Hello

I will be moving from the Columbia, SC area in the coming months to central Virginia, I was considering Richmond but just read that Charlottesville, VA was voted the best place to live and am now considering this.  I work from home so don’t necessarily need to be close to Richmond but would like to live someplace that has a city feel.

What can you tell me about Charlottesville, is it really that great that it deserves to be #1?  Any input from residents or real estate agents on the positives as well as the negatives (there has to be some) about Charlottesville would be great.

Thanks in advance and maybe I’ll see you around town...

I went to school down there and try to make it back for a football game every year... Eventhough retirement is a few years away, I am strongly considering retiring down there.  Having a large university, provides for alot of amenties without the "large city" feel.  And with the arena they are even getting a few more concerts/events every year.

One of the only drawbacks, has been the increase in traffic in the last 10 years, but that can be said for any desirable place to live...

I've heard its a popular place to retire, unfortunately I am not ready to do that...yet.

 Traffic probably won't be too much of an issue for me since I work from home so I can deal with that, I've heard good things about the new venue (John Paul Jones I believe, right?) and hopefully some bigger acts will be coming to town.

Thanks for the info.

Joe

I'm a graduate student at UVA and I'll be happy to vouch for C'Ville's claim to fame! I'm from DC and I won't lie, I was a bit apprehensive about moving to what I had considered a college town in the middle of nowhere. My qualms were greeted with -yes- open roads, non-existent rush hours, and breathtaking views of the blue ridge mountains, but also the most upbeat music scene outside of Austin, hundreds of restaurants, a pedestrian and eco-friendly way of life, and countless activities. Here, I've learned that it's common place to hike a mountain Saturday morning before brunch, wine-tasting is a sport, Dave Matthews & Co. get in line for pizza just like everyone else, and it's possible to walk down the street and recognize at least one other young-professional. This town is small enough to feel at home, but large enough to allow new discoveries and a constant "to-do" list. I've been here for a year and have yet to uncover all that C'Ville is, and will be.

 Oh, and the drunk frat boys are somehow secluded to a 1 mile radius of the campus. Fear not, Charlottesville takes the cake.

Good insight...thanks to all.

 Glad to hear that the drunk frat boys are only confined to a limited area, I figured there was a good music scene since Music Today is based there.

 Thanks again.

While Charlottesville certainly isn't a bad place to live, I wouldn't take anything at face value from someone who is going to school there. It's a different atmosphere between having a job and calling a place your home, in contrast to walking to class and spending the majority of your downtime hanging with friends. The weather at UVA in the summer is sticky and moist, a very uncomfortable kind of heat. Secondly, when it rains, the puddles always seem to not only get bigger, but multiply as well; it's like the whole town is a giant bowl that funnels the rain in. The traffic is horrendous - I remember one time it took me 20 minutes to go two miles from my apartment to the grocery store, and by the time I got home some of my food had melted. And while there are a multitude of things to do, especially when there is a game on the weekend or a concert in town, the traffic only gets worse in the event of some sort of entertainment.

It may be voted the best place to live, but what you don't know is how many people were part of the survey or what their opinions are of the perfect town. Before you make a permanent decision to move there, be sure to spend some time there yourself to experience the full array of what the town has to offer - both the good, and the bad.