The calm in Charlottesville will soon end.
It’s a mere week until Law School starts up again; it’s less than two weeks until undergraduates start classes and I can’t find out when Darden begins classes, but it has to be very soon. That’s right; your temporary peace (and boredom to some) will end in a few days.
Soon, we will return to a world ruled by Dardenites and their nametages, tazered Law Students and all those sorority girls who invade Mas with their fake IDs.
But guess what? As much as cVillains make fun of UVA, the truth is Charlottesville is boring without the influx of above average citizens, new faces to the bars and lots more excitement. What I’m trying to say is that Charlottesville actually thrives and exists because of the University. If the University weren’t here, Charlottesville wouldn’t be the same.
As much as you love to hate, every business and many people in town, can’t live without UVA. Think about it; you have over 20,000 fulltime students who don’t exist in Charlottesville from June through August. If they only were to spend $50 each per week on food and drinks in town (and I’m sure they spend a lot more, i.e. have you been to Harris Teeter?), that’s at least $4 million in additional monthly revenue for local food and beverage places during the time school is in session. But, my estimates are crap; UVa brings in over $1 billion in economic benefits to the Charlottesville area.
The town feels very dead during this time of year. Businesses complain, restaurants close down, we get bored at bars… but the truth is, you can’t not appreciate UVa.
Do you love UVA?
Popularity: 36% [?]
Tagged as: dardenites, law students, love, university, UVA, Virginia
what is it with you and cats?
Yeah, I get it … UVA is an integral part of Charlottesville.
But I still like it better when it’s “boring”.
I agree. I love going to the Corner bars in the summer when there’s a lot less students around.
Do sorority girls—or any large contingent of U.Va. undergrads—really go to Mas? I thought they stayed close to the confines of the Corner, but I could be wrong.
As an alum, I’m perfectly content with “The University” (*vomit*) being here. It’s all the chets and snots that attend who bother me, but then, it bothered me when I was a student, too. I mostly got over it, a highly recommendable course of treatment.
@4 - i was thinking the same thing. as far as most uva students are concerned, university avenue dead-ends at the red roof.
I really love this article. This summer, I’ve met a few of you all and often times, when I meet locals, I am embarassed and even ashamed to say I attend UVA b/c of the obvious connotations (hence my name). So thanks for sticking up for UVA! As much as I hate those fucking sorority girls and, for lack of a better word, douchey frat-tas-tic guys, I do love the school and it has some great, time honored traditions. And, even though I hate to admit it, I do feel proud sometimes when I’m walking down the Lawn to class past the Rotunda…I mean, UVA and Thomas Jefferson are a major piece of our heritage and history as a nation, whether you like UVA-ers or not. So that’s my spiel on that…
The obvious worst part is the increased cars on the road. Traffic in this citeh is bad enough without a couple of more thousand cars in thee olde towne.
@7 I agree…this is the first summer I’ve stayed in Charlottesville, and it is much better without the ruckus of traffic…I can actually find parking! That sweet gift will soon be gone
Hey is this where we sign-up to taze law students? Cause I’m all about public service
Darden classes start on the 23rd. Not that I’d know because I’m finishing off course book printing this week or anything….
are we tazing dardenites too? i think marshall is lining up.
i wouldn’t mind the traffic if uva students knew how to drive. bicyclists and motorcyclists alike: hide! take the back roads, your life depends on it.
i think charlottesville would benefit from a pre-uva throwdown, a goodbye to summer shindig, a last-chance-to-enjoy-it annual hootenanny
marshal: i kid.
@11, I agree! Who’s gonna think this one up?
i think charlottesville would benefit from a pre-uva throwdown, a goodbye to summer shindig, a last-chance-to-enjoy-it annual hootenanny
At some point, the commentariat here mused about throwing a big party in B-yo’s yard. I could never tell if we were really serious or not.
btw i love the cat pictures, Thor.
i am confused about this last little bit in the article:
“The town feels very dead during this time of year. Businesses complain, restaurants close down, we get bored at bars… but the truth is, you can’t not appreciate UVa.”
the restaurant where i work has thrived over the summer and in summers past. the businesses i frequent take the summertime to develop meaningful local connections & beef up their stock thereby allowing locals “first dibs”. furthermore, the summer is a perfect time for bar crawls, especially downtown. why hit up one bar for five drinks when you can hit up five bars for one drink?
i would argue that the town is more animated in the summer. the return of the cookie-cutter student population, all stereotypes intended, approximates a zombification of the town.
