Series of meetings on Shockoe Bottom kicks off
Published: September 12, 2009
Shockoe Bottom residents, business owners and city officials met Saturday, a day after the city issued a request for proposals for an economic strategy to guide development and redevelopment in the neighborhood.
The project will be financed with $125,000 set aside by City Council this spring.
The meeting, held at The Old City Bar on East Main Street, was the first in a series of discussions on the Bottom's potential, its revitalization needs and its assets.
"We want to use this little bit of money to start having an honest conversation about what really works in this area," said City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson, whose 6th District includes the Bottom, calling it "the most precious land in the city of Richmond."
She challenged the approximately 60 in attendance to begin thinking about what Richmond lacked, and how the Bottom could fill those needs.
Among the suggestions to focus on were transit, pride and history, creating a sense of place, tourism, blighted buildings, pedestrian traffic and enforcement of ABC laws.
For more on the Shockoe Bottom meeting, see Sunday's Times-Dispatch.
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Reader Reactions
Shockoe Bottom is doing fine and doesn’t need to be revitalized. The central business district needs this attention. It would be far easier and cheaper to rehabilitate the CBD than to “fix” the Bottom. And for the millionth time, the Bottom is a flood zone!
Chesterfield and Henrico Counties already have everything we need for our residents, including the James River. Instead of trying to build things down there to get people to come visit, you should be addressing the needs of those that live there, or trying to attract others to move there to increase the tax base. From what I see, living in that area is quite expensive. I would suggest some middle class residential housing to attract families, but the schools in Richmond are so inferior to their County counterparts, that people with kids would not likely live there unless they can afford to send their kids to schools outside of the City (there goes the middle class theory)
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