Living Close to UVA – Barracks Road/Rugby Neighborhood
We’ve discussed Charlottesville city walking scores in a previous blog, but the Rugby/Barracks Road area in particular boasts the best walkable score of all.
With a strong residential population of UVA students and professors alike and families that want to be close to everything Charlottesville has to offer – many houses are within a 20-30 minute walk of Downtown, 10-20 minute-walk to UVA and 15 minute-walk to Barracks Road Shopping Center.
According to the city website, the Barracks Road/Rugby area is a “combination of several smaller neighborhoods, located in the north-central portion of the city. This area was annexed into the city between 1916 and 1963. The majority of the neighborhood consists of owner-occupied single-family dwellings.”
The area is served by Venable, Walker Upper Elementary School, Greenleaf Park and Crow Recreation Center, as well as will have access to the almost finished YMCA in McIntire Park.
The Barracks area, located on Barracks Road, contains many upper income homes on large lots primarily constructed in the 1930s – narrow residential roads wind through the area and pedestrians can enjoy the beautiful gardens as they pass by.
The Rugby Avenue area serves as a transition from Downtown to the University, containing medium sized, moderately priced homes – this includes the Greenleaf area, adjacent to the park and Walker Upper Elementary, which is a post World War II community with small bungalow homes and small lots.
Rugby Road
Most people are familiar with Rugby Road as it’s the main street that serves as the center of UVA’s fraternity and sorority system and most often seen as the most direct route to UVA as evidenced by the sheer number of pedestrians at any time of day.
It begins at University Avenue, across the street from the Rotunda – where it marks one end of The Corner, a strip of restaurants and stores that cater mainly to students – and then branches left as it meets Preston Avenue – heading towards Barracks Road – before veering off to the right and finally curving down to the 250 Bypass/Hydraulic Road intersection.
Rugby Road is lined on the end closest to UVA with a variety of architecturally significant houses from several different decades. Many of these are currently used by fraternities and sororities, although the majority of them were originally intended for single-family use; William Faulkner was one famous resident while he was a writer in residence at the University.
In addition to its social role, Rugby Road is also home to a variety of institutions and well known structures with a wide range of uses and purposes. These include Madison House, the University of Virginia School of Architecture, Mad Bowl, Beta Bridge, the Bayly Art Museum (now known as The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia), and the official university structures on Carr’s Hill – Fayerweather Hall and the President’s House.
Beta Bridge – a Free Speech space
Anyone traveling down Rugby Road knows to keep an eye out for the colorful Beta Bridge to see what it’s been most recently painted. Long known for its display of Free Speech messages, the Bridge has become an integral part of Rugby Road.
A bridge was erected over the Chesapeake and Ohio train tracks in the location of what is now Beta Bridge, but the current structure was built in 1923. Although it was originally known simply as the Rugby Road Bridge, when the Beta Theta Pi fraternity built their house at the corner of Chancellor and Rugby in 1927, it took its current name.
According to local news sources, “The tradition of bridge-painting at the university actually began in 1901 with students painting the railroad bridge crossing over University Avenue at The Corner. When the railroad tried to discourage the practice, students moved their messages to Beta Bridge on Rugby.
“The first recorded painting occurred in 1926 when a group of students reportedly splashed the bridge with green paint. Sports scores and praises for athletes remained the most common messages on the bridge until St. Patrick’s Day of 1967. Holiday supporters painted the bridge a “festive” Irish green, but supporters of the English crown painted over the green with red, also writing “God Save the Queen” in white. The Irish patriots responded by changing the word “Queen” to “Green”, and the tradition took off from there. Today, many University organizations paint the bridge to promote their activities.”
“On Oct. 2, 2007, UVA Today reported that a sheet of paint approximately 4 feet high, 10 feet long and 3 inches thick separated from a wall of the bridge and fell off. The piece, the second peel-off in the past 13 years, was so heavy that it had to be cut in half before being hauled away by Facilities Management workers. It is suggested that a combination of summer heat, moisture, and weight of layers prompted the peel-off.”
Close to Everything
Residents of the Rugby Road/Barracks area enjoy a wonderful quality of life. They have ease of access to everything UVA has to offer – from Scott Stadium to John Paul Jones Arena (which also boasts a terrific concert venue that attracts acts like Paul McCartney and Elton John), Klockner Stadium to Davenport Field to the Snyder tennis courts near Mem Gym – a perfect way to catch any of the top rated sports and within walking distance so the need for a car is reduced.
Parking on game days is always tricky and you can usually see scores of fans walking to games no matter the weather.
Residents of this neighborhood can also walk to, or hop on the Free Trolley, for example, the Tuesday Evening Concerts at Old Cabell Hall, which regularly draw internationally known musicians, as well as other events.
Shopping at Barracks Road is within a short walk as well, as long as you know the back ways through the neighborhoods – there are several maintained walking paths that lead to the shopping center – just be sure you wave at the owners and thank them as you pass by.
