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Charlottesville
's Fifeville area includes Baker/North Baker, Blue Ridge Commons (a privately subsidized 202 unit housing complex), Forrest Hills and the Orangedale neighborhoods. Fifeville is centrally located within the city. It is southeast of the U.Va. Health Science Center and adjacent to the West Main Street corridor. The northern boundary is the CSX railway property. Its southeastern boundary is Ridge/5th Street from CSX to Rock Creek and the southwestern boundary is Valley Road Extended via Rock Creek.

Major streets include Cherry Avenue and the new 9th and 10th Street connector. This newly built road runs through the center of Fifeville and serves as a primary link to the University of Virginia Hospital and West Main Street. Fifeville is primarily residential, but also hosts commercial activity along Cherry Avenue to many locally owned businesses, such as the Korner Restaurant, Salvation Army Thrift Store, and Ron's Garage, to name only a few. The housing types vary from multi-family to small and medium sized dwellings. Both detached and attached units, meaning townhouses and stand-alone houses, are located in the Orangedale section. Orangedale was developed in 1979.

Blue Ridge Commons, formerly Oak Ridge Gardens, was built in 1970 as a private subsidized housing complex unit. Baker/North Baker consists of a few streets located in the northwestern section of the neighborhood.

While some of the housing in Fifeville was built in the early part of the 20th century, there are areas in the western section of the neighborhood where housing was built during the 1950's as a subdivision called "Pinecrest". "Pinecrest" was built to house University of Virginia faculty, staff at the hospital, and retirees seeking one-story ranch style houses. Fifeville is an area that has undergone several studies.

These studies include: the Fifeville Neighborhood Opinion and Attitude Survey and Action Plan completed by the Charlottesville Department of Community Development in 1989, which resulted in Fifeville being designated as a Community Development Block Grant priority neighborhood. The West Main Street-University Hospital Neighborhood Study: Area B completed by the Department of Community Development in 1988 also served as a catalyst for improvements to the Fifeville neighborhood. Realignment of the Ninth - Tenth Street corridor, and rezoning critical commercial land in the neighborhood to transition zone are just some of the changes which came out of this study.

From a historical point-of-view, it is important to note that much of the housing in Fifeville consists of large early 20th century dwellings. Fifeville was originally developed for railroad workers at the turn of this century. Forest Hills Park and neighborhood were originally part of the Oak Lawn estate. In 1945 Mr. and Mrs. J. Hubert Carver bought a large parcel of land and began subdividing and naming the area Forest Hills. The major educational and recreational facilities located in this neighborhood are Buford Middle School, Smith Pool, the Boys and Girls Club along with Fifeville, Tonsler and Forest Hills Parks. There are a number of additional vital organizations located in this active neighborhood, such as the Independence Resource Center, the Youth Alive Center, and the Ronald McDonald House.

 

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