The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - 3.5 Million Visitors To Downtown Mall In 2017; 2.5 Million Visitors To Downtown Mall In 2023

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: 3.5 Million Visitors To Downtown Mall In 2017 2.5 Million Visitors To Downtown Mall In 2023 Friends Of CVille Campaigns For Downtown Thoughts On The 1st Day Of Restaurant Week Local Non-Profits Buy Carlton Trailer Park? Tom Stargell Comments, Retired AlbCo Teacher Judah Witkower Responds To Tom Stargell The I Love CVille Show Is Off Thursday/Friday Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

Thank you. is about downtown charlottesville we'll talk um a drop in visitor attendance to downtown charlottesville today there is the executive director of friends of seville which is a lobbying group a non-profit that does its best to celebrate and champion and draw attention to the downtown mall positive while also highlighting some of the concerns the group has it's a group made up of business owners building and real estate owners and other movers and shakers or stakeholders and what you can legitimately say is the most important eight blocks of the city maybe the most important eight blocks of central virginia greer ackinback um ackchenbach spoke in front of city council on Monday and highlighting some statistics that should concern all of us. Statistics I personally found startling, in particular the drop of attendance with visitors in downtown Charlottesville over a six-year period of time.

We'll talk about that. We'll talk about the thoughts of the first day of Restaurant Week. I always love Restaurant Week. It's an opportunity to try new restaurants. We've noticed some of the commentary around the interwebs about Restaurant Week is about the pricing, the concern of pricing and how it's become no longer a week of approachability, a week of triability, and a week for folks to patronize places they've never been. Now, some folks are saying it's a week of a period of time for the affluent. A week that is no longer one for the average Joe or the average Sally. We'll talk about that on today's program. Nonprofits are galvanizing and organizing quickly,

not just nonprofits but political groups, to try to purchase the Carlton Avenue trailer park. Judah, I think, has been ahead of this story from day one. I'm going to ask you this question, Judah. Should nonprofits work to purchase a mobile home park that is home to 60 to 70 families? That comment on today's show. Tom Stargell, the retired Albemarle County teacher, the Golden Apple Award winner,

pushed back on Judah Wittkower's commentary yesterday when it came to 18-year-olds entering college, facing a predatory lending environment where banks are looking to take advantage of students with saddling them with a quarter million dollars of student loan debt that they'll never be able to pay off. We also got a comment from DM from a viewer and listener that chose on this particular comment to remain anonymous, to stay in the down low. We'll relay what he had to say on the show as well. Tom Stargell is watching the program. Mr. Stargell, we'll get to your comments.

We are off air tomorrow and Friday, Thursday and Friday. My wife and I are going to enjoy some R&R up in New York without children. Very excited for that. My in-laws at our house are going to be keeping an eye on the Bambinos while my wife and I have some time to ourselves for the first time in a very long time. Very excited. There goes Brian Holuska right there on a walking meeting, Mr. Holuska, his hands behind his back in a black City of Charlottesville button-down shirt with some jeans, some denim on, on a very hot day.

Judah Wickauer, the Elmer's glue of the network. A friend. We don't have to do this, Judah, but I've been meaning to ask you about this. And I'm curious of your take. And if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine. Are we on a two-shot? Just about, yep.

The I Love Seville Network and some sorrow of late. A key member of our family has passed. Yep. Do you want to touch on this topic? Yes or no? Yeah, we can touch on it if you've been to the Isle of Seville studio or if you've seen either of us outside

our Market Street headquarters you've likely seen a furry four legged lab pit bull mix named Liza, most likely by Judah Wickhourside. This past Friday, she crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Thursday. Thursday evening. Yeah. I found out Friday. And the studio has, as Judah put it, and life in general has lacked a little bit of color, a little bit of life since her passing. Your dog brought so much joy to everyone who came in here, whether it was Jerry Ratcliffe on Tuesdays, bundling a piece of bacon from his breakfast in a napkin to unwrap it when he walked in the studio to give Liza a treat. To Keith Smith, spoiling her with treats.

The Today y Mañana crew, lavishing her with praise and attention. I need to let them know. The White Mountain Ministries crew, giving her loves and hugs and kisses. Our guests, falling in love with Liza Bean. She is in a better place and it's your dog so I'm curious of what you have to say to the viewers and listeners.

But I will say, since she has passed, the studio has lost a bit of its joy. Definitely. Yep. bit of its joy. Definitely. Yeah. Last Thursday, she was not doing well, no appetite, hadn't gotten up from underneath the desk all day. And so I made the choice to take her to the vet. The vet did some expensive tests, didn't find what they thought they were going to find. So sent me to the emergency vet. The news was that she had lymphoma. At that point, she pretty much needed help getting up.

So obviously very, very quick decline. And, uh, I certainly could not afford to, uh, start treatment. Um, and, uh, so made the decision to, uh, to let her go. Um, it wasn't easy, but, uh, I'm thankful that, uh, I'm thankful that it was a quick decline, that it wasn't long and painful. The decision was largely taken out of my hands, for which I'm also grateful. just sitting with me, uh, discussing the options with the, uh, with the, uh,

the vet with me, um, praying over Liza with me and then, uh, and then giving me, giving me a little space. Um, he,

he left for the, uh, the final, um, the final few minutes there. And yeah, there's a bit missing from life, but I'm mostly doing okay. It kind of hits me in waves and I'll know, get that lump in my throat. But she is in a better place. And I don't know if there's anything more to say about it. I think you made the right decision, man.

