Lord, those ARE small towns! DC would fit in Brooklyn with room to spare, and it has only a few more people than Staten Island. I was in Richmond once, and was shocked at how quiet a state capital could be. Always wanted to visit Charlottesville...
You should visit. Charlottesville and the surrounding area (I live about 45 miles north) are wonderful. The University of Virginia campus is beautiful (and remember, this is coming from a Virginia Tech alumni).
I LOVE living in this part of Virginia, and if we can manage to “unelect” one or both of our Obama-naut U.S. senators, and deport Tim Kaine to Massachusetts, I may even stay here after I retire.
Truth be told, though, although Charlottesville fits the Commonwealth of Virginia’s LEGAL definition of a city, it is definitely still very much a “small town”, in both feel and in population. The 2000 census reported a few more than 45,000 living in Charlottesville.
(NYC probably has high-rise apartment buildings that house almost that many people)