Charlottesville is becoming gentrified, Graham Moomaw writes in the Progress, surprising nobody. That’s based on an analysis of neighborhood-level census data done by the university’s Weldon Cooper Center. Between 2000 and 2010, home values doubled, with the sharpest climb in valuations coming in historically black neighborhoods. The black population dropped by 1,600 people (about three percentage points, to 19.4%), while the asian and hispanic populations grew. The white population dropped by half a percentage point, to 69.1%. On the other hand, the black population is growing the urban ring. Belmont and Venable are growing faster than any other neighborhoods.
cvillenews.com
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
A press release from the Charlottesville-based Southern Environmental Law Firm raises an important point: Berkmar Drive Extended is supposed to go in the same spot where the Western Bypass is supposed to go, and building one or more bridges over the Rivanna River to carry both of those (and then having Berkmar go over or under the 2–3 on- and off-ramps) is going to be a bit of a trick. SELC had a traffic engineering firm produce a report on the topic, trying to deal with the fact that the Berkmar plan and the bypass plan aren’t reconciled in any way. The engineer concludes that “[u]nder any scenario, trying to fit two facilities in this space would be difficult and extremely expensive,” whether by having adjacent roadways sharing a bridge, a few underpasses/overpasses and a parallel bridge, or just a pair of bridges. (It’s tough to explain, but looking at the diagrams, it’s easy to appreciate the complexity of the problem.)
The Berkmar Drive extension, you’ll recall, is intended to be a part of a parallel road network to 29N, to transport local traffic. It’s a method of getting thousands of cars off of 29N at a significantly lower cost than a bypass. No doubt it’s possible to do so in tandem with the bypass bypass, but rushing through the bypass without considering basic questions like this probably isn’t going to make things go more smoothly in this department.
Charlottesville Tomorrow has video and audio of this week’s Democratic City Council forum, which they held in conjunction with the Daily Progress. (Let’s all pause to appreciate the irony of the Progress holding a forum for candidates that they will almost certainly work very hard to avoid endorsing, what with their being Democrats.) Here’s the video:
7/23 Update: Brandon Collins has blogged his answers to the questions posted to candidates in the debate. He’s a council candidate, though not for the Democratic nomination, but he’s answering them anyway.
The Army Corps of Engineers has pulled the permit for a crucial bit of the Meadowcreek Parkway, Aaron Richardson writes in the Progress. Part of the city’s portion of the road—dubbed McIntire Road Extended—goes over a tributary of Schenk’s Branch, and putting a culvert for the road to pass over requires permission from the Corps. The Coalition to Preserve McIntire Park recently filed for a preliminary injunction against VDOT to prevent the culvert from being put in, arguing that doing so would violate federal law, because of the impact that it would have on the stream. The group is claiming victory here, saying that VDOT folded, knowing that they were in the wrong, and will now have to come up with a method of crossing the stream that doesn’t impact it (such as a bridge), which also has the effect of taking the Corps out of the equation.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board has allocated $230M to build the Western Bypass, according to a press release from the governor’s office. That’s $197M in funding for the new road, and another $33M to add another lane to 29 in both directions between Polo Grounds Road (near Walmart) and Hollymead, to accomodate the proposed interchange there.
This is basically up to the Metropolitan Planning Organization now, who has held one of two planned public hearings on the topic. There was overwhelming opposition at last week’s hearing, though it’ll all come down to guy who wields the tie-breaking vote on the MPO: James Utterback, the administrator of VDOT’s Culpeper District (which we’re in.) The city has two representatives on the MPO who are likely to vote against the bypass bypass, the county has two votes likely to vote for it, and that makes Utterback a pretty important guy all of a sudden.
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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