Many residents of the Village of Rivanna growth area have protested the idea that residential density be more than one acre per unit, prompting some members of the Board of Supervisors to explore swapping out the land with other places in the county. Supplied photo.
A delay in the completion of a new comprehensive plan for Albemarle County means adoption won’t happen until at least summer 2025, a time when half of the Board of Supervisors may be up for re-election.
Among other things, the update, known as AC44, will reaffirm rules about what can be built in Albemarle and where.
“Currently, the development areas are approximately 37 square miles, or 5 percent of county land, and the rural area is 95 percent of county land,” says Tonya Swartzendruber, a planning manager in Albemarle.
Virginia code requires localities to update their comp plans every five years and Albemarle’s document was adopted in the summer of 2015. The county began what was to have been a two-year review in late 2021, but staff put the project on hold earlier this year to make the document easier to read.
The Board of Supervisors has decided the current boundaries will remain in place for now, but staff inquired earlier this month as to whether the update should direct them to review conditions every two years to see if there’s enough land to support additional people expected to move here over the next 20 years.
Supervisor Mike Pruitt of the Scottsville District, the youngest and newest member of the board, said he supports monitoring land use trends but is open to expanding the growth area. He was elected last year with no opposition.
“At some point, if our growth patterns do not change, I think the whole board recognizes that the development area will have to change,” Pruitt said at the October 16 BOS meeting. He suggested the county identify a new place where dense development could occur rather than “nibbling at the edges.”
Supervisor Ned Gallaway’s Rio District seat is one of the three up for election next year. He pointed out that the county’s growth area around Glenmore in eastern Albemarle is developing at about one unit per acre because of opposition from people who live in the area.
“If we’re not getting the density out of a Village of Rivanna, can we get that density back somewhere else that’s reasonable without necessarily changing the 5 percent?” Gallaway asked.
First elected in 2017, Gallaway has never faced an opponent on the ballot.
Diantha McKeel’s third term as supervisor for the Jack Jouett District expires at the end of 2025. She supports Gallaway’s idea.
“If we can look at somehow … trading land without expanding but looking at where there are possibilities to do some trade where it’s actually going to happen,” McKeel said.
The final seat up for election is that of Jim Andrews, who was unopposed in his 2021 race for the Samuel Miller District. He cautioned anyone against thinking expansion is inevitable.
“It may be that a shift of development areas may be the more appropriate way in which we handle this initially,” Andrews said.
Supervisors Ann Mallek and Bea LaPisto-Kirtley were both re-elected in 2023 and both faced opposition. LaPisto-Kirtley said she doesn’t think the boundaries need to be adjusted for decades.
“I think we need to make use of what we have,” she told her colleagues.
Mallek said she was willing to have as many meetings as possible to complete the Comprehensive Plan.
“We’re going to have to keep stirring the pot until we get it just right,” Mallek said.
The county’s growth advisory committees will get the new information on AC44 at a joint meeting on October 30 in Lane Auditorium.
Working with both parents and students, Price Thomas aims to end generational poverty. Photo by Eze Amos.
As the executive director of City of Promise, Price Thomas is working to improve education access in Charlottesville. But for the born-and-raised local, this job is more than a profession—it’s personal.
“This is Charlottesville, a part of my story,” he says, “and I want the next chapter to be marked by something better than the one previous.”
Located in the heart of the 10th and Page neighborhood, City of Promise has been working toward interrupting local cycles of generational poverty through education for more than a decade.
“A lot of what we’re experiencing are reverberations of issues that are going on around the state, around the country,” Thomas says. “But those aren’t sidewalks I’ve walked, those aren’t people I know, those aren’t schools that I went to.”
“There is a piece of this that is objectively personal for me … I can’t do this and go home, because this is home for me.”
The son of two local educators, Thomas attended Charlottesville City and Albemarle County schools. After graduating from William & Mary, where he was a four-year starter on the soccer team, Thomas played professional soccer in Europe before returning stateside to work as a copy editor. Over the last several years, he’s set down roots in Charlottesville, where he is raising two children with his wife, Caitlin.
Thomas’ work with City of Promise is only his latest position in nonprofits. Prior to joining COP in May 2023, he worked with The Montpelier Foundation and United Way of Greater Charlottesville.