Yeah. A dog that's well into adulthood that had a phenomenal life. Judah rescued Lza bean from caring for creatures the no-kill animal shelter in fluvanna county led by mary burkholtz who's a friend of this program caring for creatures rescued liza bean from a kill animal shelter where liza was going to be euthanized yeah somebody. And Mary Burkholz. Somebody went down, I believe it was South Carolina, and picked her up and drove her all the way back here. And when we met her,

she was, I think, just getting ready to be, I don't know how you put it on the market, opened up for adoption. And after some prayer and some thought and meeting her a second time and I decided it was it was time how long did you have Liza six and a half years six and a half years Liza and Judah inseparable six and a half years Liza came to this office 43, 45, 47 hours a week, whatever the number was that particular week and brought an incredible amount of joy to life. Yeah. To the point where I was spending more

time with Liza than I was with our German shepherds at home because you spend so much time at work. I have also had the unfortunate circumstances of putting two dogs down, Leo, who you knew, and Lucy, who you know, two German Shepherds. We have one left named Max. And putting a dog down is one of the most difficult things that you could possibly do in life. Because dogs are the family you pick, just like friends are the family you pick. It's also a decision that is very easy to second guess yourself about. And, uh, my sister was, I was, I was in contact with my family when all this was going down and my sister was asking, Oh, well, you know, does it have to be tonight? Can you hold on and wait a little bit longer? You know, I think a lot of times those decisions are, are for our own

comfort rather than, uh, they're, they're, they're taking ourselves into, into consideration more than, more than the animal. And, um, you know, I, I can't say whether it was the absolute right decision or not. I didn't, uh, I didn't think to ask the the absolute right decision or not. I didn't think to ask the question, how much longer does she have if she doesn't get treatment? But she was, I mean, imagine not being able to get up. Imagine not being hungry. Not drinking water, not getting off the floor, not choosing to leave with you when you went outside for a break, not wanting to go on a walk. Judah, you made the right decision. Yeah, I made the right decision.

And six, seven thousand dollars for a dog that's up there in age when you don't know the outcome after the treatment is the right decision. And the time that you had with Liza, six and a half years, you took a dog that was about to be euthanized and gave her the best life ever. And I had this conversation with a friend outside the studio, and I wanted to pass this along to you. The unconditional love that dogs offer their person is unmatched. I made the joke to this friend I was talking about. The unconditional love Liza offered or our dog offered is an unconditional love you may not see from a wife or a husband. And she quipped back. She deadpan back to me.

She said, oh, that love you get from your wife or your husband is like a cat's love. They'll look at you. They may not need you. They may not want you. They may walk away. But with a dog, you always know where you stand. And it's that connection that you have with the dog that is why we have pets, why we have dogs, why they are man and women's best friend. And I want to give some attention before we get to today's stories about one of the best people I know in Judah Wittkower who has the heart of an angel, a heart of gold.

Not a mean or bad bone in this man's body. And for six and a half years, I watched him take a dog that was going to be euthanized in South Carolina and give her the life of royalty. And she brought a glow and a joy to our office and anyone else who came in here every day. And it was our benefit to be in her life. I sincerely mean that. Yeah. She was a blessing. She was a blessing for all of us. For all of us.

All right. First headline. You know, stuff like that really puts things in perspective. Yeah. You know, it puts things in perspective. The old saying is like, and it's such a trivial saying it's like but it means it's it's so true like it's stop and smell the roses i think i think a better uh a better sentiment is you know make sure you uh make sure you love on your on your

family and your friends and your pets every chance you get because you never know when you never know when the day is going to come. I was fortunate to be with her and, you know, tell her how I felt, tell her I loved her and be with her in, you know, those last moments. That's not always the case. Life is precious, folks. And it's a horrible thing to live knowing that you would have wanted to say something different or kinder or more loving to someone and not getting that chance. Awesome.

All right, if you want to put a one-shot in today's headlines, then we'll weave you in to get your thoughts on today's stories. There's a nonprofit that has replaced the Downtown Business Owners Association, and this nonprofit is called Friends of Seville. You can find this nonprofit online at friendsofseville.org. Let me confirm. Yes, friendsofseville.org. They do an excellent job. First, we should give props to Ludwig Kutner. Ludwig Kutner, the prolific real estate owner in Charlottesville and Alamora County,

frankly speaking, prolific real estate owner in Charlottesville and Alamaro County. Frankly speaking, prolific real estate owner globally. A hotelier, a philanthropist, an entrepreneur, an angel investor, a real estate owner. He, in a lot of ways, the motivation or the inspiration behind this nonprofit, Friends of Seville. On Monday in the city council ways, the motivation or the inspiration behind this nonprofit, Friends of Seville. On Monday in the city council meeting, the nonprofit's executive director, she does a fantastic job. Her name is Greer Achenbach. She presented before council for about two, three minutes with Joan Fenton standing by her side. Joan Fenton is another prolific real estate owner. In fact,

