Lowry for Albemarle

Recently my wife and I went to Washington, DC on a field trip. The nation’s Capital has a new underground entrance hall we wanted to see. The research part of the trip was to visit Fairfax County, our state’s most prosperous county. For Virginia, Fairfax County is about typical in size. Although little more than half the land area of Albemarle Fairfax has ten times our population. So, too, is their annual operating budget. Fairfax makes do with a $3.25 billion operating budget while here in Albemarle our annual budget is a tenth that.

I remember reading about Fairfax’s explosive growth in the 1980’s and 1990’s and also recall when they built & opened their new county office building. So we took pictures. The main building is really quite attractive, and not surprisingly, large in scale.

There are a couple more nearby buildings – one similar in concept to our Community Development building at McIntire Road.

Next I thought of Highland County. If Fairfax represents growth how does the home of Monterey and the maple syrup festival compare?

Highland County is also typical in size for a Virginia County. But population? 2500! This includes a student population of 353.  Fairfax has 168,000 students. Albemarle has a 12,600 student population.

I remember Highland County, the West Virginia bordering county, from a family trip in the 1980’s. Going west down the mountain to Monterey offers a spectacular view.

I compared economic development pursuits in these three counties.

Fairfax? A $6.7 million budget with a staff of 34 people. Highland has a Chamber of Commerce building in a small shared building.  Albemarle? You might think somewhere in between, yet Albemarle has no economic development office. No web listing, no telephone number. It is sort of mysterious…

County life in Fairfax, Albemarle, Highland fit expectations in terms of money and pace of life. Fairfax has $123,000 median family income. Per family, Albemarle has $68K. These compare to $40K in Highland County. Real Estate total value is $220 billion to $19.50 billion to $750 million respectively. Tax rates?  $1.04 per $100, $0.746 per $100 and $0.70 per $100 (approx) respectively.

Fairfax is a sea of traffic, yet full of culture. There are huge family opportunities (that is what a population of 168,000 students plus Universities will do for you).  Highland County is serene and yet quiet - from Monterey one might need to travel great distances for cultural and family/sports events. Of course, we here in Albemarle County have the idyllic compromise. Life is Good in Albemarle County. Hurray for the University. Cheers for our Airport and Downtown. Let’s be tolerant of traffic and enjoy a moderate pace to life!