City of Promise takes a “whole family” approach to education, and believes that one of the first steps to improve education access (and disrupt generational poverty) is to meet families’ needs by providing resources or connecting people with the appropriate nonprofit. Supplied photo.
“Charlottesville is a small town, and the nonprofit world of Charlottesville is even smaller,” he says. Through his work with The Montpelier Foundation and United Way, he met and learned from other nonprofit leaders, including previous directors of City of Promise. In his 18 months on the job at COP, he’s been figuring out what unique “flavor” he brings to the organization.
City of Promise “started way before me, will live on and succeed far past me,” he says. “But in this moment of time, what is my flavor? … I want us to be both taken very seriously and also very approachable.” Transparency and authenticity between City of Promise and the community are all priorities for the executive director, but not at the expense of agency. “We’ll walk alongside [community members], but we’ll also hold them accountable.”
In the beginning
Inspired by a work group of the Charlottesville Dialogue on Race in 2010, City of Promise developed through a Department of Education Promise Neighborhood planning grant of $470,000 that was awarded to Children Youth and Family Services in 2011. The national, place-based initiative bolsters communities experiencing barriers to education success, including economic hardship and disparity, through funding and recommending strategies and solutions.
City of Promise did not receive implementation funding through the DOE Promise Neighborhood program, but the initial grant was enough to get the nonprofit off the ground. Over the last decade, COP’s focus on improving education access and outcomes has remained at the core of its mission—especially in the area of literacy.
Despite district reading scores hovering near the state average, Charlottesville City Schools have one of the highest literacy gaps in Virginia. As a district, 65 percent of its students achieved proficiency in reading for the 2023-2024 school year, compared to a state average of 73 percent. The data breakdown shows a more striking achievement gap: During the 2023-2024 school year, 40 percent of Black CCS students passed English reading testing, compared to 89 percent of their white peers.
Supplied photo.
Coming into City of Promise, Thomas took the opportunity to refocus the nonprofit’s offerings, taking a “whole family” approach to education access.
“It’s a mindset of helping our community members—parents and students—to feel both supported and challenged to that level of excellence,” says Thomas. “I don’t care where you came from, or how much money you have, or the car you drive, or the clothes you wear, the color of your skin—your job’s to be great. My job’s to help you be great. But ultimately, you’re going to leave the school reading the same books as that kid from Rugby Road, full stop. Period. The way you get there might be a little different, and that’s okay.”
City of Promise cornerstone programs include the Pathway Coaching, Dreambuilders, and LaunchPad Initiative, a pilot program in partnership with CCS and the University of Virginia education school that deploys the Virginia Community School Framework. The LaunchPad Initiative addresses non-academic barriers to support under-resourced students and families, thus improving outcomes. While currently only at Trailblazer (formerly Venable) Elementary, COP hopes to expand the initiative to the remaining CCS elementary schools.
The LaunchPad Initiative is the earliest direct (that is, not accessed through a parent already receiving coaching) program offered by City of Promise.
“It’s about quality at every developmental level. … Starting earlier is critically important,” Thomas says. “Often our theory of intervention is a little too late. We’re starting a little too late, and we’re working uphill. As we start to shape ourselves as an organization, as we start to partner with other nonprofits and for profits, there’s always that little bell that goes off that’s like, we’ve got to do this quicker.”
Similar to the LaunchPad Initiative, COP also offers support through Pathway Coaching. Both offerings aim to bolster students’ academic and socioemotional growth. Coaches employed by the nonprofit mentor students between fifth and 12th grade, helping with access to academic and extracurricular opportunities.
Dreambuilders, City of Promise’s only program that requires an application, fosters family and student success by providing parents and their children with tools for self-sufficiency, including tailored instruction and microfinancing of $5,000. The program utilizes evidence-based resources like the National Center for Families Learning frameworks, but takes an individualized approach tailored to participant needs.
“Everything should feel like it fits together; these are not intended to be three distinct programs. They are really intended to be kind of three self-reinforcing pieces of the same whole,” says Thomas. “If our adults are more efficacious and more confident, that’s great for our kids, who are receiving a whole host of high-quality services.”
