and the results of our efforts will not be known for years to come. If, however, we can be mindful of all the issues at play, and continue to plan for growth, it will make the task that much easier.
Fluvanna/Louisa Pipeline Update
June 13, 2006 | Leave a Comment
The Daily Progress recently published a story on the approval of a James River pipeline in Fluvanna. The pipline would service Fluvanna and Louisa counties by bringing water from the James, through Fluvanna, and up to Zion X Roads.
Water is something that both counties are in desperate need of, if development at Zion X Roads is to continue. Fluvanna, especially, would like to see the pipline bring some much needed commercial development into the county.
Water, Water Everywhere. . .
June 5, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Fluvanna and Louisa counties have been working for quite some time on a possible water pipeline to bring water from the James River through Fluvanna to Palmyra and Zion X Roads. This water is desperately needed in Fluvanna if there is to be any commercial development in the county. Not to mention it is an integral part of Fluvanna’s plan to build a new high school. The project helps Louisa as well, by enabling further development of the Zion X Roads area, which has been stalled by a lack of water. In what could be viewed as a minor setback, the pipeline was only approved for 3 million gallons/day, as opposed the the requested 6 million/day. No matter how much the final total is, any water that is available to the counties will be a benefit to the area’s residents and potential visitors.
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