@15
you’re right on the money there, glamazon. when the Grape is in full swing, the town is bursting at the seams, and not in a good way. when the students are (mostly) gone, the town feels like a nice, small-ish place to live. there’s no doubt that the ‘ville would be different without the Grape, and i don’t know if it’d be better or worse, but all the students and faculty + townspeople + tourists (the magic mix musing over salmonella pancakes at the Tavern, apparently) = saturation station.
i much prefer to avoid anything close to downtown or the corner when possible during those times.
Yes, Belmont seems to be the last bastion of non-studenthood. Many students to whom I have spoken have told me they really don’t know where Belmont actually is, and were surprised to hear there were restaurants/cool thinks to do down there.
we should have rule 1 & rule 2 on belmont
Rule 1: Thou shalt not castigate the Belmont Moped Army, for their numbers are legion, and their ways are boozily nefarious.
Rule 2: Thou shalt not jump on the porch of the house of yo, for it is a feeble porch, and the resulting descent will cause great weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.
/wait… who are all you people?
silly b-yo, i meant
rule 1: you do not talk about belmont
rule 2: you do not talk about belmont
rule 3: there is no rule 3
rule 4: you do not talk about belmont
rule 5: i don’t ever want to catch anybody NOT drinking.
/to paraphrase the Pythons
@19 … Does it matter? We have no credibility anyways.
Where is Uva LaGrape anyways? Did she go home for the summer or did she get scared away by Glamazon stalking her?
Thor… you used a double negative at the end there. You get one award and suddenly standards plummet. What next? Someone call the Grammar Police. I am pressing charges.
Someone call the Grammar Police.
Stanley!
As a descriptivist, I would say that Thor’s use of “can’t not”, while perhaps not appropriate for formal situations (including state visits featuring royalty, weddings, funerals, and papal inaugurations), rings inoffensive in non-formal settings, including pithy blog posts. In fact, it’s really quite common.
The Grammar Police have reviewed the case, and it is closed. No charges will be filed.
@ 26 I mean c’mon, the pope cant not care about such things?
Wow, did the world just turn upsidedown? Is Stanley eating peyote again?
I want to pursue an appeal, and I’m going for court costs, out of pocket expenses and I want a pony.
@29: I’ve always thought you were appealing, Flooze.
@29 Oh Floozy they just handed down your appeal
Stanley… shouldn’t that read appalling?
Dieter… that is sad and mean.
@ 8 - you can find plenty of parking if you know where to go!
/not helping
(i also love cville in the summer, but let’s face it, making fun of fellow townies gets boring after a while, and UVA kids supply an endless stream of mockable targets. and yes, i did go here undergrad, and yes, i returned for grad school)
OMG - I can’t believe what I’m reading - if it were not for UVA, we’d be f’**ng Crozet, for gods sakes! UVA keeps us all “young”, and I, for one, being a true blue born-here c-villain blood, would be bored to tears if not for “Mr. Jefferson’s University”. How the heck are you bashin on UVA students? We need ‘em!
I can’t say that I don’t enjoy Cville when they’re not here - no question that traffic is much easier, but we’d all be totally stupid without ‘em the rest of the year.
@ 34 - i know we need ‘em, but i’m saying it’s also okay to rag on ‘em a little (or a lot). it’s a two-way street; they complain about us as much as we do about them. i rather enjoy the fucked-up symbiosis between “town and gown” (gawd, i hate that phrase).
rag as you will, but i can tell you that, as a native cvillain from too far back that you can’t even imagine, we need these unbelievable smart as shit college kids from all over the world to keep us from being just that far from virginia tech rednecks (and I know y’all VT fans will have a problem with this). I just love having these kids around to keep me young! Not to mention, keep all our bars afloat!
Damn, i thought i’d step out before this…
@23: very funny shen, need i remind you who is doing the stalking (see #41)
i thought i saw a coinciding arrival of uva non-douche and disappearance of uva lagrape
@39, purely coincidental, yet a little ironic…dontcha think?
yet a little ironic
Like rain, on your wedding day?
