iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 25/10/2026

I saw a post earlier from someone suffering from depression asking if anyone here has hope. Hope is a knife. It is not always enough, and you can't always have it when you need it, but your chances are better when things get bad when you have hope. I hope you can keep it when you need it.

Color photo from the television show Andor showing a well-dressed attractive light skinned male character who at some point says the line "rebellions are built on hope"

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

Importantly, IMO, we have a new zoning code which now has transition requirements where different kinds of uses are right next door, a common condition in this and every city I know of #zoning

"TRANSITION TYPE A" a color screenshot showing a diagram of a small home on the left, then some plantings, then a larger building to the right which stair steps back away from the home. Two sections have some additional code details: "TRANSITION AREA" and "UPPER-STORY STEP-BACK" explaining the dimension required

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

"The applicant proposes to redevelop the Subject Properties with 182 multifamily residential units and a café. A public plaza is proposed between the building and W Main Street and public pedestrian access to the adjacent Westhaven property owned by the […] [Original post on cville.online]

"Conceptual Renderings" This is a color rendering of how the building will look from someone walking east along the sidewalk next to the new building. There is a tree, some shrubs, potted plants, lots of stone and brick paving, outdoor seating, and a large contemporary brick structure with lots of clear glass on the first floor. The building is set back quite a bit from the street, maybe twenty feet. Overall the effect is bland but inoffensive, at least to my eye. Very beige.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

The location is a very complicated and prominent one, historically a lovely old hotel serving railroad passengers nearby, now a giant surface parking lot on the most prominent road in the City. Notably this site backs up to the first public housing built in the City, Westhaven.

"Context Map1" we have an overhead photograph showing the site outlined in red, mostly surface parking with a small building towards the rear, railroad tracks to the east, a large bridge to the south, large student housing complexes to the west and south, and a very large plot of land to the north with smaller townhouses. To the southeast is a very large surface parking lot with a small building near the union of two railroad lines: Union Station.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026

I don't think I've seen this 1869 Thomas Nast Thanksgiving cartoon before. That was another difficult time for the United States and in my opinion Nast is trying to show a positive vision forward. #Thanksgiving #ThomasNast #hope

Black and white illustration showing a large group of diverse people sitting down together at a table for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. The title is "UNCLE SAM'S THANKSGIVING DINNER." There are paintings in the background labeled "LINCOLN", "WASHINGTON", "GRANT", and "WELCOME CASTLE GARDEN" The corners are marked "COME ONE COME ALL" and "FREE AND EQUAL". The people at the table vary in age, gender, race, and style of dress. The centerpiece is labeled "SELF GOVERNMENT" and "UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE". The overall attitude is cheerful and hopeful.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2026

@lillyh.bsky.social This reminds me of the old 1920s promotional postcards in the US. Agreed, I love the optimism

Color scan of an old colorized postcard showing a tall red brick building with some complicated possibly stone details and a blue sky with fluffy clouds. It reads "MONTICELLO HOTEL "All the Charm of Old Virginia" Charlottesville, Va." There is a small black and white icon possibly showing a 19th century light skinned man in coat and pants possibly dancing with a light skinned woman with a giant 19th century ball gown with very large hair. The effect is cheerful and optimistic.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2026

Here is the alignment near the big Preston intersection (on the left here). It is very complicated.

Color screenshot showing a complicated diagram from a birds eye view laid over a photo of a street and some small buildings. There is a white line roughly in the middle cutting the two sides apart labeled "SECTION 1". There is so much green, white, and tan paint. Also blue. The tan is large pedestrian refuges where people can stand while waiting to cross the dramatically narrowed street. The tree areas are bike crossings. There are blue squares that I think are accessible parking spaces. The white paint is zebra crossing stripes at intersections, there are also some hashed areas I don't understand between sidewalks and bike lanes. Also lane markers and directional signs to guide turning traffic. The effect is overwhelming and confusing at this level.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 19/07/2026

Admiring some Queen Anne’s Lace. I’m surprised to learn that it is wild carrot #BloomScrolling

Color photo of many tiny white flowers in a burst pattern. There are green grass leaves in the background

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2026

Friendly greetings from the climate disaster. This is this morning at “The Park” #cville #wildfire #UVa

