Developments galore

Whats the source of this? Or is someone yanking our chain?

I could be totally wrong, but perhaps the original post was done tongue-in-cheek. However, if the post is serious and true, I would hope the residents of Westover Hills would have more support from their council member than Springhill and Woodland Heights did.

Yeah, I’m gonna cut somebody if they take away China’s Best.

Hey – there’s a SNF under my bed…

Well SNF, your arguments against the development at Riverside might have been more effective if you hadn’t had the company of the elderly, trolley car remembering, segregative, confused, hopeless, malcontented, gonna be, could have been, should have been, will be, might be, kinda naysayer with no concrete analysis and “Boy! Do I Long For The Old Days” misfits steamrolling your arguments with their absurd notions of equality and fairness.

Remember that second developer spokesman? That’s the big gun. The James Baker of development. The first guy was the Technocrat. The numbers guy. Not too bright when faced with reality. Loves statistics yet never considers the fact that statistics lie and liars use statistics. Beat the second guy over the head (proverbially, of course) with the outright economic insanity of allowing street access to apartments in that area, the sheer economic ineptitude of attempting a high density development a block from where any drug of pleasure can be had and you’d have won. Aim a .22 caliber slug of logic at his cranium (proverbially, of course) and you’d have prevailed.

Yet you and your kind see things in “feelings” and “will be” and “gonna be” and couch reality in floral, political politeness.

The real world will slap these morons in their face soon enough, I am truly sorry though, that you have to be so close to the development as to realize that your own perspective and inhibitions are the root cause of your predicament. Amelia’s nice. So’s Powhatan. Glad you could visit Richmond, but it appears you’ve been in denial for as long as you’ve been here. So sorry.

Thanks for playing though. You tried.

I’ll be sure to add your name to the list of others who have tried as well.

So that’s why you feel the need to create the myth of false “development” so as to assuage your fear. Pity that reality interfered with an easy fact check of the real estate holdings that are publicly listed on these handy interwebs.

Good luck to you SNF. I’d be so sad to be you. Good bye.

Actually, SNF, you are the one projecting here. To spread lies in a website, despite whatever valiant effort you might have in mind, doesn’t create much credibility for you and as your neighbor, I’d be wary of anything you had to say about developments or anything else for that matter.

Pop, I fully co-sign with your perspective. I feel exactly the same way. The reason why Richmond is so damn far behind the times when it comes to development it BECAUSE of these people who oppose projects based on how things “used to be” and speak in terms in “feelings” and “what ifs”.

I’ve noticed that many residents here do not adequqtely research an issue. they just listen to a “sound bite” and base their opinion solely on that sound bite. Which apparently has been happening for quite some time, hence, why Richmond is slow to become a truly progressive city with world-class amenities.

If you wanna get an idea of how Richmond can mesh the old with the new, look at the City of Alexandria. In my opinion, they did a good job of mixing old historic districts with new “glass and steel” development. I also like how they have low-income housing mixed in with middle & upper income housing. And I F’n love it!!! Geez, when will Richmond _fully_ get on the ball?

Marty Jewel could not even PRETEND to be interested in what his white constituents had to say. Marty is the only council person who gets up and walks out of the room during public comments, he’s the only council person to completely and overtly ignore his constituents. I have had the opportunity to talk to several city council members and school board members casually and when Marty Jewel’s name comes up (as it often does in disgust) their comments, eye rolling, head shaking and sighing all indicate that they think that MARTY JEWEL IS A TOTAL JOKE. They feel that his presence and verbal diaharea are a hinderence to council proceedings. Basically he’s THAT guy….and they want to know what the hell the 5th district was thinking when they voted him in. Marty is not regarded with respect in his own circle, and neither is the 5th district for voting him in.

Marty Jewel is corrupt, inept and racist. He is motivated by money and his anti-white beliefs. His goal is to advance his PERSONAL AGENDA, not serve the public.

