Charlottesville, Virginia: The Importance of Local

There’s a reason we all choose Central Virginia as our home.  Maybe it’s the appeal of the Downtown Mall and our love of the Saturday morning City Market.  Maybe it’s the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Maybe it’s our ties to UVa.  Or maybe it’s the down home and laid back feel of this wonderful gem of a town.

No matter the reason, we all know this: Charlottesville is a special place.  Anyone that has spent time here knows it.  We don’t need #1 rankings or national write-ups to confirm our love. Why?  Because we already know we live in a wonderful community that is unlike any other.

It may be just 115 miles from Washington DC to Thomas Jefferson’s Rotunda, but it feels like it’s farther than that.  Charlottesville, unlike any town we know of, is local.  What do we mean by that? Take a stroll on the Downtown Mall and you’ll know what we mean.  Boutique shops.  Local craftsman.  Mom and Pop restaurants.  They are the heart and soul of this town.  They give Charlottesville character and they define our community.

I was speaking with a client just the other day who said he was excited to move to Charlottesville because he noticed the wide variety of local restaurants and saw that as a sign that Charlottesvillians supported their local businesses.  He said that his current town (which will remain unnamed) is chock-full of chain restaurants and there isn’t much of a local restaurant scene.

And do you know how long it took him to make this observation?  Less than 24 hours.

Charlottesville has a flair and a feel about it that just exudes local.  If you’ve lived in Charlottesville for a while, you’re aware of the ‘buy local’ push over recent years.  This trend has definitely become more prominent locally and nationally in recent months.

On the local front, Scout Charlottesville has been on the forefront of the ‘buy and shop local’ push.  Check out the ‘Charlottesville Scout Promise‘, which includes this:

My goal is to promote local business and help to maintain Charlottesville as a unique and interesting place to live.  WE MUST SHOP LOCALLY if we want to keep Charlottesville unique.

So grab a cup of coffee from Mudhouse, a doughnut from Spudnuts and we’ll see you at the City Market this Saturday at 9….