The staff of Charlottesville government’s Neighborhood Development Services department put together an impressive 2 page “fact sheet” for the Little High Neighborhood with lots of interesting facts and figures. Our neighborhood is the 4th smallest by area and 5th least populous neighborhood (1,048 residents) yet we have more population density than the city average. Our neighborhood has fewer children (11%) and slightly more old people (15%) than the city averages (16% and 12% respectively). The median home value ($545,000) is higher than the City average ($516,000) and we have a significantly higher share of renters (72%) and higher average rents ($2,300) than the city averages (61% and $2,100 respectively).
Our neighborhood is assessed as having much greater walkability than Charlottesville as a whole. But this is on a relative scale and it highlights just how unwalkable most of Charlottesville is. Our neighborhood has many large gaps where there are no sidewalks at all while many of our existing sidewalks are inadequate (too narrow for someone in a walker or a wheelchair) or in serious disrepair.
A couple of things I personally would like to see included in future versions: in the overview, stop whitewashing the history of “the Farm” and acknowledge that it was an antebellum plantation almost certainly built and maintained by enslaved people who were, at best, hired out from one slave owner to another. The Woods Addition part of our neighborhood, referenced in the fact sheet, had firm racial covenants in place part in place by the early 20th century, so it would be especially interesting to see current statistics about racial and ethnic diversity. As of a few years ago, our neighborhood was 80% white. I doubt that has changed very much.
The second page of the fact sheet has a very useful quick summary about the zoning code adopted by City Council in 2024 but currently bogged down in litigation. If the zoning code clears its legal hurdles, these relatively modest changes are what can be expected.
The biggest item under “new and proposed developments” is a 192 unit apartment with lots of commercial space at 915 E. High Street which appears to me to be an expansion of building and area currently used by the CFA Institute. The property would straddle Locust Street as well as East High and, personally, I doubt it would have a significantly larger footprint than what is already there.
— Jonathan Rice, LHNA Secretary
