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Tall and dense is not what comes to mind when I see or think of Richmonds skyline. Maybe Im missing something...
In VA, Richmond has the tallest skyline in the state. Maybe not the tallest building, but a good group of buildings unlike anywhere else in the state. And Richmond may not be NYC. But it is still quite dense. As dense if not moreso than Norfolk. And certainly taller than Rosslyn, even DC, and much bigger than
Roanoke. And to me, downtown Norfolk just doesn't feel as big Richmond's.
Although Richmond has the largest downtown that doesn't mean it is the nicest downtown in VA, only the largest. Richmond is a very sprawled out metro area with roads taking people away from the downtown core. Its impressive to see high rise buildings(go to Charlotte) but many people do not see that as an invitation to explore the downtown as it is viewed as unsafe, dark and terrible parking options. The downtown has to be "people friendly" and Richmond has been improving its downtown just like Norfolk. Roanokes' downtown is evolving into a "market village" type European experience which is becoming quite attractive. Richmond has the most potential of most U.S. cities downtown efforts lets just hope they can attract the talent and $$ needed to accomplish their goals!
In VA, Richmond has the tallest skyline in the state. Maybe not the tallest building, but a good group of buildings unlike anywhere else in the state. And Richmond may not be NYC. But it is still quite dense. As dense if not moreso than Norfolk. And certainly taller than Rosslyn, even DC, and much bigger than
Roanoke. And to me, downtown Norfolk just doesn't feel as big Richmond's.
I hear you ShadowBat. I just dont think Richmonds skyline is really all that tall and dense or the only 'real skyline' like the other poster stated. It can be considered the biggest downtown in VA I guess. Now whether it is the best is subjective.
I hear you ShadowBat. I just dont think Richmonds skyline is really all that tall and dense or the only 'real skyline' like the other poster stated. It can be considered the biggest downtown in VA I guess. Now whether it is the best is subjective.
Understood. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I still stand by my opinion of Richmond. I don't understand all the hate lately, but oh well. Nor do I see it as the only real skyline in VA. Actually, Roanoke has one of my favorite buildings in the state with the Wachovia tower. Just wish it was 600 feet taller! My other favorite is in Richmond with the Central National bank building. Too bad it's empty right now. I also wish it was 600 feet taller. But I digress. And Norfolk would most likely be my favorite downtown in the state, and it would definitely feel bigger if they hadn't bulldozed the whole friggin downtown, save for Granby street. But we're not talking about how tall the buildings are, but rather the size. I still think Richmond has the biggest. I do agree it needs improvement in the way of shopping. But not a mall like Norfolk's, but a real integrated street level shopping district like it use to have. At least the city is attracting more people to live downtown, that's a start. Hopefully next the stores will return.
Downtown Norfolk is the down town area for Hampton Roads area it is really picking up its pace and fast it just got light rail and has to more to come watch out for big city living coming to Va by way of Norfolk
Richmond is the largest and most dense/urban downtown in Virginia by far. The downtown gives you the impression that the city is much bigger than it really is. Norfolk might be able to compete if they continue to expand along the light rail and build up some of the other streets to match the density of Granby street. Also, moving some of the public housing to a different part of the city could potentially add additional buildings and businesses.
All of the posts denigrating Nova lead me to believe that many on here haven't been there in twenty years. Richmond's downtown wins this competition, are you kidding me?
Arlington COUNTY has a larger skyline, greater population and three times the density than the entire city of Richmond. It also has what.. four or five underground metro stops along the Orange Line corridor alone so you don't even need to use a car. The Orange Line corridor running through there is a definition of a well planned, modern, walkable community downtown. Add to that, and you can take another metro line down to Pentagon City or Crystal City (still in Arlington County) and ultimately down to NoVa's next candidate, Alexandria City (Old Town), which has 3 metro stops.
Old Town is about 70% of Richmond's total population, but again has a density over 3 times greater. While it is a traditional colonial port city with old rowhomes and businesses (think the Fan), it has undergone tremendous amount of high rise residential development over the last 15 years. Think of the downtown area as Charlottesville's Downtown Mall x5, with metro, amtrak and riverfront access.
So between Alexandria City and Arlington County, you already have two superior downtowns to anything Virginia offers. In addition to those large areas, you have several smaller areas with skylines that rival Richmond's already, and are only poised to grow their downtowns in the near future such as Reston, Tysons and Dunn Loring. Tysons, by the way, contains the second largest amount of office space on the East Coast behind only NYC. With the metro being completed next year (four stops), they have started building residential high rises to grow that aspect.
If you want quaint downtowns, there's always Falls Church City, Vienna or a multitude of others dotting the landscape.
After growing up in Central Virginia, I know that many of Virginia's residents not located in NoVa simply never have to travel there or think about it because it's deemed too much of a hectic hassle. I think the lack of contact has skewed overall perceptions and people in the rest of virginia (or RoVa as I like to call it) have no idea what the area is truly like. It should be really no surprise that so much is contained in such a small area when you consider a total population of 2.3 million people (twice Richmond's metro) and 130% of the VB metro areas.
GustavoFring, I think you're right that Northern VA isn't getting much credit here. It is a rapidly urbanizing place. BUT, Rosslyn is a pretty soulless place, IMO. And in terms of skyline, Richmond beats it in visual appeal, and it seems to have more office space (though I'd have to look at data to confirm).
I think Arlington County has had a tremendous amount of growth, and it's doing it the right way (especially in places that developed since Rosslyn - lessons learned, eh?). Clarendon is one of my favorite parts of Northern VA. But Clarendon and Ballston and Crystal City feel like emerging urban neighborhoods to me, not downtowns (and that's good, IMO).
Alexandria has one of my favorite downtown districts in the South. It's charming. But is it the "biggest" in VA?
We could come up with some measures to define what makes the "biggest" downtown. Is it:
Downtown population
Office space by square feet
Number of skyscrapers
Number of daytime office workers
All of the above summed and averaged?
You can get data on these topics from the Census, Emporis, City-data. I'd have fun putting a comparative table together, but I think you need someone who's more familiar with the local geography in each of the candidate cities to take a crack at defining what zip codes the downtown districts in each city include. I'd just be interested in seeing the outcome
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as I like to call it) have no idea what the area is truly like. It should be really no surprise that so much is contained in such a small area when you consider a total population of 2.3 million people (twice Richmond's metro) and 130% of the VB metro areas.
