Why You Should Get Married in Richmond.

Virginia is for Lovers. Us Richmonders know and love the phrase. But how much is Richmond itself for lovers? Well, I'm here to tell you that it is certainly the 'heart' of Virginia.

As a local DJ, I have had my share of experiences witnessing love at it's best. I am here to tell you about the best places in downtown Richmond to walk down the aisle, celebrate your marriage with friends and family, and a few unique vendors to add to your special day. With all the history and art culture here in downtown Richmond, there is a little something for everyone, in all three categories.

First up, Best Places for Ceremonies:

St. John's Episcopal Church in Church Hill is perhaps on Richmond's most iconic churches and most historical landmarks. As many know, it is here where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Liberty or Death" speech that sparked the Revolution in Virginia. Something old, right?

Monumental Church. Is one of Richmond most gorgeous churches as it was designed in traditional Greek Rival architecture by Thomas Jefferson's only pupil, Robert Mills. It is a beautiful octagonal shaped building and is non-denominational, so you can bring an officiant of your choosing.

Church Hill Lookout. Perhaps one of the most majestic views of our city's skyline is seen just west of 22nd Street on Grace Street. What used to be home to the WRVA radio station, the overlook from Church Hill is a magnificent place for a ceremony.








Riverfront Plaza. This place may be a bit of a surprise to some of you, but they have a secret courtyard behind the two buildings with a beautiful gazebo. Great place for a ceremony with an urban feel.

St Paul's Episcopal Church at Capitol Square is the church for the true Southerner. It is the church that both Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee attended during the Civil War. It also is a quick walk to the Capitol steps for gorgeous pictures in front of Thomas Jefferson's beautifully designed building.

Next up, Best Places for Receptions:

Tredegar Iron Works. This is by far one of Richmond's most well-kept landmarks to it's industrial past. For those who love history and views of the river, this is  a great place to throw down with friends and family.

Brown's Island. For a place that is already home to many festivals year round, it is no stranger to parties. Why not make your wedding a private festival of your own? This place is perfect for those looking for a ceremony and reception combo. With views of the skyline and the river, the scenery is never ending. You will want to contact Venture Richmond to work out these details.

Main Street Station. For those who love taking a trip through time, or just on a train, this should be your last stop before departing for your honeymoon. And it's in the heart of Shockoe, just in case your bridal party isn't done after the reception.





Center Stage. The newly renovated Carpenter Theater is a Richmond masterpiece. The Rhythm Hall at Center Stage and it's staff is ready for your swanky wedding reception, especially if you are looking to make it a theatrical one.

Jefferson Hotel. There is no hotel in Richmond that is more iconic than the one that bares our third president's name. It's one of the East Coast's few five star hotels, it is conveniently located, and your guests will have a place to stay right upstairs after the you toss the bouquet.

Being a wedding DJ, I have had the joy of entertaining in some of these spaces. Rockin' music and a bow tie since 2003, I like to bring a certain Richmond charm to the weddings I entertain. For me, it's all about adhering to Southern elegance all while rocking the house like your alma mater just won the National Championship game in Football. This brings me to my spitfire list of unique vendors that can bring a little taste of Richmond to your wedding, other than it taking place here. Instead of a wedding cake, switch it up with a tasty treat from Pearl's Cupcakes, you won't regret it. Mosaic Catering and Events, they are foodies just like the rest of us here in Richmond and they not only have food, but also offer decor for your fancy shindig. Richmond was the first city in America to rock the street car; why not ask Richmond Trolley Company to give you and your bridal party a lift from say, Monumental Church to Main Street Station.

There is so much Richmond has to offer 'lovers' looking for a place to tie the knot and there is more than what is just listed here. For more ideas, follow DJ mFace on social media. Thank you for reading!

Three Districts, One City

When traveling across the country, you start to pick up on development trends that work. You begin to realize that visitors flock to certain things and locals flock to other things. One thing I noticed greatly is that these three places are generally different. Locals want a place that isn't too busy, but provides all the accommodations they need like shopping, housing, and dining, all in the same neighborhood. Maybe the younger folks want a small neighborhood they can walk from bar to bar in a residential neighborhood. On the other side, visitors tend to flock to a downtown riverfront where they can venture from restaurant to restaurant, shop to shop, while having the opportunity to get some entertainment in the evening. All of this is done in many cities that I have visited in the past year and half, but none better than Kansas City which has an established downtown entertainment district, a midtown bar scene for locals, and a midtown shopping district, we could learn a lot from them.

