writes: The Cavalier Daily reports that UVA is planning to build a large parking garage behind the Cavalier Inn to fill the temporary parking shortage created by the construction of a new basketball stadium. The garage would then [revert] to student and faculty parking. Neighborhood residents are objecting because of the increased traffic, etc. Construction is supposed to start summer 2002. Seems to me UVA keeps growing larger and larger, ruining Charlottesville’s small town feel.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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Every time UVa announces any new building project there are objections raised by “neighborhood residents.” Does it occur to any of these folks that without the University Charlottesville would be just another podunk little Virginia town? It’s not like UVa wasn’t here when these residents arrived.
Obviously, there’s good and bad to everything that UVa does. But on balance, it seems to me that the school brings a whole lot more to the community than it detracts from it. For the school to continue to maintain its status as an elite institution, for it to continue to bring to the area all the benefits which we now take for granted and which make Charlottesville a small town with big-town amenities, growth is inevitable.
UVa should scrap all of its plans to build parking garages (I believe 5-10 new parking garages are slated for construction in UVa’s 50-year plan for development) and instead take two very simple steps to promote pedestrian-oriented development and reduce the impact of students on adjoining neighborhoods:
(1) Prevent all 2nd year students from bringing cars to school (as many universities do). Right now this policy is in effect for 1st years, and should be extended to 2nd years.
(2) Immediately launch an aggressive campaign to raise money for the construction of new student housing ON GROUNDS. If there were more housing on grounds, there would be less need for students to have cars. This would also have a huge beneficial impact on the supply of housing for area residents, who are facing a severe shortage of affordable housing largely as a result of UVa’s failure to build enough on-grounds housing over the last 30 years to accommodate the boom in its student population.
(1) Prevent all 2nd year students from bringing cars to school (as many universities do). Right now this policy is in effect for 1st years, and should be extended to 2nd years.
How will they go home, buy groceries, etc?
i’m glad i’m graduating this year. i understand the need for uva to keep expanding to maintain its status, but does it really have to start 239 major expansion projects all at once? grounds is starting to look more like a massive construction site rather than one of the most beautiful schools in the nation. i’ve at least had three years to experience it, but i feel sorry for the kids to come who will see nothing but dump trucks and gravel pits. as one first-year joked in the CD today, “i came to uva because it was so beautiful. now i’m thinking about transferring.”
They will do these things the same way 1st years currently do. UVa has a pretty good bus system that gets students all over the university area. Students can ride CTS for free and there is also a van escort service at night. Bicycling and walking are good options, and will be made even easier if the university succeeds in building its greenway up Emmet St. As for getting home, a ride board advertises rides to and from various parts of the state and beyond. Certainly this service could be put on-line, if it isn’t there already. There is also a shuttle bus that picks up kids from Tech, UVa and other state colleges and takes them to the Dulles/DC area. Plus most UVa students live within a 2-3 hour drive of their parents, so it’s not much of a stretch for mom or dad to come to C’Ville to pick them up. Waldo, as you know, cars are not the “must-have” items that we in our society are led to believe they are. And if we grow smartly, build new housing on-grounds, mix in commercial with residential development, orient new development for humans rather than cars, and take other similar steps, there’s absolutely NO reason why not having a car should be the end of the world for a 2nd year UVa student.
Waldo, as you know, cars are not the “must-have” items that we in our society are led to believe they are. And if we grow smartly, build new housing on-grounds, mix in commercial with residential development, orient new development for humans rather than cars, and take other similar steps, there’s absolutely NO reason why not having a car should be the end of the world for a 2nd year UVa student.
I couldn’t agree more — I was just asking the question that every UVa studio has asked me when I’ve suggested vehicle elimination to them. :)
It really bothers me the idea in this country that if an organization is not growing it is dying. UVA isn’t even a public company with shareholders who want stock value to increase more than 5% a year. It is supposed to be a school focused on providing an excellent education to its students. It should be able to reach a certain size at which it achieves its goal optimumly, and then stay there. I think this point was reached several years ago and was passed. The effect UVA’s size has on Charlottesville should be analyzed as well. Traffic has been worsening, how long until we start to look like Northern Virginia?
How about Cville authorizing a grocery store right next to UVA? Medium size, small amount of parking. Seems like it would work.
“i came to uva because it was so beautiful. now i’m thinking about transferring.”Glad to see this person isn’t superficial. Looks like we are the training ground for a new race of NIMBY’s.
To contribute to this interesting discussion about UVa and their parking problems…
Recently several UVa graduate students did a study on the feasibility of a car-sharing program in Charlottesville. Car-sharing makes vehicles available to individuals for an initial membership fee and therafter the individual is charged hourly for use of the car (usually located in a prime parking spot). The study discovered that such a program is feasible for the UVa community and possibly even the downtown community (starting with one or two cars). Such programs work best when parking is in high demand and individuals are willing (due to cost and convenience) to look at other ways of getting around. The cost of participating in a car-sharing program is significantly less than the overall cost of owning a car. Last week, the Community Mobility Committee, a subcommittee of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, discussed this study. A working group is being formed to pursue this in more depth.
Of course there is a city and university bus system which faculty and staff use but the university has not to-date, aggressively pursued what is known as Transportation Demand Management (TDM) as many universities have such as Harvard, University of Wisconsin, Penn State and Emory, among a myriad of others. TDM is an overall plan for mitigating traffic and parking congestion through promoting a variety of transportation choices. In this sense, car-sharing is documented to work best when it is part of a larger transportation choice program: increased buses and route frequency, more bicycle lanes and better and safer pedestrian walkways. Thus, having an overall effect on traffic congestion and parking.
