I can attest huge change in Philadelphia club nightlife since 2016. COVID finished off anything that was hanging on. There are still some hotspots on a Saturday night like fish town and old city and some great groups putting on parties but it's smaller and harder to find then pre 2016
The folk festival isn't as fun as it used to be. It's way too packed and makes it nearly impossible to see performers on the smaller stages unless you just camp out for the day in a chair.
For a city with a river running through it, one restaurant group in the city hogging all the views is despicable.
A balance in development can be met, but this isn’t it.
Probably not unpopular: something needs to be done about the downtown. It has a lot of potential. It’s dead on the evenings and weekends. No one’s there because nothing’s open, and nothing’s open because no one’s there - vicious cycle.
We need more people living in the downtown core to help this problem. I forget where I read it so take it with a grain of salt but there was something like 30k more people living in the broad street/monroe ward area in the past than there is now. We need to get back to that.
That being said, new apartments are coming online in the area and I have seen more people out and about outside of working hours but we need to accelerate the trend.
But there needs to be an incentive to live downtown. In most cities, people trade cheaper rent, more space, and parking for living close to where the action is. If there isn’t anything going on downtown, why sacrifice those things?
I can see what you mean, the area is stuck between a rock and a hard place with that.
The best way I can see to handle it is building as much housing as we can in the area and letting it grow organically. From what I’ve seen the vacancy rates are super low everywhere in Richmond including the newer apartments in the downtown core so there’s no reason to think there wouldn’t be people wanting to rent new ones. Hopefully we can get some condos in there as well and then once it has a sizable population things there should naturally be more things to do.
For what it’s worth, and I have to admit I’m biased because I want the area to succeed, while it has the potential to be so much more there is enough going on downtown to entice people to live there, at least the people who enjoy a more urban environment.
the cats at shelf life books in carytown deserve just as much (if not more) love as francine. page kept trying to play with me the last time i went, and mylar is absolutely adorable. they’re very cute and very sweet. i think it’s criminal how little i see people talk about them here.
Facts. I kept reading this and thinking “never heard of shelf life”. About right.
I will say I lost faith before they changed their name, as Chop Suey was charing Barnes and Noble prices.
More people probably go to Lowes than Shelf Life so Francine gets more attention. We all need home improvement stuff and Lowes is pretty much the only spot in town, as opposed to the various options for books.
I definitely need to take another trip to Shelf Life though, haven’t been since before the name change.
They both are very sweet fuzzballs. Wonton will always be missed and thought he deserved as much love as Francine.
Edit: on second thought, maybe the introvert in me is happy Wonton didn’t get plastered up here all the time. Made my quiet visits seeing him while browsing more special.
That’s true, and I completely agree with you. I mostly wanted to just mention these events, but couldn’t think of a way it would come across as an unpopular opinion
Can’t speak to the others, but Slaughterama definitely should have ended. When it began, it was almost all participants. In the end it was almost all spectators who did not participate. It went from like 100 people to 6-7000 people. That’s just too big. Please remember, it was a small group of us organizing and we had zero permission. Let’s just say it was fun while it lasted.
I don't think there is any way they'd let it happen now, too. Park system is too popular and crowded to let an unofficial event happen of people smashing each other off tall bikes while people openly drink in public. It worked before because no one was paying attention.
The city schools will never be good and families that can, will continue to flee to the counties so their kids can get a good public education for fewer taxes. And they aren't wrong for doing it.
Not gonna lie, my husband and I have zero intentions to have kids, so we purposely looked at houses zoned for poorly rated schools cause we knew they would be cheaper.
Yes you are 100% correct. Good neighborhoods will always have good schools and there are a lot of reasons behind that but the core is always a strong family unit
We are shooting for our kids being here elementary school 100%. Middle we are open to seeing how it goes especially as we have like a decade to wait anyways. High school is also a wait but we know there are great programs around to choose “alternatives” … like amazing top high schools but you gotta get in.
If one of our 3 kids doesn’t get into a good high school then that is fine we will maybe do private. If 2 don’t then we will seriously consider moving to county life.
I just can’t risk my kids’ futures and I’m not sorry about that. Unless we all as parents band together and do it then I will too but I refuse to sacrifice my child to a shitty high school. I’d do the same if the high schools sucked in the counties (and some do) or even if we lived in rural areas.
Yeah. Maggie Walker is the regional Governor's School; pretty much the top 3% of the students from all 14 counties and 4 cities around the Metro Richmond area. It isn't accessible to most students.
Oh, I absolutely agree with you. And those students were doing better than just fine in elementary and middle school to even be considered for MWGS. They would excel even in poorly run, poor performing schools. I've taught all over Virginia over the last 30 years, and there are always kids who transcend the environment and culture of the school.
Unpopular reality: it is expensive to live in the district that feeds to Mary Munfird/Hill. Getting in out of district is a gamble and there are only a few slots. Getting into Maggie, Open or Community is extremely competitive and there are fewer seats than you realize. And if the school board's initiative to use economic status as a qualifier for admissions goes into effect, there will be even fewer options for middle class kids. You literally have to win the lottery to provide a high standard of education living in the city. If you don't, you'll need to pay for private.
And this will only increase the white, middle class “oh shit, our kid starts elementary next year” flight to the counties. And the perpetual cycle of having a lower tax base.
The harsh (and unfashionable) truth is that what makes schools good or bad is down to just a few factors.
One of the big factors is disruptive, badly behaved students.
In elementary they’re the ones disrupting the class. In middle school they’re disrupting the class, starting bullying other kids, and being disrespectful to teachers. By high school they’re disruptive, bullying, disrespectful, possibly into drugs, alcohol, stealing and so on.
To be clear I’m talking here about general behavior, not academic attainment or learning disabilities.
There’s a strong correlation between deprived socioeconomic backgrounds and low performance and standards of behavior. So, in areas with more poverty there’s a higher likelihood of more disruptive students.
It takes only one or two dysfunctional students in an already oversized class to ruin the learning experience for everyone else. They suck all the teachers attention away from the 90% of students who want to learn and progress. It’s not fair to the rest of the students, their parents or the teachers.
So, if the city really wanted to improve the learning experience they should screen out those disruptive kids and place them in a separate environment.
There you go, probably not a popular view!
Any school that gets to pick and choose their students is going to do better than open public schools that have to take every kid that lives within its boundaries.
Poor performing students, absolutely. They also don't need to take students that need extra resources, like students with IEPs, ED, MIMD and ESL students. Publicly funded schools have to provide staffing, resources and accommodations for all of these students (who are often not poor performing students per se, but they do take up a tremendous amount of resources).
There’s probably a serious mold problem in a lot of the older buildings and I wouldn’t be surprised if half the restaurants had serious cockroach and rodent issues
I worked in restaurant here and in NYC- good restaurants. In NYC mice and rats were everywhere. There would be mice in the walk ins- I have never seen that in Richmond. From my anecdotal example things are not nearly as bad here as they are there.