Beyond programming, students and families involved in the LaunchPad Initiative, Pathway Coaching, or Dreambuilders can access resources through City of Promise’s Gateway Services. While the application-based financial support service is a critical component of COP’s network, the nonprofit is also helping community members by acting as a convener of resources.
Getting resourceful
Meeting participants’ basic needs, whether through directly providing resources or connecting people with the appropriate nonprofit, is a key first step in improving education access and disrupting generational poverty.
Navigating Charlottesville’s expansive network of nonprofits can be confusing, but Thomas says City of Promise is uniquely positioned, literally and strategically, to help community members locate and access the right resources. The nonprofit’s location in the 10th and Page neighborhood allows not only more convenient access for many of the students and families it serves, but for the organization to more effectively build relationships and trust within the community.
“City of Promise remains an intimate, proximal organization that is able to be nimble and is able to have more of a finger on the pulse,” says Thomas. “That is what’s most important to us.”
Addressing barriers beyond the classroom is a key part of COP’s work to improve education access. While the nonprofit can’t fully resource every program participant alone, it can help connect people with other local organizations—including ReadyKids for teen mental health, Network2Work for jobs and job training, and Cav Futures Foundation for mentoring.
Supplied photo.
By more intentionally utilizing the large nonprofit community in the Charlottesville area, City of Promise hopes to collaboratively help families access resources in a way that is both more effective and more expansive.
“For these kids, for these families, it’s not just housing, it’s not just workforce development, it’s not just child care, health care; it’s everything altogether all the time,” he says. “We have to understand that we can’t isolate these tenants in this constellation of care. … We have to figure out how to link arms with other community organizations.”
Meeting participants’ immediate needs while simultaneously building a more proactive support network is a difficult balancing act for any organization, including City of Promise.
“We’re fighting this battle between people with immediate needs that we need to react to, but also not doing that at the expense of being thoughtful about what happens tomorrow,” he says.
At the end of the day, the quantitative, simple answer for how the nonprofit can most effectively help community members is money. Whether through funding for programs or resources, everything boils down to cash flow. But to make a meaningful dent in disrupting cycles of generational poverty, Thomas says City of Promise needs community buy-in and feedback.
“It’s not cheap, and I don’t think it should be. I don’t think we should pretend the folks who live in public housing and these kids and these families should have access to anything less than the rest of us, than your kids, my kids, and all these other little knuckleheads. … That’s [why] I’m here: to kick and scream for [it],” he says. “I think it’s my job now to be the loudest person in the room, but I don’t expect that to be the case for a long time. I don’t want it to be the case for a long time.”
An agentic community and participants not only boosts individual success, but helps City of Promise learn what is and isn’t working directly from the people it hopes to help.
“I think sometimes [nonprofits] say we’re the helpers, we know what the help is. … Feedback has to be incorporated and I want [people] to feel like that’s available,” says Thomas. “The demonstration of success is not how I feel about it or whether people liked that I did it. It’s, does it work for the people for whom it is intended to work for? And at the end of the day, if we can’t say yes to that, we gotta find a way to make that happen.”
Thomas is under no illusions that City of Promise will end generational poverty in his time as executive director, but he is fighting to leave the nonprofit—and Charlottesville—better through his work.
“I want to make sure that we leave this in a way that we furthered the mission, that we’ve moved it forward, that we’ve gotten closer to whatever that huge goal is, that first pie in the sky—we’re going to end generational poverty,” he says. “We have to be very clear that it’s not going to happen today, tomorrow or next week. It’s going to happen by a mosaic of 1,000 little things every single day.”
Blue Moon Diner’s Laura Galgano announced that she (along with partner Rice Hall) is closing the beloved food and music venue on November 27. Photo by Eze Amos.
Dine and out
Blue Moon Diner has us feeling, well, blue with the news of its closure after 18 memorable years. Owners Laura Galgano and Rice Hall announced on social media that they are closing the beloved diner, with its last day of service on November 27.
More than just a restaurant, Blue Moon Diner became a community hub. In a recent Facebook post, Galgano reflected on the special moments shared there—from being the birthplace of CLAW (Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers) to hosting live music and serving as a backdrop for films and music videos.
Famous for breakfast favorites like towering stacks of pancakes and the savory, melty Huevos BlueMooños, along with classic diner treats like pie slices, shakes, and floats, Blue Moon also offered standout non-alcoholic drinks such as the NoNo Negroni, Sober Storm, and Love on the Pebbled Beach.
