Question about Charlottesville, VA neighborhoods for active, retired couple (Staunton: theatre, college)

[loveautumn]

Is north of CV a good area to live....Hollymead?

thanks!

[Thelwell]

Originally Posted by Carab

An update on us! It's been a year since we first visited C-ville and subsequently decided to move here for our retirement. After searching for a ranch style house with a double car garage near Charlottesville we finally decided that building would be the most cost effective for us. We decided to build just off 240 on the eastern edge of Crozet, which is actually a Charlottesville address. Our house will be ready in August! We'll only be ~15 minutes away from downtown Charlottesville. We're so looking forward to it.
We just had a fantastic wedding anniversary dinner followed by viewing the LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph, an annual event. Lots of wine tastings, farmers markets... Looking forward to when peach season begins. Flowers are fantastic here as well as the variety of trees and other vegetation. People are welcoming and friendly. We're glad we made this choice!

Hi, Professors -- I am also a retiring professor. My husband and I are looking for a place much like you describe. Did you find it in Charlottesville? Hope so! :-)

[tennismomusa]

Hi Carab,

Just wondered how you are finding the people in Charlottesville...friendly? casual? We are also thinking about moving there from the midwest, but I worry whether we will make friends....

Thanks!

[Carab]

Hi tennismomusa,
Yes, we've found a great majority of people in Charlottesville to be both friendly and casual. There are of course a variety, so you can encounter the "elite" class but the ones we've met are very friendly too.
If you join the Newcomer's Club you can meet a lot of people who've moved here from the northeast, midwest, and a few from Florida. We even met someone from North Dakota! Our immediate neighbors are from Illinois and Vermont and are very nice, friendly people. You'll find making friends here is easy. When we've been standing in lines for events, we found surrounding people easy to talk to and share information. Sometimes you have to initiate the conversation and that opens the door to converse. People are not invasive, but are friendly.
Let us know if you move here and we'll be happy to introduce you to some people we've met.

[tennismomusa]

Thanks, Carab! You are helping me feel more optimistic!

[von62653]

I also thank you, Carab, for your positive/realistic post on Cville. We're liberal baby boomers from Ft. Lauderdale and in Cville right now trying to make our final decision to move. We've visiting several cities that match our living criteria such as Richmond, Chapel Hill/Durham/Ralaigh, NC, Fort Collins, Co, St. Pete, FL, but are leaning toward Cville.

I'm originally from Ithaca, NY and still have family there, but too dreary to move back. We like university towns, book stores, coffee houses, walkable neighborhoods where dogs are allowed. I'm also a birdwatcher and semi-hiker.

We're also looking for a sense of community that we never found in Ft. Lauderdale and looking forward to 4 seasons (with not too long winters or summers).

My hubby is retired and I'm a writer. Would you or anyone here on the forum, have an idea where a couple like us would feel comfortable renting (condo, townhouse, house) with a dog. We like the downtown mall but also like route 29's new shopping mall. Also like the Barracks Road Mall with Barnes and Noble and Harris Teeter.

We'd rather not live near students or families if possible. Over 50 rentals possibly?

Any feedback would be fantastic. Thanks!

[Moving on up to C'ville]

Von:

You and your husband's stats sounds very similar to ours. In our 50's, basically retired but working a little (in photography) to keep our sanity intact, liberal, craving a lifestyle that would allow us to enjoy all that Charlottesville has to offer. Our last home in Charleston, SC met all of our living needs in terms of the house/space itself, but was a good 25-30 minutes to get downtown which meant we didn't take advantage of going downtown. We did not want to make that same mistake this time, but also wanted to live in a comfortable, safe part of town. We chose Mill Creek and its absolutely perfect. The homes themselves range from 1500-2200 sq. ft., placed on wooded lots which gives the impression of remoteness, privacy and space, but in fact...there are neighbors. I can't state exactly what the demographics of the neighborhood are, but I can tell you that for the last two years at Halloween, we had a combined total for both years, 4 knocks on the door for trick-a-treaters (resulting in way too much leftover Halloween candy...). Most of my neighbors are either childless (like us) or their kids are college aged or above. What struck me the most about this neighborhood when we first drove through it, were the number of people walking their dogs. As I've gotten to know some people, I can say that at least every third home has a dog(s) and/or cat(s). Very animal friendly and they even have poop-bags and trash cans located through the neighborhood. As for rentals, I know of three neighbors immediately surrounding my home that are renters. (One neighbor works at UVA, and another is in his residency at one of the hospitals, and the third has just moved in and are starting an import/export business). So there are definitely several rentals in the neighborhood. Of those three renters I just mentioned, two of them have at least one dog.

In terms of its location, it sits 5 minutes south of the downtown mall, right off of Avon St. You mentioned the 29 corridor and Barracks Rd area. We looked at houses over there, but there always seemed to be so much traffic/congestion. Someone mentioned Hollymead in one of their posts and while there are certainly lovely homes in Hollymead, my husband and I both agree that we would have been miserable living there because of the traffic on 29 and the time it takes to get downtown. I agree that its always nice to have some big box stores around when you need them, but I'd rather not live across the street from them. That's just my preference.

Good luck to you...

[von62653]

Hi Moving -

After having a great trip to Cville, we've made up our mind to move up as soon as our house sells.
That was good point you made about living up on route 29. We've decided we want to be within walking distance from downtown. The woman at the visitor center mentioned Belmont as an up and coming area, but I will definitely check out Mill Creek, too. It sounds lovely.

Did you have a difficult time meeting new friends? Just curious because I'm a very social person and one of the reasons we're leaving Fort Lauderdale is the lack of social groups. There either too old, too young or too far away to drive.

Thanks for your input. I very much appreciate it.

[Moving on up to C'ville]

Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, I've met many of my neighbors through walking my dog. Some people are chatty during their walks...some are more about Fido doing their business and getting back home. But all offer a good morning/good afternoon. Outside of the neighborhood, I met people through our local SPCA (I worked for them for awhile and now am a volunteer there), and have had some good luck meeting people through various Meet-Up groups that I've joined. I'm in a couple of good book clubs and have met some good people there, and have recently joined a couple of other groups with common interests...though I've yet to attend a gathering (bad me!).

We've moved around a bit (retired Navy), so I'm kind of used to starting over, but I still always have to remind myself that good friendships take time to develop. Getting involved in whatever charity has meaning to you is a start as are Meetup groups. But always be patient. And of course, you've already go one new friend right here! When you get to town...holler and we'll get together!! You're welcome to send me a private message for contact info, etc....I'd do it, but I'm not exactly certain I know how!! (I still suck at Facebook!!)

[Moving on up to C'ville]

Von - one more thing....if you need a realtor to help you with finding a place, I've got a great one I can recommend! She was out realtor and now she's a friend! In addition to home sales, she also helps renters. Let me know and I'll give you her info.

Also, Belmont is a fun area of town and great for getting to downtown. Our only hesitation in living there was that I was up early walking my dog (often in the dark), and while Belmont is an up and coming neighborhood by all means, if you go a couple of blocks in the wrong direction, there might be a chance of running into some trouble... Don't mean to scare you off of it or offend anyone living in Belmont, but I'm being honest. I know a couple of people who live there and have never had any trouble...