Local Visitor Centers The City’s Visitor Center – Downtown is located directly across from City Hall on the east end of the Downtown Mall (610 East Main Street). The center provides many services including same-day hotel reservations, local and statewide travel information, brochures, guides, maps, and more. Open Monday through Sunday 9:00am to 5:30pm. The center is operated by the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau (CACVB). For more information call: 434.293.6789 or toll free: 877.386.1102. The CACVB also offers assistance to media, meeting planners and group tour operators. Click here to email for more information.  To list your organization, news release or event on the CACVB’s website, visit www.pursueCharlottesville.com.

City Ranked #1 Place to Live in the Country Frommer’s Cities Ranked and Rated has named Charlottesville the Best Place to Live in America!  The new publication rated over 400 cities in the United States and Canada in ten different categories, and found that the Charlottesville metropolitan area attained the top overall rating in the U.S. The ten evaluated categories included Economy & Jobs, Cost of Living, Climate, Education, Health & Healthcare, Crime, Transportation, Leisure, Arts & Culture and overall Quality of Life. CLICK HERE for more. For more of what they are saying about our wonderful town CLICK HERE

Convention & Visitors' Bureau Wins a Major Award The Charlottesville/Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau in conjunction with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission has been awarded “The Gabriella Page Historic Preservation Award” by the APVA – Association for the Preservation of Virginia Activities. By working together the two agencies developed a regional Heritage Tourism Map and Heritage Tourism Toolkit for Central Virginia. The Heritage Tourism Map includes the location and description of each historical site, as well as hours of operation and contact information. The Toolkit presents legal tools for protecting buildings and landscapes, physical tools for rehabilitating and restoring sites, and management tools for operating these places as a tourism destination.

City Voted Best Place to Start a Business by Money Magazine The Metro Charlottesville area has been named in the top 50 places in the country to launch a small business by Money Magazine. Charlottesville was also ranked 19th among smaller cities in the country with Billings, MT and Bismarck, ND taking the top spots. For all markets Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Houston, and Hartford made up the top five. Charlottesville and other Virginia cities have made similar lists in previous years but this is the first year that Charlottesville has been singled out as the only city in the state to make either the small, medium or large metropolitan listing. “We are very pleased to be recognized in this prestigious survey this year for our healthy business climate and competitive costs for doing business,” said Aubrey Watts, Director of Economic Development for the City, “we hope that this important ranking encourages other enterprising businesses to consider Charlottesville home and recognize the opportunities that are possible in Charlottesville even in these challenging economic times.” According to the editors of the survey the top markets had “growing economies, affordable workers, stable housing markets, low crime -- these metro areas have all the features entrepreneurs need to thrive.” The rankings cover hundreds of metropolitan areas and are based on job and income growth, business and living costs, crime, and educational attainment. The city is no stranger to accolades; Charlottesville has the honor of besting 402 other metro areas in the United States and Canada to claim the title of "Best Place to Live" in "Cities Ranked and Rated" by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander. For a list of other awards and recognitions log onto: PRESS HERE From Money.com PRESS HERE MSA: Charlottesville, VA Best places ranking: #19 among small metro areas Population: 194,391 Entrepreneurs with brainy businesses find Charlottesville a great place to launch. The University of Virginia plays a starring role, bringing diversity and tremendous cultural, creative, scientific and historical resources to the city. It also helps foster Charlottesville's thriving entrepreneurial community. Local business owners can't say enough good things about Darden, UVA's graduate business school, which boasts the world-class Batten Institute for entrepreneurship. In addition to fostering education on innovation, Batten offers incubator space and other assistance to grad students starting businesses. For a relatively small town, there's a good deal of venture capital here and in nearby Washington, D.C. Robust business networks help new entrepreneurs find angels and other investors. Finding the right employees, though, can be a challenge. Tech entrepreneurs can qualify for generous breaks on their local business taxes, but they have to compete for talent with rivals in Silicon Valley and other higher-paying areas. But Charlottesville's quality of life can't be beat: The nearby Blue Ridge Mountains provide endless hiking opportunities, and oenophiles enjoy the growing number of vineyards surrounding the city. The city offers good schools and a low cost of living -- and right at its heart is a walkable, almost European pedestrian mall with numerous theaters, restaurants, cafes, artists, and musicians. -Elaine Appleton Grant

City Ranked as Top Digital Community in Country For the sixth year in a row, the Center for Digital Government has ranked the City of Charlottesville as one of the Top Ten Digital Cities in America. The winners were announced today at a ceremony in San Antonio at the National League of Cities “Congress of Cities.” The ranking is based on the 2009 Digital Cities Survey and examines how city governments utilize digital technologies to better service their citizens and streamline operations to increase efficiencies. The comprehensive survey includes an assessment of how municipalities are using emerging technologies, integrating digital means of delivering customer service, and saving resources by providing efficiencies through the use of technology. Charlottesville moved up one spot this year and was ranked fourth in its population category (30,000-74,999), while Lynchburg came in at number seven in this year’s ranking. The top spots for larger markets went to Corpus Christi, Norfolk, and Santa Monica. The move up in rank was attributed to the City’s aggressive use of social media and broadening of wireless public access in areas like the downtown mall and City Hall. This is the highest ranking the City has seen in the six years appearing on the national survey. “Using technology to become more efficient has been a priority of the City,” said Ric Barrick, Director of Communication for Charlottesville. “The goal is to better serve our citizens, and from the front lines of City Hall to our website and our use of social media, better use of technology helps us deliver services to our community.” "This year's winners demonstrate how cities have faced economic challenges with creativity and innovation in the use of information technology," said Cathilea Robinett, executive director for the Center for Digital Government. "The Survey clearly shows that cities place a high value on positive experiences for their constituents when using government services. These winners are at the leading edge of the future in digital advances for citizens." The survey was open to all U.S. cities with a population of 30,000 or more and respondent cities were classified into four size-based categories. For more information on the Digital Cities Survey rankings members of the media are encouraged to call Ric Barrick at 434-970-3129 or I.T. Director Kerry Goode at 434-970-3333. For a complete listing go to www.centerdigitalgov.com. 1st Town of Flower Mound, Texas 2nd Town of Jupiter, Fla. 3rd Town of Manchester, Conn. 4th City of Charlottesville, Va. 5th City of Boynton Beach, Fla. 5th City of Delray Beach, Fla. 6th City of Annapolis, Md. 7th City of Lynchburg, Va. 8th City of Azusa, Calif. 9th City of Missoula, Mont. 10th City of Wellington, Fla.

The area is full of festivals and events occurring throughout the year and for every taste.  For a listing of some of the biggest events and the area's vibrant arts scene CLICK HERE For area entertainment venues CLICK HERE