Through every coffee poured, song played, and connection made, Blue Moon lived out its mission: to welcome guests, nourish bodies, comfort spirits, and strengthen community through food and music.
After two flavorful years, Umma’s officially closed its doors following its final dinner service on September 21. Celebrated as a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community and home to unforgettable dance parties (remember that time the bathroom sink came off the wall—but someone left a note and cash to cover it?), Umma’s was more than just a restaurant—it was a place filled with love, connection, and the kind of community that took care of each other.
Stonefield’s Duck Donuts is temporarily closed due to staffing issues. Originating in the Outer Banks, Duck Donuts is renowned for its generous saccharine toppings, held up by donuts.
Now open
While Duck Donuts takes a breather, everyone’s flocking to Sbrocco’s Donuts & Espresso to satisfy their sweet tooth. Opened September 27 in the former Anna’s Pizza spot in Fry’s Spring, Sbrocco’s pairs playful decor—Tiffany-style pendant lights, blue subway tiles, and a bold red spotted wall with a neon “donuts, donuts, donuts” sign perfect for selfies—with a menu worth the hype.
Owner Melissa Sbrocco teamed up with MarieBette Café & Bakery’s Jason Becton and Patrick Evans to round out Charlottesville’s pastry offerings. The menu features both yeast and cake donuts made with MarieBette’s signature brioche, milk bread doughs, and more. Highlights include the crumb bun—a nod to Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken and a tribute to Jason’s grandmother’s favorite treat. They call their simple vanilla bean-glazed donut “the benchmark for a donut shop,” designed to showcase the quality of their recipes and ingredients. Don’t miss the seasonal offerings, including decadent maple bars.
Milli Coffee Roasters’ old roasting machine has a new master roaster at the helm: Kitty Ashi, known for her successful Thai restaurants across the area.
Camellias Bar & Roastery in the former Milli space takes its name from the flower symbolizing love, desire, and excellence, reflecting the care Ashi pours into every detail of her new cafe. Alongside housemade sourdough, focaccia, and pastries, expect unique offerings like the Ube Croissant, a sweet purple treat topped with a white chocolate and gruyère glaze. The creative, Thai-inspired drinks include the Cha-Choc—a bright orange Thai tea topped with whipped chocolate.
After much anticipation, four pizza-loving brothers—who are not named Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, or Michelangelo—have finally opened Pi Napo in the former Fry’s Spring Station location.
Italian-trained chef Hunter Baseg ensures that the menu features a DOP-certified Margherita pizza, made with imported flour, cheese, and sauce from Italy, along with a rotating selection of nine other unique pies. The menu rounds out with homemade cannoli and a gelato carousel. Look out, Dr. Ho’s, Lampo, and Slice Versa: These guys are here to compete for a slice of the pie!
Little Manila Resto has officially opened its doors at 814 Cherry Ave., taking over the former Arepas on Wheels location after the Venezuelan restaurant upgraded to a larger space in June. Previously operating out of various locations throughout the week, Little Manila has been serving the community since 2014, and will continue to offer its services for events and private parties.
Some of this, some of that
Lance Lemon and Reggie Leonard, prominent figures on the Virginia wine scene, have teamed up to create something truly unique: The Parallax Project. Known for their passion and dedication to inclusivity, Lance brings his expertise from Richmond-based Penny’s Wineshop, while Reggie champions underrepresented voices in the industry through Oenoverse.
As part of the Common Wealth Crush incubator, they’re crafting two incredible wines, “What’s This” and “What’s That,” showcasing the magic of the same grapes—tannat, chardonel, vidal blanc, and a touch of petit manseng, albariño, and traminette—transformed into red and white varieties.
Why Parallax? Lemon and Leonard utilized the Greek word parallaxis, meaning alteration or change, to represent shifting perspectives both in the wine they’re making and the wine community as a whole. Support their GoFundMe campaign to cover production costs for the first vintage and help bring more diverse winemaking to the table.
