Richmond off-topic postings

[Child2021]

King William County is seemingly preparing for some growth in the area, especially in the Central garage area. In the article it mentions the possibility of a YMCA, Dunkin, and Dairy Queen coming, while Wawa, and Starbucks are in fact confirmed to be coming. The article also mentions that if all 1500 permitted is built that is it then likely that it could become "one of the fastest growing counties."   

Article: King William readies itself for growth with new housing, more on the way – Daily Press

I can say as a person that travels to Tappahannock that this area is growing quite a bit.  

[Brent114]

That’s very interesting.   Driving through one wouldn’t suspect the area is on the verge of massive growth.  

I’m not generally a fan of exurban growth but it is exciting to learn that even that side of the metro is booming.  It’s a great sign. 

[RiverYuppy]

A couple months ago I was working in my office when I noticed a group of people out front with a drone. I walked out because I was curious what they were doing. They said they were with CoStar and they were putting together footage of neighborhoods for Homes.com. 

If you go to the Homes neighborhood explorer, you can see every neighborhood in Richmond as well as pictures, and a video with drone footage with information about the neighborhood (house prices, schools, interesting places, etc.). 

I think they did a great job with it.  

Edited January 24 by RiverYuppy

[Child2021]

Look at what could be coming to Oklahoma City! 

This would even surpass the World Trade Center in NYC with a height of 1,907 feet to mark the year when Oklahoma became a state. 

The New Tallest Building in America Might Be in Oklahoma — Here's Why (people.com)

[eandslee]

24 minutes ago, Child2021 said:

Look at what could be coming to Oklahoma City! 

This would even surpass the World Trade Center in NYC with a height of 1,907 feet to mark the year when Oklahoma became a state. 

The New Tallest Building in America Might Be in Oklahoma — Here's Why (people.com)

This is so ridiculous!  Heard it may be a long shot to get built though.  Crazy!  Wonder if they would share some height with Richmond? 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Child2021 said:

Look at what could be coming to Oklahoma City! 

This would even surpass the World Trade Center in NYC with a height of 1,907 feet to mark the year when Oklahoma became a state. 

The New Tallest Building in America Might Be in Oklahoma — Here's Why (people.com)

Yeah - I've seen that pop up in my news feeds. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd they want to build a 1,900-foot-tall building in a city that is in the bullseye of one of the country's most active regions for tornados in a state that has the official records for the strongest twister (in terms of ground-level, dopplar-recorded wind speed - 301 mph in 1999) AND the largest tornado (2.6 miles wide in 2013) - both of which happened near OKC. Incidentally, the 2.6 mile-wide tornado in 2013 had recorded winds of 305 mph at the 500-foot level - TECHNICALLY stronger than the 1999 storm - but the '99 storm gets the nod because the dopplar recording measured winds at the surface - and the 2013 storm's max vortex velocity at the surface was measured at 295 mph.

Pretty crazy, all in all.

Edited January 24 by I miss RVA

[Downtowner]

It reminds me of the Taipei 101 tower that was once the world’s tallest. Everything around it was dwarfed compared to Taipei 101 itself. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Downtowner said:

It reminds me of the Taipei 101 tower that was once the world’s tallest. Everything around it was dwarfed compared to Taipei 101 itself. 

Or the Burj Khalifa - at 2,700-plus feet tall all but dwarfs the entire planet. Crazy crazy tall building.

[Downtowner]

The one in Saudi Arabia that was at one point supposed to be a mile tall is absurdly tall too. Kingdom tower I think it’s now called. When do we reach the point of having to wear a breathing system when working up that high in the air, 

[eandslee]

...AND we are back in business, folks!  Man, that day and a half of the site being down was a killer for me!  That's just proof that I'm addicted.  I think I need to start, and attend, a UP Anonymous.  LOL!

[I miss RVA]

22 minutes ago, eandslee said:

...AND we are back in business, folks!  Man, that day and a half of the site being down was a killer for me!  That's just proof that I'm addicted.  I think I need to start, and attend, a UP Anonymous.  LOL!

