Deputy City Manager for Operations Sam Sanders asked City Council Monday to define what it considers affordable housing, measure how much is available, and track the effectiveness of the money it spends.
Category: Our neighborhoods
We cover the physical landscapes of Charlottesville and surrounding counties and how things change. We help you understand how history has shaped our city, and how our choices today will affect the future.
Posted inOur neighborhoods
Charlottesville’s tree cover has dropped about 15% since 2004 — but there are ways to bring it back
“I think the idea of having places to gather and green spaces with trees will be good for me and my neighbors,” said South First Street resident Estephany Kepchar.
Posted inHow we learn
Exasperated community members ask: Why must Charlottesville choose between a new middle school and public housing?
“You can’t invest in housing without also investing in schools,” said Shymora Cooper. “The same kids that need housing are the same kids that are going to the schools that need the money.”
Posted inGovernment and public institutions
Charlottesville’s 10th & Page has fewer trees and higher temperatures than other residential neighborhoods — and it’s not by accident
“What I think redlining and all of these nefarious urban planning decisions from the past show us is that decisions that we make can reverberate for a hundred years or more,” said Jeremy Hoffman, a researcher at the Science Museum of Virginia.
Posted inOur neighborhoods
The 6 things you need to know about rezoning in Charlottesville
Here’s what zoning actually means — and what that does and doesn’t have to do with affordable housing.
Posted inOur neighborhoods
Affordable mobile home parks are disappearing from Charlottesville — a new law may bring them back
“One thing that has never been that great in Charlottesville or Albemarle is, there are no places for people like me,” said Angela Durrer, a former mobile home park resident. “I don’t make that much money in a year, and even still, affordable housing over there, there is none.”
Posted inOur neighborhoods
City housing authority OKs $23 million in bonds to renovate Midway Manor
During a public hearing Monday night, the city housing authority voted to issue up to $23 million in revenue bonds to the new owner of Midway Manor, who has pledged to maintain the long-term affordability of the building’s 98 units. It won’t cost the city a dime.
Posted inOur neighborhoods
Midway Manor and its 98 affordable apartments has been sold and the new owner is asking Charlottesville for help securing $23 million for repairs
If the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority helps finance repairs with revenue bonds, it could also require the building to continue to be affordable. Community members and residents can express their views at a virtual public hearing on Monday at 6 p.m.
Posted inOur neighborhoods
City plans to hire an engineering firm to find ways to make ‘race track’ Fifth Street safer
There have been four fatal crashes in less than two years along a mile-long stretch of Fifth Street Southwest. But making the road safer isn’t as simple as reducing the speed limit.
Posted inOur neighborhoods
Charlottesville officials have started work on the city’s massive rezoning project with the goal of increasing housing density
The city expects to finish a draft ordinance and begin soliciting public comment by April.
