Moving to Charlottesville, VA

April 2004

I would very much like to hear any information or experiences anyone might have about Charlottesville, Virginia. I plan to move there this fall. Thank you. carla

I grew up in Charlottesville, and if I could, I would move back in a second!! Its been about 10 years since I lived there-- I was 13 when we moved. I spent elementary and middle school there, so I can't give a parental perspective but I can tell you how much your kids might like it :) ..and I have been back for many visits as a ''grown-up''...

I remember LOVING school .. the charlottesville public schools had a great gifted and talented program that I always looked forward to going to. I remember having great teachers and lots of friends. I remember being a part of the university too, as my dad was working on a doctorate at UVa while we were living there. Dad would sometines bring us to classes and labs, and we went to football games, basketball games, baseball games -- all cheap family fun, we loved it!!

I really liked the weather there, I appreciate the change in seasons, with fall being my absolute favorite. Something about those crisp fall days that always remind me of football season -- I miss them! We'd get some snow in the winter, no big deal.

UVas campus is very pretty, and the whole area is rich with history (such a ''presidential'' state!) so theres never a shortage of museums to visit or sites to see.

Charlottesville is indeed racially and economically diverse, especially downtown. There definitely ''burbs'' too, generally outside the city limits.

Okay, tried to keep it short. feel free to email me if you have questions!

I love Charlottesville and have been considering relocating there with my family, also. Can't convince my husband, though, as he's more citified than I. My parents live there and I've visited numerous times and at various times of year. The seasons are beautiful, especially Fall. Summers are HOT, but doable. It has a pretty small-town feel overall, and the areas surrounding it are very pretty and green, and also very rural (Ivy, Palmyra, etc.) Don't know if you've visited there before to get a feel for it. It's family-friendly, if you have kids, but my mom friends there do complain that it's somewhat difficult to meet other women and form friendships. You have to work at it. But I've seen various mom's groups/play-groups meeting at coffee shops and parks. The downtown mall is lovely, quaint with a cobble-stone type walkway where specialty shops, outdoor cafes and flower pots abound. Also, there's a great little interactive children's museum there. It is, of course, a college town, so you've got a youthful population. It's a bit on the Republican side, it must be said. But they have a main drag loaded with shops and restaurants (including Super-K-mart, Wal-mart and Sam's). I'd recommend it as a good place to raise kids. There are rivers for swimming and kayaking, and lots of public wading pools (big pools only 2 feet deep) which are packed with kids in the summertime, much fun. From there it's a 3 hour drive either up to DC or East to Virginia Beach and the ocean. I can't wait to spend the summer there with my kids - we go fishing, swimming or kayaking every day, and spend the evening catching lightning bugs or listening to the odd scary thunderstorm. They live for these Norman Rockwell moments. Best of luck! Christine