First, before we jump right in, I think it's important to note the demographics of Richmond and Kansas City, based solely on population. The City of Richmond by itself has a land area of 54 square miles, which is tiny compared to many cities. However, if you add the county of Henrico, that levels the playing field to 307 square miles with a combined population of 531,000 people. Comparatively, the City of Kansas City is 319 square miles with population of 467,000 people. This brings me to my first comparison.

Kansas City has a focused downtown entertainment destination with the Power & Light District located immediately adjacent to their convention center, their indoor arena (built with the Power & Light), and downtown offices. Within the Kansas City Power & Light District there are several restaurants, shops, a grocery store, a couple theaters, and a rooftop swimming pool. Before 2007, this area was nothing but parking lots. Now the area is expanding by adding high rise apartments, more shops, and more restaurants. When Kansas City hired the Cordish Companies to develop this area, they had a vision to revitalize downtown in such a way to entertain out-of-town guests and give downtown employees a place to unwind. They accomplished this mission with a very vibrant and very busy entertainment district. You may have seen pictures from the KC Live! Block during the World Cup:

This is what Shockoe could be on so many levels. Just imagine this on 17th Street in 4 years (except with the existing restaurants we already have and the pedestrian mall) and how much business it would bring to all the existing restaurants and potential shops in Shockoe. Shockoe could be the place hotels point their guests when they are asking for a place to go. It could be THE place for festivals, sports, sports bars, fun restaurants, fine dining, museums, attractions, canal cruises, guided tours, trolleys, segways, and more. Even Kansas City couldn't offer all these amenities, but we can, if we focus all these ideas in one place. Unfortunately, many West End and Southside residents don't care about tourism and don't care to see Shockoe become this kind of place. Well, this is why we elect leaders to see the big picture for us.

Moving just a few minutes outside of Downtown Kansas City, you come across Westport, which is a lot like the Fan. It is a small little area densely populated with bars and restaurants, and nearby apartments. It also has a little bit of shopping. For the idea of offering young locals a small bar scene, Richmond has this covered in the Fan. In fact, I really couldn't find a better place in other cities that could really compete with the Fan in terms of assortment or abundance of concepts. So, we have that going for us. The Fan is the perfect quiet neighborhood for those who want to escape the traditional downtown scene of tourists. And if you don't think the Fan is quiet, go to New York City's Midtown, your opinion will change.

The next thing Kansas City has is Country Club Plaza which is like a urban shopping and residential neighborhood as seen below:

It's like a blend of Carytown and Short Pump, all inside the City. What our city doesn't have and needs, in order to grow and bring in more taxes to pay for education and mass transit, we need a dense shopping neighborhood inside the City limits that can compete with Short Pump, Willow Lawn, Virginia Center Commons, White Oak, and other Henrico shopping centers. Sure, we have Carytown, but it's not enough to compete, nor does it offer anything that is in Henrico. The Boulevard could be this new shopping district for the West End, Northside, The Fan, and Downtown. However, it could be built as it's own town center with high rise condominiums, stacked retail, ground-level boutique shops, some fine dining, a bridge to the existing Bow-Tie Cinemas, and more. At the same time, you could make Carytown a pedestrian mall and create a shuttle service to and from Midtown Boulevard.

The makes everything west of Downtown a great place for locals and everything downtown and east, a great place for entertainment and tourism. Kansas City focuses their districts in such a way as to maximize each neighborhoods potential. In Richmond, we are all spread out and it's unorganized. We also are very limited on space, so we have to do as much as possible with what we already have.

Some folks say Shockoe doesn't have to be an entertainment district or that it doesn't need a stadium to be one. Well, that just not logical. Richmond needs a downtown location near the high rise offices, near the river, near the hotels, and a place already populated with restaurants. We just need to build on this in such a way as to make it more attractive by renovating the Farmer's Market and the Train Shed, by connecting Rockett's Landing to Brown's Island with the Riverfront plan, and by bringing people to Shockoe with attractions like the Edgar Allen Poe Museum, the Slavery and Freedom Heritage Site, the Virginia Holocaust Museum, the Riverfront Canal Cruises, The Richmond Trolley Tours, and the RVA Segway tours. All these things will bring small numbers of people to the area at different times. Two things will bring large amounts of people at one time, festivals in the Farmer's Market and sports in Shockoe Stadium. These large crowds, as it does in every other city that have similar concepts, will trickle to the other attractions, as well as the existing restaurants and potential retail shops (which we need desperately in Shockoe).