@41, exactly! Or kind of like meeting the man of your dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife…
I knew you would know were I was going with that one…
Is this what we mean when we talk about the UVA students?
From a chat at the Post (they love us so!):
Fairfax, Va.: I am a freshman and will attending UVA in the Fall. My parents bought a nice house off campus for my three friends and I. Dad had a very nice dedicated home theater built. We are still searching for the ultimate projector. Do you all know when the Meridian 801 Reference projector will be available? 4k is newest and the best. We really don’t want to settle for just a Sony SXRD professional movie theater projector. It’s okay, but from what we hear its video processor just can’t upscale 1080 to 4k like the Meridian and it doesn’t have 10mp lenses like the Merdidian. Electronics for the room are the top-of-the line from Krell and speakers are Watt’s best HT set up.
jeez thats pretty rich! i wonder if the place will be trashed in 4 yrs, or the ultimate bachelor destination of classiness?
i’m going to go with option 1, Alex.
Mumsy and Daddy: Propping up Charlottesville’s housing bubble since 1971!
But wait, there’s more!
Fairfax, Va.: Dude, do you have a clue about projectors in the price range I am talking for this home theater? The wiring costs more than you make in a year, hoss. The Meridian retails for a $180k and the Sony for near a $100k. Epson? Sony? Please. Man, 4k is the new standard with its debut at CEDIA this Sept. HDTV is so first iPhone!
ugh ppl like that at uva make me sick
wow.
it’s amazing the things people would rather have than money.
@43 paging stanley…
@50: Some people simply cannot be helped, orchid.
@ 43 i call shenanigans: all first-year students are required to live on-grounds (per http://www.virginia.edu/housing/fy.php ), so this kid is full of crap about their parents having bought them a house “off-campus”. honor code violation! expel upon arrival!
/only half joking
wow, with the exception of buster, all posted on most recent comments are previous to 5:00 p.m. Somebody’s havin some fun
/obviously not me! Ya’ll have some fun, please!!
Not that I’m keepin track, but only two comments since my last… Either ya’ll are hungover, working, or really having a good time. I’m voting for door #3. Keep on keepin’ on, friends!
you want a comment? her’es a damn comment. I’m home, drunk, talked about sex most of the night and am planning on another outing tomorrow. does that fulfill your drunk posting desires/demands?
tonight = relaxing FINALLY. you guys don’t even know…. well, some of you do. i needed a fucking break.
hi silmo, belmont, doof, LILITH, 434, orchid, etc etc etc.
xoxo.
DRUNK! POSTING! it’s villain retro. Just do it!
Wow. Um. Hadda good night, didja?
Is everyone else out there in MC’s corner? Gee - I hope ya’ll all made it home without DUIs…. I like you guys/ladies. Hope everyone is feelin fine… I’m just here at home googling John Mayer videos out of boredom.
/I have ta find some kind of late night “cVillain”, cause I’m feelin like ya’ll aren’t really the “late night” types. I appreciate your sense of humor and wittiness and all, but nobody seems to stay up late like I do.
//searching for night owls
ummmmm…. we all stay up late from my experience. just not at puters necessairily… it used to be different. we used to go out, come home on keyboards and drunk flirt, the whole deal. miss that. but the meat world is very satisfying in some ways… ummm. very satisfying.
also, walking/taxis is the way for non-duis. easy enough depending on living situations.
mayer? no way. buy yourself a beer in public for goodness sakes.
THOR! TUI !! thank me later for providing the drunk. cvillain gotta maintain that raucous rep somehow.
(see how I fit that all into one comment? try it. instead of 3 in a row. it works! all for one!)
/one for all
//deeerrrrunk
seeking naked people to paint on. reply within.
have ya listened to mayer, lately? He’s pelvic rockin, yo. and i’m not into beer, strickly the vine. i’m totally in love with jm, sorry to be so un-edgy. thanks for responding so “late night” - seems no one else is.
If you’re up for a flirt, will try my best
Jeez, I’m tellin ya, ya’ll are so not late people. I’m gonna have to go trollin for late night folks… much to my chagrin…
That’s right people. The University of Northern Virginia at Charlottesville will be back in session before we know it….
@ 61
It’s just a chat room, one big geographically-obsessed chat room. Blah, blah, blah.