Indulge and give back
Do you have $1,815 burning a hole in your pocket? Book your spot at Harvesting Hope this November 8-10 at Keswick Hall, where a weekend of exquisite dining awaits. With proceeds benefiting No Kid Hungry, you’ll indulge in a champagne reception and a six-course dinner at Marigold, prepared by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, with access to the resort’s amenities, including an 18-hole golf course, spa, pool, and fitness center.
About 180,000 honey bees live at Black Bear Solar, which is part of Dominion Energy’s venture into agrivoltaics (using land for both agriculture and solar energy production). Supplied photo.
As part of its effort to go green, Dominion Energy is exploring the potential for honey-bee hives on solar farms through a pilot program at Black Bear Solar in Buckingham County.
In operation since 2023, Black Bear Solar covers roughly 13 acres, producing enough energy to power nearly 400 homes. The site is a small part of Dominion Energy’s expansion of solar farms, prompted by the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act. In line with the legislation, the power company will move to completely renewable energy sources by 2045.
“About a decade ago, we didn’t have a single Dominion-owned solar farm in operation,” says Tim Eberly, senior communications specialist. “Now, we have more than 60 solar farms around the state and they generate enough power to power more than 650,000 homes.”
For farmers, the rapid expansion of solar farms in Virginia presents potential challenges due to competition for ideal land.
Dominion started its venture into agrivoltaics—the joint use of land for agriculture and solar farms—with sheep, which are still used to help maintain grass at some solar sites in the commonwealth. By bringing in honey bees, the power company hopes to bolster the local pollinator population, and, as a result, agriculture.
Not every solar farm is a good fit for honey bees, though. Before moving forward with the pilot program, beekeeper Chuck Burden examined the area of Black Bear Solar to make sure the site could support new hives.
“These honey bees have a three-mile foraging radius, so they’re seeking out pollinator plants and crops … looking for nectar and pollen from flowers and crops they can then bring back to their beehives,” says Eberly of Burden’s work to check nearby farms for pesticides and any other harmful chemicals.
“We didn’t want to bring in these beehives and have them competing with any existing bees in that area, or existing pollinators.”
Approximately 180,000 honey bees now live on the solar farm. If all goes well, Dominion anticipates adding more hives to Black Bear Solar this spring, potentially expanding the program and other new agrivoltaics initiatives to additional sites as appropriate.
“It’s very much in the research phase right now, but … we’re looking at the prospect of pairing actual farming with solar,” says Eberly. Details of the potential program are limited as it is still early in development, but may include “a very small pilot project where we might have a row of crops or vegetables … on a solar site.”
Closer to Charlottesville, Dominion is working to establish a new solar farm at the former site of the Ivy Solid Waste & Recycling Center. No feasibility studies for any agrivoltaics programs at the site have been conducted yet, but there are plans to evaluate the location for appropriate initiatives.
Democratic candidate Gloria Witt grew up in Amherst County, which is located in Virginia’s 5th District. Supplied photo.
Voters in Virginia’s 5th District will choose a new congressional representative come November 5, with Democrat Gloria Witt and Republican John McGuire vying for the seat. Ahead of Election Day, C-VILLE reached out to both candidates to learn more about their local and national priorities.
C-VILLE: What are your top priorities if elected to Congress?
Gloria Witt: My top priorities are rooted in making sure that the people of the 5th District have opportunities to thrive. This includes ensuring access to quality health care, protecting Social Security and Medicare, addressing the affordable housing crisis, and expanding economic opportunities through job creation and workforce development. I also prioritize preserving democracy by protecting voting rights and accepting the outcomes of our elections.
On the national level, I am focused on safeguarding democracy, addressing income inequality, and expanding access to health care and affordable child care. I want to restore reproductive rights, strengthen mental health care, and ensure our veterans get the support they deserve.
Locally, I want to focus on revitalizing our small towns and rural communities by addressing the housing shortage, supporting farmers, and increasing infrastructure investments, especially in broadband access. Public education is a top priority. I will push for vastly expanded career and technical education programs.
How does your platform align with and support the best interests of constituents in the 5th District?
GW: My platform is based on the everyday needs of families, workers, and small-business owners in the 5th District. We need practical solutions for affordable health care, better-paying jobs, and ensuring our children receive the education and skills they need. We are failing our youth; they have to leave or they are stuck making a starvation wage. My goal is to lead the charge to make sure that our career and technical programs are producing enough workers for existing business and attracting new businesses with a skilled workforce.
