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You are receiving this email because you signed up for a Livable Cville event or at some point shared your email address with us. Thank you for your help in creating a livable, thriving Charlottesville for everyone.

Welcome to the Livable Cville
May 2023 newsletter!

In this edition we celebrate a successful Bike to Work Week, share information on the Charlottesville City Council race, invite you to upcoming events, provide updates on Charlottesville zoning, and share a handful of links worth reading.

— Katie Darden, newsletter editor; Matthew Gillikin & Steven L. Johnson, Livable Cville co-chairs

Bike to Work Week Highlights

With 9 unique events, and hundreds of participants, Charlottesville 2023 Bike to Work Week, May 15-19th, was a huge success.

Photo credit: Peter Krebs (via Twitter)

Our sponsors and volunteers handed out snacks and swag to bike commuters at six different appreciation stations through out the week.

Photo credit: Peter Krebs (via Twitter)

We also had a great time meeting fellow cyclists at our kickoff at Three Notch’d and offering e-bike test rides at the Albemarle County office building. We hope you’ll join us again next year!

And, a big thanks to local news for covering several of the Bike 2 Work Week events:

• Bike-to-Work Week begins by Felicity Taylor

• Bike to Work Week helps grow cycling community by Felicity Taylor

• Albemarle hosts e-bike demo

Check the #bike2workcville hashtag on Twitter for even more pictures!

City Council Race

Our friends at Charlottesville United for Public Education released a city council candidate questionnaire. They covered many important topics related to education and we are happy to see such strong support for the Charlottesville City Schools.

Livable Cville has previously advocated for improving city school student transportation safety and we recommend looking at the answers to the question about this specific issue. While all the candidates agree it is a priority, Michael Payne and Natalie Oschrin provided a level of detail and vision that we appreciate

Upcoming Events

Save the date: Wednesday, June 28, 2023!!

• You are invited to a Livable Cville in-person social gathering. Wednesday, June 28, 2023 from 6 pm to 8 pm at Forest Hills Park. We are getting together to hang out and talk about housing, transportation, the environment, racial equity, and more. Kids are welcome! Drinks and snacks will be provided.

Image credit: Wes Bellamy

Do you want to help Charlottesville kids enjoy their summer riding bikes?

• The Tonsler Basketball League of Charlottesville and the Street Dreamz Foundation are joining together for the 2nd annual "Every Kid Deserves a Bike" Giveaway. Donate to help them reach their goal of 200 bikes to give away at the June 3 event at Tonsler Park.

Do you want to know more about addressing homelessness in the Charlottesville area?

• On Wednesday, June 21 from 7:00-8:30pm The Haven is hosting “Housing First & Homelessness in Charlottesville.” Local experts will discuss evidence based solutions to homelessness and current efforts to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in Charlottesville. This event is free and open to all. You can register here.

Image credit: Cville Plans Together

Zoning Update

The city released Module 3 of the draft zoning code. While we do not have any particular zoning code related action items at the moment, we recommend hopping over to our Youtube Channel where you can find seven webinars about topics related to the Charlottesville zoning rewrite. The webinars feature national and local experts talking about homelessness, the environment, racial justice, parking, and more.

Worth Reading

• “Tight rental market in central Virginia causing people to lose out on federal program”, Isabel Cleary, NBC29

• “The NIMBYs in My Backyard”, Dan Kois, Slate

• “Charlottesville plans to hire one of the only city sponsored housing discrimination investigators in the state”, Erin O’Hare, Charlottesville Tomorrow

• “The hidden force that shapes everything around us: Parking”, Marin Cogan, Vox

• “Denver proved the power of e-bike rebates. Now, the discounts are going statewide”, Sam Brasch, CPR News

• “Report shows who is struggling to afford housing in Charlottesville”, Jacob Phillips, NBC29

Livable Cville is an all-volunteer organization. Want to help out?

We advocate for policies to build an inclusive Charlottesville area with affordable housing, sustainable transportation, and healthy neighborhoods welcoming to all. We appreciate your interest in creating a livable, thriving Charlottesville area for all current and future residents. If you have 5 minutes or 5 hours a month to help, you can be part of positive change in the Charlottesville area. If you’d like to get further involved, please let us know!