A word of caution to VCU students
It is not in your best interest to catch the campus connector from the Monroe Campus to the MCV Campus and then walk across the MLK Bridge and up Venable Street to the ABC store at 8:30PM. If I see you again, next time I’ll rob your dumbass myself.
Word. I’ll get in on that. When I drove their dumbasses back to the MCV Campus connector bus they were all like, “Dude, you’re the nicest person in Richmond!” Cause I saved their lives, or at least their illegally bought vodka.
I kind of love this post.
About a year ago there was an interesting house for sale in an unnamed Richmond neighborhood (not Church Hill) for a very low price. The scuttlebutt was that the sellers had been mugged a couple of times and were hightailing it out of the neighborhood. I was kind of baffled because I knew two single women who lived in the same block for years and had never had a problem.
“Yeah, but you don’t know these people,” a mutual friend told me as we strolled our babies through Carytown. “They cry out to be mugged. I’ve actually had to stop myself from mugging them a couple of times myself. In fact, let’s go mug them now.” We didn’t go mug them but it was tempting. I might have to start hanging out on the MLK bridge.
I HATE this post! Here’s an idea….Rob my “dumb ass” and see what you get. this is EXACTLY the kind of rhetoric we DON’T need. Swear to God buddy, you wouldn’t walk away from this encounter. Hey anne, explain exactly who “these people” are? Cry out to be mugged????? Arrrggghhhh!
soooo many tough guys on this site just clicking on it gives me a boner, anyways I used to have very similar feelings at the RFK lot when the Dead would play in the late 80′s- lot’s of soft hippies with tons of drugs and cash, on more than one occasion I wanted to rob them and throw their dirty asses into the Potomac River !!
Watch out for Christo – he’s got mad ninja skills.
I think we all remember that bad incident earlier this year when he decided two middle-aged women coming out of an ACORN restoration workshop were hookers and beat the stuffing out of them.
The last word they heard was “Arrrrgggghhh!”
I like how this post uses humor to get its point across to area newcomers. Nice reminder to those who might not already know that certain sections of town might be better than others for foot traffic – especially after dark.
VCU does a good job of leading the students and parents to believe the campus and surrounding neighborhoods are totally safe. In turn these ditsy 18 year-old kids are walking around completely aloof to the fact they’re in one of the more dangerous areas of the country. I live in Carver and you will see little girls and scrawny wasted hipster dudes walking down Harrison and Goshen towards Leigh at 3:00 AM on any given night when school is in. They appear to pay no mind to their surroundings or who is nearby because they’ll walk right by my front porch within fifteen feet and never notice me. When people who have lived in the City for a while walk around we’re conditioned to be alert and aware of what’s happening, and to not enter where we don’t belong.
I also think a lot of these kids have the mindset that because they’re liberal minded and sympathize with the struggles of people living in the inner city that they won’t be bothered. Let me tell something…that 20 year-old kid who group up in Mosby or Gilpin Ct doesn’t give a shit that you support Obama or that Crossroads Coffee only pays you $6/hour and you can barely pay your rent too.
I really hope the poster was using sarcasm to make a point. Otherwise it’s making a threat, which is illegal and should be reported to the police.
People do bear a personal responsiblity to keep themselves safe and prevent crime. This is the same principle as locking your valuables in the truck of the car and keeping the doors locked. No, it’s not technically your fault if you car is stolen because you left it unlocked with the keys in the ashtray. But it sure is dumb.
1) Yes, parts of the city are not safe but Richmond has not be “one of the more dangerous areas of the country” in a few years.
2) Not every suburban kid who comes to VCU is unaware of their surroundings because “they’re liberal minded.” It’s because colleges and the areas around them foster a false sense of security and some of them are from sequestered subdivisions and have no true concept of poverty and crime to begin with.
3) Of course this post was an idle threat. It could have said “Don’t wander near Mosby Court with a wallet full of daddy’s money after dark because, sometimes, people won’t pass up an opportunistic crime.” That seems a bit lacking in effect to me.
What I dont get is why would you even catch the escort from monroe park to MCV when there is an ABC store right on broad and harrison??
#11 – probably because the ABC store so close to the Monroe campus is better at knowing students and checking their IDs. Sounds like the one up on 25th Street needs to get its act together and start checking IDs, too.
