Vacant Properties, Shockoe Records, and the Potential of Regional Governance
Cheers RVA!
Today will be sunny but chilly, with a high of 42, and a low in the mid-20s. The week ahead looks similar with mostly sunny afternoons and cold evenings.
the juice:
Richmond currently lists about 550 vacant properties, many located downtown on Broad, Grace, and Hull streets, according to a recent article in the Commonwealth Times.
Properties are legally allowed to remain vacant as long as upkeep standards are met, and the overall number of empty buildings has decreased significantly, down from around 2k just a few years ago.
Organizations like the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust offer solutions to tackle the issue of vacant properties by providing “high quality homes to low and moderate income households”.
Options may expand for owners as the City is set to update its zoning ordinance:
Marianne Pitts, the deputy director of planning and policy for the City of Richmond, said the city is establishing a new zoning ordinance — which hasn’t been updated since 1976 — to give property owners more choices of what to develop by relaxing permit requirements.
Stay up-to-date with the City’s Code Refresh here.
the pulp:
Shockoe Records is putting out another Christmas album with a focus on music from local artists. They are also hosting a Shockoe Sessions Live! Christmas Show at The Hippodrome Tuesday evening at 7:30 pm.
The deadline to submit an application to be a delegate for the Richmond People’s Budget ends Tuesday at 5 pm. It takes about five minutes to complete. Give it a try!
the dive:
The Richmond Times Dispatch has made a pitch for more regional cooperation and governance in a recent editorial entitled, “Why Can’t Richmond Become a Real Metro?”
The article begins with the acknowledgement that a decrease in Federal Funding for the city is a real possibility heading into the next Administration and Congress.
Federal spending accounts for about one-third of the State’s economy.
Specifically in Richmond Public Schools federal funding accounts for roughly 20% of the RPS budget, according to Superintendent Kamras:
The biggest concern, I would say, is funding. About $100 million of our $500 million or so budget is from Title I, Title II, Title III, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the free lunch program. Anything that would be done to curtail any of that funding would have a significant impact on RPS.
The article notes the role history and racial politics have played over the last 75 years in shaping the division between the city and surrounding counties:
For 75 years, the city has harbored the worst of the region’s poverty, struggling schools and aging infrastructure, confined to economic isolation thanks to segregation-era restrictions on annexation and regional consolidation that remain firmly in place. During desegregation and suburban white flight in the 1960s, the state ensured that majority Black Richmond remained on an island. It led to racialized politics — the Black, poverty-stricken city versus the land-rich and mostly white surrounding counties.
However in recent years both Henrico and Chesterfield have become more racially and economically diverse and are beginning to align politically with the city, with both Counties’ Board of Supervisors switching to a Democratic majority in last year’s elections.
A case is made for merging the two counties with the city to make a truly regional government, allowing the metro area to operate like nearly all others in the country.
Read the full article here.
the vibe:
Have a pleasant day RVA!
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