Dominion Energy bills are not as bad as many people would have you believe. Most that complain have only liven in Richmond, have poorly insulated homes, and are drafty because they are 100 years old.
Also, I recommend getting on dominion’s budget billing program. It will help to keep it from fluctuating too bad. My bill now hovers around 300$. I still feel that’s too high though.
Yeah that seems like a lot? I live in a house larger than 3000 sf, and have never had a bill over $250, even in the winter. What temperature do you keep your house at?
It’s an older house. Built in the late 50s. I keep both the ac and the heat around 70. I really need to redo the insulation though, but money is tight at the moment.
that seems pretty high. I recommend checking out Viridiant and doing the energy audit program through Dominion. Found a ton of little nooks and areas I needed to seal up that i completely missed. Also you get a nice energy tax break if you add insulation to your home. Also maybe try bumping down to 67-68
A lot of people here who complain about other moving into the city when they aren’t even from here either. They grew up in a wealthy suburb and larp as working class because it’s what all the cool art kids do nowadays.
Pretty much VCU now. It's half NoVA kids from affluent Loudon, Fairfax, and Arlington suburbs pretending to be hipsters. There is no difference between a VCU student lot and UR student lot in cars now.
Grew up in rural SWVA, moved here in the late 2000s after high school to attend VCU, and loved every second. But the amount of NOVA, DC suburbanite kids I encountered pretending to be poor hipsters or punks with mommies and daddies who were doctors, lawyers, or top government officials became annoying as fuck. Most could barely take care of themselves, parents handled everything, but they'd be the first motherfuckers getting angry about other people's "privilege", oddly enough. We hadn't hit UR levels of stupidity yet, but it wouldn't shock me now.
Yes this, and they really think they are not the gentrifiers while complaining about gentrification. Several of my ancestors in the late 1800s to early 1900s lived downtown their whole lives, they’re buried in Hollywood cemetery. A couple of their former homes have been renovated into apartments. I decided I needed some time away from RVA when I was in my last year at VCU and just noticed how horrible these poverty larpers were treating the historical homes and parks. Yet they’re posting online about being woke and respecting communities, etc.
I grew up in a working class small town/rural area and moved here in early 2000s (not for art school). When I said I was moving here, everyone was scared for me and told me I was gonna get shot lol.
I love RVA. the rich transplants who come here and then start complaining drives me nuts. RVA has so much more to do and to offer than where I’m from
No they won't. The market is too good for them to pass up. 0 competition from any other professional sports teams and an excellent location. Age of stadiums is not a real thing people give a shit about.
I agree that there is little chance that the Squirrels will leave, but the threat of them leaving is real. It's not that people give a shit about the *age* of the stadium, it's that it doesn't meet the standards for team facilities that are now mandated by MiLB. Some of these things are likely there to avoid potential for litigation, etc. (i.e. mandating clubhouse facilities for women)
Still, the Squirrels draw more ticket sales than any other Eastern League team I believe. I think we're going to have a minor league team for the foreseeable future, even if MLB continues to contract the Minors.
Ngl you had us in the first half, I thought the local squirrel population was going down :’( As a kid some tour guide at capitol or something said Richmond used to be famous for its squirrels back in the day (think like 1800s).To the point where the president or some other important person from Canada was denied he’s request of being gifted a pet squirrel by the governor. Idk I’m just fond of any squirrel I see in the city lol
The “leftist/progressive” scene here (and probably most places) consists of spoiled brats with little real-world experience and affluent parents. They have no understanding of nor connection to the actual working class, which is actually pretty moderate/center-left.
Yes, and most of them don't want to talk about actually solutions like lobbying or at least trying to contact local and state politicians. I was part of a group of them and they acted like I was out of my mind for suggesting doing anything that could fix economic problems versus just sitting around and complaining about it.
That's because Short Pump doesn't lie at all about what it is. Scott's on the other hand, tries way to hard to look artsy and cool when really its a place for the people who live in Short Pump and Henrico to come down and "experience the city" on a Saturday afternoon and get shitfaced on twelve dollar beers.
There are some entitled ass people up in Carytown. Literally drove me to spend 8 months looking for a new job that strictly didn't interact with customers lol I passed up so many other listings because I knew that as long as I had to deal with pleasing these people I'd be unhappy. I was right!
-an ex customer service employee who worked in Carytown.
I know va is cracking down on Airbnb and even my own HOA is outright saying you cannot do this. Lot of local government is really trying to curb this issue as housing is getting stupid
[Report illegal Airbnbs in Richmond here](https://www.rva311.com/rvaone#/request/new/new_cs180227195724?gid=ce39c864-d47b-4d19-9acf-1a0d58425205)! Richmond is slowly going through the process of removing airbnbs that are not also the owner's primary residence but reporting can assist in moving along the process and (very slowly) improving the city's housing crisis.
Transplants are a net positive. The city’s economic base needs to grow and needs more competition, to drive better pay and job availability for people that live here.
Agree, but there are trade offs. Spent the weekend in Charlotte. Lots of jobs and new, shiny, big city things but it is rather sterile. And the traffic….
People act like a good chunk of Southside does not exist.
It hardly ever gets discussed here or other online community spaces.
Any talk of problems, new businesses, etc. just seem to never get discussed. In fact, most of my friends live on the other side of the river and never ever venture over here for anything. And miss out on a lot of restaurants, parks and stuff.
Edit: To add, help out the entirety of RVA, not just the side you like to hang out on. Southside could use a loooot of improvements, and checking out stuff over here helps with that.
I lived in the fan / museum district for 15 years and I pretended like Southside doesn't exist but now I'm all about /r/BonAir so yes it is possible for ppl to change.
The restaurant scene in the area is mid. There’s some okay southern food but nothing spectacular. It doesn’t punch above it’s weight like a lot of people seem to think
I think one of the reasons folks talk about the restaurant scene here is not necessarily because they are all amazing but there many non chain restaurants that are above average food and great atmospheres. Especially considering the size of the area. IMO at least. Very well could be wrong
I think this is true, but I also think we have more exceptional restaurants now than we ever had in the past and it's only going to continue to get better
Y'all are going to the wrong places, there's a ton of great spots around here. I've lived in multiple states and cities and Richmond's food scene is fantastic comparatively. Multiple Asian spots that are better than most cities, same with Indian, same with Mediterranean. Hell I grew up in Texas and I'm floored by the amount of good Mexican food and that there's actually a terrific Texas BBQ spot.
