Anybody looking for a Valentino’s menu?
As I was running around the Church HIll area I noticed TONS of menus for Valentino’s littering the neighborhood. The menus were on cars, porches, and sidewalks. I am not talking about a few menus— I mean they were up and down the street.
Valentino’s downtown? I stopped going to them after they kept failing health inspections and the owner was always rude to channel 12.
The city ought to slap all these restaurants and businesses who “mass leaflet” the neighborhood — and no, I not talking about doors but vehicles and fences — with littering violations. I’ve also noticed a shitload of Valenetino’s trash around and think they should be held legally accountable.
I used to live near Valentino’s and they have some of the best pizza ever. I thought for year’s that it was a drug den or money laundering outlet, and then caved in and became a convert. I don’t appreciate or condone blanketing the Hill with flyers, but will attest to the pizza.
I don’t care if they have the best pizza in Richmond (which they don’t). They deserve to be fined for littering in our neighborhood. Same goes for the random chinese restaurants that are known for plastering the neighborhood.
Ray: I agree 100%. They need to start holding businesses accountable for their littering. I don’t know about everyone else, but I know I am tired of spending my valuable time constantly cleaning up trash these businesses keep tossing around.
Any establishment that delivers flyers is not worth ordering from. Just don’t order from them and it will take care of itself. Also, if enough people call the store to complain then they will probably stop. Another idea if you see a pile, gather them up, go to the store, open the door, and throw them as hard as you can.
….or just throw it away.
The flyers are typically left on cars and in mailboxes. Businesses don’t typically print a bunch of color flyers at .50 a pop and just throw them on the ground. That would be a very unwise business decision. It is normally the home owner or car owner who litters them.
Really though, it isn’t that serious. Just put it in the recycle.
#7, litter is serious, especially when it covers a whole block. And you are wrong about the flyers only being on cars and in mailboxes. I have had flyers left on my porch many times. One good gust of wind could blow them right off. Trash my neighborhood, and I will be sure to never buy your food.
#7 – “Really though, it isn’t that serious. Just put it in the recycle.”
I don’t know about you, but “really though” the flyers ARE that serious. I am not home enough, yet alone have enough time, that I can devote myself to clean up after these careless people.
I would not be making it such a “huge deal” if they put them IN my mail slot. No—they put them on the ground or cars without being secured. They literally put one on the front wooden porch (nothing securing it) and one on the step right off the sidewalk (again, not secured). One breeze will cause these flyers to go blowing aimlessly down the street. They could have at least put a rock on top of them or even under the edge of a doormat.
I care about my neighborhood but I am too darn busy to run around the entire CH area to pick up after these people. Why should I devote my time picking up Valentino’s menus when they are potentially making a profit at my expense?
Do you want to go trolling the streets in CH? If so, be my guest. And by you making an insinuation that I don’t know to just put them in the recycling bin is demeaning. Thanks, I’ll make note of that process.
I presented this problem on here because I don’t know where to turn for assistance with this. In SC they have a Litter Bug website you can report people who litter. They take littering seriously. Unfortunately, finding a person or division that actively punishes litterers in RVA is like finding a needle in a haystack. I tried, believe me. So before you go belittling my effort to stop the littering, then why don’t you find out who I can contact.
@9 Veronica…have you spoken to the manager at Valentino’s and talked to him/her about the problem? I’d ask them to send someone over here to clean up. It’s against the law to litter…call the police and have them pay a visit to Valentino’s. I’ll bet if the police ask them to send someone over to patrol the neighborhood or risk being fined…they would send someone out.
Veronica, I’m with you on this. Just this week, about 9:30am on Monday, there was a car illegally parked @ the corner of my street and its driver was throwing restaurant menus on my neighbors front porches. By this time, most everyone had left for work or school. Those menus would have blown into Jefferson Park by the time folks came home.
I stopped my car, got out and told this guy to please stop what he was doing and leave my neighborhood. He took me seriously and took off. this wasn’t the first time I’ve done that, and probably won’t be the last.
Contact the restaurant and ask them kindly to secure them when they place him. Complaining here gets little done. It begets more complaining…which is the real problem in Church Hill these days.
You aren’t going to get a company to stop advertising, especially when a television or radio commercial is probably well out of their budget. As I said, I am sure they do not want them blowing all over the neighborhood. That may well be their own form of advertising. I’m sure they want them to be effective and it might just have more to do with WHO they hired to place them then the restaurant itself.
Be a good neighbor, call them and see if that line of communication produces results. If not, then take a next step, like blasting them publicly on a neighborhood blog.