How do your policy positions differ from your opponent?
GW: My opponent and I have very different visions for the future of this district. I believe in expanding access to health care, investing in public education, and making sure working families have the support they need. In contrast, my opponent supports policies that roll back social programs like Medicare and Social Security. I also support a woman’s right to choose, while my opponent wants to restrict reproductive rights. Fundamentally, I believe in building a fairer, more free, inclusive future, while my opponent is focused on policies that benefit the wealthy and big corporations and restrict individual freedoms. I also accept that Trump lost the 2020 election.
How, if at all, do they overlap or intersect?
GW: We may overlap in wanting to create more jobs and spur economic growth, but we differ in how to achieve that.
Party control of the House of Representatives is anticipated to be decided by a narrow margin this year. How would Democratic control of the House benefit 5th District constituents?
GW: Democratic control of the House will ensure we continue to make progress on critical issues like health care affordability, protecting Social Security, and addressing income inequality. It also means ensuring that democracy and voting rights are protected from those who want to undermine them. A Democratic House will work toward policies that lift up all Americans, not just the wealthy few.
If elected to Congress, will you certify election results regardless of party outcome if the election is deemed free and fair?
GW: Absolutely. Our democracy is built on the foundation of free and fair elections. It’s critical that all elected officials respect the will of the voters. … Refusing to do so threatens the very fabric of our democracy.
What, if any, concerns do you have with your opponent, his campaign, or his platform?
GW: My main concern with my opponent is his alignment with far-right extremists who undermine our democratic values. He has shown a willingness to support dangerous conspiracy theories, and that worries me greatly. He has also supported policies that strip people of their health care and phases out Social Security. … His opposition to common-sense gun reform and his stance on reproductive rights are extreme.
Why should Virginians choose you to represent the 5th District?
GW: Virginians should choose me because I’m focused on real solutions that put people first. I grew up on a small farm carrying water and canning food, I know this district, and I’ve lived the challenges many of us face. I’m committed to creating a future where every family has access to health care, where seniors don’t have to worry about their Social Security, and where our children receive the education and skills they need to succeed. I’ll fight for everyone, not just the wealthy or well-connected, and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.
As of press time, John McGuire had not responded to any of C-VILLE’s requests for comment. This interview has been edited for length.
Tania Israel (left) and Miles Coleman (right) acknowledge the expansion of political polarization. Supplied photos.
With Election Day less than a month away, political tension and stress abound both locally and nationally. Polarization is definitely a contributing factor to the anxiety, but two experts with Charlottesville ties say we may not be as divided as we think.
Now a faculty member at the University of California Santa Barbara, Tania Israel credits growing up in Charlottesville for shaping her work to bridge the political divide.
“I got into this work in Charlottesville,” she says. After organizing a discussion of pro-choice and pro-life locals in the ’90s, Israel was inspired to continue exploring ideological divides. “It didn’t change anything about how I felt about reproductive rights, but it changed so much about how I felt about people who disagreed with me.”
Rather than taking the political science approach, Israel’s examination of polarization draws on her expertise as a doctor of counseling psychology. Her last two books, Beyond Your Bubble and Facing the Fracture (published this August), have focused on understanding and approaching political polarization.
In her work, Israel has found that “we are not nearly as divided as we think we are, our views are not as far apart as we imagine them to be,” but affective polarization remains a critical issue for American democracy and interpersonal relationships.
Diversity of opinion is an important element in maintaining a healthy democracy, but increasing affective polarization—a positive association with one’s own political party and negative feelings toward the opposing party—diminishes the ability for productive dialogue and solution-making.
In a 2022 study, the PEW Research Center found “increasingly, Republicans and Democrats view not just the opposing party but also the people in that party in a negative light. Growing shares in each party now describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans.” Further, the amount of respondents holding a negative opinion of both major parties has sharply risen, sitting at 27 percent at the time of the survey.
Miles Coleman, an associate editor for Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, has also noted an increase in both partisan and affective polarization.
“There used to be … more people willing to entertain either side, give their votes to either side. That is not as much a thing anymore,” he says. “Coalitions are more firm now, there are fewer moderate to conservative Democrats or liberal Republicans, so you tend to have more people being … locked into either side.”