I believe she owns three businesses on the downtown mall, along with a fair amount of real estate on downtown Charlottesville. And during this presentation, Greer Achenbach relayed the testimony that was sent to her in a call to action request. Friends of Seville sent out an email, said, hey, if you're a business owner downtown, if you're a business, a real estate owner downtown, if you patronize downtown Charlottesville, send us your testimonials, your first perspective of how the houseless have impacted quality of life for you on these eight blocks. And she relayed this perspective to council because what she's trying to do is humanize,

localize, and personalize what appears to be a deteriorating eight blocks, in particular, the quality of life. She highlighted this metric that stood out to me the most. In 2017, 3.5 million visitors, 3,500,000 visitors to the downtown mall. In 2023, that had diminished significantly to 2,500,000 visitors of the eight blocks that we call the downtown mall. That's a million dollar drop in a six-year period of time. She goes on in that video that was

a presentation she made before council, captured on video. If you'd like to see the video, Dave McNair's done a good job of putting it together or editing the video so it's just kind of the nitty gritty. You can find that at charlottesvilleDTM.com. Dave McNair, the editor of that publication. You click the headline that says video business owners call on Citi to save the downtown mall. She highlights the, I'll just put it in a nutshell, how quality of life is being impacted by the houseless. Whether it's urination, whether it's feces, whether it's solicitation, whether it's panhandling, whether it's aggressive behavior. It's a direct tie Friends of Seville is making with the houseless population, downtown Charlottesville, one million person drop, visitors in a six-year period of time, and what we need to do to fix it.

We have our studio on Market Street on the quarter of 4th and Market, right next to the grocery store. Jude and I are on the downtown mall every day. I'm on the downtown mall at minimum five days a week on most weeks, six days a week, coming here in the weekend for some capacity work or pleasure related. It's no secret it's slipped. And if you talk to the Office of Economic Development, Charlottesville's Office of Economic Development, they're very quick to highlight vacancy rates. They're very quick to highlight the health of the downtown mall. They're very quick, the Office of Economic Development, in some ways what I think is to spin a positive narrative is tied to, for instance, something reported in the Daily Progress recently, that the vacancy rate in the heart of the city fell from 5.79% in July of last year to 3.14% in January of this year.

This eight-block pedestrian mall is, from my standpoint, in trouble. It's tough for me to say that, but it's the case. It's lacking a bit of its identity. What is the identity of the mall right now? If you had to put downtown in one sentence, how would you describe it, viewers and listeners? How would you describe it, Judah? Next question I have for you.

If you were by yourself at night, would you feel safe coming to the downtown mall, parking on one of the side streets and walking to the mall by yourself? Second, third question I have for you. Would you, of all the places in Albemarle and Charlottesville and central Virginia, if you were going to have a guy's night, a girl's night, a date night, an anniversary dinner, would you pick downtown as the spot to celebrate that milestone or that special evening or event? And finally, I have this question for you. What is the role of local government, of local police, and of local stakeholders in improving what is legitimately the most important eight blocks. I will say, and this is not hyperbole, the most important eight blocks in a region we call Central Virginia that's 300,000 people strong.

I'd say it's these eight blocks. We can make an argument that it's the lawn, the rotunda, but I think the lawn and the rotunda with UVA and a $14 billion foundation behind it and the fact that it's got 33% of its student body out of staters that are paying $85,000 to $90,000 as we talked about yesterday to attend, that has a level of insulation protection where it's not going to truly deteriorate. What could potentially impact the University of Virginia, the long, the rotunda, is the push to digitalize education where it's less of a need to be in person on grounds, less of a need to be in Charlottesville on grounds to get a degree from UVA, that's when that institution or that area or that strip or that little pocket

we call UVA could be in peril. We're not at that point right now. We are at the point in downtown Charlottesville, it would be a long time, 100%, Judah. We're at the point in downtown Charlottesville where these eight blocks are right now in peril. And I'm going to stop talking. You jump in, viewers and listeners. Let us know your thoughts as well. The vacancies on the mall may be filling. And I got a little bit of some fresh breaking news for you.

I talked to the team over at Draft Tap Room. Draft Tap Room is looking to open before the start of the football season. They're actively bringing in kitchen equipment. They had a moving truck outside taking some of the bats, some of the non-functioning equipment out. They were moving things in. The game plan ownership passes for Draft Tap Room to open before the start of football. Okay. That will be another vacancy being filled. I'm going to close by saying this. Well, to be fair, that was never exactly vacant.

I'd say that was a vacant. When you have paper over the storefront window and people can't patronize the building and you have a houseless individual that is deranged, sleeping at the doorway, heckling and harassing passerbys, I would say that's a vacancy. Technically correct, which is the best kind of correct. Okay. But I would argue that it was never going to be leased out to anyone else, so it's not like it was open and waiting for a tenant.

I will close with this. Some of the businesses that are filling the vacancies, for example, the Charlottesville Redevelopment Housing Authority buying the old Vita Nova building. Yes, a vacancy is being filled, but I would not say that vacancy that's being filled is for the betterment of downtown Charlottesville. No, it's not going to draw any crowds. It's not going to draw crowds or the foot traffic that's going to patronize the other businesses on the eight blocks. Yeah.

Anywhere you want to go, then viewers and listeners will get your thoughts. Stephanie Wells-Rhodes, Logan Wells-Kalelo, and Nora Gaffney offering their condolences to Judah Wickhauer. Vanessa Parkhill offering condolences to Judah Wickhauer. Bill McChesney, thank you for watching the program. Tom Stargel, we'll get to your comments. The Golden Apple Award winner as well about Judah's comments from yesterday when it comes to students entering into potentially a predatory state with banks to finance their four years of college. Where do you want to go, Judah? Well, I don't remember all of your questions. I don't have any problem. I wouldn't have any problem being on the downtown

mall at night by myself. But then I've lived in Southern California. I've walked through South Central at 3 o'clock in the morning. So there's not a whole lot that I South Central at 3 o'clock in the morning. So there's not a whole lot that I imagine I'm going to find on the Charlottesville downtown mall that's going to keep me off

the mall. In terms of what the downtown mall needs, I think you're right. It does need I mean, like a lot of Charlottesville, I feel like it needs an identity. I think hopefully we'll get the first night Virginia back this winter. New Year's Eve celebration, ringing in the new year on the downtown mall, a family-friendly event that was not alcohol-focused. Yeah.