Visitors are simple. They want a place they can point to on a map, see that it has a lot to offer, park their car at their hotel, then walk the streets to find something to do. Shockoe is the most logical place to direct visitors with its existing hotels and restaurants. We just have to make it the vibrant neighborhood that it can potentially be by bringing in as much to do as possible. If there is a concert, sporting event, or festival, at least 5 nights a week, year-round, in Shockoe, than it has become Richmond's entertainment district, because that's what entertainment districts do. And this is what we need to offer both our visitors and our residents.

Shockoe already has a great reputation for festivals with Shockoe Fest, the Bacon Festival, Shockoe on the Half Shell, the Brunswick Stew Festival, and more. It already has many great restaurants with the Tobacco Company, Sam Miller's, Sine Irish Pub, Southern Railway Taphouse, Haxall Point, Casa Del Barco, Halligan's, Havana 59, Rosie Connolly's, On the Rox, Margarita's Cantina, Station 2, and so many more. It has the Riverfront Canal Cruises, the Ghost Tours, the Segway Tours, the Richmond Trolley Tours, and moer. The sad thing is, none of these restaurants or tours are "tourist-destination" busy unless there is a festival in Shockoe. So how do you fix that issue? Make Shockoe a festival all the time!

Shockoe can be a place for tourists and visitors, the Fan and the Boulevard can be (slash already is) a place for locals. This is how we must focus our city plan moving forward.

UPDATE:

When I visited Kansas City in July of 2013, I got a lot of insight from the civic leaders and from the Cordish Companies who developed the Power & Light District. It may be important to go into detail of what encompasses the Power & Light District, especially after a few comments I have received. The Power & Light District does in fact include a 20,000 person arena known as the Sprint Center which is often used for basketball tournaments like the NCAA Tournament in March. It is also used for concerts and other events. It is most certainly a economic driver for the Power & Light District as it bring people to the area, then those people have something to do before and after events in the Sprint Center. Sure, some can argue that the Major League sports facilities are in the suburbs, but they provide no economic impact to the surrounding neighborhoods as they are stand-alone facilities that are not built in an entertainment district. Below is a map of the Power & Light District as well as a few pictures I took while I was in Kansas City.

Click on the map to see the legend.

KC Live! Block before opening. Think 17th Street! 

Power & Light model. 

Sprint Center is the cornerstone of the revitalization and renaissance of 

downtown Kansas City

In addition to the arena, the area features condominiums, restaurants, themed bars, movie and live entertainment theaters and mixed retail. Sprint Center is listed among the finest arenas in the country and has become Kansas City’s home for basketball, hockey, concerts, family shows and special events. A public / private partnership between the City of Kansas City and AEG, the $276 million Sprint Center has helped change the face of downtown Kansas City and will be the destination place for sports and live entertainment for many years to come.

Since Opening on Oct. 10, 2007, Sprint Center has exceeded all expectations having hosted more than 750 events and 7 million guests. Having exceeded attendance and financial projections in each year since opening in 2007, AEG/Sprint Center has provided nearly $9.3 million in unanticipated revenue to the City of Kansas City, Mo. through a revenue sharing provision in the arena management agreement.

Anchor to more than $6 billion of reinvestment in a revitalized downtown Kansas City, Mo., Sprint Center is a unique public/private partnership between the city of Kansas City and AEG.

Ariel Shot of the Power & Light from the Cordish offices.

Rooftop park on top of a parking deck.

Rooftop pool on top of a grocery store. 

Typical Thursday night in the Power & Light.

As you can see, the Power & Light District in Kansas City has a lot to offer visitors and residents. Kansas City spent $276 million on an arena that is the anchor to an entertainment district that brings millions of dollars in revenue annually, and we are crying about $79 million? It's an investment we need to make. Shockoe could offer a lot of the same amenities that are offered in the Power & Light District, if not more if we execute on bringing a sporting facility to the neighborhood that can be a venue for not only sports, but also other events as well. It would bring thousands of people to Shockoe on a regular basis and create a vibrancy that would domino into attracting more businesses, more festivals, and more tourists. This is the Shockoe that we need to strive to build!