Split-ticket, swing, and undecided voters still exist, but misunderstandings around these voters and their positionality is rampant, according to Coleman.
“You do have some voters in the middle who are still willing to vote for either side, but that segment, I feel, is increasingly a smaller and smaller segment of the electorate,” he says. Rather than a moderate portion of the constituency evenly positioned between Democratic and Republican political platforms, numerous swing voters have varying policy positions that contrastingly align with either party.
Conversely, the key undecided group to watch this election cycle is the “double haters,” says Coleman. “These are voters who have unfavorable views of both Harris and Trump. … Those voters who maybe don’t like the high prices, the inflation that we see under Biden, but might not want to go back to the days of Donald Trump.”
Coleman attributes some of the current political climate to media ecosystems. “I blame a lot of this on asocial social media,” he says. “It’s increasingly easy for one side to get kind of their own media ecosystem, their own facts. Both sides, really, to some extent, aren’t even on the same page.”
In her work to bridge this political chasm, Israel has also argued that media and tribal politics have exaggerated and exacerbated polarization.
By design, media are created to attract and maintain engagement, frequently employing tactics to amp up consumer emotions to increase and keep interest. Social media in particular relies and thrives on algorithms, which feed users curated content based on prior activity. Consumers receive and interact with content that incites either strong positive or negative feelings, resulting in ideological “bubbles” of media echoing existing beliefs and combative presentations of opposing viewpoints.
“It’s really hard for us to even think about or want to approach people who have different views, if we have skewed perceptions about who they are,” Israel says. “Study after study for decades has shown that we exaggerate the other side’s views, thinking that they are more extreme than they are, thinking that they are hostile.”
For many Americans, having a political conversation with family and friends across the aisle can be a daunting inevitability, but there are ways to have a civil and meaningful dialogue, according to Israel.
“One of the main reasons people tell me they’re interested in having a conversation with someone who is on the other side of the political divide is because they have somebody who they’re close to, a family member or a friend who they want to stay connected with or repair a relationship with, but it’s really challenging because of the different views,” she says. “Approach with the intention to create a warm and caring connection, where your goal is to understand the other person.”
Through her work, Israel has found listening and trying to understand someone’s perspective to be a key step in holding a productive conversation.
“We think that what we should do is lay out all of the facts and figures and arguments to show the other person that we are right and that they are wrong. It turns out people don’t respond very well to that,” she says. “If we’re listening with the intention to understand, rather than the intention to respond … if we can share our stories … how we came to care about an issue, or if there was somebody or something that shifted our view about it, that’s a much more effective way to share our perspective.”
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville celebrated the area’s newest homeowner, Binta Rose, with a dedication ceremony on October 12. The four-bedroom house was built by Habitat in 2016, repurchased at market value, and renovated for the Rose family.
Rose, who works at the University of Virginia Student Health and Wellness Center, is a longtime Charlottesville resident. After the death of her son Rahmean Rose-Thurston in a motorcycle accident in 2020, Rose lost her rented home and moved in with family. Her sister, also a Habitat homeowner, encouraged her to apply to the program.
Moving forward with the purchase of the home was a difficult decision for Rose and her family, with the site of her son’s fatal accident close by. “Even when I didn’t think it was time for me to take [the house in the] Burnet [neighborhood], I think God said, ‘No Binta, it’s time for you now,’” she told Habitat ahead of the dedication. “God gave me the strength to pick me up. I feel like I could write a book about how I overcame so many obstacles in my life that tried to stop me or knock me down and I got back up.”
Get out the vote
The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Virginia on October 11 for violating the National Voter Registration Act. The suit is a response to an August 7 executive order by Gov. Glenn Youngkin that calls for daily updates to voter registration lists through comparison with Department of Motor Vehicles data identifying non-citizens. The DOJ suit alleges Youngkin’s EO violates the “quiet period” provision of the act, which prohibits systematic purging of voter rolls within 90 days of federal elections. Youngkin responded to the suit, calling it an attempt by the Biden-Harris administration to undermine election integrity.
Care package
Region Ten has received a one-time $3 million grant from the Youngkin administration, according to an October 14 press release. The funding is part of a larger Right Help, Right Now initiative investing in emergency room alternatives. The nonprofit plans to use the funds to expand services at its Crisis Receiving Center at the Region Ten Old Lynchburg Road campus.
