Garrett urban renewal makes front page Daily Progress

Charlottesville, Va. – The article is called “Shadows of Vinegar Hill seen in $300M city plan.” If anything, Garrett urban renewal eclipses Vinegar Hill in scale, impact, controversy and documentation in Daily Progress archives, which are not online. Both City Council and Daily Progress oppose publication of the City housing archives detailing the history of the Garrett neighborhood now called the Strategic Investment Area. Their opposition has been documented for at least a decade. Also the Court Clerk won’t put real estate records online despite promises to do so, and former clerk Paul Garrett having to return grant money after he lied three times claiming the deeds were online.

Notice how the artist's vision of the future Garrett neighborhood has no resemblance to anything historic. There's a stark difference between South and North Downtown. North Downtown is a historic district. South Downtown is where Council's stated principles don't apply.

Reporter Aaron Richardson maintains the biggest lie in local history, that Vinegar Hill is the only urban renewal in Charlottesville. This is the only part of town that has lost its name. So Richardson calls it “the area between Garrett Street and Elliott Avenue, bordered by Avon Street and Ridge Street.” The plan calls for a “central greenway, mixed income housing, shopping and jobs.” Basically to re-create the Garrett neighborhood which City government destroyed in the face of incredible opposition. Nobody opposed Vinegar Hill. That opposition arose only as an example of why you should oppose Garrett urban renewal.

City Councilor Kathy Galvin was on the Coy Barefoot Show Thursday Dec. 19 talking about her commitment to make the biggest controversy in local history become successful somehow. Today the urban renewal of the historic Garrett neighborhood can only be referred to as Vinegar Hill urban renewal. That’s how controversial the Garrett history is today. "Galvin’s crusade to redevelop Garrett urban renewal zone", Dec. 19, 2013. More detailed discussion of the history, the issues, and the archives. Includes a timeline for historical context.
http://super-blair.blogspot.com/2013/12/galvins-crusade-to-redevelop-garrett.html

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