Is Charlottesville, Virginia A Better Place Today Than It Was 30 Years Ago?

Editor’s Note: This is part two in a four part series.

Coy Barefoot feels most at home in a small town. In fact, Barefoot beelined to Charlottesville, Virginia more than 30 years ago because of its small town feel.

“When I grew up, I always wanted to live in Mayberry,” Barefoot said. “When I was in my twenties, I sought out that town that was as close to the small town that I had always dreamed about.”

So, is Charlottesville, Virginia a better place today than it was 30 years ago? That’s the question I asked Coy Barefoot on The I Love CVille Show powered by Greenberry’s Coffee at Barracks Road.

“In many ways [Charlottesville, Virginia] is better [than it was 30 years ago],” said Barefoot, who has lived in CVille for more than three decades. “I will be honest, though. I fell in love with a little town that doesn’t exist anymore. When I got here, the street lights at night would flash yellow because there was nobody out driving around. There was nobody on West Main Street at night. It was just empty.”

Barefoot, the recently crowned executive director of the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, remembers The Downtown Mall when you only had two dining options after dark.

“The Downtown Mall after 5 o’clock was empty,” Barefoot said. “Miller’s was open and The C&O was open, and that was literally the only things open at night downtown.”

“You can look at that and say, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s an unsuccessful business environment. We need to improve that.’ [But] I LOVED it! It felt like a big high school. If you didn’t know somebody, you knew who their friends were.”

Today, as Charlottesville, Virginia looks to reestablish its brand identity and its self image, Barefoot said that our community must acknowledge its history and its mistakes before we’re able to move forward.

“I think turmoil is the right word. Everyone in town is concerned. These issues were there before August 12. August 12 put a very tragic, big, sad spotlight on some of these issues, but they were there before August 12,” Barefoot said. “Give us credit as a community for at least trying to figure some of this stuff out and not ignore it, but to own it. And to figure out, what the heck is going on…”

At the 5-minute, 35-second marker of this interview, Barefoot begins to offer perspective on Charlottesville City Council.

“My friends on City Council would not deny that they have their challenges right now. They have real challenges. Things to figure out. What I can say, and I can say for each one of them, they are trying to figure it out in their own. There is not a person on Council who does not really care, truly, about trying to figure this out.”

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