It's been dark since the start of the pandemic. I think that'll help. I don't know. I feel like that kind of tied things together at the end of the year and started off the beginning of the year for the downtown mall in a really great way. Hopefully getting that back will help. What is the brand identity of downtown Charlottesville right now? Give me a brand that is downtown Charlottesville right now.

I don't know if I could. Kurt Shaver, question perfectly for you I would say for me the most iconic part of the downtown mall is the big paramount sign that's the center of the mall and the heart of the mall it's always nice when there's an event getting started and

you see that long line coming out the doors. Other than that, I don't know. And there's, you know, it's always a shame walking down the downtown mall in the evening and seeing restaurants that have chosen to not open their doors for dinner. I think that hurts the mall as well. Definitely. You've got multiple buildings that have sat for sale on the downtown mall for an extended period of time. Prior to the pandemic, any building that was,

any owner that owned a building on the mall that was looking to sell his or her stake on the mall, that building would have sold before it was ever listed. It would have had a laundry list of suitors for purchase. Now these buildings are sitting on the multiple listing service, the commercial side, for weeks, if not months or longer. They are not trading. Okay?

We have a sizable ownership stake ourselves in downtown Charlottesville and a considerable amount of skin in the game in downtown Charlottesville. So we speak on this topic from personal and also because of a love for the community. These eight blocks dictate the pace and tempo for the region, whether people want to admit that or not. And if the city is considering investing or partnering with Habitat for Humanity to save the Carleton Avenue Mobile Home Park and 67 families,

if you're just following the story now the carlton mobile home park there's two trailer parks in the city right yeah one of them this six acre piece of land that hosts 60 to 70 families has a has a uh a suitor that's willing to offer that has offered that has offered seven million dollars to buy the park, the mobile home park. And as a direct result of this $7 million offer from an investor, we don't know who it is, the city is hearing from the socialist group of Charlottesville, from Habitat for Humanity,

the socialist group of Charlottesville, the DSA, is canvassing the mobile home park telling the owners we're trying to do our best to partner with Habitat for Humanity to purchase this park and to save your house if this kind of effort is made to save a mobile home park if the same kind of effort was made to prevent Bo Carrington

from developing apartments on High Street by the Rivanna River, right? The city used city money, taxpayer money, to buy the land from Wendell Wood to prevent apartments from being built on East High Street. We saw folks in the 10th and Page neighborhood rally to kibosh Chris Henry's Phase 3 dairy market development in that asphalt parking lot with the used car dealership. Why are we seeing these organized and strategized and galvanized efforts to keep housing from being built on Preston and Dairy Market, to take apartments and turning them into a park using city funding. Significant efforts being made to keep a mobile home park from being sold. And a $7 million clip.

Potentially Habitat for Humanity partnering with the city. Maybe using city money to buy the mobile home park, to save families' houses. But that same effort is not being made in joint venture fashion to reinvigorate or reimagine or reinvent the most important eight blocks, the Crown Jewel. Is it the only pedestrian mall left in America? No.

There's one other one. Car-free pedestrian mall. Car-free pedestrian mall. Viewers and listeners, help me with that answer. Is the only other one in Boulder, Colorado? I think there's only two car-free walking pedestrian downtowns in the country. I mean, help me with that viewers and listeners. I believe the only other one is in Boulder. I think we need a better definition for that because there are definitely walkable outdoor malls. free yeah cary town richmond you can drive

cary town you're driving straight through it okay i'm talking no vehicle traffic whatsoever i mean not there was a there's a mall in in the palm desert near where my sisters live, I think it's called the river. You can park around it. It's basically an outdoor mall that you – Forrest Cain on YouTube says in Burlington. There's one in Burlington. I'm quite positive – I'll rephrase. I'll rephrase.

I'm fairly positive that there are very few of these, by definition, in this country. Because we're such a car-centric society. Such a car-centric country. Yeah. I mean, there's one in Savannah. I've been back there in a long time. But there was a smaller one. And then there was all of, like, river river street which i believe for most of the

most of the time is uh off limits to cars but i think it also depends on your definition of uh logan wells clay low deep throat and forest cane on youtube all highlight burlington vermont having one i i would encourage the viewers and listeners to do, and you guys are way smarter than I am, way smarter than me. The pedestrian only, no car nature of these eight blocks is a rarity in our country. I heard from one of the largest owners, I'm sitting across from him, you know who he is, we're not going to use his name here, at his building on the

downtown mall, on the desk, and he, along with two or three of the other heavy hitters in downtown Charlottesville, even had this conversation. Is it time to re- car and re-traffic, re-automobile the mall? What does that mean?

Let people go? Make it not just pedestrian and bring back traffic to the mall like it used to be. It's to the point where when you are, when you have so much skin in the game and such a large stake and are paying such a huge tax base on your real estate holdings in downtown Charlottesville, and the Ludwig Kutners of the world, the Hunter Craggs of the world, the Alan Kajins of the world, we're talking heavy hitters. They listen to this program.