For more info on car-sharing check out: http://www.zipcar.com Zip car recently implemented a program in the DC metro area in September 2001.
Tobin Scipione
Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation
http://www.transportationchoice.org
My thought is what if UVA was still a small college? Would it be as respected and would one of those students have given up their slot to keep down UVA’s impact. Can you imagine the following: Yes we would have let you come to UVA but we have decided to limit growth and cut the size of the first year class.
If the college were kept small would you be willing to get rid of this regions top-rated trauma unit. Next time you or a loved one is in an serious accident would you want to hear: don’t worry Richmond’s trauma unit is only an hour away.
People always want the good stuff without the “growing” pains.
The same thing happen with the expansion of the stadium. One night they had to leave the lights on to test the systems. People complained like hell. My main point is always “was there a large football stadium there when you moved in?”.
The problem is the most basic in all media; when change occurs those uphappy with become active and seek out the press. Often times a silent majority exist but they make terrible TV. Forums like this become a better place for balance. Conflict sells papers- You want to be on TV- get pissed off and do it in public, especially if if the University is involved.
U.Va. doesn’t have enough parking spaces, period. As it stands now, the majority of employees have to park at U-Hall or Scott Stadium and take a shuttle bus to work. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing, but when you consider people who must wait 15 minutes for a bus to get to their car to run errands, or who need to move their car before the end of the workday due to a basketball or football game, there are certain issues of convenience that come into play.
Regarding students not needing cars, I think banning cars is just a band-aid solution. Take a look at infrastructure (e.g. shopping on the corner — there aren’t really any stores that cater to general household needs (e.g. a drug store, grocery store, hardware store, etc.)We should certainly publicize the convenience of Barracks Road and Fashion Square. However, let’s not forget that shopping and running errands by using the C’ville bus system, while it has gotten much better, is still a time consuming process. I don’t own a car, so I use the busses to do a lot of my errands and I can tell you that it’s a time consuming process, especially if a connection with another bus route is necessary. I also rely on busses and trains to take trips out of town. Trains are expensive and frequently booked solid. There are only three busses to D.C. per day, and the last one coming back from D.C. leaves at 6 p.m. which necessitates an overnight stay if I want to see a play or attend some other event that takes place at night or late afternoon. There are students who tell me that they don’t want to take busses because they take too long and are frequently late. Also, where would you propose the University build the on grounds housing you are suggesting? And how would you alleviate the transportation needed to get these new on grounds residents where they need to go?
First year students are only prohibited from keeping cars the first semester. They can keep them the second semester but they are supposed to park them at U Hall.
One thing I’m confused about is that the new parking garage is supposed to take the place of the displaced parking at U-Hall. I’m hearing different construction dates for U-Hall and for this parking garage. It sounds like the parking garage is to start this summer but not be finished until next year; meanwhile the construction for the new arena is starting at the same time.
I’ve heard that the University is thinking of a variety of places for parking. As someone who works at UVa, I have to park at U-Hall. I do not want to travel to Fontaine. I also am uncomfortable with some of the suggested places to put workers — Unnamed Field is one of them. I don’t think that taking green spaces is a solution (and I don’t think the students would stand for it).
well, she was joking. also, one reason people move to places or choose to visit is because they are beautiful; they are inspired by the environment. it’s hard to be inspired when all you hear is jackhammers and all you see are improvised walls covering up massive construction. part of uva’s charm is its beauty, and at the moment, it’s faded.
We have a car-sharing program where I live, in Europe. It is a very successful program . . . but I will confess that I do own a car of my own (one bought before the plan went into place). For the most part I bike everywhere, including to the grocery store (a destination of concern marked in a previous comment). The key is that multiple modes of transportation are supported with tax dollars. In short, share the road!
If you are graduating now, you just barely missed the last big round of expansion projects, culminating with Newcomb Hall.
As seems popular these days, she works with horses!
Not that this totally dismantles everything, but remember that first years are required to get a massive meal-plan and so all eat essentially every meal on grounds. Second years, freed from the scheme, rely much more on grocery stores. Without a Corner grocery store, buying food sans car is a huge pain.
I don’t know why I like it so much, but I read it twenty times yesterday — she works with horses!
Unnamed Field? Might you mean “Nameless”?
My bad, I misnamed the Nameless Field. However, Unnamed Field sounds pretty good — perhaps it could be a salute to that missing UVa student(s) that no one really remembers or cares about?
What the HELL is this “she works with horses” (inside) joke?!
I didn’t know him but often think of the person named Pat who disappeared. I wish the case could be solved and there would be closure for h is family.
Another thought. If the parking at U-Hall is being eliminated and the parking garage is going to replace it, how do the residents in that general area feel that traffic is going to INCREASE? Mind you, there is plenty of traffic on Ivy Road, Alderman Road, the road that runs past Darden and the Law School, Route 29 so how is eliminating traffic at one place and moving over one block really, honestly, is going to affect them?
I used to live next door to a volunteer fire department in a small town. I could see it from my window. If the fire department expanded, would I really have had the right to complain about the noise after living there two years? I knew that the siren would be there when I looked into the place. Ditto those who live off Alderman Road. They have property near the Stadium, U-Hall, roads that lead to Crozet, Route 29 Bypass, Ivy etc. as well as having other University properties near them. (And if you want to point out aethestics, well, how attractive are those other buildings near the proposed garage? Hardee’s? University Forum Apts? Cary’s Camera? Wachovia Bank?
I don’t think this is something the City needs to “authorize.” If the market existed, the store would already exist. In fact, Harris Teeter and Kroger at Barracks Road are already just about right next to UVA property, on the bus line.
UVa news link HERE.