Color photo of empty play fields, heavy smoke, and a hazy yellow morning sun. The effect is unsettling

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 16/07/2026

This may be my only hydrangea blossom this year thanks to a much more unpredictable climate. At least we have this. #BloomScrolling

Close up photo of small delicate pink blossoms against huge green leaves that show some brown heat and drought damage at the edges

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

Gardening update: as expected my nemesis the groundhog dug under the heavy block of wood I placed to block the tunnel. I have staked the tunnel which appears to be working. #gardening

Color photo showing a tall old wooden fence with a heavy block of wood in front of it, a large tunnel under that, and many green metal stakes poking into it. It is not aesthetically pleasing

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026

Mistakes were made. Hopefully a net improvement.

Color photo showing two small heavily bitten tomato plants and one unbitten one. The two largest are partly protected by a tall narrow mesh barrier. The heavily bitten one is somewhat protected by a group of stakes, a block of wood, and some foil trays

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 03/06/2026

I’m not clear how long it will take but we are slowly unchaining the Downtown Mall fountains again in sunny Charlottesville to allow kids to play and cool off. #parks #cville #summer #freedom

Color photo of a large black metal bollard with two identical signs: “For Your Safety and the Safety of Others / Do Not Enter Beyond the Chain Surrounding the Fountain / Do Not Sit or Recline on the Decorative Granite Pillars between the Fountain and Market Street / Violators will be Trespassing / Police Will Enforce” There is a heavy black chain hanging to the right blocking public access to the lovely fountain. To the left there is nothing.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 02/06/2026

Got it! I downloaded the MP4 to an old external USB drive and then plugged that into the back of the TV. I was expecting a bunch of codec troubles but it was relatively painless

Color photo showing a large black flatscreen television that is itself showing a colorful star field and the word “COSMOS”

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 31/05/2026

Walking on Charlottesville’s beautiful and especially safe Eldon Street this morning. Streets this narrow and safe have been banned for a century, ostensibly for safety reasons since it is so difficult for trucks to race through at killing speeds. #cville #SafeStreets #DesignSpeed

Color photo of a lovely narrow historic residential street

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 21/05/2026

The local convenience store has rebranded to “Vom” #food #vom

Color photo of a large colorful convenience store sign with orange and blue. The sign says “Vom VOM FOOD MART SODA/CANDY/SNACKS COLD BEER & WINE”

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026

Here is Attachment C, which shows the public sewer line easement in red running just in front of and a little under the existing house. The protected slope is marked in green. The yellow blob is blocked by the new zoning regulations. The gray blob is an existing patio.

Color diagram showing the site from above. North arrow is pointing up. The majority of the site is not built on and the existing home and steep slope are squeezed on to the same side, since the sewer line runs through the middle of the parcel.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026

Here is the front elevation. The stucco was added later to make the building appear newer than it is.

Color photo of a yellow two story home with a peaked roof, chimney, and porch. The text reads "801 West Street: (DHR #104-5936) Architectural Survey Form - Photographs February 2020" and then "Front elevation - from West Street"

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 13/04/2026

Standing at 408 Harris now I can confirm the strip does exist, as well as the sidewalk. No trees yet though

Color photo of an older sidewalk with a paved road on the left and green grass on the right. There is a large “DEAD END” sign in the forground

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 09/04/2026

Something that has been challenging for me to get my head around is what a huge chunk of the city we are talking about with the student housing zone around the University

Map of the University of Virginia and environs labeled "Area within 1/2 Mile of Grounds". University property is colored orange and either labeled "North Grounds" or Central Grounds". There is a half mile buffer drawn around the orange shapes that is enormous, covering maybe hundreds maybe thousands of little black and white shapes called "Charlottesville parcels" in the legend.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 09/04/2026

Next up is a request for a Special Exception at 408 Harris to allow a strip of public right of way maintained by the adjacent owner (just below the green strip in the picture and just above the sidewalk) to be considered "amenity space". The applicant says they […] [Original post on cville.online]

Color diagram showing a birds eye view of a long narrow parcel. The parcel has been divided in to six chunks labeled "SUBLOT #1" and so on up to "#6" There are two curb cuts separating the separate homes into three groups of two. There is a long green strip along the bottom which I understand to represent "amenity space" along the roadway. Another strip just below and slightly wider is not colored green and I believe represents the publicly owned green space maintained by the owner. I count six trees planted along this facade partly covering both strips and another four around the corner.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 07/03/2026

