Broad Street Emerges as A Main Street

While the most noticeable elements of Broad Street's resurgence are large projects like the new Federal courthouse, the impressive renovation of the National Theater and the new Hilton Gardens emerging from the shell of the former Miller & Rhoads building, it's been the smaller developments that have given the venerable street a new lease on life. In today's Times-Dispatch, reporter Will Jones examines the main street's reversal of fortune:

Broad Street's rise is being fueled on its eastern edge by a host of government projects, including a new federal courthouse and improvements to City Hall, plus the expansion of Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus on and extending north of Broad. On the western end, near Belvidere Street, the driving forces have been restaurants, art galleries and a mix of small businesses and other ventures.

Now, investment dollars are also trickling into a stretch in the middle -- roughly from Jefferson to 4th streets. City officials haven't attempted to quantify the investments along Broad Street but they easily exceed $1 billion.

Kevin W. Korda said his home-renovations store, Renovation Resources, could have landed in Carytown or Short Pump, but it settled at 18 West Broad St. because of the area's artsy, eclectic mix.

"I liked the idea of developing the urban atmosphere down here," he said. "It was really just a diamond in the rough. . . . I saw this revitalization happening here, I just wanted to be part of it."

Korda said he's supported the First Fridays art walk and helped launch Broad Appétit, a festival taking place today to celebrate food and the arts.

"One of the reasons was to get people to see downtown in a new light," Korda said.

Comments

[Scott Burger]

While some items like the new Fed courthouse may have been necessary, I contend most of these improvements could have been done without all the corporate welfare. The opportunity costs of the public money invested in downtown are more neighborhood and school facilities' decay. Let's see some more reporting on the Broad Street CDA.