Interesting take on Cville... what do you think? (Charlottesville: fit in, buy)

[KatieNK]

I recently came across this and thought I would share it here. It is quite interesting and informative but VERY long...


Charlottesville - what to expect

[loveautumn]

Yikes

[luv4horses]

Lots of details! The link does supply a lot of food for thought, and maybe helps explain a few things to people who have lived in Charlottesville for a long time. But surely many cities have such craziness and still survive in spite of it.

[sregorat3]

Originally Posted by luv4horses

Lots of details! The link does supply a lot of food for thought, and maybe helps explain a few things to people who have lived in Charlottesville for a long time. But surely many cities have such craziness and still survive in spite of it.

No... I think Cville is one for the ages. Just recently read some comments on Cracker Barrel declining a location at the intersection of 5th and I-64. One person replied the Cracker Barrel didn't really fit in such an enlightened area. Now that is delusional! Lots of folks in those 10 square miles are really out of touch with reality.

[badger74]

"Aside from transportation the pros do ok. Transportation is in a class of its own here. This is a hard city to move cars through, and anti-vehicle Luddites in and out of government want it even worse.

Charlottesville is one of the few small cities to make getting around difficult intentionally. The government doesn't cotton to private vehicles and goes out of its way to inconvenience drivers. They treat the city like a resort island reached only by bridges. "

I said traffic and getting around was a pain. Noticed it right away.

[KatieNK]

Badger, my husband noticed right away, too! The first week we lived here, he said the traffic lights were horribly controlled and it took me awhile (since I dont get out as much as him) but I eventually saw it, too. Its crazy! They need more intelligent light patterns! As for the rest of the article, I thought some of it was just getting nit-picky. For example, the long rant about the path put in along the Rivanna Trail near Pantops, I think the path is nice and was well-needed. Silly rant.

[ShadowBat]

In regards to that article, I didn't read every word as it is waaay too long. But from what I did read, it seems that the writer lives in a delusional world of their own making. Most points had basis in fact, but were seriously exaggerated.

As to the traffic situation here, yes it sucks the big one. From pedestrians walking into moving flow of traffic, which by the way is illegal, to buses nearly sideswiping you pulling out of their stops, to the zombies behind the wheel who are in a hurry to go nowhere. And the lights are indeed out of time with the flow of traffic. I especially hate camera operated lights, even though most places are using them, as you can't predict when they will change. If one car pulls up to an intersection and you're zooming along with the flow of traffic, that light will most likely change unexpectedly causing you to either run a red, or slam on the breaks with the risk of getting rear ended.

[GustavoFring]

Originally Posted by ShadowBat

In regards to that article, I didn't read every word as it is waaay too long. But from what I did read, it seems that the writer lives in a delusional world of their own making. Most points had basis in fact, but were seriously exaggerated.

As to the traffic situation here, yes it sucks the big one. From pedestrians walking into moving flow of traffic, which by the way is illegal, to buses nearly sideswiping you pulling out of their stops, to the zombies behind the wheel who are in a hurry to go nowhere. And the lights are indeed out of time with the flow of traffic. I especially hate camera operated lights, even though most places are using them, as you can't predict when they will change. If one car pulls up to an intersection and you're zooming along with the flow of traffic, that light will most likely change unexpectedly causing you to either run a red, or slam on the breaks with the risk of getting rear ended.

Just a heads up, they aren't camera based, they use magnetic sensors under the road surface. That's why small, plasticy scooters or motorcycles don't set them off.

[ShadowBat]

While that is true, cameras are used as well. Most intersections here have cameras visibly mounted on the poles, and on Rt 29 especially, you can see both the camera and the light for emergency vehicles. Coming out of Hollymeade Town Center is the best example. But either way, magnetic or camera, it's annoying. My in laws live in Greene County and I'll be zooming up 29 at 60 mph with traffic, and when I get to NGIC, one lone car will come up to the light and trip it so all of us on the main road either slam on our brakes or run a red. If lights were on timers, you could gauge when a light might turn easier.

[cittic10]

Unsynchronized traffic lights is hardly unique to cville.
Smaller cities everywhere want vehicles stopping at each light. They don't want people speeding through town and hey they might actually stop and buy a cheeseburger or something.
And it's not just smaller cities. Spend 10 minutes in any of Florida's major cities and tell me how many lights you get through. Some would say the lights down there aren't synchronized. Oh... they're synchronized allright. They're synchronized so that you have to stop at each one.

While commute times should definitely be a concern of a prospective new resident, traffic lights seems a little trivial to me. If that made the "cons" list, consider yourselves ahead.