14 Things Charlottesville Needs Really Badly!

1. More Free Parking Downtown

Photo: I Love CVille Staff

Parking around The Downtown Mall and The UVa Corner can be an utter nightmare, especially for those who work around those districts. Do I want to pay 20 bucks everyday or risk being towed? When businessmen like Mark Brown verbally spar with local bureaucrats like Mike Signer over parking issues, it makes the entire City of Charlottesville look dysfunctional at best, incompetent at worst. C’mon, fellas; get it together. Let’s put the egos aside, and lets find a parking solution.

On a side-note: What has Mark Brown done that has positively impacted the Charlottesville community?? Not hatin, just statin.

2. Make Albemarle County More Bike Friendly

Photo: Yelp

We need more biking lanes and walking paths. Albemarle County should seriously consider RVA’s accommodating biking infrastructure. Would anyone in town call Albemarle County a “bike friendly county???” Hell, no. More biking lanes and walking paths means less cars on the road, which means less traffic and an improved quality of life for everyone.

3. A Rooftop Bar Where You Can Watch The Sunset

Photo: Yelp

There is nothing better then sipping a cocktail or a craft beer while watching the sunset. It’s like time stops for an instant, and everything is perfectly alright. I will pay premium prices for this view while winding down my day.

4. Sprint Needs To Improve Its Coverage Across All Of Central Virginia

Photo: Yelp

Sprint’s cell phone coverage across Central Virginia is super spotty. Seriously, haven’t we evolved beyond the caveman-like days of LTE and 3G coverage?!

5. A Late Night Dance Venue

Photo: Yelp

Girls wanna dance! Guys wanna dance! I wanna dance! Why are there so few late night options to bust a move?

6. A Bottomless All-You-Can-Eat-And-Drink Brunch Option Like in NYC

Photo: Yelp

What happened to SUNDAY FUNDAYS?!?! What happened to all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink bottomless brunches?!?! A few months ago, I went to this bottomless brunch in NYC at this restaurant called MAYA. It’s on 1st between 64th and 65th street. For $40, I could eat and drink anything I wanted for 2 hours. It was orgasmic! We need a Charlottesville restauranteur to make a legit bottomless brunch a reality.

7. Vastly Improve The Late Night Dining Options

Photo: Yelp

Charlottesville needs better late-night grub options. Seriously, the post-1:30 am dining options in CVille suck. Have you ever tried eating at The Waffle House on 5TH Street Extended after 1:30 am??? Don’t do it. It’s super sketch. There’s a reason police cruisers camp outside The Waffle House after midnight, and it’s not the bottomless cups of coffee either.

8. A Ping-Pong Centric Restaurant Sports Bar Concept

Photo: Yelp

Ping Pong centric restaurants and sports bars are open in cities across the country. Peeps love to pong. As James Earl Jones said in “Field of Dreams,” “If you build it, they will come.”

9. A Bowling Alley On The Southside Of Town

Photo: Yelp

Charlottesville and Central Virginia are tremendously underserved from a bowling standpoint. Kegler’s just doesn’t do it for me. We need this business model to open near The Downtown Mall: a bowling alley meets a sports bar meets a dance club meets a headie food menu.

10. Expand The Downtown Mall

Photo: Yelp

Charlottesville should expand the pedestrian-friendly Downtown Mall (the crown jewel of the city) to include The Ix Building (and the valuable land around it) and Belmont Proper, including the dining district featuring Mas Tapas, The Local, Tavola, Juction, The Local Smokehouse and La Taza. Imagine the unbelievable possibilities of having a pedestrian-friendly dining, shopping and entertainment district that covers five times the surface area that it does now! The city would also enjoy tremendous taxable possibilities as well.

11. Develop The Fry’s Spring Commercial Corridor

Photo: Yelp

Charlottesville should prioritize strategic development in the Fry’s Spring commercial corridor. Let’s make Fry’s Spring freakin’ awesome! With its positioning next to a bevy of UVa students/professors, and its placement close to Intrastate 64 and the bypass, the Fry’s Spring commercial corridor is primo real estate ready to boom. Someone with vision and balls could turn this into a mini UVa Corner.

12. Finish Construction Of The Landmark Hotel

Photo: I Love CVille Staff

The Landmark Hotel, a partially constructed building on The Downtown Mall, has been a local eyesore long enough for people to almost have gotten used to it. WTF?!?! Halsey Minor, a one-time CVille golden boy, envisioned a swanky boutique hotel as an anchor on The Downtown Mall. All I’m seeing is crap covered in crap. Let’s either get The Landmark Hotel torn down, or finish the project before we all die of old age. Today, John Dewberry (a former Georgia Tech quarterback) of Dewberry Capital owns The Landmark Hotel skeleton. Can Mr. Dewberry huff some life into this corpse?? Only time will tell…

13. Free WiFi Across The City of Charlottesville

Photo: Google Image

Charlottesville needs free high-speed internet across the entire city. The days of not finding an internet signal are over. If Charlottesville would like to continue appealing to tech, digital and fast-growth startups, it needs to improve its WiFi accessibility immediately.

14. Further Develop The Midtown Restaurant & Shopping District

Photo: Google Image

Charlottesville needs to invest in the Midtown dining and shopping district. West Main Street should be an elegant and efficient connector that serves as a liaison between The UVa Corner and The Downtown Mall. Instead, we are left with work zones, traffic congestion and storefront vacancies. It’s time for Charlottesville to prioritize Midtown through strategic development that appeals to both UVa students and CVillers alike.

If you liked this post, you may also like 11 Great Places To Get Seafood In CVille! and My 12 Favorite Dishes On The UVa Corner!

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