Comparing Richmond: London, Barcelona, and Athens

I recently made my first trip outside of the country to Europe. The main reason I made the voyage was to witness the marriage of my best friend, Danny O'Hanley, to his now wife, Lena, on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini. Secondary to that, I wanted to learn more about European culture. Before arriving in Santorini, I visited London, Barcelona, and Athens. It was in all four destinations that I learned so much and gained knowledge of so many great European ideas.

As I entered the Richmond International Airport on Monday, May 12th, I was very excited for the voyage to come. After a fun layover in Philadelphia, I was off to London. After seven hours with US Airways (now 11:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 13th), I was in London. Another hour, and I was through Customs, where I then found the London Underground, aka "The Tube". I took The Tube from Heathrow to Chelsea where I was staying with family that evening. After dropping my backs off, I headed to the Borough of Richmond. It was here that I found the view of the Thames River that is similar to the view of the James River from Libby Hill.

View of the Thames River from Richmond Hill.

On my way to find this view, I passed by many historic buildings with apartments, retail, and restaurants. There were quite a few options in the Borough of Richmond. After taking the picture above, I checked the Roebuck Pub which was located immediately behind me. I enjoyed some fine British beers, not chilled of course, and the Roebuck's hamburger. I was informed that I could enjoy the view of the Thames more by taking my pint with me, so I did. I quickly learned that Europeans love to enjoy themselves and don't make laws that keep people from doing so. Needless to say, I took advantage of this liberal European mindset quite often. 

It was short trip in London (just about 18 hours), so unfortunately I only had time to check out the view that named our city. The next morning, I took the Gatwick Express to the Gatwick Airport, where I boarded my Vueling flight to Barcelona. 

Upon arrival to the Barcelona Airport on Wednesday, May 14th, I hailed a taxi and made my way to meet up with Danny and Lena, who were there studying at the IESE Business School (they graduated that Friday). After taking me up to his apartment to drop my bags off, Danny took me on a hike up to the most amazing view of the city from Parc Guell. 

View of Barcelona from Parc Guell.

It was here that he oriented me with the city of Barcelona. Barcelona has a metro system, has a universal taxi system, bike and pedestrian lanes of travel (more than just sidewalks) adjacent to major avenues (sometimes in the middle of them, like a median), there were many pedestrian malls with restaurants that featured al fresca dining and excellent shopping options (Las Rambas was one of the most popular), the Mediterranean Sea front had an amazing beach with beachfront bars that served you on the beach, the nightlife was an all-night affair with most clubs opening at 11pm and staying open until sunrise (the most popular drink was Gin & Tonic), and so many more things were learned in Barcelona. 

The first night (Wednesday), after adventures to Parc Guell, we went had Sirloin Steak burgers from Nello's Bar, then drinks at a place called Dow Jones. Yes, like the stock market. What made this place unique was their way of setting the prices for all the drinks. Every hour they changed based on the supply and demand from the previous hour. So, if everyone is buying a lot of one drink, the price of that drink goes up, if no one is buying something, that price goes down or is unchanged. Pretty cool concept. Budweiser was pretty cheap. 

On Thursday, we went to the beach to enjoy some great burgers at Makamaka Beach Burger Cafe accompanied by Bloody Mary's in a can. Good stuff. Then we hit the beach which I quickly discovered was a topless beach. I'm not going to elaborate on that. There are some pretty funny stories I have from this day at the beach, they involve mojitos and awkward massages. After our day at the beach, we all went to the Placa d'Espayna to check out the Magic Fountain, then to the Alaire Terrace Bar where we enjoyed some great tapas. After that, we went to the clubs where I was somewhat shocked to find them playing only American music. I also found it interesting that more people actually go to the clubs, unlike here, where most people go to bars. Again, people like to have a good time in Europe. 

The final day (Friday), before flying to Athens (on Saturday morning), the best men and the groom went on a little shopping excursion, then had some excellent Spanish pizza from Pizza Que?. After that, I went on a downhill run to Las Rambas, took the metro back where I then had to quickly get ready for Danny and Lena's graduation. The best part of this graduation was the speech by the class Vice President. After his introduction, he mentioned he was going to highlight a few things from his experiences in school, but interrupted by saying, "but first, let me take a selfie", where he then turned his back to the audience and proceeded in taking a selfie. Perhaps one of the most hilarious things I witnessed. After graduation festivities, which included a cocktail reception and four course meal, we went back out to the clubs to meet up with some of Danny and Lena's classmates. It was a very surreal experience and I very much so enjoyed meeting such great people. 

