The Downtown Plan: The River Gets Squared

On Monday, May 5, the Times-Dispatch will turn on the microphone and turn the attention of its well-attended Public Square series to the James River. In a slightly different twist from some of its past free-for-all forums, the James River Public Square conversation will begin with comments from a slate of river and development experts:

• Leighton Powell, Executive Director of Scenic Virginia
• Bill Street, Executive Director of the James River Association
• George Ross, R3 Development/Echo Harbor
• L. Preston Bryant, Virginia Secretary of Natural Resoures
• Rachel Flynn, Director of Community Development, City of Richmond
• Jud White, Ph.D., Environmental Policy Manager-Water, Dominion Virginia Power

The focus on the James River is timely for a number of reasons, but particularly because the river is the centerpiece to the City of Richmond's proposed Downtown Plan.

The James River was picked for discussion because it's something that binds the region, said Thomas A. Silvestri, the newspaper's publisher.

"It connects us, challenges us and will have a tremendous impact on the region's future growth and development. We are all, in some way, stakeholders in the river. It's downtown, in the counties and along rural central Virginia."

The Public Square will be held from 7:00 until 8:30 p.m. at the newspaper's offices downtown.

Comments

[Paul Hewson]

Speaking of the RTD, here's a little scoop for you: Changes to the Times-Dispatch, May 2008 FAQ Why is the newspaper changing? We’re responding to a changing marketplace and some changes in our circulation. We’ll give readers a little less overall content, but a whole lot more of what they’ve told us they want to read. The paper will be a faster, tighter, more dynamic read. What are the major changes? What we’ve tried hard to do is include something special every day, a destination within the newspaper, if you will. Monday features a new “super news” section; a sports section with a Fun & Games wrap (Comics, puzzles, TV grids and Back Page stories), Metro Business, and Classified has a Services feature. . For the A-1 front page, we’ve developed a concise, fun look at the week ahead we’re calling “Getting Started.” Tuesday features the Discover wrap which teams up some practical science material and the Mini Page. It wraps around the local news section, which includes obituaries and business news. The A-section goes back to covering national and world news and the opinion pages. Fun & Games wraps around Sports and Classified has a Pets feature. Wednesday’s big destination is an expanded Food section. We’ll add features and stories related to preparing meals at home, grocery shopping, dining out and healthy eating/living. The main news and local news sections continue as they did on Tuesday. Fun & Games wraps around Sports and Classified has a Jobs feature. Thursday’s the day to begin planning your weekend projects at home. We’re expanding the Home & Garden section and bringing it from Saturday. We’re adding features to help you maintain and improve your living space whether it be an apartment or a mansion. The main and local news sections continue as they did on Wednesday. Fun & Games wraps around sports and Classified has a Deals feature. Friday is all about the weekend, so we’re moving Weekend -- and all your favorite Weekend features -- here. The main news and local news sections continue as on Thursday. Fun & Games wraps around sports and Classified has a Cars feature. Saturday ... we are still working on some details about this day’s paper.