Being a UVA undergrad as an adult was a unique experience. Sitting in the classrooms with people who were nearly your own children’s ages is strange, and having professors your own age felt awkward at times. Ultimately, it was a fantastic experience – but it was also incredibly lonely. I had no friends in my classes. I would hang back to talk to my professors, but I had no one to hang out with, no groups to study with.
Becoming a UVA graduate student was a different experience. There, even though I wasn’t a PhD. Student with an official cohort, I had friends who were in the same program. We took the same classes, we were varied in ages and life experiences, and I did not feel like Sally the Old.
This time in school, I had community. I had people to hang out with, trivia nights I could go to, study groups and commiseration over all the reading and writing. I wasn’t alone anymore, and it made everything so much more enjoyable.
Community is important. Having people you can call on, rely on, people you can trust and who have your back is invaluable and is so necessary in a healthy society. People need people. We need each other, especially now.
It is hard to feel connected to people and place when you don’t live where you work.
Do you know when it is nearly impossible to have community? When you are sitting in your car. When you have to commute 45 minutes to your job in Albemarle, it is very difficult to go to trivia night. It Is hard to get involved with your government when all of your extra time is spent in traffic. It is hard to feel connected to people and place when you don’t live where you work.
Housing creates community. Whether it is an internal community where a complex has gathering spaces and dog parks, or the larger Albemarle community where people can go out for dinner after work, when people live where they work, they are able to feel like they truly belong here.
And I think they do. Our entire community would not function if it were not for these tens of thousands of employees who are willing to make these long, boring commutes. Our teachers, our nurses, our university support staff, our internet repair people, our library workers, and even our county employees – they are all necessary for the basic essentials of our community to function. They should get to live here. They deserve affordable homes. Why are we so willing to sacrifice their time and their ability to have community by denying them housing?
I believe the employees who work in our county should have homes here. They should have the ability to be full-time residents of Albemarle County, and for that to happen, we have to enable more housing. We have to increase both the availably and the affordability of homes.
It is just simply the right thing to do.