These guys are the lifeblood, whether we want to admit it or not, of downtown Charlottesville. They own the real estate. These guys are the momentum drivers for downtown. Ludwig is the driving force behind Friends of Seville. See him all the time. Saw him the other day. He was clean shaven. Looked absolutely fantastic. Tremendous respect for him. These types of guys have so much skin in the game, they're thinking any way possible how to revitalize the eight blocks. These eight blocks do not have a brand right now. I had a conversation with a commercial broker that owns real estate in downtown Charlottesville. He said the new zoning ordinance, the NZO, is going to drive away traffic and attention from downtown. Because the density that downtown had,

the living density, where a lot of these buildings have apartments on the second and third floors above the storefronts in downtown Charlottesville, that type of density can now be created elsewhere, which is going to drive away the density from Charlottesville's eight blocks. And put that density into other pockets as the new zoning ordinance is realized and comes to fruition. I think it would be a long, long time before.

Would it? Will it? Do you really foresee lots of shops with apartments above them? That's the whole concept of the NCO. I know, but do you really see a lot of that popping up quickly? I don't see it happening quickly, but I see it happening eventually. The whole concept of the NCO is to build that type of real estate. Yeah, and I don't have a problem with that I think actually if that type of building creates

more walkability creates more spots where you're not just walking through someone's neighborhood but you're walking through a neighborhood that might have a coffee shop or a book shop or whatever then it might lead more people to walking around

Charlottesville and eventually ending up on the downtown mall. Deep throat. We're going to get to your comments here in a matter of moments. A one million person drop in visitorship in six years. Yeah. We all know that part of that is because of COVID. The pandemic is behind us. We've rebounded from the pandemic.

The pent-up demand of being trapped in our house drove people to patronize businesses at aggressive clips. 2023 was a boom year. It was a boom year because we were trapped inside. We were told to be inside for an extended period of time. That should have been an epic year. And rotate those lower thirds so people see the significance of the $2.5 million and $3.5 million. I guess the gist of my point is this. Tati Rios, this is your second day of commenting.

I respect the fact that you're getting in the mix here, Tati Rios. My point is this. Tati Rios, this is your second day of commenting. I respect the fact that you're getting in the mix here, Tati Rios. My point is this. Why do we not have the same and viewers and listeners, I'm going to get to your comments after I say what I'm about to say. So if you want a comment heard on air or you have something compelling to say, put it in the chat and I'll relay it live on air. Wherever you're watching the show on social media, we aggregate the comments, relay it live on air. Explain this phenomenon to me, Judah. aggressively organize and galvanize and strategize to crush the Phase 3 Chris Henry dairy market in an asphalt parking lot. It will have the same efforts

to keep housing from being built on East High Street. It's doing the same thing. Was that really an entire community organizing to stop that? It's doing the same thing on the Carlton Avenue mobile home park. Why does that effort or movement or passion or organization not coalesce for the most important eight blocks in the region? Genuinely, I'm asking that question because they're apples and oranges

it's because an identity is missing if the effort was modeled or branded around this jobs lost if the effort was modeled around this if the movement was modeled around these eight blocks have this many jobs

associated with it, or these eight blocks generate this kind of tax revenue for the city, which then uses the money for this associated with it, or if it was these eight blocks determine this kind of Charlottesville-Alemore Convention or Visitor Bureau traffic for the region. That's how it's got to be branded. If we brand the effort around these eight blocks are the catalysts for this kind of tax revenue and this kind of job and these kind of jobs and this kind of notoriety regionally or nationally. These eight blocks, one of the few pedestrian car-free malls,

and you can highlight Burlington. Deep Throat also highlights, which I should have highlighted myself, the San Antonio Riverwalk. Right? There's others, but there's not many, and I'm sorry for moving your camera there. I apologize there. Okay? We're not modeling. We're not branding. We're not typecasting. We're not explaining the value of the eight blocks enough. The mobile home park, 67 families live there. That's all we had to do.

But what's the effort? Because it's one thing to say, okay, if we can raise enough money to buy the land that the park is on, then we can save these, like you said, these 64 families or whatever it is. But what is the effort with the downtown mall? That's my point.

The effort is we're saving jobs. The effort is we're saving tax revenue. The effort is we're saving marketing. But that's very vague and nebulous. How is that vague? How is that vague? What are you asking them? What are you asking this hypothetical group of people to do? What happens if a million less people visit the eight blocks we call downtown Charlottesville?

You're not answering the question. What are you asking? You can say, let's raise $7 million and save all these people's trailer parks, trailer homes. What are you asking for here? Are you asking to raise $7 million? If so, what is it to do? I'm asking for the same commitment, the same movement, and the same passion to save 67 trailers on Carlton Avenue, or to keep housing from being blocks that have thousands of jobs associated with it, that are maybe the primary marketing and branding mechanism for the CACVB, the home to the most amount of concert and music venues in one spot.

I want the tax revenue generated on these eight blocks to be clearly depicted. And if you say these eight blocks do this tax revenue every year, have these many jobs every year, and are utilized in marketing and branding from the Charlottesville Alamo Conventional Visitors Bureau in this way every year, that is a strategy to get the community to rally around it. But right now, we don't have that strategy. We can say in 2017, there were 3.5 million visitors, and in 2023, there were 2.5 million visitors, and we've lost a million visitors in six years. That should scare the absolute hell out of us,

that we've lost a million visitors in six years. Yeah. That should scare the hell out of us. Yeah, and you're right. It's not just a million. It's close to one-third less people.

