Is Crozet, VA A Good Place To Live?

 

I’m constantly asked if Crozet is a good place to live or if it’s a good place to raise a family. Let me just skip ahead to the answer YES! But if you want to know why it’s such a good place to live or why maybe it’s not, then continue reading. Let’s talk about the schools first.

 

Crozet is known for its high-quality public schools, it has two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. The town spends an average of 13,344 dollars per student, which is higher than the national average and the student-to-teacher ratio is about 12.5 students per teacher.

 

 

Brownsville is one of the largest elementary schools in Albemarle County, if not the largest. Recently Albemarle County redistricted 250 students from Brownsville to Crozet Elementary, which makes the student count around 630. This means that some lower grades, like kindergarten and 1st grade, have rather large classroom sizes. My son was in 1st grade this year and his classroom had about 25 students. As kids get older the classroom sizes drop as parents transfer their children to private schools.

 

If you have any questions about Brownsville, I’m happy to answer them as my family is actively on the PTO and we know the ins and outs of the school.

 

 

Crozet Elementary is centrally located in the town of Crozet and in 2022 they finished up a 2 million dollar expansion to house the new redistricted students. Most of those students came from the Wickham Pond subdivision and some of the newer subdivisions in town. I’ve been to several functions at Crozet Elementary and my son attended the preschool on-site when he was 3. It’s a great school and most parents that I talk to have no main issues with the school whatsoever. Both Elementary schools have great test scores and one school is not better. So no matter what elementary school district you’re in, you won’t be disappointed. They also have a nice playground in the back!

 

Brownsville, Henley, and Western High School are all within walking distance from each other. This is very convenient if you live in the Old Trail Neighborhood (more on Old Trail Later), because you can easily walk to all three schools.

 

 

Downtown Crozet and the Old Trail subdivision are the main locations for Restaurants and shops. Downtown Crozet has a coffee shop, four restaurants at the time of this writing, and several other businesses like a creamery, library, hardware store, pharmacy, bookstore, bike store, and art store. But Like all small towns, they close early. If you’re looking to stay past 8 pm you’ll need to travel down the road to the local breweries. They are open late and have great beer and amenities, like food trucks. I like the feel of Downtown Crozet as it still has that small-town feel. Will it always be like this? Absolutely not, Crozet has plans to expand its downtown with a hotel, park, and roundabouts to mitigate traffic. It’s a growing city that needs better infrastructure.

 

Crozet has two grocery stores, Crozet Market, near downtown, and Harris Teeter on the south side of town. Harris has a Charlottesville address but it’s considered Crozet still. In fact, some of the neighborhoods near Harris Teeter have Charlottesville addresses but you are considered to live in Crozet, no questions asked.

 

 

These events are what makes Crozet have such a tight-knit community feel. This city has a blend of long-established families and events mixed with newcomers bringing in their traditions. That is one reason it’s such a great place to live, the community.

 

The real estate landscape in Crozet features a mix of historic homes, new developments, and rural properties. If you grew up in Crozet you would say, “I remember when Crozet was just farmland” and you would be right, Crozet was once all farmland with a train stop. Well, I’m here to tell you, that isn’t the case anymore. Crozet has over 11,000 people and counting. With several new subdivisions being built all over town, we will see those numbers continue to climb. If you want to live in a more secluded area, Crozet has that. If you want to live in a subdivision that has its town within a town, Crozet has that. It’s called Old Trail. If you want to go Golfing, Crozet has that, how about hiking? It can be found in Crozet.

 

Many of the subdivisions have their events, separate from the town of Crozet, and the larger subdivisions like Old Trail and Wickham Pond have some of the best Halloween Candy around.

 

I can say that housing in Crozet tends to be more expensive than in some neighborhoods as families hear or read about Crozet and then the demand grows, which brings up home prices. Buying in Crozet is a good investment as house prices have only gone up and will continue to do so.

 

Now Crozet does have issues, like there being only 4 stop lights in the whole town. Or too many homes being built without first upgrading the roads or infrastructure. Will the County get around to fixing these issues? Most likely, but will it be immediately? No, the county took years to build a playground for one of the largest subdivisions in all of Albemarle County. But they did eventually build it, it just took time.

 

You will also find local people here who can’t stand that Crozet is this big, they grew up here and they are not afraid to let you know in the Facebook comments or put out their grievances on the Nextdoor app. But those people are few and far between and I can say that living here is one of the best choices my family could have made when we decided to move to the country.

 

In summary, Crozet, VA, is considered a great place to live, especially for those who value a strong educational environment, natural beauty, and a small-town atmosphere with convenient access to larger cities. However, the higher cost of living, rising home prices, and rapid population growth are factors that potential residents need to consider.