Brent114

TCC is a wonderful addition to downtown Norfolk. I installed their playground (used for childhood development classes) about 8-9 years ago. The school adds so much life to the area and the buildings and landscaping are all really attractive. One would think that JSR would want to emulate that with their Richmond campus but alas, they seem to have zero interest in building anything meaningful downtown (the parham road campus is nice though, not TCC nice but nice). I installed the playgrounds at TCC Chesapeake, VA Beach and Portsmouth locations too. All of their campuses are extremely nice.

You should really visit the cities that you keep bringing up. They are meh and aren’t really growing in the meaningful way that you think they are. You would be overwhelmingly disappointed with Raleigh in particular. More people spread out in larger vinyl-sided apartment complexes doesn’t make a place more attractive. A single high-rise nestled in pine trees doesn’t make a place feel bigger. It just makes a place bloated and boring. On paper RDU is amazing. After ten minutes there you’re looking for someone to punch for making you invest so much energy following their development. Roanoke has a better, more vibrant downtown. One more time for those in the back: Richmond isn’t the kind of place that is attractive to people seeking low rent and office work. It just isn’t. It will continue to be a place for single, introverted people. The old building stock is already overbuilt for the population. There isn’t that high-rise in the pine trees because there are blocks and blocks (and blocks and blocks) of houses, apartments and converted industrial sites already here. The five story building built on the vacant lot between two established blocks does more to make the city complete and vibrant than one or two 30 floor towers beside a rancher.

There has been zero activity at the silos site. Manchester has been nothing but heartbreak lately. The Plant Zero site has been demolished for like a year now. A ground cover was planted in the fall and the fence is covered in a lovely climbing weed (it’s purple blooms at least proving some interest). The old Sampson Paint site has been cleared for a few months too. There is real construction fencing (banner advertising various partners, sidewalks closed off with barricades in the streets creating a walkway etc) but there hasn’t been any activity in 2-3 months.

Americans are undertaxed. Period. Taxes are lower now than at any time since before the Depression. everything is crumbling around us and before the ink even dries on the stimulus and rebate checks that we receive, under every administration since I’ve been alive, people are beotching about being overtaxed. “High” tax states fare better by every single metric. NC and TN are crap holes, unless you love inequality, crime, divorce , trailers, unhealthy and dumb people.

Yeah. That list is dumb…but so is the South. It’s full of my least favorite places in the USA. I’m currently in Quebec City (and just spent a few days in Montreal). Everywhere I travel I continue to see that old and cosmopolitan are NOT mutually exclusive. That’s why I get cranky when we try to compare ourselves to metros south of Richmond. They are some of the most bland and uninspired places on the planet. I get that they are “good places to raise a family” but I couldn’t care less about that. Give me sexy commuters that are lean, quick and worldly (not that I’m any of those things). Richmond should strive to be more urban, walkable and chic. I don’t care if it repels the average American. I’ve no interest in making Richmond more average

The construction fence got a makeover too. Real work is happening!

That’s a nice CVS, insofar as the selections of beauty and health products are solidly middle to upper middle class. The inside is clean and always newly renovated (over my 30+ years in Richmond). I’ve never understood why that intersection attracts so many desperate people on the sidewalks. They clearly cannot afford to live any where near this intersection. The McDonald’s get renovated every 3-4 years it seems and the lots is nicely maintained but the customer base is so beaten down. I don’t know what attracts that crowd (a methadone clinic nearby? homeless services? SS office?).

Dominion is blue 90% of the time (it’s their logo color). The old Wachovia /Wells Fargo building (three rings of neon) has been blue for a while now (months if not a year, it does change with holidays like Dominion though). It looks good in blue. I hope it stays that way The skyline has been looking good at night these days. The lights are actually working and on with consistency.

Entire family histories were wiped out through the slave trade, the missions and colonization that followed in the 17th and 18th century nearly finished off the indigenous cultures.

It’s actually looking even better. This photos seems to be a few weeks old. The parking deck in the back corner is much farther along. There is an apartment building out of view too that is already maybe 4 floors tall (it may be topped out by now, haven’t been past there in about a week or so).

I added this one to the Reddit thread yesterday… I’m surprise my google search worked lol. I was looking for “ancient African cities” not whatever word that is in the search bar lol

It’s great, but not surprising, to see Richmond the top . I'm thrilled and surprised to see Norfolk in the 4th spot though. That’s a great spot for a city that didn’t even have Amtrak service until fairly recently.

The townhomes across from Valero on Semmes sold very quickly. They were the same price, maybe more.

I actually like the design of the museum. Perhaps it may be condescending but it certainly looks “African” in design. Lots of ancient cities there have dwellings that look like this. The condescending part is that all things “African American museum” in this country have the same aesthetic. It isn’t inappropriate per se, but it is kinda weird IMO.

I’m happy with this turn of events. I’d like more people but this provides just as much structural density, looks better and is a good barometer for the neighborhood. That they think they can sell 40 units at $400-500k is very encouraging. A summer start date is encouraging too. As I reported a few weeks back, the existing buildings at the site have already been razed.