The next morning, after about 2 hours of sleep, we boarded our plane for Athens. Once we landed in Athens, we took a Taxi to our hotel, which wasn't that great (I booked everything in March, and Athens was on a budget). Our first impression of Athens wasn't all that great, but that quickly changed.

Athens has a world-class Metro system that was basically free (they don't enforce the tickets), wonderful little restaurant, art, and shopping districts that surrounded the Acropolis, the entertainment district of Gazi which was a mere 10 minute walk from the Acropolis or a quick ride on the Metro, and then there was the suburban district of Glyfada which took a trip via the Tram. Oh and then the food. So amazing. I'll never eat a Gyro in the US again. 

Here are a few pictures from Athens:

Tram to Glyfada. 

One of the many Pedestrian Malls near the Acropolis.

Club called Why Sleep? in Gazi.

A few things to know about Athens: Everything is fairly cheap in price, but excellent in quality (except for the one hotel I stayed in the first night), you can walk every where with alcohol (this is pretty much all of Europe), make sure you have cash before you land (the ATMs don't work for American credit cards and most restaurants only accept cash), they don't keep regular business hours, and there is a lot of history (obviously). I could probably go on and on about Athens, but I should probably move on.

The culmination of our trip was on the Greek island of Santorini, also known as Thira. After landing that Sunday evening at the Airport, I was greeted by a man holding a sign with our name on it. He then took us, compliments of our hotel, to the Aigialos Resort. This is the view we were greeted with upon arrival:

The Aigialos Resort in the town of Fira.

From here on out, I quickly realized that the people of Santorini make Southern Hospitality look like a joke. That night, we had dinner at the Argos Restaurant. After finishing a bit of my food, I had ventured off to step out for a smoke. Before I could make my way for the stairs, the manager, Constantinos, stopped and asked that I remain inside, where he then scurried off to bring me a drink. He quickly came back with a shot of Mastica from the island of Hios. He informed me that I should sip the Mastica (and it was one of the most amazing drinks I have ever had). I quickly thanked him for his generosity and offered him an American cigarette from the city of Richmond, Virginia. Constantinos and I quickly became friends. I asked for a place to take the groom the next day and he had mentioned a place near the small town of Kamari. We had to go up a mountain on a switchback road, and just before the top, we needed to take a path which would lead us to a cave. The next day (Danny and Lena's wedding day), this is what we found: 

After adventures on the island, we had to go put our suits on. With the private nature of the wedding, I will not share too much, but I will say as someone that has attended and entertained countless weddings, it was the most intimate and beautiful thing I have ever witnessed. Congrats to my friends Danny and Lena O'Hanley!

The next day, I went on a solo adventure where I explored the towns of Perissa, Fira (the capitol of Santorini), and Oio, where I found more shops, restaurants, and beaches. Below are pictures from the town of Kamari where I found quite a wonderful boardwalk and Black Sand beaches: 

The next day, I flew back to Athens, had a layover in Istanbul, then back to the States via Dulles International Airport. The journey I had just completed was one that I will remember forever. I must thank Danny and Lena for the honor of having me be apart of two great and important milestones in their lives. It truly was an honor and I learned so much in the process. 

For more information or pictures, feel free to hit me up on Twitter @MatthewBDavey or shoot me an email at mdavey@historicshockoe.org. Thank you for reading! 

Moving Richmond forward with Tourism!

When I traveled to sixteen cities last July, I was on a mission. My goal was to find some great entertainment districts that possessed a thriving tourism industry. Every city I went to had an entertainment district adjacent to their downtown, was along their riverfront, and was heavily populated with restaurants and attractions, often times including a sporting facility. 

When I think about what district describes that best in our city, I think Shockoe.

Now before we dive into this whole discussion, we must first look at the big picture. The city of Richmond only has but so much land it can develop. Unfortunately, we cannot annex eastern Henrico, so we have to make due with what we have. 

