Living in Charlottesville

Charlottesville consistently ranks as one of the top ten places to live in the United States, in listings ranging from Kiplinger’s Magazine to Men’s Health Magazine to Cities Ranked and Rated. There are plenty of resources available to help prospective graduate students make up their own minds about the city and surrounding area.

• Graduate Student Resource Guide
• Charlottesville Awards and Recognitions
• School of Law’s Charlottesville Facts Page
• C’ville, a local weekly newspaper
• Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors

“Combining the quality of life of small-town America with the cultural resources of a large city, Charlottesville is an ideal place to live and study for graduate students. UVa’s campus–or ‘Grounds’, as it’s known here–is an especially vibrant part of the community, with a wide range of events featuring guest performers or lecturers, as well as UVa’s own university groups. An Indian dinner with the South Asian student association, a free performance of the Charlottesville Chamber Orchestra, courtesy of ‘arts dollars’, or a warm-weather outdoor movie screening at the amphitheater–any of these events might compete for your time on a normal night at UVa, while on weekends, the nearby ‘Corner’ district spills over with students taking a break from the books.

If scenes are not your scene, then getting out of the city is a cinch. Ten minutes from Charlottesville is horse-farm country, with rolling hills and plenty of vineyards offering places to picnic and sample the local wines. Another fifteen minutes further and you’ll find yourself at the foot of the Blue Ridge, with the famed Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail, and plenty of overlooks, hiking trails and swimming holes to explore–that is, when you’re not studying, of course.”

-2010 Fellow Reed Johnson