The most
overrated town on
earth.
A so-called "city" of about 40,000
people with a road infrastructure designed to handle a population 10% of its current size.
The most over priced real estate anywhere in the country. 500k will get you
1,200
square foot 3 bedroom cottage.
All of the headaches of living in a big city with none of the benefits: Traffic congestion like you wouldn't believe (most of the main roads in town are
one lane), lines out the door and 2 hour wait times for your favorite restaurant, 90% of on street parking requires one of about 20 various types of parking permits, property owners will tow your car with glee, the most obnoxious and pompous local residents who think they're rich, and nothing to rent for below
1 grand a month.
The nearest actual city is D.C., about 2 hours away if you drive quickly and
don't run into traffic. (You will, btw, as the only road to get to D.C. Is route 29 north, a sad excuse for a highway with traffic lights every 5 miles. Seriously, the road infrastructure in central VA sucks!)
The only real reason to come here is to go to school, as UVA is fairly highly ranked (No.24 according to U.S. News) but after you are finished with academia, get out of Charlottesville as fast as you can. Just don't go to North Korea. (Too early for that
one?) I'm kidding. No but seriously this town sucks.