It's not like we were seeing 50 million people and now it's 49. And we can make a direct correlation of a million people lost in downtown visitorship to how many people lost in vineyards and breweries and shops in Albemarle County, hotel rooms, merchants, other eateries, not in downtown. For us to lose a million people, 2023, 2.5 million, 2017, 3.5 million visitors. To lose a million visitors in downtown, there's a direct correlation to the loss in other areas of the region as well. That's also a massive amount of tax revenue we're losing. There it is. Not to mention, you know, perhaps a reason we could expect our property taxes to

either go up or down. Our real estate tax is going up. Our property tax is going up. Our vehicle tax is going up. Our business tax is going up. Our meals tax is going up. Our lodging tax is going up. Your tax base has shrunk. You're going to find the revenue elsewhere. You're going to tax the citizens. The best kind of people to tax are your visitors because they come here. They don't utilize your infrastructure or your schools. They barely use your roads.

They spend their money, and they get the hell out of Dodge, and they leave you alone. And they bring money to spend. Nobody goes on vacation or goes to visit a town without bringing a little extra spending cash. Casey Hott, a fantastic broadcaster herself, she highlights the old town Winchester, Virginia

as a pedestrian shopping experience. Thank you for that. Tati Ross says yes, Winchester is a nicer experience than Charlott for that. Tati Ross says, yes, Winchester is a nicer experience than Charlottesville. Tati Rios, excuse me, Tati Rios, you've been making the program better. She says,

the downtown mall is pretty and historic, but it's very small and not a nice experience even during the week when it's quiet. There's too much begging, there's crazy people walking around, and you can't walk around peacefully without worrying. Malls generally are very outdated, and while people want food and entertainment, they really don't want to buy stuff.

Yeah, I can see that. Deep Throat says this. I think one way to translate what you're saying is, how much does the Haven really cost the city? How much meals tax revenue, sales tax revenue, et cetera, have we lost because the nuances spill over from the Haven and other soup kitchens to the downtown mall? How much is that as massively reduced traffic on the mall? He also says this, Deep Throat. To me, the brand of the mall, and he obviously enjoys a bit of sarcasm, Deep Throat does, is the failed urban renewal project. He says he lives maybe one mile from the downtown mall, and he goes there twice a month. He's got

a home in Montana where he's at right now. He's eight miles from the equivalent of Charlottesville's downtown mall, and he visits Main Street in Montana in Bozeman at least twice a week because there's more life on the street, he never gets panhandled, and there's no, Jesus, no human turds in vacancies. It's sad, but he's right.

And we see it every day. This is what I'd like to see when we get off this topic and we go to the next one. I'd like to see from the community the same passion and organization to reinvigorate or reinvent or reimagine or just effing save

the most important eight blocks in a 300,000 person region. The same effort and passion we see in these other projects like Carleton Avenue, like the Rivanna River, like the Southwood reinvention with Piedmont and Habitat. I'm with you, but

like I said, it needs... It needs a brand. Yeah, it needs a brand, it needs a story, it needs a particular hanger to hang that coat on. And I think what the coat...

Because it's easy to say $7 million for this, but it's hard to say save the downtown mall. I think how you... Because what does that mean? The hanger to hang the coat on, your phrase, is it's this many jobs that are on the eight blocks, and it generates this much revenue, and it has this many jobs that are on the eight blocks, and it generates this much revenue, and it has this importance to tourism, and it has this importance to tax revenue generation.

And if we don't figure it out, your pocket is going to be lighter this way, because we're going to have to raise the taxes on your houses and on your personal property and on the meals you go out and eat at restaurants. Because our tax base is less. And if you position it that way, 3.5 million visitors in 2017, 2.5 million in 2023, that million loss in revenue means this tax base has shrunk by this much,

and these jobs have been lost by this much. That is the story. That is the narrative that you can weave to drive engagement. But what about a plan? If there's engagement, that is the story. That is the narrative that you can weave to drive engagement. But what about a plan? If there's engagement, that's great. People are like, yes, yay, let's save them all. But if there's no plan, then... I think the plan's a joint effort. It's a JV. It's a joint venture between local government, between the business owners, between the real estate owners, and the University

of Virginia. Because the University of Virginia has to realize that downtown is a gateway to UVA. People visit downtown, they see UVA. People travel to UVA, they're going to stay around downtown. People visit UVA, they're going to patronize downtown. And if you come to the University of Virginia, if you're parents of a first year or you're a prospective student that's considering the University of Virginia and you stay at the Omni or you stay on West Main or you stay in Midtown or you stay at one of those hotels and you have

dinner on the eight blocks that we call downtown and you get aggressively panhandled, you're going to steer your student away from potentially attending that school. UVA's got to get involved too. Vanessa Parkhill, queen of Earleysville watching the program. She says, Charlottesville has a brand, activism. That's what way too many non-residents think of when they think of the city. She also says, how many of that

one million fewer visitors have chosen not to come after the statues came down? History was a draw. Now all people see in the parks are empty spaces where the statues once stood. Others from surrounding localities are fed up with left-leaning policies and see them intentionally spend their money elsewhere. Interesting. to city council by Greer Akebak, the executive director of Friends of Seville. That should scare the hell out of all of us. The next topic on the talk show, Judah Wickhour, is one we'll spend 90 seconds on. Siri, actually, we'll go two minutes. I want your perspective on this as well.

