ric75

I hate it when people try to oversimplify things. The folks who most adamantly oppose McCain and Obama generally know the least about them. Don't dumb down the political conversation throwing around generalizations you heard on the radio. Do some research. I did that myself recently and one of the main reasons people call him a socialist is because of one quote that wasn't even his own... read this link in its entirety, read the transcript from the Wall Street Journal, then come back and tell us your thoughts. The last sentence really sums it up. http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/distribute.asp

Hopefully, the duplicate stores in the exurbs will be the ones to suffer. They are the ones that shouldn't have been built in the first place. They basically function as a vacuum, drawing people further from city centers only to allow the areas behind them to collapse. It's unhealthy development at its finest. We should be focusing on infill in the City and inner suburbs and not knocking down more trees to increase the strip mall sprawl.

Yeah I'm not sure what to make of it. I really liked Goldman... straightforward, intelligent. I was probably going to be voting for him but now I'm not sure how I'm leaning. I like a lot of what Jones has had to say but the endorsements from some of the political groups is a negative in my opinion.

It seems to be moving forward. My company was contacted to do a bid for an environmental impact report for that site.

It appears Pie is definitely happening. I was biking last night through downtown and saw that had put paper up in the windows with the words "Pie... you'll want a piece of it" or something along those lines. Can't wait to see that stretch of Grace come alive next year. I have a few pictures of this space before they put the paper up and will work on posting those. Hopefully that means in less than a month Acacia is also looking near completion.

Agreed. The suburbs are a symbol of the overspending that led us to this crisis to begin with. People were trying to buy more house than they could afford, bigger and more expensive cars, and luxury items from high-end retail chains, all on credit and loans... these will be the first things to go and that's what suburban development has been all about. City living is far more practical in that you don't have to drive far to get anywhere and in fact you can take the bus, bike, or walk to most anyplace you need to go. There's also far more free entertainment options in the City which will be valuable to folks living on a tight budget.

The only way I could support the purchase is if it were to become a student theater and even then I'm leary. That area will soon be an entertainment destination and there's simply no place for yet another VCU office/academic building. They've played a large enough role in the transformation of Broad St. west of Belvidere. We don't need their hands in yet another stretch of Broad St.

I think a stadium located in the Bottom and linked with the train shed has the best potential of becoming an entertainment destination. There's no longer a Loving's building to contend with and many of the blocks at or North of Grace are vacant anyway. Let the old Diamond site be taken over by VCU or become a new mixed-use development to compliment the other projects going on on North Boulevard.

I'll have to check on that next time I'm through there burt. It's definitely on a corner and if I had to guess I would say it's on W. Leigh, a block south of Boulevard Square.

Stronghill on North Boulevard may be nearing completion. Unless I'm blind and hadn't noticed it before (which is a possibility) the exterior looks finished with new glass and signage. Also, that building with the glass exterior next to the import car place and Boulevard Square is going to be a new office for James Limousine.

According to a blurb in the Table Talk section of the TD, the restaurant section or Rendezvous is already open with the club possibly opening next month. Times Dispatch - Table Talk

Nothing on the corner of 18th and Main yet as far as I know. The owner of Big Daddy's had plans to open it as new incarnation of Good Fellas but that doesn't seem to have panned out.

burt I haven't forgotten your request. With the long weekend ahead I hope to get out and take some photos in the Bottom

There about 250 of them in the USA and Canada thus the reason chains are boring and lend nothing to the identity of an area. Has anyone else noticed the recent chain restaurant reviews in the Times-Dispatch? Most recently they reviewed Moe's.. hope this doesn't become a trend.

It seems almost destined. Those ugly vacant lots still sit there unused between Grace and Broad and the old Loving's Produce buildings have mostly been demolished. It will take a big proposal like the ballpark to fill that gap.

burt, this looks like one of the buildings directly across the street from Gutenberg which would make more sense since there are several vacant buildings there. Local.live shows it as being the the 3rd or 4th building down from 17th Street depending on which view you are using.

Here's a cool article in Richmond.com written by who I think is a member of Richmond Sportsbackers. I hope this gets an enthusiastic response because I think this event could be a lot of fun. Active Richmond

Be sure to create accounts on Monster and Snagajob if you haven't already. Sometimes the right job will find you! Seek some advice on interviewing skills, add to your skill set through classes or part-time jobs, maybe even change career paths if it will make you happy. People do it all the time in fact it seems to be the exception these days when people stay with one company all their lives or work in the field they studied in. I'm thinking about changing course as well.

Apparently they were at the Shockoe Chef Showdown last Saturday but unfortunately they must have closed up shop before I got there. The blog in vino veritas has a short review of the food they offered there as well as a brief summary of their future aspirations.

Thanks coupe. I have a nice camera and a growing knowledge of photoshop to thank for that Hopefully they aren't too irritatingly "artsy". I'll be sure to post my next photos in the thread you linked to.

Trying to join the ranks of the ace photogs here. I bought a point and shoot and digital SLR a month or so back and finally got out and about in the City to take pics yesterday. I didn't see a strictly photo thread here so I posted them in Southern photos. Check them out if you guys get the chance. Any pics that are related to projects with threads I'll be sure to post here. Sorry my first outing wasn't very "urban".

Wow almost a month and no pictures?! Time for me to contribute a few. Finally got a new digital camera and went hiking around downtown Richmond and the James River yesterday. Going to try and make my next post a bit more urban but Richmond has so many great parks it's hard to resist. Hope you all enjoy! MeadWestvaco headquarters under construction Main Street Station Looking towards downtown from near Brown's Island. Under the Manchester Bridge Train trestle and sunbeams Canal Walk Tunnel Looking west by Brown's Island One more looking towards downtown

With the housing/condo market the way it is, I wonder if they are going to test the waters and see if there will be additional demand for hotel rooms? Leaving these rooms a blank slate seems to leave open the option of converting them to hotel rooms/suites, no?

We all saw this coming eventually and gas prices are only going to accelerate this trend. This is great news for the redevelopment of America's downtown. I just hope they don't bring their stressed-out suburban attitudes with them. By and large downtown Richmond is far more laid back than the burbs are. I want to see more people and more retail but I don't want to lose quality of life.

Thanks for sharing miklos. You have quite a collection there! Now that I have a nice camera I hope to be able to show off Richmond a bit more as well as do more traveling to other cities. I can't disagree with you more on the interstate overpass though. That's one of my favorite parts of downtown. It gives it a very distinct urban feel and I love hearing the trains and traffic passing overhead. You'll be happy to know that the National is now open and several buildings in the area are being converted (Miller and Rhodes to Hilton Garden Inn) or refurbished (Carpenter Center overhaul with new additions). The once blighted Broad Street is seeing life come back to it. There are still several blocks of "ghetto" in the center but these will slowly be taken over as natural infill takes place between our new collections of galleries and restaurants to the West, refurbished homes and new restaurants in the neighborhood to the North, and entertainment venues/hotels to the East. Hope you visit again when all this work is complete. So where do you hail from?