Same - ugh... this was painful.

[Child2021]

SCHEV has released College enrollment estimates for fall 2023, and future projections. 

 

In-state undergrad numbers: 

Community College enrollment numbers:

First in time in College projections for fall 2029:

[Child2021]

Information to unpack: 

VCU has yet to recover to it's record enrollment of 31,242 of Fall 2015. 

VSU has potentially surpassed it's enrollment of 5,025 of Fall 2024. 

Reynolds continues to grow back into positive territory with 8,191 students for the fall, but it's still short of 13,367 of Fall of 2011. 

Brightpoint continues to grow by 5% , but even that's still short. 

According to the report, the peak number of students graduating from grade is expected to happen in year 2025, and after expected to drop off slowly. I think will see VCU recover it's numbers, since it's profile in relative to other Virginia colleges is "better" (outside of the elite ones). Community colleges will likely continue to grow as more developments such as advanced manufacturing continues to locate within the region, and also the Nursing program.     

More on campus housing could also help VCU recover a bit quicker. 

Here's the report: Overview of Proposed Budgets (virginia.gov)

[eandslee]

Richmond: A Top Performing City?  Well, sort of.  Apparently, Richmond has moved up 70 spots from last year to #90 this year. But is that good?  Depends, according to the article linked below.  When comparing cities within Virginia, it’s a very good thing - Richmond scored the highest, beating out NOVA and the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area. However, it’s not good at all when comparing cities in the southeast that used to be our peers (such as Austin, Raleigh, and Nashville)…heck, even northwest Arkansas scored in the top 5!  Richmond has a lot of work left to do; the good news is that we are trending in the right direction. 
 

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/02/06/richmond-top-performing-city-ranking

[I miss RVA]

5 hours ago, eandslee said:

Richmond: A Top Performing City?  Well, sort of.  Apparently, Richmond has moved up 70 spots from last year to #90 this year. But is that good?  Depends, according to the article linked below.  When comparing cities within Virginia, it’s a very good thing - Richmond scored the highest, beating out NOVA and the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area. However, it’s not good at all when comparing cities in the southeast that used to be our peers (such as Austin, Raleigh, and Nashville)…heck, even northwest Arkansas scored in the top 5!  Richmond has a lot of work left to do; the good news is that we are trending in the right direction. 
 

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/02/06/richmond-top-performing-city-ranking

We have a TON of work to do, particularly when four of our primary competitors all landed in the top 10, nabbing spots 1, 2, 6 and 9. 

As the Axios story clearly stated - being a "Tier 3" out of 5 tiers is absolutely nothing to brag about. At all.

Fully agreed.

As we've discussed long and loud on these forums, THIS is the lynchpin of what will make -- or break -- our growth. It's the "secret sauce"... the (as I like to term it) "Urban Miracle Grow". We get THIS figured out, we will explode. But unless and until, we'll continue treading water and get lapped by city after city after city - wash, rinse, repeat. I could live to 120 and nothing will change. Nothing!! Not because we aren't growing - but because our competitors are doing it SO fast and SO explosively that they keep raising the bar before we can even jump high enough to touch it, much less hurdle it. In other words, the bar is moving faster than we can get to it.

Again, I could live to 120 and nothing will change.

Not that I'm pooh-poohing a huge jump of 70 slots - but it's gonna get a hell of a lot harder to repeat this kind of jump in the next few years and somehow land in the top 20 -- particularly when other cities are walking past us like we're slam full in reverse.

And y'all know how i feel about SETTLING.

@eandslee - I think you've nailed it - this qualifies as "good-ish" news. Placing 90 is a definite "meh" -- not quite a "womp womp" but it's hard to break out a Snoopy Dance when our primary competitors are absolutely mopping the floor with us. Again - see above. Don't even have to name them - just that all four of our primary competitors landed in the top 10. Ugh... So yeah, this is "meh" worthy on that front, but I suppose that jumping out well ahead of NOVA and Hampton Roads is something. Kinda like being the tallest Smurf (no offense intended to Smurfs)...

