Charlottesville Information (Richmond, Harrisonburg, Staunton: ski resort, fit in, for sale)

[CA****4]

I want as many people to chime in as possible.
Feed me with information about charlottesville and its surrounding areas.
Teach me about:
Weather (humidity? winters?)
Community (easy to fit in and be accepted?)
Activities and Attractions (other than the outdoors stuff with is obvious)
Average Home Price (4 bedroom with 5 acres)
Homeschooling (is it popular or is it taboo?)
Rural areas around Charlottsville (with populations 3,000-10,000)
Areas to 'stay away from'
Areas that 'have a mountain view'

AND any other opinions you might want to add.... I want to learn as much as I can before I drive there to visit & house search... and sadly this forum doesn't have a thread for charlottesville yet


The required information::

We are moving from upstate NY.
I am homeschooling mom, husband is contractor/carpenter (carpenters union)
We will spend up to 200K on house but need a view of mountains and acreage(5+)
Rural (smaller town) lifestyle but near (30 min) the city
Warm Apple Pie with vanilla ice cream and Chocolate on Chocolate Cake!!

[VaNative]

I think you should check out this website first...some of your questions should get answered on the website: Charlottesville : Home

[cville<>centerville]

Teach me about:
Weather (humidity? winters?) Humidity sucks, summer can be horrible, but I've never lived any further south, so I can't compare to the "real" south
Community (easy to fit in and be accepted?) - Have a UVA degree? No? Get one! UVA has a lot of influence around there area, and if you're under 30 and not already well-to-do you may come off as a townie redneck and not be accepted. I grew up there, so I'm a townie, however I went to college out of state. In general, there's a disdain for UVA students among townies mainly because the students are a bunch of rich outsiders who know nothing about, nor do they respect the rich cultural heritage of Charlottesville.
However, being liberal and smart will get you far. If you stay within the city limits or Albemarle county, you can find a generally educated, interesting populace that may accept you. I guess it's what you make it (like everything)
Activities and Attractions (other than the outdoors stuff with is obvious): The Downtown Mall is great. Growing up there, I just assumed all towns of similar size and stature had such a great pedestrian mall, but I've come to find its fairly uncommon. While it was a joke the first 20 years, it has really blossomed into something unique that gives cville an added bonus. Of course if you like outdoorsy sort of things, there's tons of that in the form of rivers, mountains and the beach a few hours away. UVA football is a big draw, however if you've ever been to a real college football game, the lame wine and cheese crowd is a bit pathetic. Since I've moved away, UVA's opened a new basketball arena designed to host large concerts to increase revenue. This has made it a central virginia hub for large acts such as NIN, the stones, springsteen, etc. For a town its size, I've been very impressed with the big name acts they've been getting. Radioheads management helps organize concerts at JPJ, so I'm hoping Radiohead will make an appearance in the near future (pure speculation).
Average Home Price (4 bedroom with 5 acres): In charlottesville? Well over a million dollars. In Albemarle, you're looking at probably 400-500k as a minimum. If you're willing to drive and live in redneck-land, you can have one for as low as 200-300 maybe.
Homeschooling (is it popular or is it taboo?): Charlottesville's public schools are halfway decent, however they become more ghetto the higher the grade level. Albemarle's are much better, but you also have the country redneck element that still seems to exist. Private school options are excellent, depending on the amount of money you want to pay. However, personally, I think homeschooling is doing a great disservice to your children by shielding them from necessary life experiences that helps them become a normal adult (just my opinion).
Rural areas around Charlottsville (with populations 3,000-10,000): Every little town in every surrounding county. Some have become yuppie areas (not a bad thing) such as keswick and earlysville, but that's much preferred to typical trailer park filled rural areas.
Areas to 'stay away from': Charlottesville has a large ghetto for a city its size. Most of those ghetto areas are concentrated near UVA, but fortunately they're being priced out on a yearly basis. If you don't want your kids growing up as rednecks, avoid living outside of Albemarle county, as the surrounding counties are rife with classless lowlife communities.
Areas that 'have a mountain view': Anywhere west. The blue ridge begins just to the west of charlottesville, so that's the best area.

If my characterizations have offended anyone, I don't care.

[Stpattylady]

I relocated here from another state. To specifically address your questions, see my comments below.

