ShadyGrove

That is a nice looking building - it'll be quite a Boulevard when all that work gets finished. And I'm happy to hear about street-level retail. Will it front Broad? Is this going to be for State offices?

Thats a great place, but its on Forest Hill (Stratford Hills), not Huguenot (I only mention it because thats my neighborhood - and we never get any respect!)

Hi folks, Just wanted to put in a plug for the new and improved Capital Ale House. We went down friday night for a happy hour and had so much fun we stayed for dinner. The expansion is beautiful, and I was very happy to see that the front was opened to the street, allowing the music and ambiance to roll out down Main. The band sounded great from the bar area (it was actually too packed to get a seat in where they were). If you go, make sure to check out the downstairs and the new patio area (where we ate). Very classy and laid back with a sort of "European" vibe. Great service, both our bartender and our waitress were very knowledgable about the beers on tap - it goes without saying that they've got the best selection in town. Everyone I was with (including some west-enders) agreed the new space put the venue solidly ahead of their Innsbrook location... Keep 'em coming Richmond!

While many of these jobs wont be downtown, dont forget the research labs. They're bringing in lots of high paying jobs (80-100K+). I've heard people ask who's going to be buying up these expensive condos - its these people who are by and large coming in from larger metro areas and looking for an urban lifestyle. I've been at MCV for several years now and know many postdocs/young faculty who rent in Tobacco Row. I've also heard complaints about the lack of street level retail in the biotech park - but this MCV-biotech park-Philip Morris corridor is an engine for bringing potential "come heres" downtown...

Speaking of pictures, some of you may be interested in browsing this set of great Civil War era Richmond pics. I'd seen some of these before, but not all of them. Striking devestation in some of them, but others give great views of downtown from different angles. I was particularly interested in the "before" and "after" pics of Haxall Mill on the canal. Does anyone know the exact location of the old mill? Alcoa? Does any part of the structure remain down there? It looks like the fire pretty much destroyed all of it... http://www.civilwarphotos.net/files/richmond.htm

Hi, I'll through my two cents in here - I've heard all kinds of crazy stuff about this lately. First of all, the ruling wont affect Richmond at all - have you checked the demographics of city schools lately? I've got two kids in the city system (with another one on his way) and have been very happy with our experience. We should all recognize that our society has a compelling interest in fostering community cohesiveness and breaking down racial barriers. There is absolutely no better place to do that over the long term than in the schools and it seems perfectly appropriate to actively promote this through various strategies. There are still significant racial issues in Richmond, but anyone who really knows our history can appreciate the tremendous progress in this area. For example, I give some credit to the "rainbow curriculum" that I remember during school here in the 70's and 80's for having a cumulative effect on a whole generation of public school attendees. Like mclawsdrive said, strategic borders for school districts also make sense. But you can't do it by denying a kid the right to go to his neighborhood school because of his race, can you? That sounds to me like a much more direct assault on the spirit of Brown. Applied here in Richmond wouldnt that mean denying a black kid the right to go to the school on his block so a white kid could be bused in to acheive a particular level of diversity! Call me crazy, but I think the Supreme Court got this one right.