During this morning's Downtown Development Forum sponsored by Venture Richmond, I had a variety of reactions that further reinforced the fact that I am mere steps away from becoming a curmudgeon. In no particular order, they were:
- Wow, there sure a lot of well-to-do white people milling around this place. [For the record, I am one of those white people, albeit not a well-to-do one.]
- Wow, there sure is a lot of development in Richmond that should appeal to well-to-do white people.
- Blah. Blah. Blah.
- Hey! There's Jon Baliles. I need to tell him that his revamped Weekly Rant site is utterly awesome.
- Hey! There's Betsy Harrell. I need to find out why she's running around this joint in an apron.
- There sure a lot of condominiums being built. I wonder when the fire sale starts.
- Man, I'm such a cynic.
- I'm just glad all the vacant buildings are getting a makeover.
- I wonder where Richmond's poor and working class will live?
Now that I've gotten my inner turmoil out there for the world to wade through, there were plenty of (somewhat) new development projects being spun this morning. And, as a lifelong Richmonder who remembers both when Downtown was the place to be and when Downtown stopped being the place to be, I do have to admit that I'm glad to see the place getting scrubbed up a bit.
I think that I get a lot more excited when I hear that Ward Tefft has opened Chop Suey Tuey in Carytown than I do when I hear that a Chili's restaurant might open on VCU's Monroe Park Campus. Plus, "Monroe Park Campus" still doesn't quite roll of my tongue.
Much of what was unveiled this morning was spruced-up old news -- Philip Morris is investing huge sums of cash to research healthier ways to get people to smoke; VCU continues to grow with a handful of massive new buildings on both campuses; there are approximately three condominiums now available for every resident in the city, and they are all sold, or about to sell, or may sell soon. And the creatively named Richmond CenterStage is a "diamond in the heart of the city."
Exciting stuff, in general, if you're a developer or hoping to find yourself in a traffic jam heading from your riverfront condo to your Innsbrook office. And, ultimately, exciting stuff because all of this new development does bring a new shine to the city, and new investment, and every pocket that is redeveloped will open up new, less developed pockets for small businesses to emerge and flourish. Hopefully.
Call me odd, but I still delight in wandering city streets and popping into offbeat art galleries, music stores and cafes. And so I get excited when I discover that Plant Zero Cafe might be coming under new ownership soon, or that Tarrant's Restaurant is thriving, or I see a new Ed Trask mural on the side of a Manchester warehouse. I hope the city, and its development team, have room for the world of small, independent business in its master planning.
Things that excited me this morning:
- The Virginia Capital Trail is slowly coming to fruition with more than 50 miles of pedestrian and cycling paths stretching from Richmond to Jamestown. The first phase opened near Williamsburg earlier this year, and plans for a phase along the James River from the Great Ship Lock Park to the Canal Walk are moving forward.
- Tarrant's Restaurant in the old Tarrant's Drugstore is doing well.
- Toad's Place and The National Theater are both set to shine the spotlight on national rock and music acts this year. Toad's Place is set for a June 1 opening; The National Theater, being developed by partners in Norfolk's NorVa venue, should follow soon after.
- There is going to be a chicken-and-waffle restaurant opening in Jackson Ward.