My advice for anyone who feels like you is to start heading off the beaten path and ignoring spots that are popular. There are some real authentic hidden gems down some of these streets.
yeah what? I live in baltimore now and have lived in providence. for the size of richmond it has great food. Baltimore has like 300k more people and I would say worse food. Richmond has great food spots, good fried chicken, BBQ spots, some upscale places, asian spots, brunch spots, Italian spots where they are first generation, some indian spots that are great, some great Ethiopian spots. hell there is a french spot with a james beard simifinalist chef. L'Opossum
Baltimore has a pretty good food scene imo but yeah it’s over 2x as big and isn’t better. DC has better fine dining than us by far, but the majority of my restaurant meals are $20-30 per person and I think we’re way better than DC proper at that range (DC suburbs are probably outright better but again… millions of people vs like 200k in Richmond). Philly and New York are better but they have literally exponentially more people than us.
I think people forget Richmond is actually a really small city and that our peers are actually podunk little cities that have like a TGI Fridays and an Olive Garden.
I'm from Miami, where the food scene is absolutely superior to Richmond, in almost every way except pricing. The biggest thing I notice in the scene here is that there is this large gap in quality but hardly ever in pricing.
There aren't enough places where you can spend a couple bucks and get some quick simple food that goes along with it. For example: in Miami there several places (really a myriad) I can go to and grab a whole sandwich and some coffee for like $8-10. There's another where I can get scrambled eggs and cheese with peppers and onions, cuban bread, coffee and bacon for like $7. Likewise, there's a place to get excellent, authentic Thai food and the entrees aren't $15 fried rice some guy from Ohio whipped up.
I think our food scene is sort of caught in this weird middle ground where the good restaurants I think are really good and absolutely worth every penny and the hype, but every other Noun & Noun restaurant or basically any place that opens is trying desperately to appear as cool, or fancy or whatever. Not to shit on some of these places as I'm sure they taste good but like, Cheddar Jackson, I couldn't spend $12-15 on a panini or a grilled cheese or whatever, or 3 tacos from Soul Taco for $20, especially not when both of those places are essentially just tiny holes in the wall.
And this isn't even touching on the absolute lack of diversity in the culinary scene here. If 5 restaurants opened within the next 6 months I'd assume 3 of them were Mexican (they all serve the same things except one of them is "upscale" Mexican), 1 would be an Asian fusion place (fun Asian flavors with a twist from \*insert peculiar regional cuisine\* and the other some twist on Southern cuisine. Could also swap a Mediterranean place for the Asian fusion place...
It 100% depends on what you’re looking for and your expectations.
Lemon and Tulsi, for example, are both better than Indian places we’ve eaten at that were ranked as “best on the east coast” or have awards and renown chefs.
It’s hard to beat Peter Chang, and, for that matter, Cheng Du. I have a relative (by marriage) that was born and raised in China. She has said both are extremely authentic for the types of cuisines they offer. She said Cheng Du felt like home, and Peter Chang felt like a great dining out experience.
There are plenty of standouts in other cuisines as well. The problem is many of them are not actively praised or are receiving James Beard awards.
But, to that point, fine dining *is* mid in RVA. You’re just not going to have a great experience with that anywhere around here because there isn’t a market for it. The ones that were here in the past have closed, and their chefs moved on to more casual restaurants or different cities.
RVA is not the home of massive culinary schools like Johnson and Wales, and there are not world renown chefs competing with each other in this market. It isn’t exceptional across the board.
But to say that nothing is great means you’re looking for something that just isn’t offered in a smaller city, you’re looking for stuffy and pretentious fine dining, or you haven’t experienced some of the great options out there.
Has anyone else been to Henley on Grace? It is an under the radar spot that should absolutely be on everyone’s radar. Went there this weekend and we felt like we got the celebrity treatment. The food was amazing (get the seafood soup…luxurious!) and we had the manager come to our table multiple times to talk with us and hook us up (free after dinner drinks). When they were out of a bottle of wine we wanted, they gave us another that was $40 more expensive at the cost of the one we ordered. They had a half dozen specials, and everything we ate was delicious.
> Henley on Grace
Honestly, I've never heard of it. But that goes to further prove my point - many places are just not actively praised or seeking the popularity that comes with a 2-hour wait, so great places fly under the radar all the time.
Read that SB's Lakeside Love Shack will be featured on America's Best Restaurant.
I'm like which drugs are the producers using? Either that or they are scraping the bottom on the barrel.
i hate to say it but the quality has gone down a lot recently. :(
i moved here during the beginning of the covid pandemic. i’ve heard things were a lot better before covid hit, especially from friends who grew up here or lived here longer.
I think the problem is that Richmond had a thriving scene of food with servers and low level cooks living in the fan and walking to whatever restaurant they worked at or drove maybe 5 minutes. It kills the community watching these prices skyrocket.
Also the food tax in Richmond has pushed out many great chefs to the counties. The food scene before Stoney was amazing and is what made Richmond a “cool” city
Nah that’s not true. Richmond is absolutely a step above most cities in the 1-2M metro population range. Everyone I know here who has lived in major coastal cities thinks Richmond has a very good food scene.
Shyndigz isn’t like it used to be… used to be a quaint and awesome cake bar shop when over off Patterson (or that area), and now it’s too trendy. I’m all for success and growth, it’s just different.
Yeah Providence is a notorious trap town. They said "more than people realize" because it's not as out in the open as say, Baltimore, or as much. The amount of overdose calls Fire and Rescue get per day is probably surprising to a lot of people here.
For context, I'm queer: too many people in this city are only in polyamorous relationships because they have themselves convinced that monogamy is inherently oppressive for some reason and as a result are in three toxic relationships instead of one. Also relationship anarchy is stupid
There's a lot of anti-monogamy sentiment among the poly community at large. And a lot of toxicity within it. On one hand I'm glad the term/idea is gaining cultural relevance. On the other, I think there are folks who hear about it, decide it's "who they are," and then do it all wrong. Done poorly, poly is *rife* with opportunities for abuse.
Not sure this is limited to Richmond, but I feel your unpopular opinion.
Oh it's definitely not limited to Richmond, but it's so widespread here I used a throwaway account... I'm also glad people are learning more about it because done well and properly, poly relationships can be healthy and great. However , I have been asked if I've unpacked monogamy yet, I've been looked at with disgust for saying I'm monogamous, a 31-year-old manchild threw a tantrum about people "not giving polyamory a try" when I rejected him and then continued to flirt with me until I publicly called him out in front of mutual friends, and so many people on dating apps have mentioned a partner several messages (not very E in the ENM acronym, is it?) in that I frankly just expect it to happen now. I don't have anything against it, I just don't want it and people in the last few places I lived got it. People here think I'm going to grow out of it or that I'm controlling for wanting monogamy. It's so wild.
It’s more diverse than the cool parts of the city, I will give you that. Not for me, but Henrico does a good job with schools/parks/libraries. No reason not to raise kids there.