Why do so many around here run straight to report people instead of being neighborly and TALKING to your neighbors?
their *only* form of advertising…my mistake ;)
Oh, and if you visit NYC, you’ll notice lots of small apt buildings and brownstones with signs on the door that say “No menus!”. I hope it doesn’t get to that in RVA, but it might.
Besides the litter and nuisance factors there is a real safety/security issue with the un-solicited menus. Nothing says “nobody is home, come steal my stuff” faster than a menu waving in the breeze from your storm door, sticking out of your fence pickets or laying on your front porch floor.
For now, I prefer to personally run off the offenders when I see them and occasionally call a business who’s menus I’ve received unsolicited. But I certainly would support a city ordinance
outlawing the practice of business flyers being placed on private property.
@#12
“It begets more complaining…which is the real problem in Church Hill these days.”
Really? Really? Church Hill has no real problems related to drug dealing, drug violence, robbery, domestic violence, general littering, poverty, etc… Nope, the real problem is that people complain too much up here. That has to be one of the most ignorant statements I have ever seen on this blog, and that is saying a lot since buddy posts here.
“Why do so many around here run straight to report people instead of being neighborly and TALKING to your neighbors?”
Sorry, I am not sure I really consider them my neighbors, sort of like how I don’t really consider the market my neighbors. Does Islam Khodeir, owner of Valentinos, even live in Richmond? He isn’t listed in the city look up. To me, they are just another chain business.
The only thing you wrote that we agree on, is calling the store. Though it may not get you anywhere, it is at least something you can count as a formal complaint. That makes it more valid when you send the police the next time.
This board is sort of like a comment box for the community. I guess everyone could post comments about stuff they like but that’s kind of a waste of time and would get old pretty quickly. Just like any comment box, most of what you’ll hear will be negative. Doesn’t mean that everyone is upset about everything, just that it makes more sense to call attention to the problems in hopes that they can be solved.
Would you really even bother checking the blog if it was flooded with thousands of comments on how great everything is? Controversy draws interest.
That said, I do believe that we should keep our criticisms on the constructive side. If it’s purely whining, it’s not much help to anyone who wants to make a change and in fact may hurt chances that things change if people get offended by unproductive criticism.
@ James….Of course, that wasn’t the intention of my statement. It was said tongue in cheek, which of course, is nearly impossible to detect on a blog.
I do think this blog has become a place for anonymous posters to come and complain about things that could easily be handed without all the “drama” of a blog.
This poster has clearly not taken a single step towards remedying this with the business before complaining on the blog.
Of course there are “bigger” issues, which is why it is plain silly of her to use this blog as a means to blast a business before she has taken a single positive step to remedy it.
Whether you consider them YOUR neighbor or not is irrelevant. I mean neighbor as in a part of the community or greater surrounding community. Whether they are a Alamo or a Valentino’s or a Roosevelt, I would treat any business with the common decency of communication if something they were doing was no up to snuff. Like I said, they probably don’t even realize the problem. The issue likely lies with who was hired to distribute the flyer. Highly unlikely of any business looking to make money to intentionally litter any neighborhood.
WHEN did we stop giving one another the benefit of the doubt around here? Sad.
@Alex, I’m all for a sounding board addressing the really big issues. This post is like picking out a splinter when your patient was impaled. Terribly silly when you have made no attempt to call the business.
Alex, I am pretty sure the op was being constructive, since they were asking about ways to resolve this. I think some people are just too passive in this area. I mentioned it before as a reason things won’t change in the area (at least in the near future). I see valid complaints being met with comments like “it’s no big deal” or “why don’t you just move to the west end?” Now those comments are far from constructive.
@#17
“I do think this blog has become a place for anonymous posters to come and complain about things that could easily be handed without all the “drama” of a blog.
This poster has clearly not taken a single step towards remedying this with the business before complaining on the blog.”
Or maybe you could come in here and make your suggestion with snide remarks. That is a good way to convey your message without belittling the person posting. Maybe this person wanted to know if others were having the same issue as well (ie not an incident limited to one block). It really isn’t your place to judge what is worth placing on this news blog. That is John’s job, and I am very glad to see that he posts community concerns no matter how big or little.
@17- Good point on the flyers most likely not being distributed by Valentino’s. I think you are probably right. I’ve seen these things getting passed out before and it usually seems to be some college kids doing it in a sloppy and rushed fashion. If Valentino’s is guilty of anything, it’s trusting the wrong person to do their marketing.
Where do you suggest we draw the line on what is fair game for discussion on here? As long as folks are civil and respectful, who cares what they whine about? It may not be a big deal to you (or to me) but it’s their neighborhood too. If menus blowing in the wind is what they find interesting, let them chat about it.
