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One year after the East End Charrette and what?

The City of Richmond, Bon Secours, and RRHA are hosting the East End Charrette One-Year Anniversary celebration at the Robinson Theater, TONIGHT, June 21st at 5:30PM.

In an email from Karen of Karen Batalo Marketing and Public Relations, LLC, the Mayor’s office recently touted a list of improvements, at least of few of which predate last year’s meetings and don’t necessarily seem related:

  • I-64/Nine Mile Road gateway and Oakwood Cemetery
  • S Street sidewalk improvements and landscaping enhancements.
  • 33rd and T Street – The Pillars at Oakmont development of 15 single-family homes.
  • 822-826 North 27th Street – ElderHomes rehabbed the three homes at 822-826 North 27th Street.
  • 2101 Creighton Road – Creighton Court Resource Center provides clinical care one full day per week and is open to the community an additional three half days every week. The care consists of STD screening and treatment, screening for chronic diseases, provisions of contraception, cervical and breast cancer screening, and extensive teaching and counseling on chronic disease management, family planning and healthy eating and living.
  • 1001 North 25th Street – Storefront for Community Design is Richmond’s non-profit design and building resource. Bringing public and private resources to a central location to help facilitate projects for individuals, businesses and organizations, it offers practical assistance in architecture, planning, and design. The Storefront is located in a newly renovated commercial building.

There is also a nice brochure for the anniversary (PDF), which further serves to highlight the work that Bon Secours, Tricycle Gardens, and other private players are doing in the area:

Otherwise, where are we? Where is the city in this? The big lot at 25th/Nine Mile/Fairmount sits empty, going on 5+ years. Sunny Market is empty, Ocean Grocery thrives. Same same same as it ever was… I asked last spring: the plan shows vision, but now what?? In 2006 then-Councilwoman McQuinn said we’d see a grocery store at 25th and Nine Mile by 2008…. Will we even get a new Chimbo Mart out of this time around? Am I missing something worth celebrating?

22 comments

laura 06/21/2011 at 7:27 PM

Pipe dreams…that’s all it is. When the rubber meets the road, no sane business person will invest a dime in that area until something is done with those who live there. What would be the business incentive?

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John M 06/22/2011 at 6:51 AM Reply
wrs 06/22/2011 at 12:10 PM

Obviously there are a lot of impediments, but RRHA stands out as the biggest. They are the largest landowner in the East End and rarely, if ever, offload any of their properties. Almost every proposal in the charrette for Nine Mile would have to be done on RRHA land. But those proposals will remain impossible if private businesses can’t get their hands on any lots because RRHA is land banking them in the hopes of who knows what. Add to it that it has a 32 person board and you can see why nothing ever happens.

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Mary Anne 06/22/2011 at 3:47 PM

Laura,

I really hope you aren’t as insensitive as you sound in your post – “When the rubber meets the road, no sane business person will invest a dime in that area until something is done with those who live there.”

It’s that kind of pro-gentrification attitude that kills a community’s diversity, character and vitality. People who think like that about their lower-income neighbors don’t belong in Church Hill. They belong in the suburbs with the rest of their kind.

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Brett 06/22/2011 at 4:55 PM

The local community needs to start their own business, no matter how small. It has to be a grassroots movement. Open a cafe or a bakery, a daycare, a shop, or salon, something. Those waiting for a Food Lion to be built will wait forever. Large corporations will not make an effort to come to this area. I know it will be hard because the area is so poor, but maybe the city can grant some tax incentives or something. And the city needs to lean harder on blight and unkept property.

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laura 06/22/2011 at 9:21 PM

@4 As a business person and someone who has operated a successful business
in Richmond for the past 20 years, I know what it takes to make a weekly payroll
for 35 people…do you?

Continue on with your idle blather ’cause that’s all it is…dreamer.

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laura 06/22/2011 at 9:25 PM

@4 Also, do you think that pro-gentrification attitude killed south of Broad in Church Hill? It seems to be thriving…I’ve been here 25 years…have you?