Weather (humidity? winters?)
Fall, lovely; Winters, mild relatively, but can get quite cold. Will see some snow, but no significant accumulation. If it does snow, even an inch, all the schools shut down. Summer, hot and humid - but tolerable.
Community (easy to fit in and be accepted?) Charlottesville, to include Albemarle Co., has a liberal feel, so you would think so. Honestly, there are a lot of "rural snobs" in surrounding Albemarle Co.
Activities and Attractions (other than the outdoors stuff with is obvious) There's Wintergreen, a ski resort, just west of Charlottesville. All man made snow though. Some very nice vineyards. There's the Downtown Mall with some pricey restaurants and expensive boutique style shops. University of Virginia and associated sporting events. That's about it. There is one small mall in Charlottesville; however, Short Pump Town Center, a large regional mall in suburban Richmond (Glen Allen), is about an hour away. There's another decent mall in Harrisonburg, about an hour away as well. There are a few very old movie theaters with a few screens.
Average Home Price (4 bedroom with 5 acres) For 4 bedrooms with 5 acres...In Albemarle, at least $500K - in a bad market, more if and when the economy improves. If you go "over the mountain" (term well known here) to either Augusta or Nelson County, the prices plummit. Same with other surrounding counties such as Fluvanna to the east and Orange to the north.
Homeschooling (is it popular or is it taboo?) Not sure if it's "popular", but definitely acceptable. I know of several homeschooled children in my neighborhood.
Rural areas around Charlottsville (with populations 3,000-10,000) Far western Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa, and Orange Counties. Since you looking for a town with a rural feel within one of these counties, you may love Crozet. Lovely view of the mountains (Evan Almighty filmed in Old Trail - a planned community in Crozet), and a semblance of a town. Still part of the overall affluent Albemarle County, so it is very expensive. Crozet is transpiring to be more of a suburb of Charlottesville with new neighborhoods, grocery stores, etc. as opposed to a stand alone town. A lot of residents in Crozet are unhappy about the changes, so there's a lot of "go back to where you came from" kind of thing going on.
Areas to 'stay away from' City of Charlottesville has some bad area; sorry, don't know specific communities
Areas that 'have a mountain view' Crozet in western Albemarle has the best views. You still see the mountains in Charlottesville, but you're definitely in the valley and just see them in the distance.

Overall, Charlottesville is just o.k., at best, for me. The ranking it earned a few years back as the #1 small city is misleading and confounds me greatly. The City of Charlottesville and surrounding Albmemarle County have a unique feel which is difficult to articulate. There are a lot of "rural snobs" with old Virginia money and UVA snobs. You have some of the "redneck" factor...not so much in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, but the overall region. There are a lot of extreme liberals...and btw, I don't care for extremism on the conservative end either. I apologize for being negative; it's just people have not been overly friendly to me here. But, maybe that's just my experience.

[Nebat]

Originally Posted by CA****4

I want as many people to chime in as possible.
Feed me with information about charlottesville and its surrounding areas.
Teach me about:
Weather (humidity? winters?)
Community (easy to fit in and be accepted?)
Activities and Attractions (other than the outdoors stuff with is obvious)
Average Home Price (4 bedroom with 5 acres)
Homeschooling (is it popular or is it taboo?)
Rural areas around Charlottsville (with populations 3,000-10,000)
Areas to 'stay away from'
Areas that 'have a mountain view'

AND any other opinions you might want to add.... I want to learn as much as I can before I drive there to visit & house search... and sadly this forum doesn't have a thread for charlottesville yet


The required information::

We are moving from upstate NY.
I am homeschooling mom, husband is contractor/carpenter (carpenters union)
We will spend up to 200K on house but need a view of mountains and acreage(5+)
Rural (smaller town) lifestyle but near (30 min) the city
Warm Apple Pie with vanilla ice cream and Chocolate on Chocolate Cake!!

I work in Charlottesville but live in Staunton. 35 miles west in "redneckville". Whatever. There are the same yuppies that live here too. That's a negative for the Charlottesville people right there, thunking that they are the center of the universe and everyone else is a dumb hick. Now back to your question.
C-ville has what I call even seasons. They arrive pretty much on schedule, none are terrible. When you're tired of one the next is just starting. Humidity can be unbearable, but will go away. Winters here can be bad or mild. It's would not be unusual to get a foot of snow or no snow.
If you're from NY, welcome to the club. It seems that everyone here is from NY, NJ, PA, or MA. I think that's a good thing. You know, push out that redneck crowd. I think you would fit in fine. Just find some groups to help get acclimated to the area.
For attractions, mountains have been mentioned. The Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive both have their entrances on top of Afton mountain 20 miles west. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Monticello. It's right outside of town.
I guess home schooling is acceptable. I don't know of anyone who does it though. Sorry.
The home prices given were fairly accurate. Nelson county might fit your price range.
Rural areas around C-ville would be Crozet, Scottsville, both in Albemarle County, Lovingston in Nelson County, and Standardsville in Greene County.
Areas to avoid in my opinion would be the 10th street area on both sides of Main St. And some seedy apartment complex neighborhoods around the Baily Rd. area off of 5th St.
Pretty much everywhere has a mountain view as long as it's not obstructed by a hill, tree, or house.