Our land area is extremely small in comparison to the cities with which we aim to compete. As we move forward, we have to develop our land areas as densely as possible while creating the most revenue, attracting companies to move here, and fight to alleviate poverty with the revenue created to fund schools, transportation, and public safety. We must do what is best for our city now, by developing our city the best way possible, by creating the best and most possible sources of revenue, and get people shopping and visiting in our City. 

Economically, we have to think about our city's demands.

Right now, it needs a flourishing entertainment district and a tax-generating retail district. We must first develop Shockoe in such a way that tourism can thrive and create new opportunities. Should the city purchase a municipal bond to pay for flood mitigation and a stadium, that flood mitigation and stadium attracts development. 

Keep that point in mind, developers see the stadium as an attraction around which they would like to invest their money. That development is then taxed, which in turn pays off the municipal bond. 

It is the same concept as a small business receiving a loan and then that small business paying off that loan with the returns that invested loan created. Needless to say, this plan pays for itself. This plan establishes Shockoe as Richmond's entertainment district, a district which could in turn see growth in the tourism industry. 

With the stadium in Shockoe, that leaves 60 acres of land on the Boulevard available for retail development. Developing the Boulevard with retail fosters competition with the counties (probably why they don't support a stadium in Shockoe) and gives the city tax revenue that the counties right now have to spend on their schools, their roads, and their public safety. 

Leaving the Stadium on the Boulevard means there is not 60 acres for development, it means Shockoe gets left the way it is because developers no longer have the attraction they want to develop around, and then businesses will close down because they will finally lose their hope for a revitalized Shockoe. Furthermore, the fabled idea of developing Shockoe as a Jamestown-like tourist destination in a city of our size does not create the revenue or development we need. Shockoe is also not big enough for the type of retail development that could go on the Boulevard. 

I'll elaborate on that later.

There is a demand for retail in our city and there are retail businesses that want a place to open up shop in the city to tap into that demand. For those of us that live in the city, we must often travel to the counties to shop for basic needs. 

For instance, when it's time to do my Christmas shopping, I make the dreaded trek to Short Pump because it has the best and most options. The city needs something that competes with Short Pump's retail. Desperately!

Developing the Boulevard without retail would not create the revenue our City needs nor does it fill our demand for shopping. Trying to develop retail around the Diamond does not create enough revenue that our City needs and again leaves Shockoe behind. Basically, the two ideas go hand in hand.

Back to Shockoe. With a stadium and it's accompanying development, the area becomes more valuable for future development and businesses. Storefronts that are currently empty will see more businesses move in. All of these businesses would then have to pay taxes, in turn growing the tax revenue of the city even more, revenue that could also be spent on new schools and light rail. 

More family-friendly restaurants will move in to replace the select few failing nightclubs that aren't even open during daytime festivals. The over exaggerated stigma about crime in Shockoe will be replaced with an excitingly safe environment because the dark parking lots will be replaced with a Stadium, Kroger, Hyatt, and apartments. 

All of sudden, because of this new boom in business growth, you see companies moving in who want to conduct family friendly tours of the area, ideas like year-round carriage rides and walking tours, ideas that you might see in cities like Charleston or Savannah. The story of Shockoe's history could be told to a newly excited visitor. With the Slavery and Freedom Museum and Heritage Site, the story of Shockoe's dark past and bright future can be told. At two other museums, the stories of Edgar Allen Poe and Virginia's Holocaust survivors are already being told. Another museum could open up to highlight the contributions of William Byrd (the founder of Richmond) and William Mayo (who laid out Richmond's original street grid in Shockoe). 

Then, you could start connecting with attractions in Church Hill and Capitol Hill. All of this would make the Canal Walk and Riverfront more valuable. You could then see hotels and restaurants popping up along the Canal and a riverfront trail from Rockett's Landing to Brown's Island. You could see major improvements to Chapel Island. You could see an Arena go in the old Fulton Gas Works, which would then entice development to connect Tobacco Row with Rockett's Landing. The Coliseum could then be sold to a BioTech company. City Stadium could be turned into mixed-use residential. So on and so forth. 

By doing all of this, Shockoe becomes Richmond's place for fun and tourism.

You see, the master plan of Richmond should not be viewed as each project individually, you have to think about multiple individual projects working together to better our city. The real question here is, are you for or against a vibrant downtown? Our motto moving forward should be this: Protect History and Promote Progress!