Is Charlottesville, Va a good place to live for a family?

Question

My family currently resides in the Bay Area, Ca, and we are thinking about moving to a small town in the mid-atlantic area. Is Charlottesville a good place to be if only one parent is able to work (she's a nurse)? And how's the schools in the area? Are there any towns that are similar to C-ville but a slightly cheaper? ( I heard the cost of living in C-ville is pretty high.) I'll appreciate some opinions.

Answer 1

I currently live in Charlottesville. It is a great place to live, but you are right. The cost of living is pretty high. If you want to purchase a home, expect to pay $300k for a modest family-sized home. If you are willing to commute a bit, you can move into the counties around Charlottesville/Albemarle which will have a lower housing cost. If your income qualifies, there are some great programs in the area that will help moderate to low income families purchase a home (especially with being a nurse).

Charlottesville City Schools are so-so but Albemarle County Schools are great. The area is very rich culturally - history, music, theater, educational seminars, nature, etc. Even though the university is the cornerstone of the community, it is very family-oriented.

I would classify Charlottesville as a small city or large town, not a small town by any means. There is what my husband calls the "Charlottesville Factor" where you will see people you know just about every time you leave the house... but it really depends on your patterns of movement. Charlottesville is large enough to have two hospitals, a regular shopping mall and a pedestrian shopping mall, more strip-mall type shopping centers than you can count, and we get big-name acts coming into town at the new arena. We do have some public transportation here, but mostly if you live within the city or very close in the county. Traffic is worse than you would expect for a city this size.

Overall, it can be tough financially to live here but I really think the rest makes up for that!

Answer 2

I have never lived in Charlottesville, VA myself but my husband's uncle lives in a little town right outside of Charlottesville and drives to work there everyday. I love it there, its gorgeous. Yes the cost of living is much higher, but the jobs also pay much better than most. My suggestion is to seach for towns near Charlottesville and see if you can find a place there and just commute to work. A 20 minute drive is about the normal. As for schools, my husband's uncle's son is just starting kindergarten in the next school year and so far they seem impressed by both public and private school. The University also has a great reputation... My advice, don't plan on going anywhere when there is a home game at the University, traffice is insane... Do your research, I'm sure you'll find what you are looking for...

Answer 3

Nothing in Maryland is cheap and wherever you go here you will see mexicans, latinos and other immigrants and the school systems suck which is why within the next 5 years my behind is moving back to Austrailia.

Austrailia is cheap and it is nice there not to mention no immigrants, heck there are not even any black people there , it is nothing but white people and the schools are a lot better not to mention they have one of the best health care systems in the world..

You want my advice, stay away from Maryland