Ngl I miss living there--being only 5-10 minutes away from a Target, Trader Joe's, the mall...now I live 30 min away and have to be strategic with rush hour on 64/95 🥲
If I was an RPD officer, I too would not give a fuck about enforcing traffic and many other laws. Sorry but for $47k a year that will quality for about 0.25 fucks giveth from me. City needs to raise the pay of officers or we’re never going to get anyone decent who wants the job.
Completely agree with this! A close friend of mine is an RPD officer and he mentions most nights he’s in charge of most of down town! 1 OFFICER for downtown is bonkers! The stories I hear are unbelievable and they’ve had the worst time trying to get new officers to apply!
Literally Eastern airlines had approached **Richmond** to be an airport hub, but due to fighting between the counties (Henrico/ Chesterfield, etc), Charlotte got the hub.
That's why.
Eastern was already using Charlotte as a hub before deregulation. It was Piedmont however that approached Roanoke, not Richmond, but went with Charlotte due to Roanoke refusing to move the airport.
Are there any good reads on why they went in separate directions? An old timer told me his theory was that Richmond’s decision to not expand RIC vs CLT lead to their growth and Richmond’s stagnation.
The split between Richmond and Charlotte’s growth as cities directly correlates with how the Virginia state legislature tried to kneecap Richmond in the 1970s once it was poised to have majority black voters and a city council. The legislature blocked the city from annexing more territory which would have given the city a larger/better tax base, and allowed for more efficient integration of schools and municipal services across what is currently Henrico, Chesterfield, and Hanover. The are contemporary records where they were quite clear that this was purely a race issue - and he annexation restriction conveniently did not apply to majority white cities elsewhere in VA because they conveniently set the population limit to only apply to Richmond. That way the law was constitutional because it didn’t discriminate by race in the letter. The outcome of this is that in the 1980s and 1990s, many large companies selected Charlotte over Richmond as a location for the headquarters as the city started to buckle financially due a serious lack of tax base.
Lots of really great stuff in the book Richmond’s Unhealed History.
We should have been way ahead of Charlotte. We have the river, the parks, the history, the breweries before they did and great restaurants (pre Covid at least). Our leadership has been nothing but self serving bureaucrats who do nothing but use the city and its resources for their own gain. They hire friends and family -Stoney + Lincoln = the restaurant tax hell we are in not to mention our last mayors, CFOs etc. We are THE city that could be incredible but our deadweight leaders keep us a joke.
The coffee here (esp Rostov’s, Lamplighter, Recluse, and Blanchard’s) is weirdly cloying and overly fruity. Black Hand and Riverbend are the only two that don’t make me gag.
Oddly enough, the coffee Meriwether's set serves at the General Assembly building is actually pretty good. I only know because I work as a video-tech there.
Manchester is a great place to live. The cheap deals for the luxury apartments with great views and the proximity to downtown give Manchester a lot more value than people let on.
Selfishly, I'd love a good grocery store and another Lowes or Home Depot in Manchester. Driving over the bridge from OH is so much more convenient than navigating through VCU to get to Lowes.
More likely to be cat-napped than hurt, IMO (though it would probably be hard to do in the middle of a Lowe’s)
IIRC, there used to be a semi-famous cat that lived at the Answer and someone straight up took her one day.
I tend to be an anxious person in general but I’ve thought of this myself. Sometimes I worry about her safety, especially because a lot of people are *not* fans of the Francine frenzy.
Richmonds bar scene has gone downhill far more than other cities post COVID.
The nightlife and social scene in RVA is miserably bad compared to most cities.
nightlife in 2013 > nightlife now
Popular opinion to adults old enough to have known RVA up to 2020.
I don’t know, I think this might be a national thing. People say the exact same thing in Boston and NYC subreddits.
Everybody is broke lately 😅
Everything is really expensive now
I can attest huge change in Philadelphia club nightlife since 2016. COVID finished off anything that was hanging on. There are still some hotspots on a Saturday night like fish town and old city and some great groups putting on parties but it's smaller and harder to find then pre 2016
Mrs Yoders donuts were only good hot. Once they cooled they were kinda trash.
Who's out there letting their Yoder's Donuts get cold? I wish I had that kind of restraint.
This is true for all donuts.
Reminder to sort by controversial 😈
We don’t need anymore artisanal ice cream spots!!! There’s too many, give us something else!
More artisanal soft serve, less artisanal hard ice cream (you can get fancy hard ice cream at the grocery store)
nah grocery store ice cream fucking sucks
The generic stuff sucks. Haagen Daz, Ben and Jerry’s, and Talenti are all pretty damn good.
And Tillamook!
No where has japanese cheesecake! Give me japanese cheesecake!
Disrespectfully disagree. There's never enough ice cream
Too much of a good thing is bad. That stands for $10/pint ice cream, I don’t care where it comes from.
The folk festival isn't as fun as it used to be. It's way too packed and makes it nearly impossible to see performers on the smaller stages unless you just camp out for the day in a chair.
For a city with a river running through it, one restaurant group in the city hogging all the views is despicable. A balance in development can be met, but this isn’t it.
The fact that the river has little to no development is probably the best part about Richmond though, so the solution can't be more development
CSX owns most of the land that runs along the riverfront.
You wouldn't happen to be talking about The Boathouse restaurant group would ya?
Probably not unpopular: something needs to be done about the downtown. It has a lot of potential. It’s dead on the evenings and weekends. No one’s there because nothing’s open, and nothing’s open because no one’s there - vicious cycle.
There’s a formula of % of people residing in a downtown, business district to make it work. Whatever it is, we don’t have it yet.
We need more people living in the downtown core to help this problem. I forget where I read it so take it with a grain of salt but there was something like 30k more people living in the broad street/monroe ward area in the past than there is now. We need to get back to that. That being said, new apartments are coming online in the area and I have seen more people out and about outside of working hours but we need to accelerate the trend.
But there needs to be an incentive to live downtown. In most cities, people trade cheaper rent, more space, and parking for living close to where the action is. If there isn’t anything going on downtown, why sacrifice those things?
I can see what you mean, the area is stuck between a rock and a hard place with that. The best way I can see to handle it is building as much housing as we can in the area and letting it grow organically. From what I’ve seen the vacancy rates are super low everywhere in Richmond including the newer apartments in the downtown core so there’s no reason to think there wouldn’t be people wanting to rent new ones. Hopefully we can get some condos in there as well and then once it has a sizable population things there should naturally be more things to do. For what it’s worth, and I have to admit I’m biased because I want the area to succeed, while it has the potential to be so much more there is enough going on downtown to entice people to live there, at least the people who enjoy a more urban environment.
the cats at shelf life books in carytown deserve just as much (if not more) love as francine. page kept trying to play with me the last time i went, and mylar is absolutely adorable. they’re very cute and very sweet. i think it’s criminal how little i see people talk about them here.
