Holding up signs that read “Housing Is A Human Right,” “Mold In Homes Has To Go,” and “Gov. Youngkin…Sign the Bills!,” about a dozen people gathered at the Free Speech Wall on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall last Thursday to urge Gov. Glenn Youngkin to sign into law bills that they say will expand tenants’ rights in Virginia.

Aleen Carey, educator and food justice leader, was elected as Charlottesville Tomorrow’s board chair beginning March 1, 2024. Carey is the co-executive director of Cultivate Charlottesville, and also serves on the board of the Building Goodness Foundation. Carey takes this role following Jacqueline Salmon, who served as chair for...

This is the first of a series about Buck Island, by Philip Cobbs for First Person Charlottesville. Last year I passed a milestone, 65 years on Earth. As I reflected on my life, it occurred to me: I had spent most of my life within a football field’s length of my birthplace. I was so immersed in the place I took for granted how safe I felt there.

Charlottesville City Schools officials say they need an additional $9 million from the City of Charlottesville this year to cover 21 and a half newly created positions and other new expenditures, but may only get $7 million. City Schools presented their final budget request to the City Council on Tuesday...

Charlottesville Tomorrow has published a voter guide for almost 20 years. Last year we expanded beyond the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, after we heard from many people that they wanted more information in the region. Our guide is built to help residents participate in local democracy. To that...

Today is a special day. It comes just once every four years. Feb. 29 is Leap Day — and long awaited birthdays for several Charlottesville residents. At the end of January, we asked our email newsletter subscribers who gets to celebrate their actual birthdays today. And four people told us their stories.

The City of Charlottesville is looking to expand its rental assistance program for seniors and people with disabilities, a program that has been shrinking as the city’s population has become younger and wealthier. During last week’s Tuesday City Council meeting, Commissioner of the Revenue Todd Divers asked Council to...

Charlottesville City Schools is finalizing its budget but have hit a block: they need an extra $9 million to fund the positions and costs they expect in the 2025 fiscal year. The extra millions of dollars would go toward funding key positions, such as reading and math specialists, care and safety assistants, special education instructional assistants and stipends, attendance specialists, and more. It would bring the investment from the city up from $67 million in 2024 to $76 million in 2025.

Tuesday night, Charlottesville City Council voted unanimously to purchase two pieces of property in Belmont for a possible homeless shelter and housing project. Council will spend about $4.2 million to acquire the connecting properties, located at 405 Avon St. and 405 Levy Ave. at the foot of the Belmont Bridge, from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. That includes the $4 million total price of the properties plus closing costs, something Council agreed to in a previous meeting.

Despite receiving funding from both the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, the next phase of the Premier Circle low-cost housing project is delayed once more. Virginia Supportive Housing won’t be able to start building its 80 units of permanent supportive housing until summer, said Julie Anderson, director of real estate development at VSH, a nonprofit developer that provides affordable housing and on-site case management services to residents.

Charlottesville Tomorrow is a community-driven, socially conscious news organization. We serve our neighbors by connecting them to each other and to the issues that affect them most. This is a newsroom at the forefront of reimagining local news. It’s a place for talented journalists and big thinkers to dig into...

Starting March 1, families and individuals in need of things like shampoo and laundry detergent can go to the Salvation Army and get them for free. Just a month shy from its hygiene closet’s grand opening, though, the Salvation Army is in crucial need of donations, said Jim Battaglia, spokesperson for the Salvation Army of Charlottesville.

How can central Virginia meet the challenge of keeping its diverse communities informed?. This is the central question Charlottesville Tomorrow CEO and Editor-in-Chief Angilee Shah will tackle as a 2024 Fellow in the Media Transformation Challenge, a Poynter Institute executive program designed to propel new ideas in the journalism industry.

Last year, a Charlottesville developer allowed a neighborhood association to help them design a new building project in the Fifeville neighborhood. Now, city leaders say they want that to be the norm. Charlottesville’s mayor and city manager this weekend expressed unreserved support for using a little-known legal agreement to ensure...

Monday night, City Council will hear public comment and take a vote on whether or not to purchase two pieces of property in Belmont where officials hope to build a shelter for the unhoused. The parcels, located at 405 Avon St. and 405 Levy Ave., are at the foot of...

The waitlist for City Schools students in need of a bus is no more. Charlottesville Area Transit now has staffed enough bus drivers to get almost 2,000 kids to school. The announcement comes after almost a decade of driver shortages, which became particularly acute when children returned after the pandemic.

Editor’s note: This report was updated shortly after being published to correct an error. Charlottesville City Schools is inviting families who live outside of walk zones and have voluntarily given up bus seats to contact their schools if they’d now like one. Also, walk zones have existed in Charlottesville for decades. They were expanded in 2022 in the face of the bus driver shortage.

This Sunday, Charlottesville Tomorrow will be live with the mayor and city manager to talk about how they plan to work with developers and city residents on new building projects. At noon, Charlottesville Tomorrow neighborhoods reporter Erin O’Hare will join the In My Humble Opinion talk show on 101.3 JAMZ...

Nine Charlottesville residents are suing the city to stop it from implementing its new zoning ordinance. On Jan. 17, the residents filed a lawsuit in Charlottesville Circuit Court alleging that the city’s new zoning ordinance is “void and otherwise invalid.” City Council unanimously voted to adopt the new ordinance during its regular business meeting on Dec. 1, with an effective date of Feb. 19, 2024.

A few months after announcing a homelessness intervention plan in October, Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders is eyeing a site for a possible overnight shelter in downtown Charlottesville. Monday night, Sanders will ask Council to consider buying two connected parcels of land at 405 Avon St. and 405 Levy Ave.,...