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SEW 06/23/2011 at 7:38 AM

I don’t often do this but I have to agree with Laura here for the most part. This area will not do well until you clean up the area and get the folks off the street. Has anyone ridden past the intersection of 25th and Venable lately? It’s horrible. It looks plagued with crime and thugs hanging out waiting for an opportunity. I’m so pleased that there will be a new ABC store at the corner of 22nd and Main that I can use when it opens. I will never shop at that ABC store again.

The area needs successful businesses to thrive and, sadly, the businesses won’t be successful due to the concentration of poverty in the area. In short, we need gentrification for this area to be revitalized. I thought about it and really can’t think of another area that has such concentration of poverty yet has been successfully revitalized and thrives.

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Mary Anne 06/23/2011 at 8:34 AM

Laura,

I’ve only lived in Church Hill for 8 years but I still think there is no excuse for just pushing low-income people out of the neighborhood to make way for new business.

What about offering some opportunities for lower-income populations to make a living. I don’t suppose your business hires and pays a living wage to “those” people you see standing around on the street corners. If you’ve offered them a chance to work for your business or teach them a marketable skill on the job, then I apologize.

I may be a dreamer but I don’t think it is right to solve neighborhood problems through gentrification alone. We need to improve our community for ALL residents – not just for those residents who are fortunate enough to share my standard of living. (I’m not suggesting that the East End Charrette is doing much to change the status quo either but at least it is an attempt.)

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kaykay 06/23/2011 at 10:45 AM

What Brett said sounds all good and well. I am going to go out on a limb here and assert that Brett has never had to write a business plan and present it to bank. I will go further out on this shaky limb and assume that Brett hasn’t had to do this in our current economic climate.
The reality is found SEW’s last paragraph. Sad but true.

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Magneto 06/23/2011 at 12:07 PM

Folks, why be so despondent? There’s a lot of great things happening in or close to that section of the neighborhood that won’t necessarily require displacing the existing residents. Furthermore, it does show businesses and organizations (most locally owned/operated) are indeed making investments in the immediate or nearby areas and that it continues to trend northward emanating from M Street. A lot of it was already mentioned in the brochure, and I’ve added to it somewhat, but here goes: (1) The Roosevelt (supposed to open in July?), (2) the potential bakery across the street from the Roosevelt, (3) BHC’s Beckstoffers development in the 1200 block of 28th and 29th Streets (which just broke ground), (4) The Pillars at Oakmont near T and 33rd Streets, (5) the new apartment building under construction adjacent to the the 1st Precinct in the 1000 block of 25th Street, (6) all of Elderhomes’ fantastic work in the 800 block of 27th Street, (7) the Storefront for Community Design at 25th and P Streets, (8) all of the fantastic work done by the Robinson Theater at 29th and Q Streets, (9) even the delicious pizza currently available at DaVinci’s in the 1100 block of 25th Street, and (10) the current expansion work occurring at Richmond Community Hospital on Nine Mile Road. Are there still problems? Of course. The concentration of poverty in our area’s public housing is certainly an issue, but we don’t necessarily need to take an axe to it – rather it should be treated with a scalpel, which takes more time. Most of what I’ve already mentioned could provide affordable opportunities for residents to stay in the neighborhood (as the area is redeveloped) while also creating new jobs. For those of you who attended the meeting, you may recall the Mayor even made the analogy that this isn’t a sprint but rather a marathon. It’s not all going to happen overnight, but what has already happened and continues to happen each day is very encouraging in my opinion, especially since it’s just been 1 year.

I’d also add that while South of Broad is certainly a charming and stable neighborhood that has come a long, long, way, it lacks a lot of the street character areas north of Broad provide/could provide. In fact (and I’ll probably get some hell for this), it seems rather bland and sterile in my opinion. There’s little to no business activity with the exception of Buzzy’s and It Must Be Heaven, and many of the homes (while undeniably gorgeous) appear to be single-family homes that many folks can’t afford. I don’t see a lot of pedestrian activity beyond Libby Hill Park and Chimborazo playground. I’m not quite sure I’d use it as the benchmark for which to evaluate North of Broad’s future successes and/or failures.

Bottom line, have some patience and faith.

Okay, I’m done ranting.

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Dustin 06/23/2011 at 2:21 PM

Laura – Agreed.

Mary Anne – Words such as “diversity, character and vitality” do NOT come to mind when driving through the Nine Mile corridor to I-64 from our house in Union Hill.

