turboturtle

It has been awhile for me to post anything in the LR forum... I've been following the traffic. A couple of things I've heard about, but had not seen posted are an update on the William Clark Wetlands. I heard that Director Kumpuris made the news about the park. Anyone have anything? Did the City complete the work around the Junction Bridge and the Little Rock in time for Riverfest? Also, I heard about a developer who is renovating houses in the Oak Forest neighborhood. The developer is using locals for construction workers and buying everything locally. He had an aggressive plan to rehab entire areas, not just one or two house, more like dozens of house. I also know some folks participating in the Oak Forrest Community Garden. Anyone have news about this? As usual thanks for all the great pics, Skirby. Here's how I hope to be spending my 4th. King's Dominion Intmidator305. Assuming the lines aren't too long.

Does anyone know the current status on a parcel of land located at the northeast corner of Nuckols Rd and Twin Hickory in Glen Allen? The property shares a parking lot with a Walgreens. Access to the property is from Twin Hickory Lane on the South and Wyndham Forest Dr. on the North. The development was planned to become a Ukrops store prior to the recession and subsequent the sell of Ukrops to Giant(Martins). I recall reading something about this property, but I don't remember what it was. The property was developed to the point that a building could be constructed. There is curb, gutter, but no asphalt. There are weeds coming up through the gravel where building were planned to be. I guess the original plan had a pond. A crew came in the spring and filled in the pond and converted it to additional parking. The Wyndham Forest Neighborhood would greatly benefit if a grocery store development would be realized. This little area seems to have decent potential with a good mix of office, residential and commercial development. Holman Middle School is scheduled to open later this summer. I visited the school yesterday and noted that the parking lot had been painted. I suspect teachers will be able to see their classroom in the next couple of weeks. Again, if anyone knows what is to come of the property describe above, I'm interested in keeping tabs on it.

I am pretty sure the Airport Commission voted not to build a new terminal because it is too cost prohibitive. Instead they voted to remodel. I could be wrong, but I think that is what I remember hearing.

@Flack4RIC Thanks for the advice. It has been taken.

Looking for advice on watching for great deals on weekend getaway trips via RIC. I've been in Richmond for less than a year and I'm new to the East coast. I'm wondering what airlines / destinations I should pay attention to for great deals. I'm more likely to hop on a plane to see a city because the tickets are cheap than selecting the city first. That said, I'd love to get a great deals on tickets to Pittsburgh. When I lived in Little Rock, Southwest would run deals on tickets (oneway) to Dallas ($49 to $99) and St. Louis ($79).

I agree with LRU1067. I think the American way of life prior to this recession and post this recession will be profoundly altered. I'm not calling for doom and gloom, nor is LRU1967. In the past few months, as I have talked to folks in the finance industry during the process of closing on two house, I have consistently heard both in LR, AR and Richmond, VA that the rules have changed. This is meant both literally and figuratively. Many in the financial industry believe we are headed for more consolidation in their industry. There will eventually be 3 to 5 banks in the US. This is similar to Canada. While the economic free-fall has ceased, the economy has still been worsening, albeit at a slower rate, a rate that seems to be "in-control." There is another shoe that still must drop, before this current cycle turns back towards an improving economy. The Fed is going to have to start raising interest rates. I don't know the appropriate timing of this, but the metaphor I heard to describe it was; "It will be like taking away the punch bowl, just as the party is starting." In other words it will be unpopular. We really can't judge the recovery until 3 to 6 months after this begins to happen. With regard to a large retail development in the Central Arkansas area, take the date of the 1st legitimate proposal and add 10 to 15 years. If a proposal came down today, ground-breaking would occur sometime in 2018 to 2023. My guess is that the first legitimate proposal (hopefully not from Simon) will not occur until after the 2010 census. It is likely to be something outside the LR City limits. By my methodology it will be 2021 to 2025 before anything new AND large happens in Central Arkansas. In the meantime, I believe Park Avenue and the Promenade will develop and continue to develop. Also, I believe the Main Street corridor will be developed between 2010 and 2020.

I work in IT. I moved to Glen Allen, VA (Richmond) on the 1st of this year. We live less than 10 min from Short Pump Mall. My area is where are the non-native Richmonders live. The homes are newer (>1999). Lots of PUDs and HOAs. What is most interesting about the Short Pump Mall development are the periphery retail, office, hotel and multi-family that have developed. I've thought about posting the list, but feel I would be bragging. (Apple store in Short Pump Mall) The list of what is not here would be much shorter. This http://www.westbroadvillage.com/ development is across the and .5 mile east of Short Pump Mall. Click on the interactive map. One of the anchors is a Whole Foods. Dave and Busters part of this development. There is a Trader Joes (we've become weekly patrons) in the development that is shaded in white in the upper left corner. Even with all this retail, we've been more impressed by our local library. Books and DVDs (wicked selection) are checked out with RFID scanner, self-serve style. A quick note about the schools... I have a child who will attend 3rd grade and one will attend kindergarten in the fall. First, there is no public PreK in Virginia. Our experience with PreK in LR at Fair Park was superb! My biggest regret about our move is pulling my youngest out of the PreK program. When we arrive we enrolled her in a private preK program that was supposed to be "the best." It couldn't hold a candle to Fair Park's program. We pulled her out and put her in another program that is better, but no where near the quality of the PUBLIC (yeah AR tax dollars) preK program in Little Rock. Moving on... my oldest was at Williams Traditional Magnet. Williams is a much better school than her Virginia school even though the school's scores are very high. The facilities, however are nicer in VA. Her school was built in 2004. Finally, I notice LR Central (Hail to the Old Gold! Hail to the black!) was 65 (ish) in Newsweek magazine's 2009 national HS ranking. Out of the 1300 high schools, none were from the Richmond area. What does this all mean? It means you can still get a very high quality education in LR.

This is a pretty good chunk of the retail I have in Short Pump, VA (Richmond suburb). http://shortpumpmall.com/go/dirListing.cfm?FL=All A small Dave and Busters open near hear recently and an REI was announced this week. BUT we don't have a Container Store. AND I have to drive 2 hours to IKEA!

That's a good one that I didn't know about. Thank you.

You Verizon guys may be able to help me with some leads... I'm wondering who houses the large data centers in the Richmond area. I'm a professional data groper moving to the area. I'm aware of Capital One. I have an extensive background in higher ed, so I've applied for positions at URich and VCU. Any other private companies in the Richmond area that I should know about? Does Verizon operated any data centers in the area?

Tis me. My wife and I ate at the Home Team Grill (suggested by Tburban) when we visited in mid-November. The house we purchased is near by. We look forward to the new middle school and Ukrops. I'll be on UP as soon as I can. I can tell you guys are a great resource of info. My family (I have elementary age girls) is anticipating a great time in Richmond. The movers show up here in the morning.

I think I started the discussion about Fios. I'm moving to Glen Allen on Jan 1. We have Verizon scheduled to hook us up on the 6th. The house were moving to had Fios service before we purchased it. I'm hoping to be back on the Internets on the 6th, assuming all goes well with the hook up. I've got the little Linksys 160N to configure too. I won't feel moved in until I connected.

Sounds like University Mall about 15 years before it died.

Funny! What service do you use?

All the literature indicates that the internet speeds are vastly superior to cable and DSL. When you switched, was the performance notable? Also, on the TV functionality... In order to get HD, it looks like you have to pay an additional $10/month. Am I correct? Any thoughts on what happens when all network TV is required to be broadcast in HD. Thank you in advance for answering my questions. I don't live there yet, and may be signing up for service before I move in.