Edited February 6 by I miss RVA

[Downtowner]

Going to say whoever our next mayor and city council is we better get smart with choosing such people to keep this city going in the right direction . Everything’s so dead I really don’t see anything big happening in rva this year due to local and U.S. elections. I see 2025 and 2026 more likely years for bigger things to happen. 

[Child2021]

Maymont 2025 Plan: 

Maymont 2025 | Maymont Foundation

[KJHburg]

Sometimes you do need to compare yourself to your peer cities and Richmond has greatly improved in this Milken Best Performing Cities ranking that comes out annually.  Richmond made improved 70 places which is great but the overall ranking is still 90  out of the largest 200 metro areas. 

Large Cities | Best-Performing Cities (milkeninstitute.org)     Raleigh,  Nashville and Charlotte are all in the top 10.  Austin is #1.  

Best Performing Cities | Regional Economics (milkeninstitute.org)  you can compare your job growth to others here.   Richmond is the best performing large metro area in the Commonwealth and yes that includes DC suburbs.    Charlottesville I think the overall best performing metro areas.   You can look at the individual items they looked out.   Here is the methodology Methodology | Best-Performing Cities (milkeninstitute.org)

[Shakman]

21 hours ago, Child2021 said:

Maymont 2025 Plan: 

Maymont 2025 | Maymont Foundation

Definitely one of favorite places in the States.  I'll even take dates here for a relaxing walking, picnic, and a nap under a tree. 

[Flood Zone]

35 minutes ago, Shakman said:

I'll even take dates here for a relaxing walking, picnic, and a nap under a tree. 

My wife and I had our first date at Maymont, now many years ago.

[I miss RVA]

Metro Richmond is getting younger... well, okay, slightly younger.

Axios Richmond is reporting today that the median age of metro Richmonders in 2022 slipped below the national average for the first time in decades (the story did not reference the last time this happened). In 2022, the median age across the metro was 38.7 years - slightly below the national average of 39.0.

Curious to know how this demographic shift relates to the overall trend of statewide population relocation, and metro Richmond's quickening population growth. Also would love to get a handle on how this impacts our ability to recruit businesses and jobs, going forward.

We're still a bit on the older side though, relative to other booming cities. Axios cited Atlanta (37.3), the big four metros in Texas averaging out to around 35.0 and Salt Lake City at 34.

From today's Axios Richmond:

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/02/27/richmond-median-age-older-census

[I miss RVA]

Jonathan Spiers has reporting in today's RBS that the city is moving forward with the long-needed comprehensive overhaul of the city's zoning ordinance. The re-write of the city's zoning was one of the primary near-term objectives outlined in the Richmond 300 master plan. Key takeaway from Jonathan's reporting regarding the aims of the zoning re-write:

(Planning and Development Review director Kevin) Vonck noted that the circa 1976 ordinance stems from a time of suburban annexation and auto-centric development, with zoning districts and regulations blanketly applied across the city’s 62½ square miles that developed differently over time and, with annexation not an option, can no longer grow outward.

Of particular note is the fact that in the '70s, the city was in the throes of significant population loss, whereas now - and for nearly two decades, the city has been in a period of fairly significant growth. That said, it's not hard to extrapolate from all of this that with the ability to expand outward no longer possible, the only way for the city to grow and expand is UPWARD. And we all know that the Richmond 300 plan places tremendous emphasis on density and developing urban cores. 

The new ordinance and zoning map is expected to be complete in 2025.

From today's Richmond BizSense:

https://richmondbizsense.com/2024/03/05/richmond-kicks-off-two-year-zoning-ordinance-rewrite/

[eandslee]

If you haven’t noticed (for those of you who own iPhones), Apple Maps has a cool feature now (at least, I’m just discovering it) where you can browse Richmond in 3D!  I took this short video on my phone to show you what I’m talking about. The map appears to be fairly recent too!

 

[Flood Zone]

Will it take us to the Superunknown?

[Child2021]

Maymont's  Alpachas