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Richmond's density was skewed downward when the city annexed land in Chesterfield back in the 70s. As for how grimy it is, it once consistently had one of the worst homicide rates in the country, so don't think it can't get live. It's also undergone gentrification in recent years like many other cities, which means many formerly hood areas close to downtown, as well as Church Hill (which has been seemingly gentrifying house by house for the last couple decades) are now a lot safer than they once were.
Not "grimy," "gritty" lol...in terms of industrial-esque landscapes within the urban fabric.
This has nothing to do with the original question and I'll preface this by saying I'm moving to Raleigh shortly, but: it seems like Richmond is severely lacking in nightlife compared to Raleigh. And I'm only looking at Raleigh nightlife, not other areas in the Triangle. Just looking online, Downtown Raleigh blows Richmond out of the water in nightlife options. Am I wrong?
Richmond seems like an interesting place and as far as a city goes may be more up my alley, and I'll definitely take a day trip to check it out, but is it possibly even more family-friendly than Raleigh is? Or am I just looking at things the wrong way?
Umm...I don't know what you're reading, but RVA nightlife soars above for a city of its size. Maybe you need to visit. There are several distinct districts (Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom, Uptown/Main St, Carytown, Scott's Addition) that all have any number of bars, clubs, and nightlife options and of course there are also after-hours venues. Virginia law requires that places that sell alcohol serve food/have full service restaurants, so for the most part you won't find a lot of dive bars, but I appreciate that there is also some nice dance places, where many cities don't have that. It's no Philadelphia, but it does pretty good. More lounge/cafe-style live music is something I'd like to see more of, but there is certainly no "lack" of nightlife. It's surprising to even hear that. As for Raleigh, everything's far too vanilla for me to enjoy so much. I prefer other areas of the Triangle for that.
Exactly. North Carolina went Democratic for a gazillion years like the rest of the South, we had Democratic governors for a hundred years (or close to). The only difference, we had less "Dixiecrats" as opposed to the Deep South.
But you had really hardcore Republicans like Jesse Helms, that basically cancelled out any moderate Democrats.
North Carolina was progressive to a point, but in no way was it very different than most of its Southern peers.
And as far as density goes, Richmond is at 3,415 ppm and Atlanta is at 3,154 ppm--not much of a difference there. Of course, Richmond was fairly dense in its heyday but not so much now, although denser than many other Southern cities.
Um, no, there's a big difference. Atlanta's peak densities are pretty much centered around areas with high rises and such, while Richmond's peak densities are within actual residential or residential-commercial neighborhoods. On top of that, I believe I told you before, or you were part of a thread I mentioned in, that Richmond's ~3500 density is extremely misleading, because of the annexations of suburban Chesterfield. The fact that Richmond's density is less than it was pre-1970 isn't so much attributable to population loss, because Richmond is only about 33,000 off of its peak population. And yet it's peak city density was between 7-8k ppsm....
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see those two figures don't go together. Inner city Richmond is far denser than inner city Atlanta, and if not that, it definitely Atlanta when measuring urbanity. It's not really logical to compare densities with most other Southern cities, bevause Richmond is a unique case. And any tour through most Southern cities and Richmond reveals how much farther h
By this definition of "grit," areas like Auburn Avenue and Castleberry Hill in Atlanta would indeed qualify IMO, as well as other areas like parts of the West End and Edgewood. We'll see how long that lasts as those areas continue to see increased investment though.
Auburn Avenue has abandoned factories and rusting bridges and subway infrastructure? I'm not sure if you consider "grit" and "run down" to be in one in the same. When I say "grit," I'm talking an overall more post-industrial look. Richmond conveys that to a much greater extent than Atlanta does and that's why I agreed with Jay. While I may not put Richmond in the same category of urban post-industrial grit as North Philadelphia, I certainly wouldn't put it in the same category as Atlanta. Richmond has a more industrial look with significantly older buildings and housing stock: 33.7% of housing in Richmond was built before 1940.
Auburn Avenue has abandoned factories and rusting bridges and subway infrastructure? I'm not sure if you consider "grit" and "run down" to be in one in the same. When I say "grit," I'm talking an overall more post-industrial look. Richmond conveys that to a much greater extent than Atlanta does and that's why I agreed with Jay. While I may not put Richmond in the same category of urban post-industrial grit as North Philadelphia, I certainly wouldn't put it in the same category as Atlanta. Richmond has a more industrial look with significantly older buildings and housing stock: 33.7% of housing in Richmond was built before 1940.
Your definition of "grit" is obviously narrower than mine. Yes Richmond is more industrial in its core than Atlanta and pound-for-pound is grittier, but Atlanta isn't very far behind at all. Just as Richmond isn't in the Baltimore and Philly category when it comes to grit, Atlanta isn't in the Charlotte and Raleigh category for the lack thereof. Anyone who's traveled on MARTA from downtown to the airport would be able to see that.
The real question, how is Richmond so far ahead of Raleigh/Durham in votes? That'd be like saying Lexington, KY is more southern than Nashville, TN. So many people here on CD love making a big deal that most folks don't give a damn about any Confederate heritage in Richmond, so this is confusing me.
The Research Triangle is pretty low in terms of "southerness" if you place it next to the other metros in the former Confederate states, but TONS of people don't even place Richmond in the South!
Your definition of "grit" is obviously narrower than mine. Yes Richmond is more industrial in its core than Atlanta and pound-for-pound is grittier, but Atlanta isn't very far behind at all. Just as Richmond isn't in the Baltimore and Philly category when it comes to grit, Atlanta isn't in the Charlotte and Raleigh category for the lack thereof. Anyone who's traveled on MARTA from downtown to the airport would be able to see that.
Well, let's take a look. This is the percentage of housing stock built prior to 1940.
Atlanta is actually a good ways behind Richmond (if the age of the housing stock is any indication of "grittiness"). The area of Atlanta that feels "old" is small. It is more similar to Charlotte than it is to Richmond, which a development pattern that's closer to more industrial cities in the Lower Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic.
Atlanta is actually a good ways behind Richmond (if the age of the housing stock is any indication of "grittiness"). The area of Atlanta that feels "old" is small. It is more similar to Charlotte than it is to Richmond, which a development pattern that's closer to more industrial cities in the Lower Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic.
I don't really associate housing stock with "grit" though, and it wasn't one of the characteristics you mentioned earlier. Many of the gritty areas in Atlanta are mostly in industrial areas, with some of those old buildings converted to residential. They probably aren't included in your figures.
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