An article in Children’s Health Magazine selected the Top 100 Best Places to Raise Kids, and guess what? Charlottesville is not in the list. Places such as Newark, Richmond, Norfolk, Baltimore, and Detroit were all among the top 100. C-Ville was not.

When exactly did C-Ville become a big pile of trash in the breeder result community, and what can be done about it?

Light trash

Locals have already begun to rise up in protest. I believe a statement has been passed along to the city council and is on the agenda for the next meeting when we discuss which roads can’t be built, which cesspools can’t be drudged, and when we will apologize for something else TJ used to do (if you know what I mean).

Perhaps what should really be done is look at how the contest was rigged. Just look at the list of items that was included when determining the best cities. Many things were included such as percentage of houses that are occupied by owners. According to census figures the state average is 68%. Here in C-Ville that is only 40%. Median family income is another issue. The state average (in 1999) was 24k. In C-Ville it was 17k.

The number living below the poverty line in the state was 9.6%, but it C-Ville it was an astounding 25.9% More than a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. If you look around, not much has changed since 1999. As a matter of fact, it is easy to see how many more homeless are on the streets around here.

Zoos are good. We have none. Sex offenders are bad. We have lots, and they like sitting next to the kids play area on the mall.

I guess it is easy to see why this is not a good place to raise kids.