Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville

We enhance, promote, and preserve the vitality of Downtown Charlottesville by implementing the national Main Street program for the benefit of Charlottesville businesses, residents, and visitors. The Downtown Mall is a must-see when in Charlottesville. Designed & built in 1976 by award-winning architect and designer Lawrence Halprin, the 8-block bricked-pave pedestrian mall is one the longest continuous pedestrian malls in the United States and boasts a wonderful collection of restored and renovated buildings that typified small "downtowns" throughout the country. The Downtown Mall is home to a vibrate and diverse collection of more than 120 shops, 30 restaurants, and many performance venues including the historic Jefferson Theater, newly renovated Paramount Theater, and Charlottesville's largest outdoor concert venue, the Sprint Pavilion. Additionally, just steps from the mall is the IX Art Park, Charlottesville's largest public art park—an inclusive intersection of art & culture in Charlottesville, providing accessible and multi-cultural art & music programming and education, featuring Virginia's only one-of-a-kind interactive art museum—The Looking Glass. Convenient parking in nearby garages and parking lots, as well as free trolley service connecting the Downtown Mall to the University of Virginia along West Main Street, make a visit to the downtown easy for visitors of all ages.