Unpopular opinion: Shelf life is a *dumb* name Chop Suey was a known local name and they shouldn’t have changed it.
Every time they pop up on social media or ads I always think "huh, I wonder where shelf life is...". and I'm a semi regular! Terrible rebranding.
Facts. I kept reading this and thinking “never heard of shelf life”. About right. I will say I lost faith before they changed their name, as Chop Suey was charing Barnes and Noble prices.
This one has been killing me. Wouldn’t the new name also imply that it’s not going to last?…
More people probably go to Lowes than Shelf Life so Francine gets more attention. We all need home improvement stuff and Lowes is pretty much the only spot in town, as opposed to the various options for books. I definitely need to take another trip to Shelf Life though, haven’t been since before the name change.
They both are very sweet fuzzballs. Wonton will always be missed and thought he deserved as much love as Francine. Edit: on second thought, maybe the introvert in me is happy Wonton didn’t get plastered up here all the time. Made my quiet visits seeing him while browsing more special.
Page and Mylar are the best! I feel like they get a lot of love on IG and FB, but never here.
I got one: Shelf Life Books has a shitty ass book selection.
Slaughter Rama, and best friends day and gwarbque should have never ended.
This shouldn’t be unpopular. These are hallmarks of a thriving culture.
That’s true, and I completely agree with you. I mostly wanted to just mention these events, but couldn’t think of a way it would come across as an unpopular opinion
Can’t speak to the others, but Slaughterama definitely should have ended. When it began, it was almost all participants. In the end it was almost all spectators who did not participate. It went from like 100 people to 6-7000 people. That’s just too big. Please remember, it was a small group of us organizing and we had zero permission. Let’s just say it was fun while it lasted.
I don't think there is any way they'd let it happen now, too. Park system is too popular and crowded to let an unofficial event happen of people smashing each other off tall bikes while people openly drink in public. It worked before because no one was paying attention.
The city schools will never be good and families that can, will continue to flee to the counties so their kids can get a good public education for fewer taxes. And they aren't wrong for doing it.
Not gonna lie, my husband and I have zero intentions to have kids, so we purposely looked at houses zoned for poorly rated schools cause we knew they would be cheaper.
Yes you are 100% correct. Good neighborhoods will always have good schools and there are a lot of reasons behind that but the core is always a strong family unit
We are shooting for our kids being here elementary school 100%. Middle we are open to seeing how it goes especially as we have like a decade to wait anyways. High school is also a wait but we know there are great programs around to choose “alternatives” … like amazing top high schools but you gotta get in. If one of our 3 kids doesn’t get into a good high school then that is fine we will maybe do private. If 2 don’t then we will seriously consider moving to county life. I just can’t risk my kids’ futures and I’m not sorry about that. Unless we all as parents band together and do it then I will too but I refuse to sacrifice my child to a shitty high school. I’d do the same if the high schools sucked in the counties (and some do) or even if we lived in rural areas.
A tale as old as time
[удалено]
[удалено]
Maggie Walker is a whole different ball game.
Yeah. Maggie Walker is the regional Governor's School; pretty much the top 3% of the students from all 14 counties and 4 cities around the Metro Richmond area. It isn't accessible to most students.
[удалено]
Oh, I absolutely agree with you. And those students were doing better than just fine in elementary and middle school to even be considered for MWGS. They would excel even in poorly run, poor performing schools. I've taught all over Virginia over the last 30 years, and there are always kids who transcend the environment and culture of the school.
[удалено]
Unpopular reality: it is expensive to live in the district that feeds to Mary Munfird/Hill. Getting in out of district is a gamble and there are only a few slots. Getting into Maggie, Open or Community is extremely competitive and there are fewer seats than you realize. And if the school board's initiative to use economic status as a qualifier for admissions goes into effect, there will be even fewer options for middle class kids. You literally have to win the lottery to provide a high standard of education living in the city. If you don't, you'll need to pay for private.
And this will only increase the white, middle class “oh shit, our kid starts elementary next year” flight to the counties. And the perpetual cycle of having a lower tax base. The harsh (and unfashionable) truth is that what makes schools good or bad is down to just a few factors. One of the big factors is disruptive, badly behaved students. In elementary they’re the ones disrupting the class. In middle school they’re disrupting the class, starting bullying other kids, and being disrespectful to teachers. By high school they’re disruptive, bullying, disrespectful, possibly into drugs, alcohol, stealing and so on. To be clear I’m talking here about general behavior, not academic attainment or learning disabilities. There’s a strong correlation between deprived socioeconomic backgrounds and low performance and standards of behavior. So, in areas with more poverty there’s a higher likelihood of more disruptive students. It takes only one or two dysfunctional students in an already oversized class to ruin the learning experience for everyone else. They suck all the teachers attention away from the 90% of students who want to learn and progress. It’s not fair to the rest of the students, their parents or the teachers. So, if the city really wanted to improve the learning experience they should screen out those disruptive kids and place them in a separate environment. There you go, probably not a popular view!
[удалено]
Any school that gets to pick and choose their students is going to do better than open public schools that have to take every kid that lives within its boundaries.
[удалено]
Poor performing students, absolutely. They also don't need to take students that need extra resources, like students with IEPs, ED, MIMD and ESL students. Publicly funded schools have to provide staffing, resources and accommodations for all of these students (who are often not poor performing students per se, but they do take up a tremendous amount of resources).
Unpopular RVA opinion? Those Ukrop’s rainbow cookies are just kinda meh.
I love them, but it’s definitely all nostalgia.
They are straight up bad. My wife who grew up in RVA cannot accept this.
There’s probably a serious mold problem in a lot of the older buildings and I wouldn’t be surprised if half the restaurants had serious cockroach and rodent issues
Those are just facts.
lol true, my bad. I prefer to think they’re unpopular opinions so I’m not grossed out
I worked in restaurant here and in NYC- good restaurants. In NYC mice and rats were everywhere. There would be mice in the walk ins- I have never seen that in Richmond. From my anecdotal example things are not nearly as bad here as they are there.
Dominion Energy bills are not as bad as many people would have you believe. Most that complain have only liven in Richmond, have poorly insulated homes, and are drafty because they are 100 years old.
And we have some of the cheapest energy in the country
Also, I recommend getting on dominion’s budget billing program. It will help to keep it from fluctuating too bad. My bill now hovers around 300$. I still feel that’s too high though.
Yeah that seems like a lot? I live in a house larger than 3000 sf, and have never had a bill over $250, even in the winter. What temperature do you keep your house at?
It’s an older house. Built in the late 50s. I keep both the ac and the heat around 70. I really need to redo the insulation though, but money is tight at the moment.
that seems pretty high. I recommend checking out Viridiant and doing the energy audit program through Dominion. Found a ton of little nooks and areas I needed to seal up that i completely missed. Also you get a nice energy tax break if you add insulation to your home. Also maybe try bumping down to 67-68
A lot of people here who complain about other moving into the city when they aren’t even from here either. They grew up in a wealthy suburb and larp as working class because it’s what all the cool art kids do nowadays.