Oh James…always the pot, never the kettle….
Oh just a neighbor, always attacking people who make the neighborhood a better place to live, while protecting the people who cause problems.
Please read what Alex posted a couple times. This isn’t YOUR blog and it isn’t up to YOU to figure out what is important or worth discussing. Start your own blog and stay off this one if you don’t like it.
I don’t see where I attacked anyone.
And how could I leave when watching you get your panties in a wad is so much fun.
You paint yourself to be such the neighborhood martyr, but didn’t you post recently about leaving? Where are we with that plan? Inquiring minds want to know.
@23 I looked for him yesterday and was disappointed to find that he moved. I was going to surprise him and buy the property he was living in and have me as a landlord… to late I guess.
laura, I was gone long before you could have purchased the property. Now my house is officially empty. And if you were willing to pay the asking price (or even close to that price) for the property, then you have no business dealing in real estate. I still have friends in the neighborhood, but I have moved on to bigger and better things. Your loss, as I would have been the best tenant you ever had. I actually care about the property I live in.
Just someone’s neighbor, you are funny…
“And how could I leave when watching you get your panties in a wad is so much fun.”
Coming from a person that has self righteous left wing shitfit every time someone mentions the “courts” being a center for crime, that is an interesting comment. It is the internet, so I never take the posts too seriously. I recommend you do the same.
James, sorry to lose one of the more sensible members of our community. I know some may disagree with me but I for one liked your posts on here.
Oh James…yet again, we find our horns butting.
Let’s be fair here…who is attacking who in this thread?
“self righteous left wing shitfit”
Only slightly offensive? Luckily, I stopped taking you seriously…oh wait, i never took you seriously.
Your politics and faux “caring” for the community is a joke.
My “shit fit” is simply being sick and tired of everyone pigeon holing the entire community of the “courts” as scum and criminals.
Just like with any business, we know that bad publicity always spreads faster and more furious then positive. One bad comment overshadows all the good. Same with the stereotypes and racism/classism about the people who live in the “courts”.
No one has ever said that their isn’t higher crime in the housing developments. My problem has always been with the stereotyping and over generalization of ALL the people in those neighborhoods as criminals when the actual percent of criminals is actually pretty low.
I work directly with the people who live in these areas of Richmond, and have for the past ten years. Trust me, the vast majority want out just as badly as you want the housing developments destroyed {or is it just out of your own backyard?} Few, if any, have the means or education to get out. They are stuck in a vicious cycle of racism, classism, lack of education and lack of resources to escape. When was the last time you talked to someone, one on one, who lived in these areas? When was the last time YOU listened to THEM?
But trust me, I find comic relief in this blog. Don’t try to ASSume you know anything about me.
I sit here laughing at folks who think they have all the answers, but yet really, know nothing about the people who live in this neighborhood.
Just, I know you have good intentions and won’t disrespect that. However by listening to your rant it’s pretty clear that you approach this from a different perspective than some of us. If you’d rather continue to argue with folks whom you disagree with for the rest of your life, feel free to ignore my advice. However if you’d like to enlist others to care about the causes you do, it might be helpful if you understood some things about those who disagree with you.
The way you see the courts (forgive me if I misrepresent this) : I know these people and most have a good heart but haven’t been given the opportunities they need
The way others see it: It doesnt matter how good their hearts are, throwing money at the problem without some fundamental changes has not produced results. Explain to me what is going to be different this time.
If you want to convince me that I should spend my tax dollars on programs, I want to know why they are going to produce good outcomes. Neither of us disagrees that we want success. I just think emotional solutions without a clear plan won’t get us there.
Alex, I enjoy your posts as well. I am also sad to have to move. However, the significant other didn’t feel safe in the neighborhood. The one time she decided to go for a jog around Jefferson Park around sundown, she was chased by a guy that looked like he was homeless. I have heard gunshots at night too many times. Even for a guy moving from Chicago, the East End seemed pretty rough. I was happy to have such great neighbors, who will likely keep fighting to make the neighborhood a better place (as they have done for years). I jumped on a nice place in Carytown, and have been happy there so far.
@#27
As I have said a dozen times, I do not fit in to the mold that you have there in your mind. However, when you talk about me getting my panties in a wad, you really need to look in the mirror. Honestly, you and I care for the community in different ways. I want the hard working middle class/lower class people of all races to have a beautiful and safe neighborhood. You want to give the neighborhood back to the poor and only protect those who are less fortunate. Your one sided viewpoints are not going to help your cause out here.