’Tis the season
With Halloween around the corner, it’s not only spooky season, but flu season, too! The Blue Ridge Health District is offering free vaccinations on October 16 from 5 to 7pm at Charlottesville High School. Vaccines are available on a first-come, first-served basis for those ages 3 years old and up. More information about upcoming vaccination clinics can be found at vdh.virginia.gov/blue-ridge.
The proposed apartment building at 1609 Gordon Ave. will include nine units. Image via Design Develop.
The future of land use in Charlottesville will be determined parcel by parcel as property owners make decisions about whether they will build units that are required to be sold or rented at levels below the market value.
The relatively new owners of 1609 Gordon Ave., an LLC who bought the property in December 2021 for $600,000, have decided not to pursue affordability when replacing a two-story 1963 apartment building with a three-story structure with nine units.
That is one unit less than would trigger the city’s mandate that 10 percent of units in non-residential neighborhoods comply with affordability requirements. This is known as inclusionary zoning.
“Rents for affordable homes are set relative to the Area Median Income (AMI), the household income for the median household in a region,” reads a portion of the Affordable Housing Plan adopted by Charlottesville City Council in March 2021.
The maximum monthly rents are established in the city’s affordable dwelling unit manual and must be reserved for households with incomes below 60 percent of AMI. At that level, the current monthly caps are $1,416 for a two-bedroom, $1,582 for a three-bedroom, and $1,732 for a four-bedroom. Developers must submit a form showing how they will comply with the rules, but the Gordon Avenue project is exempt and does not have to provide any information about projected rents.
Located in the Venable neighborhood, 1609 Gordon Ave. has the RX-5 designation that allows for as much density as can fit within a seven-story structure, as long as 10 percent of units are affordable or the developer contributes to a city fund. The new rules increased these amounts substantially to $368,303 for a two-bedroom unit and $547,339 for a three-bedroom unit.
The new zoning eliminates the role City Council plays in such developments, but the Board of Architectural Review still has to sign off on the design. It had an initial review on Tuesday, October 15, a discussion that had nothing to do with affordability but everything to do with how the new structure will fit in with the surrounding architectural design control district.
That district has been changing with certificates of appropriateness, having recently been approved for a new four-story apartment building at 1532 Virginia Ave., a three-story sorority house at 503 Rugby Rd., and a three-story apartment building at 605 Preston Ave.
But one remaining question is whether anyone will take advantage of the higher densities allowed and submit to the inclusionary zoning. Charlottesville’s Housing Advisory Committee will discuss potential proposals on Wednesday, October 16. These include measures to provide tax rebates to subsidize the cost to the developer.
Meanwhile, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority continues to proceed with a plan to purchase more units across the city and use federal housing vouchers to subsidize their cost. In September, the CRHA Board agreed to spend $2.8 million to purchase three more properties, comprising more than a dozen units, around the city.
Electronic music and intermedia art collide at the annual TechnoSonics Festival. With the theme of immersion, the 2024 iteration explores aspects of the world that envelop minds, bodies, and spirits. Sounds that surround, and environments that encapsulate, are all fair game at events on UVA Grounds and at Visible Records. The featured work in electronic music, intermedia, and sound art comes out of UVA’s composition and computer technologies program. Special guest artist Rohan Chander—aka BAKUDI SCREAM—offers a presentation covering his creative process on Friday afternoon, followed by performances on Friday and Saturday nights.
Thursday 10/17–Saturday 10/19. Free, times and locations vary. music.virginia.edu/technosonics-2024
Halloween is just around the corner, and spooky vibes are swirling in the autumn air. Fans of fangs will want to sink their teeth into the fine historical fiction of Stanley Stepanic. The local author teaches courses on the Polish language and Eastern European film at UVA, as well as the history of vampires. Stepanic will discuss his novel, A Vamp There Was, a story set in 1920s Fredericksburg that blends fact and fiction in a tale of self-discovery, vengeance, and, well, vampires. Don’t worry, this counts as an invitation to enter the event.
Saturday 10/19. Free, 7pm. New Dominion Bookshop, 404 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. ndbookshop.com