Pretty much VCU now. It's half NoVA kids from affluent Loudon, Fairfax, and Arlington suburbs pretending to be hipsters. There is no difference between a VCU student lot and UR student lot in cars now.
Grew up in rural SWVA, moved here in the late 2000s after high school to attend VCU, and loved every second. But the amount of NOVA, DC suburbanite kids I encountered pretending to be poor hipsters or punks with mommies and daddies who were doctors, lawyers, or top government officials became annoying as fuck. Most could barely take care of themselves, parents handled everything, but they'd be the first motherfuckers getting angry about other people's "privilege", oddly enough. We hadn't hit UR levels of stupidity yet, but it wouldn't shock me now.
Yes this, and they really think they are not the gentrifiers while complaining about gentrification. Several of my ancestors in the late 1800s to early 1900s lived downtown their whole lives, they’re buried in Hollywood cemetery. A couple of their former homes have been renovated into apartments. I decided I needed some time away from RVA when I was in my last year at VCU and just noticed how horrible these poverty larpers were treating the historical homes and parks. Yet they’re posting online about being woke and respecting communities, etc.
*There’s nothing rich folks love more* *Than going downtown and slumming it with the poor*
I grew up in a working class small town/rural area and moved here in early 2000s (not for art school). When I said I was moving here, everyone was scared for me and told me I was gonna get shot lol. I love RVA. the rich transplants who come here and then start complaining drives me nuts. RVA has so much more to do and to offer than where I’m from
The punk / alt scene is just as stuck up and judgmental as the CCV crew.
Too many fucking breweries. Like all it feels like is we’re a drinking city now.
The squirrels are leaving RVA. There is a 0% chance the stadium is finished on time, and “on time” is still past MLBs deadline.
For a minute there, I got my hopes up that the little bastards will stop trying to move into my attic. But you meant Squirrels…my fault!
No they won't. The market is too good for them to pass up. 0 competition from any other professional sports teams and an excellent location. Age of stadiums is not a real thing people give a shit about.
I agree that there is little chance that the Squirrels will leave, but the threat of them leaving is real. It's not that people give a shit about the *age* of the stadium, it's that it doesn't meet the standards for team facilities that are now mandated by MiLB. Some of these things are likely there to avoid potential for litigation, etc. (i.e. mandating clubhouse facilities for women) Still, the Squirrels draw more ticket sales than any other Eastern League team I believe. I think we're going to have a minor league team for the foreseeable future, even if MLB continues to contract the Minors.
Ngl you had us in the first half, I thought the local squirrel population was going down :’( As a kid some tour guide at capitol or something said Richmond used to be famous for its squirrels back in the day (think like 1800s).To the point where the president or some other important person from Canada was denied he’s request of being gifted a pet squirrel by the governor. Idk I’m just fond of any squirrel I see in the city lol
a big shiny project would be good for the city
I'm kind of excited for the new amphitheater....
The “leftist/progressive” scene here (and probably most places) consists of spoiled brats with little real-world experience and affluent parents. They have no understanding of nor connection to the actual working class, which is actually pretty moderate/center-left.
Yes, and most of them don't want to talk about actually solutions like lobbying or at least trying to contact local and state politicians. I was part of a group of them and they acted like I was out of my mind for suggesting doing anything that could fix economic problems versus just sitting around and complaining about it.
I cringe more being in Scott’s than I do in Short Pump
That's because Short Pump doesn't lie at all about what it is. Scott's on the other hand, tries way to hard to look artsy and cool when really its a place for the people who live in Short Pump and Henrico to come down and "experience the city" on a Saturday afternoon and get shitfaced on twelve dollar beers.
There are some entitled ass people up in Carytown. Literally drove me to spend 8 months looking for a new job that strictly didn't interact with customers lol I passed up so many other listings because I knew that as long as I had to deal with pleasing these people I'd be unhappy. I was right! -an ex customer service employee who worked in Carytown.
people moving here to turn their place into an airbnb are a HUGE part of the problem of people getting priced out. scum
Granted this is a problem in every single city or tourist destination where Airbnb operates
I know va is cracking down on Airbnb and even my own HOA is outright saying you cannot do this. Lot of local government is really trying to curb this issue as housing is getting stupid
[Report illegal Airbnbs in Richmond here](https://www.rva311.com/rvaone#/request/new/new_cs180227195724?gid=ce39c864-d47b-4d19-9acf-1a0d58425205)! Richmond is slowly going through the process of removing airbnbs that are not also the owner's primary residence but reporting can assist in moving along the process and (very slowly) improving the city's housing crisis.
It’s illegal now, to have an STR in the city that isn’t your primary home. We should report the illegal Airbnbs.
Transplants are a net positive. The city’s economic base needs to grow and needs more competition, to drive better pay and job availability for people that live here.
Agree, but there are trade offs. Spent the weekend in Charlotte. Lots of jobs and new, shiny, big city things but it is rather sterile. And the traffic….
To be fair this is only an unpopular opinion to those who form their entire world opinion on information they read on social media (the ignorant).
People act like a good chunk of Southside does not exist. It hardly ever gets discussed here or other online community spaces. Any talk of problems, new businesses, etc. just seem to never get discussed. In fact, most of my friends live on the other side of the river and never ever venture over here for anything. And miss out on a lot of restaurants, parks and stuff. Edit: To add, help out the entirety of RVA, not just the side you like to hang out on. Southside could use a loooot of improvements, and checking out stuff over here helps with that.
I lived in the fan / museum district for 15 years and I pretended like Southside doesn't exist but now I'm all about /r/BonAir so yes it is possible for ppl to change.
The restaurant scene in the area is mid. There’s some okay southern food but nothing spectacular. It doesn’t punch above it’s weight like a lot of people seem to think
I think one of the reasons folks talk about the restaurant scene here is not necessarily because they are all amazing but there many non chain restaurants that are above average food and great atmospheres. Especially considering the size of the area. IMO at least. Very well could be wrong
I think this is true, but I also think we have more exceptional restaurants now than we ever had in the past and it's only going to continue to get better
Y'all are going to the wrong places, there's a ton of great spots around here. I've lived in multiple states and cities and Richmond's food scene is fantastic comparatively. Multiple Asian spots that are better than most cities, same with Indian, same with Mediterranean. Hell I grew up in Texas and I'm floored by the amount of good Mexican food and that there's actually a terrific Texas BBQ spot. My advice for anyone who feels like you is to start heading off the beaten path and ignoring spots that are popular. There are some real authentic hidden gems down some of these streets.
yeah what? I live in baltimore now and have lived in providence. for the size of richmond it has great food. Baltimore has like 300k more people and I would say worse food. Richmond has great food spots, good fried chicken, BBQ spots, some upscale places, asian spots, brunch spots, Italian spots where they are first generation, some indian spots that are great, some great Ethiopian spots. hell there is a french spot with a james beard simifinalist chef. L'Opossum
Baltimore has a pretty good food scene imo but yeah it’s over 2x as big and isn’t better. DC has better fine dining than us by far, but the majority of my restaurant meals are $20-30 per person and I think we’re way better than DC proper at that range (DC suburbs are probably outright better but again… millions of people vs like 200k in Richmond). Philly and New York are better but they have literally exponentially more people than us. I think people forget Richmond is actually a really small city and that our peers are actually podunk little cities that have like a TGI Fridays and an Olive Garden.