Coming soon- “Ramspray” – VCU branded pepper spray
Seriously though, most of the VCU student muggings that Oregon Hill sees are ‘drive-by(e)’, meaning that the muggers approach target victims on foot, but have getaway vehicle stashed nearby.
The police can’t always be on site quickly (which is why stings could be good), so it makes sense to keep an out for which direction the getaway cars go (more street cams could help also).
“Rob my “dumb ass” and see what you get. this is EXACTLY the kind of rhetoric we DON’T need.”
Which example?
I’m threatening all of you that I will mug you if you don’t improve your sense of humor. Report that!
And yes, Donna, I’m looking at you and your overly serious cup of tea.
Yes, avoiding that area should be common sense, but I would submit that the post is still in poor taste. Well, at least the last sentence is.
It’s always easier to blame the victim and his ignorance than it is to acknowledge how awful the neighborhood surrounding your home really can be and how much crime and its aura are a part of your lifestyle as a result.
What we have here is a failure to communicate that “Church Hill has a high crime rate and is just awful, watch yourself” to the city and its newcomers, especially to those who may have grown up in a neighborhood that is not as awful and crime-ridden as our own. This realization is what the post and its comments make clear to me.
To resolve this, let’s put up more signs on the perimeter. We have those “lock your valuables signs,” but I guess that we need stronger wording. How about something like one of those signs with the changeable numbers that they put on dangerous roads instead of simply fixing the road: “Be alert! 35 muggings and 5 homicides have occurred in this area since January 1, 2009. Avoid this area at night. You may report suspicious acts to the police, but they will probably not be able to save you in time, so, really, why bother, this is Church Hill we’re talking about. Just go away.”
That, however, would be a very public acknowledgment of a problem in our supposedly up-and-coming neighborhood, one that would affect property values and our neighborhood’s public image. You all are right, let’s keep these warnings confined to snide comments on blogs and quips that we whisper to each other on our front porches.
That way, we can have it both ways: “shoulda known better, those liberal spoiled soft-shelled hippies” and “Church Hill is great, come move in today. First month’s rent FREE!”
This post is ridiculous. What you should be saying, and what a lot of other people are trying to say also is “stupid white people beware, poor blacks from certain areas will rob you” because anyone with half a brain can see through the thinly veiled racism this entire thread contains. It’s barf inducing.
“because anyone with half a brain can see through the thinly veiled racism this entire thread contains. It’s barf inducing.”
Why does everything have to turn into race. Bottom line, It is smart to stay away from certain areas,especially at night. Period!
I thought the post was dead-on for a segment of the population. Richmond’s a big city with it’s share of crime, and you should at least be able to figure out the wrong-place wrong-time formula if you plan on living in any metropolitan area
@MH – I’m sorry that you took the post in that manner. That was certainly not my intent. Ramzi’s interpretation is pretty much spot on.
I’m glad to see some recognize and acknowledge crime and safety remain critical challenges throughout Richmond. We live cheek by jowl with neighborhoods where crime, violence and drugs are a way of life. It’s easier to pretend it doesn’t exist than it is deal with it head on.
Thanks for the balsy post John.
I don’t know about all that. Parts of Venable are kind of dicey, and the MLK Bridge can be really empty at night.
I’d perhaps go so far as to say that there are intersections where “crime, violence and drugs” are more likely to occur, but that’s about it.
Is this article supposed to instigate / promote crime in the area of M.L.K. Jr bridge?
I have been traveling that bridge and area for over a year now and feel quite safe in doing so.
I think the objective of this article should be:
1. WHY do the students want to go to this particular store?!!
2. Is there a problem with this store that needs to be addressed?
3. is there actually a public safety concern in this area that needs to be addressed?
It seems the problem is that the ABC store on 25th doesn’t card. I bet they serve intoxicated customers as well, which is also illegal. I’ve been to that liquor store and waited in line with quite a few already drunk customers.
I’ve been to that ABC store as well. Now I find others…
That ABC store, being situated in a dangerous area, would not be a sought-after work location for most folks. The ABC Board most likely has trouble keeping it staffed, and the supervisors probably are relatively lenient on the staff who are willing to work there. Could be that the supervisors rarely come around to check on things.
Related issue: The drinking age should be 18 so the college students don’t have go to such great lengths to buy alcohol and can catch a buzz in the safety of their own dorms. So much law enforcement energy is wasted on trying to bust 18-20-year-old “kids” who are doing exactly what we all did ourselves during our good old days.