Out of context ripped from Facebook

It's a very complex situation. The land has been designated for this level of development for years. Albemarle Supervisors adopted a housing plan whose first objective calls for more housing production. This is right next to water and sewer.

In this case, the story is compounded by the fact that the biggest player in the vicinity is the University of Virginia, who have their own plans for redevelopment. They do not have to tell the public what they are planning, but I try to cover it anyway. Ivy Gardens will eventually be redeveloped to 700+ units. That could open up other transportation possibilities, as is the purchase of the shopping center that houses Food of All Nations. That's outside of the scope of the Emmet-Ivy corridor.

So, what does UVA plan to do with it? Good question. None of those meetings are public, and they don't have to be. Once a piece of property is within their control, local authority no longer exists.

I could say more on this, but I'll just say that the public body that used to exist to talk about growth issues like this is no longer in existence. Supervisors and Council voted to disband it in late 2019. At the time I was not a journalist, but an advocate, and I stood up to point out the ramifications of making all of those meetings closed door.

Now I'm a journalist, scrappy and independent, and over-worked and there was so much more I wanted to do with this story. But I am grateful that I have been able to put together a body of work that resumes my work trying to cover all of this and all of the nuance.

To what end? Heck if I know. In theory, there will be 79 units guaranteed to be below-market. Who will track that? Who will make sure it's tracked? Who will write about what UVA does do, and who will write about all of the transportation components? Who will ask the tough questions?

I guess it's me. I used to be part of an organization that did this, but then someone was hired who said they didn't want to do that. I had the worst job of my life as an advocate saying things in public I did not believe, and here I am wondering what comes next.

I want a world where everyone wins. To get there, we need information. That's why I do this. Even though it means I don't do much of anything else!