By the way, the areas outside C-ville are no where near as redneck as some have stated. Rednecks are present, but not the majority. And some peoples definition of redneck can be subject to debate. Mainly they are just country people. But since you are coming from NY, you might be more sensitive than me. I've traveled down south, our rednecks are scholars in comparison. In either case, I hope your move goes well and welcome to the area!(If you move that is)

[Blueice1]

wow interesting thoughts here....having grown up IN NOVA/DC (a major city) its refreshing to be around some "real" folks....I'm white collared/educated, but there's an even mix of "rednecks", liberal and conservative...I work in town and my kids are there often (we live in Fluvanna county) and the mixture of folks are great.

Its a great place to live and raise a family....and most of the folks LOVE the UVA football...in fact every bar in town is packed on game day...almost every car (townies) has a UVA sticker....they have their side/area and they don't cause much trouble...I work downtown and other than waiters, I don't see many students

[Cowgal]

Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind my asking, why are you leaving upstate NY?

I've lived in this area for 20+ years. I can fill in a few blanks for you.

Weather (humidity? winters?) - Summers are the pits here - they are hot, sticky, humid, disgusting. Winters have been quite mild lately.
Community (easy to fit in and be accepted?) As someone else mentioned, there are a lot of people from PA, NJ, NY, so you would fit in fine.
Activities and Attractions (other than the outdoors stuff with is obvious) - There is a lot of culture here, particularly in C'ville, Crozet. I bet that Charlottesville has a "relocation" package they can send you. Are you interested in viniculture? There are dozens of wineries in this area.
Average Home Price (4 bedroom with 5 acres) - I have to be honest with you, I'm not sure you'll be able to find a 4BR, 5 acre home for 200K even in the more rural areas. well, maybe in Louisa, which is a 30-45 minute drive to Charlottesviille (it's east of Charlottesville). I can't remember the exact website address, but do a search for "Charlottesville Area Realtors Association," or something like that. Fluvanna, Orange, and Nelson counties are fast becoming bedroom communities of C'ville.
Homeschooling (is it popular or is it taboo?) There are quite a few homeschoolers here. It will be easy to hook up with a home schooling association.
Rural areas around Charlottsville (with populations 3,000-10,000) - you don't have to go far to go into the more rural areas.
Areas that 'have a mountain view' - go west of Charlottesville.

Personally, if I were you, I would stay in upstate NY.

[CA****4]

we are leaving NY beacuse of the insane taxes... that and the winters...we want something more mild.Thank you everyone for the information. We'll be visiting in the spring to check out homes and areas.

[Dr.Jim]

Most people have already covered your core questions. And IMHO they are accurate.

For your home price range, and desire for view...etc, I would look west and to the northwest of Cville. Go onto realtor.com and use the 'map view' feature, then select Cville and add 'surrounding areas' to search. You can then fly over a satellite map if the area up US29 to the west of Cville and see the land, topography and homes for sale...etc..etc. Its very useful to get a lay of the land, see homes with lots....and such.

Keep in mind Virginia is an old-guard, conservative bible-belt state. It's all the same: In the "cities" people are more liberal, diverse, educated and open-minded....as you move away from the city it is quickly more 'country', rural, and ag. based. You can call it red-neck if you want. But most of these truck driving, bearded, gun-toting people say 'yes sir, yes mamm' and are nice as can be. They are branded stereotypically though like alot of people in this country as undesirable.

Cville has a rep for being 'snooty' for sure. Stereotypes work both ways I'm afraid.
It's all relevant,....having lived in South Beach Miami, Tampa and Detroit....people in these areas think of Cville as a podunk, redneck 1 cow town. Which it obviously isnt,....but again its all based on personal opinions, stereotypes...etc

I wouldnt listen to much of anyones comments on those issues and you NEED to visit for yourself, drive around...etc.

My wife works in Cville, I work in Harrisonburg and we wanted a mountain home so we moved outside of Elkton...which is considered to be one of the most red-neck places around! We have 5 acres at 1800 feet, bordered on all sides by the park and we look out at the blueridge and Skyline drive. Around 300K.
More can be had for less at this time with the housing situation...............BUT it all depends on your perception of the areas.

Good luck!

[jayman1981]

I have a couple of question about Charlottesville.

1. How much are homes going for around the area? My wife and I would probably have a budget of 300,000 and lower. I don't know how much of a house you can get for that amount.

2. Why are houses so expensive for this part of Virginia? I don't really get it.

3. How have African Americans been received in the community?