Can’t get the focus right because the flower is so tiny but maybe you get the idea #bloomscrolling

Super close up color photo of a tiny blue with four petals in warm lighting. Slightly out of focus but still nice

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 28/02/2026

I recall arguing for this back during the 2015 bicycle plan. Exciting to see it open. #cville #ADA #BikeTooter #parks

Color photo showing a parking area behind Orange safety cones, then a new asphalt path up a steep hill

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 06/02/2026

Some people don’t like walking in the snow but I find it magical

Color selfie of a light skinned beared man with dark hair and glasses slightly smiling. Fluffy snow is falling and there are pretty old brick buildings in the background

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 01/01/2026

At the annual #ConeParade in sunny #RVA where police are forcing the festive parade onto the sidewalk to make way for the drivers confused to find themselves disturbing a beloved community event #WarOnCars #art

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 14/12/2025

Similar to the University we get a surge of interest in hobby gardening onsite in the 1950s, complete with serpentine brick walls, now crumbling. Jefferson did keep a vegetable garden somewhere but we have no evidence of flowers. I personally cannot believe he […] [Original post on cville.online]

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 14/12/2025

Similar to Monticello and the University of Virginia we have an upper world for Jefferson and his friends and a lower world for the enslaved workers to manage the cooking, cleaning, mending, and food preservation. I found this hallway connecting the work spaces […] [Original post on cville.online]

Color photo showing a covered brick walkway with square brick columns and large double sash windows with runny antique glass. Sun is shining in and the effect is very attractive

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 14/12/2025

The kitchen was remarkably modern for the time and place, copied from the fashion in Europe that Jefferson saw there. Best I can tell everything runs on charcoal and enslaved labor. Six fires going at once by my count. #cooking

Color photo showing a brick cooking area where pots could stand on metal fixtures over a fire. Very much like modern stovetops. There is a large attractive window lighting the workspace

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 14/12/2025

Just like Monticello we get our sacrificial cow skull decorations with our dinner. I found some notes in the basement saying these are replicas printed at #uva . They are much easier to read than the ones at Monticello which I believe are original

Color photo of the architectural details decorating where the interior wall meets the ceiling. There are alternating goddess faces and cow skulls just below what I believe are dental molding

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 14/12/2025

No giant dome shockingly but we do get a lovely linear skylight in the large central room

Color photo showing a strange arched skylight with many small square glass panels. The entire skylight is arched up, presumably to push rain and snow off the glass

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 04/12/2025

The little one is currently obsessed with the song “Daddy Cool” by Boney M. as featured in Paddington 2. The lyrics are a little repetitive! #parenting #DaddyCool #BoneyM #Paddington

Color photo of a piece of paper with “Daddy daddy cool” written seven times in neat rows, then a more complicated and messier effort to write “She’s crazy like a fool Wild about Daddy Cool” The z is backwards but otherwise pretty good.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 25/11/2025

Enjoying quite the ginkgo show here at the University of Virginia #ginkgo #uva #autumn

Color photo of a large yellow ginkgo tree with heavy yellow leaf fall under it. It is lovely. There is a brick walkway going by it and other trees nearby. The sky is gray and cloudy

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 21/10/2025

I’m a bit late to report it but Magnolia House appears to be demolished. It was famous for its Indy music shows for many years. There was heavy debate over whether it should be permitted to be demolished (it had no historic designation) and what should be […] [Original post on cville.online]

Color photo of a large city lot with mature trees and an old stone wall.

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 17/10/2025

Extremely gratifying to see these small safety fixes getting done. #cville #walkable #SafeStreets

Color photo of a a coned off section by the side of the road ready for fresh concrete to be poured for a new section of sidewalk around a mature tree trunk

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Lyle Solla-Yates 🦇 🦇 🦇 @lyle.cville.online.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2025

Thanks to the good people at #Monticello for the kind hospitality today. This is a difficult time to do public history and I find the dedication and service ethic admirable. #preservation #education

Color photo of a strange circular window looking out on a cloudy scene with a large tree and a complicated old roof of a mansion. The city of Charlottesville can barely be seen in the distance far below

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