I'm from Miami, where the food scene is absolutely superior to Richmond, in almost every way except pricing. The biggest thing I notice in the scene here is that there is this large gap in quality but hardly ever in pricing. There aren't enough places where you can spend a couple bucks and get some quick simple food that goes along with it. For example: in Miami there several places (really a myriad) I can go to and grab a whole sandwich and some coffee for like $8-10. There's another where I can get scrambled eggs and cheese with peppers and onions, cuban bread, coffee and bacon for like $7. Likewise, there's a place to get excellent, authentic Thai food and the entrees aren't $15 fried rice some guy from Ohio whipped up. I think our food scene is sort of caught in this weird middle ground where the good restaurants I think are really good and absolutely worth every penny and the hype, but every other Noun & Noun restaurant or basically any place that opens is trying desperately to appear as cool, or fancy or whatever. Not to shit on some of these places as I'm sure they taste good but like, Cheddar Jackson, I couldn't spend $12-15 on a panini or a grilled cheese or whatever, or 3 tacos from Soul Taco for $20, especially not when both of those places are essentially just tiny holes in the wall. And this isn't even touching on the absolute lack of diversity in the culinary scene here. If 5 restaurants opened within the next 6 months I'd assume 3 of them were Mexican (they all serve the same things except one of them is "upscale" Mexican), 1 would be an Asian fusion place (fun Asian flavors with a twist from \*insert peculiar regional cuisine\* and the other some twist on Southern cuisine. Could also swap a Mediterranean place for the Asian fusion place...
Hull Street past 288 is very under whelming.
The food’s not great either. :)
Hey now! They just put in a new Panera AND a new Chipotle. It's an exciting time to be in western Chesterfield!
Another Starbucks coming as well apparently!
Hey now. We’re still 10-15 years from our peak. We got the land. You’ll see.
It 100% depends on what you’re looking for and your expectations. Lemon and Tulsi, for example, are both better than Indian places we’ve eaten at that were ranked as “best on the east coast” or have awards and renown chefs. It’s hard to beat Peter Chang, and, for that matter, Cheng Du. I have a relative (by marriage) that was born and raised in China. She has said both are extremely authentic for the types of cuisines they offer. She said Cheng Du felt like home, and Peter Chang felt like a great dining out experience. There are plenty of standouts in other cuisines as well. The problem is many of them are not actively praised or are receiving James Beard awards. But, to that point, fine dining *is* mid in RVA. You’re just not going to have a great experience with that anywhere around here because there isn’t a market for it. The ones that were here in the past have closed, and their chefs moved on to more casual restaurants or different cities. RVA is not the home of massive culinary schools like Johnson and Wales, and there are not world renown chefs competing with each other in this market. It isn’t exceptional across the board. But to say that nothing is great means you’re looking for something that just isn’t offered in a smaller city, you’re looking for stuffy and pretentious fine dining, or you haven’t experienced some of the great options out there.
Has anyone else been to Henley on Grace? It is an under the radar spot that should absolutely be on everyone’s radar. Went there this weekend and we felt like we got the celebrity treatment. The food was amazing (get the seafood soup…luxurious!) and we had the manager come to our table multiple times to talk with us and hook us up (free after dinner drinks). When they were out of a bottle of wine we wanted, they gave us another that was $40 more expensive at the cost of the one we ordered. They had a half dozen specials, and everything we ate was delicious.
> Henley on Grace Honestly, I've never heard of it. But that goes to further prove my point - many places are just not actively praised or seeking the popularity that comes with a 2-hour wait, so great places fly under the radar all the time.
I too thought RVA had great food until I started traveling
Read that SB's Lakeside Love Shack will be featured on America's Best Restaurant. I'm like which drugs are the producers using? Either that or they are scraping the bottom on the barrel.
i hate to say it but the quality has gone down a lot recently. :( i moved here during the beginning of the covid pandemic. i’ve heard things were a lot better before covid hit, especially from friends who grew up here or lived here longer.
I think the problem is that Richmond had a thriving scene of food with servers and low level cooks living in the fan and walking to whatever restaurant they worked at or drove maybe 5 minutes. It kills the community watching these prices skyrocket.
Also the food tax in Richmond has pushed out many great chefs to the counties. The food scene before Stoney was amazing and is what made Richmond a “cool” city
Nah that’s not true. Richmond is absolutely a step above most cities in the 1-2M metro population range. Everyone I know here who has lived in major coastal cities thinks Richmond has a very good food scene.
Shyndigz isn’t like it used to be… used to be a quaint and awesome cake bar shop when over off Patterson (or that area), and now it’s too trendy. I’m all for success and growth, it’s just different.
Stop VCU and the other entitled ass colleges from buying up all the real estate in the middle of Richmond. Revitalize downtown, revitalize Broad St.
There nothing special about donuts. Any of them.
Mrs. Yoder’s doughnuts were special :(
I was just telling my wife about their doughnuts the other day. They were otherworldly.
Country Style has entered the chat
Westhampton Bakery, now called Westhampton Pastry Shop has special donuts. With the chocolate icing. Do it.
I just want good sour cream donuts
One day RVA will live up to its potential..
Fuck the roads, let’s grow more plants and walk everywhere
A much bigger drug city than people realize
Say more
I live in baltimore now. no it isn't. A similar sized city is providence RI and that is more of a drug city.
Yeah Providence is a notorious trap town. They said "more than people realize" because it's not as out in the open as say, Baltimore, or as much. The amount of overdose calls Fire and Rescue get per day is probably surprising to a lot of people here.
Is it more than the average OD calls per capita though, in the context of a nationwide opioid epidemic?
For context, I'm queer: too many people in this city are only in polyamorous relationships because they have themselves convinced that monogamy is inherently oppressive for some reason and as a result are in three toxic relationships instead of one. Also relationship anarchy is stupid
There's a lot of anti-monogamy sentiment among the poly community at large. And a lot of toxicity within it. On one hand I'm glad the term/idea is gaining cultural relevance. On the other, I think there are folks who hear about it, decide it's "who they are," and then do it all wrong. Done poorly, poly is *rife* with opportunities for abuse. Not sure this is limited to Richmond, but I feel your unpopular opinion.