Siri, set a timer for two minutes. Two minutes, counting down. Counting down. Put the lower third on screen if you could. Thoughts on the first day of restaurant week. Show us yours, Judah B. Wickauer. I mean, obviously I haven't been to any of them yet, but some of them look exciting.

The $45 price tag is a little steep for me. The $35 might even is a little steep for me. The $35 might even be a little steep as well, depending on what I see on the menu. I didn't get a chance to check them, to look at all of their menus, but I only noticed one that was at the lowest price point of $25. I'm hoping that the higher price points aren't going to

scare people away obviously this is a great way to revitalize and prop up prop up is the wrong phrase but you know what I mean a great way to support our local restaurants the whole point of Charlottesville Restaurant Week

is to try new restaurants at a price that's affordable yeah at a time where restaurants are struggling for patrons because it's the heat of summer it's 100 and plus degrees outside people are vacationing or they don't want to go outside. There's a reason they do restaurant week in July and in January. Those are slow months. The price points are 25, 35, and 45. I empathize for the restaurants. The 25, 35, and 45 probably don't leave a lot of profit for any of these restaurants that are participating because they have to pay the CVO weekly a fee to be a part of profit for any of these restaurants that are participating because they have to pay the Seville Weekly a fee to be a part of the week, part of the promotion. And that fee ain't cheap.

This company, the one you're watching right now, yours truly, Judah Wickhour, VMV brands behind it, sold Charlottesville Restaurant Week to the Seville Weekly. It was a five-figure deal we did, what, eight years ago? Seven years ago? I think it was longer than that, but I don't know. Okay. I think, I mean, nothing against Seville Weekly, but I'm not sure how much they're, if somebody else were to take this on, would it be, like, I didn't hear about the restaurant week until I saw it in the, you know, headlines of Seville News. And you Google Seville News, Charlottesville News, and here's the headline.

Restaurant week starts today. I mean, maybe other people have heard about it and known about it, but I feel like I feel like hype-wise, they may not have gotten their money's worth. My point is this. We are struggling with inflationary times. And the 25, 35, and 45 gives the perception of unapproachability.

The reality is because of increased labor, because of increased cost of goods, because of an expensive market associated with rent, these are the price points that restaurants have to offer to break even probably. It's going to be a smaller portion on your plate. It's going to be an abbreviated menu. And it's going to still cost $100 plus on a date. And that's just the nature of where we're at in 2024. Support the businesses you want to see make it.

I'm hearing a lot of sour grapes on the interwebs because of these price points, and I can guarantee you that the restaurants aren't making any money, especially when you factor in the participation costs with the Seville Weekly campaign. Yeah, no doubt. Next headline, Judah Wickower.

Should local nonprofits buy the Carlton Avenue trailer park? You and I are going to have completely different opinions on this. Really? You think the nonprofit should buy the trailer park? You think Habitat for Humanity should buy the trailer park? The Seville Tomorrow story that came out highlighting this, Seville Tomorrow has been doing great reporting on this. If they buy, if they beat the $7 million,

the offer that's already on the table, there's a clause in the contract, Charlottesville Tomorrow is saying, that if the owners of the trailer park don't take the $7 million offer and they take an alternative offer, there's going to be some kind of contract break fee, where they're going to have to pay the initial people a fee to break the contract to go

to another, to go to the backup offer. So Habitat for Humanity is going to have to come in higher than $7 million for them to pay the contract break fee, plus the acquisition price. I have a bitter taste in my mouth when the free market doesn't have a chance to play out. Okay. There's owners of this park. Is it family, you said? That's what the article said. It sounded like three siblings who each had their own LLC.

Three siblings who each have their own LLC own the park. Using political pressure to bully these families into a buyer that meets a narrative is manipulating the free market. And that comes back to bite people in the tuchus, Judas term. That's fair. I'm not advocating for Charlottesville organizations to try to break a contract that's already been agreed upon between the LLCs that own the park and the unknown buyer

who's got the $7 million offer on the table. If it was just a straight, anybody can buy from us, we've got a $7 million offer, I would say, yeah, sure. I think it's a great idea if a group or groups can, uh, can get the money together and save the park and the, uh, and the people living there. Um, but yeah, I, I agree. It's a, it's a free market if they've already agreed to something

then it's a shame but it is what it is free market yeah I'm not just like and this is a perfect segue into the next topic the free market of utilizing bank financing to fund your four year college experience Tom Stargell offered some pushback on what you had to say bank financing to fund your four-year college experience.

Tom Stargell offered some pushback on what you had to say. He asked us to read his comments on air. Put your comments in a nutshell of what you had to say as you're rotating lower thirds. I don't know if I can put my comments in a nutshell. You in a nutshell said the students who take loans to attend four-year colleges at 18 are in a predatory environment. And they're being taken advantage of because no one reads contracts that they sign. That makes it sound like I'm implying that every student that's ever gotten a loan to go to college has been cheated in some way. I don't think that's true. I don't think probably,

I don't know the percentage of banks that have predatory practices. You said students that attended the University of Virginia did not understand the concept of compound interest. You're giving me the look. That's what you said. Okay. Did I say that every student coming...

If somebody took it, took me to be saying that... That's how I took it. That's how he took it. There are some people that don't understand compound it. There are some people that don't understand compound interest. There are some people that don't understand what they're getting into. I certainly did not mean to, and I apologize if people thought that I was implying that every student going to their first year of college is unaware or just... Being fleeced is what you alluded to. I believe some of them are.