There is more “diversity and vitality” in the suburbs you would readily banish people to.

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Name 06/23/2011 at 2:48 PM

@ #4

When white people move to the suburbs, they attribute it to racism and call it ‘white flight’.

When white people move to the city and spend money restoring historic buildings, they call it ‘gentrification’.

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laura 06/23/2011 at 9:28 PM

I am so tired of hearing the crap being spewed by these stupid liberal, bleeding-heart idiots who are are a bigger part of the problem than the drug dealers, gang bangers, whores, thieves and drunks that frequent the 25th Street and Nine Mile corridors. Deal with the problem…these folks take no accountability for their lives or the sad situations they’ve put themselves in. And I can just hear the whack jobs weighing in now about how INSENSITIVE I’m being. I’m certain that this blather is being spewed from the mouths of folks who’ve never had an entrepreneurial bone in their body. I don’t know anybody who has reached a level of success on their own without busting their ass day in and day out. I was never handed a damn thing and worked for everything I own. I grew up in a family where the most money my father ever earned in a year was $24,000. And, that was in the 90’s.
I knew damn well that I would never live in that type of a situation through my adult years. I worked my way through college and received financial aid too. I worked for others and I’ve started my own business from the ground up. Nobody helped me get there. I’ve restored many Church Hill homes and have made positive contributions to this neighborhood. My business has continued to remain successful even through the last few years. That same business employs many people here in the City of Richmond. People, it only happens through being somewhat savvy and ass-busting hard work. I’ve lived in the neighborhood when in was not so nice and I live here now in a home that would approach $1 million. I cannot stand to hear that these people should be given a pass. I’ve tried to employ some of these folks only to be taken advantage of, stolen from, lied to, etc. Most of them are stupid, lazy and gutless and frankly I could care less what sweeps them out of the neighborhood…gentrification or otherwise. Hold them accountable. Make them work for their assistance…tough love.

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laura 06/23/2011 at 9:43 PM

@8 “not just for those residents who are fortunate enough to share my standard of living” Get off it honey….there’s no such thing as “FORTUNATE” The only thing there is is WORK…and plenty of it. That’s something most of these folks are unwilling to do.

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SEW 06/24/2011 at 7:13 AM

#13

So true!

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JD 06/24/2011 at 9:24 AM

#11 Magneto, props to you for remaining optimistic about CH’s future!! I’m with you!!

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James 06/24/2011 at 10:23 AM

Boohoo, we hate gentrification…

Guess what? Without gentrification, present day Richmond city would still be the same crap-hole it was back in the 80’s and 90’s. Church Hill would still be dilapidated and full of crime. It isn’t about the rich kicking the poor out of CH. It is all about the middle class bringing some diversity back in to an area that could be a nice place to live.

I never thought I would see the day when I agreed with laura.

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SEW 06/24/2011 at 1:53 PM

James…I know right? I didn’t think I’d see the day that I would agree with her too!

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Pete Mc. 06/24/2011 at 3:02 PM

Laura- I am part of the team working on the implementation of our East End Vision. Would you be willing to share your ideas with me in person? I think your perspective is a valuable one to a fully inclusive process, which is what we are striving for. Thanks for raising your voice. Contact me at the hospital.

Magneto, Mary Anne and All- the same invitation goes to you as well. To be successful, I beleive, we all need to listen, learn and work together. What a robust dialog has begun here! If you are interested, please contact me at the hospital.

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laura 06/24/2011 at 7:53 PM

@20 Business and politics rarely co-exist harmoniously. I prefer not to risk the support of my business for my personal political/social views. Too many people count on that business success for their livelihoods. Why not pose the questions you have right here on this blog? You can’t get any more transparent than that; and you’ll have plenty of other perspectives from which to draw? I would be more than happy to listen to your ideas/proposal and likewise share my ideas and proposals with you. A personal meeting won’t accomplish any more than what can be accomplished right here.

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teresa 06/29/2011 at 8:02 AM

so, what I’m hearing is laura likes to come on here and spew but now actually take any action?

and how is being a total jerk on this site not risking the support to your business? I know, I for one, would never bother visiting your business by your comments here alone.

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