Wow, some of you here have really missed the point by your neighbors who opposed this project. Were you just listening to sound bites? It seems to me that some of you are having a knee jerk sort of reaction to our opposition without being fully informed. Pop’s point of view is dripping with its own bias.
We do not oppose development! In fact most of us favored a high rise that would have taken full advantage of the views offered by the site.
We opposed this development because was not a good fit for the parcel, any more than a similarly sized development with the same problems would fit in Westover Hills. Yes, I cried wolf to get your attention and to dislodge you from your complacency. I apologize if I offend your sense of fair play and decorum. But real estate speculation is about neither of those virtues.
Not all development is good or appropriate…6th Street Marketplace anyone?

Hills and Heights and Patrick Henry Charter and Lies, Damned Lies
You’re going to have to switch to a smaller font pretty soon.

Well, when I want fake news, I go to The Onion. Let’s try to keep it real here, k??????

A couple of thoughts from across the river:

I spoke up against the Croslands project when it was a high rise tower. For environmental and historic preservation reasons, I am against any proposed high rises west of the Lee Bridge along the James River area (and yes, “high rise” may sound too vague, but I hope you can recongize the intent of my position).

That said, I am not against density, especially so close to downtown, and I like the idea of mixed use residential and small business. So I can’t say I was totally opposed to the Crosland proposal. And although it may have been a ruse, I could see some benefits to adding a floor or two to the shop buildings west of CVS. I would love to see an expanded Stories, my wife and I go there all the time.

However I do understand other concerns of Spring Hill residents. Believe me, we have seen and continue to see a lot of crazy things near VCU (and by VCU). The developers love to try to divide and conquer. So I spoke at Council to get the SUP delayed and give residents more time to organize, for what its worth.

I encourage residents to challenge and hold the developers on every point and then some. Make them transplant trees instead of cutting them. Make them do whatever you can to IMPROVE the neighborhood, no matter what you think of their shiny new building. Hold them accountable for everything. Its your duty as citizens.

Regardless of Croslands, I can assure you that many of your neighbors to the north share your disappointment with our COuncilperson, Marty Jewell. When he’s not part of City Council’s ‘Leave No Developer Behind Act’, he’s riding the Mayor’s coat-tails into the muck, at the expense of citizens. I will be posting more on this later.

I look forward to more conversation on here and between different parts of the district. The north/south divide needs to be bridged.

Depends on the two candidates. I suspect, at least among the Southside portion of the 5th, everyone who’s not already a Jewell supporter is going to tilt towards Shewmake. Barring a bombshell, I don’t see Mark Brandon playing a big part.

I must reply to “gruntled” and his assertions in the previous post: I live north of the river and can also attest to our current Councilperson’s ineptitude. Jewell has voted against his constituents (north and south of the James) whenever we needed his support and representation. He must go. I must say though on behalf of Mark Brandon, he has never left the scene. His activism as a member of the Sierra Club speaks well of his character as does his work at Maymont. The reason some developers (and there are some good developers, although seemingly rare) support Brandon is that through the Your Friends Uptown Association, he has been part of the momentum of the rebirth of Cary St (led by developer Ed Eck). Ride down Cary and note the improvements. Im sure Ms Shewmake is also an excellent candidate and I am anxious to hear her views. The logical thing to do is to have all three candidates engage in a dialogue, answering questions from all fifth district residents, and then all good citizens make their decision based on what they hear. No one is dropping out (although if anyone should, it is Jewell!). This is a complicated district with many complex needs. May the best person win!

Brandon won Woodland Heights last time he ran against Jewell and with pretty strong northside support still only came up with about 43% of the overall vote, losing to Jewell. It will take a concerted effort to unseat the incumbent. Unfortunately, along with voter support, campaign dollars will affect viability. It takes close to 20 grand or more to run a competitive race for city council in this district. Of course, I think Brandon will get a lot more support this election from the north of the river voters and I understand he is doing pretty well in contributions. You can google a candidate’s name and “VPAP” to look at donor history.

http://www.oregonhill.net/2008/06/25/re-zoning-and-the-disappointing-marty-jewell/