I don't, I certainly would never say that every student getting a loan is being fleeced. And it's not necessarily the bank's fault or the school's fault. I think we should educate children. I think we should educate kids leaving high school. Some of them probably don't belong in college. Some of them probably shouldn't be going to college for basket weaving and whatever else. But the fact of the matter is, please don't feel sorry for banks.

Tom Stargell says this. Golden Apple Award winner, retired Albemarle County teacher. I wasn't able to watch yesterday's show, but I heard it today. I have a couple of comments. He first highlights the UVA professor who said that the Trump assassination attempt was stage theater.

I'm not going to go into that comment. If you missed yesterday's show, there's an associate professor at the University of Virginia that utilized his platform to basically say Trump staged the entire assassination attempt. And it was theater to garner sympathy, empathy, and votes from Americans. I believe the word he used was idiots. The reality that anyone would stage risking their life by millimeters with a bullet shot from hundreds of yards away, that's just moronic commentary from someone that's teaching students that are paying $80,000 to $95,000 a year to go to college. Craziness. Anyway, Stargell says this, I taught evening classes one to two nights a week, adult basic education leading to the GED for 32 years in Amar County. I helped

hundreds of people get the GED. I would not approve them going to take the test until they showed proficiency in calculating compound interest. They also had to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. Both fractions and interest were done without calculators. So now am I supposed to believe UVA students can't do this? Bless your heart, J-dubs. Again, if... He also says, I have no patience with anyone signing a contract and then claiming it should be invalid. Simply, you sign the contract and you agree to it over and out.

And good luck. I mean that getting the banks to redo the loans. But that's not what this student loan debacle is about. It is because Biden wants the general public to assume the loans through tax increases, loans agreed to by students. I also taught civics and I bet every student I ever had could tell you the meaning of he gets into politics here. I appreciate Tom Stargell's comments. I disagree with that though, because it's not about, it's not about the American people taking on loans that are somehow shuffled off of the students' backs and into our hands. Those are loans that the principal has already been paid off on, and they're straight up zeroing out the loan. They're not placing the burden somewhere else. They're not taking your tax

money or my tax money and applying it towards what's left over. These are in the cases of people that are stuck in loans that they can't pay off, who have been in those loans, who have paid off the principal, who have paid far over the principal, and this is a way of getting them out from under those loans and allowing them to use that money in the economy. I believe it's useful not just in helping people, but in helping our economy. And again, this is not about shuffling the burden somewhere else. And one other thing, if I'm not mistaken, college loans are one of, if not the only loan, that you cannot get rid of by way of anything. You can't file for bankruptcy and get rid of a college loan.

And that makes them one of the least risky prospects for a bank. They're not risking anything. I get that they, you know, this is... Every loan's a risk. Not a loan that nobody... What's the collateral you have on an 18-year-old who takes a loan? What's that? What's the collateral? When a bank loans a man or a woman or a husband or a wife or a family money to buy a house, what can they do if the family can't pay the loan? What can they do if the family can't pay the loan?

They keep asking for the money. No. I mean, they can't. They take the house and they sell the house and they get their money. Oh, you're talking about in the case of a mortgage. If a bank loans money to a family to buy a house, the collateral is the house. Right. What is the collateral on an 18-year-old that's taking a $250,000 loan for school? What is the 18-year-old's collateral?

But the difference is you can get out of the mortgage. You can't get out of the college loan. What is the 18-year-old's collateral? You're taking $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 a year from a bank to do a four-year undergraduate degree and majoring in philosophy, basket weaving, music appreciation, or art history. What is the collateral on the loan?

I don't believe there is any. That's the risk. What's your there is any. That's the risk. What's your point, though? That's the risk profile. There's no collateral. And the loan never gets discharged. Or never paid back. That's fair.

You're going to a bank as an 18-year-old, and you're asking for a quarter million dollars to finance a pipe dream. Okay, but nobody's asking for – nobody's saying that people who haven't paid off their loans at all are just going to get a free ride. Nobody's saying that they're going to dissolve every college loan that's ever been loaned out. I believe we're arguing about different things. I'm highlighting the risk profile of the bank. Okay. The risk a bank faces when giving a teenager a quarter million dollars to pursue an educational path that yields very little salary upside.

That's what I'm highlighting. I'm also highlighting the fact that 18-year-olds that say, I was lend money in predatory fashion by a bank because I didn't read the contract. I signed something. I wasn't sure what I was signing. Or I was 18 and I didn't truly understand the complexity of what I was getting into. I say that's bogus. And I compared it yesterday to someone who says, oh, I smoke cigarettes. I didn't know I was going to die of lung cancer. I'm going to sue Philip Morris. Or someone that's pregnant that's pounding booze during their third trimester and says, what the hell, I'm going to sue the bourbon company because my kids got issues.

At this point of society and at this point of where we're at in America, if you get into a $250,000 arrangement at a bank to finance your college pursuit, you better know you're going to have to pay the money back. No throw our hands up in the air. I didn't know that was happening. Topic for Monday. We got George upstairs waiting on us for the renter's thermostat. Needs to get in the space. Judah Wickhauer crushed it today.

Judah Wickhauer crushed it today. A plus human being, Judah Wickhauer. My name is Jerry Miller. The I Love Seville show is off tomorrow and Friday. We're back on Monday. A little R&R with the better half. Thank you kindly for joining us. So long, everybody. Thank you.