I'm a small employer who hires for (primarily) software engineers, web designers, and other tech positions in Charlottesville. Even when we beat salary offers, and even when the candidate says they like our company better, I sometimes lose them to bigger cities like SF and NYC. This is especially true for recent graduating students, who (understandably) often want a big-city experience before settling down.

I think I don't generally do a good job of selling people on why Charlottesville rocks, and I'd like to do a better job of that. So I'm putting together a short blog post that I hope will explain some of the tangible and intangible benefits of living here.

So my question is this: If you were trying to convince someone to make their career and life in Charlottesville, what would you tell them?