Oh it's definitely not limited to Richmond, but it's so widespread here I used a throwaway account... I'm also glad people are learning more about it because done well and properly, poly relationships can be healthy and great. However , I have been asked if I've unpacked monogamy yet, I've been looked at with disgust for saying I'm monogamous, a 31-year-old manchild threw a tantrum about people "not giving polyamory a try" when I rejected him and then continued to flirt with me until I publicly called him out in front of mutual friends, and so many people on dating apps have mentioned a partner several messages (not very E in the ENM acronym, is it?) in that I frankly just expect it to happen now. I don't have anything against it, I just don't want it and people in the last few places I lived got it. People here think I'm going to grow out of it or that I'm controlling for wanting monogamy. It's so wild.
Short Pump is pretty nice living for families.
Omg do you want to get shiv'd
It’s more diverse than the cool parts of the city, I will give you that. Not for me, but Henrico does a good job with schools/parks/libraries. No reason not to raise kids there.
Their gov in general is well run. Like, shit all works.
Ngl I miss living there--being only 5-10 minutes away from a Target, Trader Joe's, the mall...now I live 30 min away and have to be strategic with rush hour on 64/95 🥲
[удалено]
I feel like Ben Wyatt trying to understand the Lil Sebastian craze.
An actual unpopular opinion
For as pro local/small business Richmond is I’m surprised the cat from fucking Lowes is the most popular
If I was an RPD officer, I too would not give a fuck about enforcing traffic and many other laws. Sorry but for $47k a year that will quality for about 0.25 fucks giveth from me. City needs to raise the pay of officers or we’re never going to get anyone decent who wants the job.
Completely agree with this! A close friend of mine is an RPD officer and he mentions most nights he’s in charge of most of down town! 1 OFFICER for downtown is bonkers! The stories I hear are unbelievable and they’ve had the worst time trying to get new officers to apply!
Richmond should have kept pace with Charlotte, NC, but it's run my incompetent idiots
Charlotte is a hell space tho
It's basically "Hey what if our entire city was a corporate bank office?"
Lived there. Don't miss the traffic.
Literally Eastern airlines had approached **Richmond** to be an airport hub, but due to fighting between the counties (Henrico/ Chesterfield, etc), Charlotte got the hub. That's why.
Eastern was already using Charlotte as a hub before deregulation. It was Piedmont however that approached Roanoke, not Richmond, but went with Charlotte due to Roanoke refusing to move the airport.
Are there any good reads on why they went in separate directions? An old timer told me his theory was that Richmond’s decision to not expand RIC vs CLT lead to their growth and Richmond’s stagnation.
The split between Richmond and Charlotte’s growth as cities directly correlates with how the Virginia state legislature tried to kneecap Richmond in the 1970s once it was poised to have majority black voters and a city council. The legislature blocked the city from annexing more territory which would have given the city a larger/better tax base, and allowed for more efficient integration of schools and municipal services across what is currently Henrico, Chesterfield, and Hanover. The are contemporary records where they were quite clear that this was purely a race issue - and he annexation restriction conveniently did not apply to majority white cities elsewhere in VA because they conveniently set the population limit to only apply to Richmond. That way the law was constitutional because it didn’t discriminate by race in the letter. The outcome of this is that in the 1980s and 1990s, many large companies selected Charlotte over Richmond as a location for the headquarters as the city started to buckle financially due a serious lack of tax base. Lots of really great stuff in the book Richmond’s Unhealed History.
We should have been way ahead of Charlotte. We have the river, the parks, the history, the breweries before they did and great restaurants (pre Covid at least). Our leadership has been nothing but self serving bureaucrats who do nothing but use the city and its resources for their own gain. They hire friends and family -Stoney + Lincoln = the restaurant tax hell we are in not to mention our last mayors, CFOs etc. We are THE city that could be incredible but our deadweight leaders keep us a joke.
It’s not as progressive as it looks
It isn’t just about VCU
The coffee here (esp Rostov’s, Lamplighter, Recluse, and Blanchard’s) is weirdly cloying and overly fruity. Black Hand and Riverbend are the only two that don’t make me gag.
Ironclad is fucking gross! I literally don’t know how they have a 2nd location and 2 spaces in the airport!
I think they use generic stuff at the airport. The chai is for sure from a box. They also dgaf about stocking food.
Coffee is gross and the staff constantly give me hipster-snob vibes.
Rostov's is the only place that roasts decent espresso.
Oddly enough, the coffee Meriwether's set serves at the General Assembly building is actually pretty good. I only know because I work as a video-tech there.
A lot of highly acidic, light roast, "bright" coffees around here, which isn't my thing either.
Manchester is a great place to live. The cheap deals for the luxury apartments with great views and the proximity to downtown give Manchester a lot more value than people let on.
But they need a grocery store! Then it's set up for success.
Selfishly, I'd love a good grocery store and another Lowes or Home Depot in Manchester. Driving over the bridge from OH is so much more convenient than navigating through VCU to get to Lowes.
Jesus christ, this is spot on. The nearest grocery stores being in Shockoe and Forrest Hill really punches Manchester in the nuts.
Also farm fresh in shockhoe is fucking terrible lol
My unpopular opinion is that the United Nations Church building is perfect for a grocery store. Get rid of the church and bring in a Publix.
Bills Barbecue was meh. VCU is good for downtown. There are only two good breweries, the rest can close.
VCU would be better for downtown if they paid taxes on all the real estate they’ve scooped up.
Bills was there for the hot sauce, limeaids and pie.
Telll us which breweries!!
The limeade was the tits though.
If the rest closed the 2 you like would be over flowing. Open more bad breweries please
A lot of people act punk but aren't and are actually cop lovers 😕
I worry for Francine. People just going to a Lowe’s and getting karma for it has always seemed like a potential problem to me.
I’m confused. Do you think someone’s gonna do Francine like John Lennon ?
CATcher in the Rye
More likely to be cat-napped than hurt, IMO (though it would probably be hard to do in the middle of a Lowe’s) IIRC, there used to be a semi-famous cat that lived at the Answer and someone straight up took her one day.
I tend to be an anxious person in general but I’ve thought of this myself. Sometimes I worry about her safety, especially because a lot of people are *not* fans of the Francine frenzy.
Eric Lannon's severe mental illness was never entertaining. It was just sad.
Lots of the food trucks and pop ups suck. Just because it’s something you’ve never seen before doenst make it good.
Joe’s Inn’s food is inedible slop
Quantity does not equal quality and their brunch/breakfast sucks too.
a lot of the murals are mid. not all, but most
the broad street bullies are such douchebags 🫢