The good, the bad, all of it.

Tell me about VA in general too please.

sidenote:  I see that the Brady Campaign gives it a C-minus so it must be ok gun-wise (although FL gets a D-plus )

Charlottesville is a great town...

It is in central Virginia on the eastern face of the blue ridge mountaines, you are moments away from about anything outdoorsy you can imagine...the blue ridge is less than 20 miles west...skiing at wintergreen is an hour southwest...

UVA is there so get an ecclectic group of people...the community is actually quite balanced....there is the younger liberal community that is associated with the university, but there is also a good amount of conservative feelings too...

good schools (i used to teach and coach in the system)...good private schools too....

great restaurants...good night life....ACC sports...2.5 hours south of D.C.

there are no public ranges, but the Rivanna Rifle and Pistol Club is good from what I understand...

I live about 35 minutes north in Orange, and lived and worked in Charlottesville for many years...if I could I would move back there in an instance...

The Downtown Mall is awesome...

There is so much to say...i love the town and the state...

I grew up in C'ville not too bad a of a place (lots of good golf courses too) mild winters, hot summers.  My new home is in the SW mountains though.

Don't come to VA. Its terrible here.  I hear that Maryland is nice though.

Quoted: Don't come to VA. Its terrible here.  I hear that Maryland is nice though.

Is that kind of like saying VA is full 'go away' ?

Housing in the city is over $200k+ for absolutely anything,even a tarpaper shack.
The surrounding county,Albemarle is moderately cheaper,but not by much. Most housing is over $200k. Average 1-2 room apartments in town can be rented for $600-1200 per month depending on quality.
Outlying counties are affordable,with occasional sub-$200k housing. Count on a 30+ minute commute for that.
Traffic isn't too bad except north of the city.
Restaurants here are good and plentiful.
Shopping is criticized by many,who usually go to DC and Richmond.
Night life is sort of boring by all third party accounts.
Spectator sports here are pretty good due to UVA.
The city is very politically liberal. Albemarle county is more moderate and quite prosperous,and surrounding counties are politically very conservative but tend to be a bit poorer since they don't have as much business/job infrastructure in place.

Gunwise-getting concealed carry permits is very easy here,even in Cville. Cville is often faster in my experience,since so few in the city proper agree with the idea of permits. Less permit applications=faster issuance of permit. The Rivanna range mentioned earlier is excellent,with leadership that is very black rifle and Title II friendly.

Bottomline, if you're moving here from a huge sprawling city or exurb and are used to the property values and income levels,this place isn't too bad. It's a small town that has a rather settled base of old money and long time landowners/investors,which keeps property values high but also provides a lot of jobs and good employment opportunities.

I work in Charlottesville, and live in near by Palmyra.
It's been seven years; nice place, fairly low cost of living,
no problem getting class three stuff signed off,
so far it's been all good!

L.

Poodleshooter nailed it.  I came within an inch of taking a job in Charlottesville last year, but the job my wife was looking at fell through and we stayed farther west where we are now.  Nice town, very kid and bicycle friendly, with plenty of places to eat and a surprisingly nice skating rink too.