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Here’s the thing that you’re missing about Richmond: it ain’t a one-trick pony. We don’t need to build an entertainment district around the river. Those amenities exist elsewhere.
There are multiple water features throughout the metro, historic and notable buildings, a large financial district, a thriving art and music scene, celebrated restaurants (an embarrassment of wealth with regards to those) and some of the most tony neighborhoods in the South. Retail and entertainment districts are built around those assets allowing the river to be preserved as parkland in perpetuity.
Last edited by spencer114; 07-23-2018 at 08:51 PM..
But flows into the James River (or vice versa) which is a very large river compared to the Reedy and San Antonio rivers. Canal Walk ties into the recreational uses along the James River, which makes more sense--and again, this helps to preserve and display the history along Canal Walk.
At any rate, Canal Walk is absolutely fine as is. I strolled it extensively once a few years ago and never once thought "Gee, the lack of commercialization sure is disappointing."
Here’s the thing that you’re missing about Richmond: it ain’t a one-trick pony.
We don’t need to build an entertainment district around the river. Those amenities exist elsewhere.
The city got it right. The James River is an awesome natural recreational asset.
Here’s the thing that you’re missing about Richmond: it ain’t a one-trick pony. We don’t need to build an entertainment district around the river. Those amenities exist elsewhere.
There are multiple water features throughout the metro, historic and notable buildings, a large financial district, a thriving art and music scene, celebrated restaurants (an embarrassment of wealth with regards to those) and some of the most tony neighborhoods in the South. Retail and entertainment districts are built around those assets allowing the river to be preserved as parkland in perpetuity.
I"m never said there was nothing in Richmond. I'm familiar with Richmond.
This is a city comparison topic. I pointed a difference between the two cities.
Are you saying Greenville is a 'one trick pony'?
Greenville has parks next to the river. That's a big reason why people like Greenville....it has nature right in the middle of the CBD.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 07-23-2018 at 10:09 PM..
I saw some people on one of the tourism websites talking about how they were disappointed with the Canal Walk in Richmond b/c there were no restaurants/shops/bars next to it similar to San Antonio's River Walk.
In Greenville, there are a bunch of restaurants, bars, shops around Falls Park.
Unfortunately the full potential of the canal system in downtown Richmond can never be realized since much of the canal was destroyed in the early 1970s to make way for the Downtown Expressway. This God-awful elevated tollway looms over the north bank of the city's waterfront like a gigantic concrete guillotine. Perhaps the greatest loss was the huge Turning Basin (located between 8th and 12th Streets south of Cary Street) which covered six acres and was 50-feet deep in places. Some of the locks connecting the TB with the James River were also destroyed.
I've often wondered what Richmond's waterfront would look like today had the Expressway never been built and the canal system preserved in its entirety. I can just imagine the Turning Basin as the focal point for new apartments, shops, hotels, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs with gondolas connecting all parts of the canal system. It would be a major tourist attraction to rival Harbor Place in Baltimore and Riverwalk in San Antonio. Hopefully someday Richmond will do to the Downtown Expressway what San Francisco did to the Embarcadero Freeway. I should live so long.
BTW, the canal system in downtown Richmond is just a small part of the James River/Kanawha Canal--the oldest canal system the the United States. It dates from 1785 and the company that built it had as its president none other that George Washington. The Canal was meant to connect eastern Virginia with the Ohio River Valley via the Kanawha River but construction stopped in 1851 when the canal reached Buchanan, Virginia--about 200 miles west of Richmond. While The JRKC was meant primarily for freight traffic, horse-drawn passenger boats connected Richmond with Lynchburg--a trip of about three days.
Unfortunately the full potential of the canal system in downtown Richmond can never be realized since much of the canal was destroyed in the early 1970s to make way for the Downtown Expressway. This God-awful elevated tollway looms over the north bank of the city's waterfront like a gigantic concrete guillotine. Perhaps the greatest loss was the huge Turning Basin (located between 8th and 12th Streets south of Cary Street) which covered six acres and was 50-feet deep in places. Some of the locks connecting the TB with the James River were also destroyed.
I've often wondered what Richmond's waterfront would look like today had the Expressway never been built and the canal system preserved in its entirety. I can just imagine the Turning Basin as the focal point for new apartments, shops, hotels, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs with gondolas connecting all parts of the canal system. It would be a major tourist attraction to rival Harbor Place in Baltimore and Riverwalk in San Antonio. Hopefully someday Richmond will do to the Downtown Expressway what San Francisco did to the Embarcadero Freeway. I should live so long.
I was going to say something about the roads in that area but didn't know much about the situation there. Even so, I still like the canal/riverfront as a natural recreational asset.
The destruction of the canals predates I-95 by about 100 years.
By the end of the Civil War, the canal was obsolete (the towpaths became rail beds).
Rubble from the Evacuation Fire was pushed into the turning basin and Richmond was rebuilt atop it.
The Turning Basin would be a great attraction though, would probably look a lot like downtown Providence.
The destruction of the canals predates I-95 by about 100 years.
By the end of the Civil War, the canal was obsolete (the towpaths became rail beds).
Rubble from the Evacuation Fire was pushed into the turning basin and Richmond was rebuilt atop it.
The Turning Basin would be a great attraction though, would probably look a lot like downtown Providence.
True, but the granite walls of the Turning Basin were still in place when construction of the Expressway began. The Basin could have been restored had the city enough foresight to realize its development potential. But of course the needs of the automobile and suburban commuters had to come first.
I was living in Richmond in the late '60s-early '70s and joined a group that campaigned against destruction of what was left of the canal system. I remember visiting the site of the Turning Basin as the bulldozers started the excavation. The Basin walls were clearly visible and were composed of thousands of granite blocks. I took one of the smaller blocks as a souvenir but misplaced it years ago.
I haven't been to Greenville so I'm not voting it would be fair but I do love me some Richmond one of my favorite cities in the South......hope to make it out Greenville heard good things.
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