Submitted by Charlesinrichmond t3_zwh674 in rva
STREAMOFCONSCIOUSN3S t1_j1uybet wrote
From the article you would think Richmond is stuck in the 1860's with a bunch of slave owners still. Jeesh. Is that really how big city people view us?
> Over the years, Richmond has drawn me back multiple times, each visit a deeper dive into Civil War history — with plenty of breaks for cramming in all the delicious food I can. On my most recent trip, as I scouted out museums, restaurants and historic neighborhoods, I was curious to feel the city’s pulse, to see how it was recovering.
GandhiOwnsYou t1_j1v00e1 wrote
Like it or not, yeah. Every smaller city gets pigeonholed with some stereotype, we got “burned down in the civil war.” Every time I see a Richmond article it’s always the same thing. I’m not saying there’s not an element of truth, but you’d think after 15 years of the same thing, people wouldn’t be playing the rebuilding/wrestling-with-the-past bullet points in every single article.
Charlesinrichmond OP t1_j1v0arm wrote
Modern journalism is all about phoning it in
goodsam2 t1_j1vl5ut wrote
Lack of budget these days to deal with harder hitting stories.
crankitup29 t1_j1vsm9h wrote
The NYT has a dang good budget
goodsam2 t1_j1vsz8x wrote
But the deep dives on some local issues. If they want to spend the money they can but their revenue is down by 2/3 since 2006 and the Richmond local papers aren't laying some ground work for them in the same way.
Available-Reward-912 t1_j1vablb wrote
So accurate.
loptopandbingo t1_j1vvl0t wrote
Every Times Dispatch article about NYC should start with "New York City, a haven for Loyalists fleeing the American colonies, was occupied by the British until the absolute very end of the Revolution and will forever be defined that way. It's really coming into its own now though."
pocketdare t1_j1wn477 wrote
Speaking of which, has Boston recovered from it's history of revolutionary zeal and anti-taxation propaganda activists?
darockerj t1_j1vjkqy wrote
Right? I realize every article needs an angle, but “how it was recovering?” The specters of the civil war and institutional racism loom over the city, but you’d think there were buildings still smouldering from 1865.
crankitup29 t1_j1vtii1 wrote
I wondered if the recovery was from covid? It was vague.
GandhiOwnsYou t1_j1w5gjc wrote
Recovery being vague is kind of the thing. Richmond is always viewed in a lens as “recovering” from something. Civil war, reconstruction, world wars, “economic troubles” of various varieties, our “troubled past.”
On the one hand, it’s good because we always seem to get a little bit of a pass. On the other, it’s really fucking condescending. “Aw, look at this little city, it’s so cute how they have these adorable cafes and microbreweries even though just yesterday they were a bunch of murder capital racist drug corridor confederates!” These articles read with the same good natured superiority as when you compliment a little kid for being dad’s big helper working on the deck.
TheCheeseDevil t1_j1uytxb wrote
until very recently I couldnt walk the dog without running into folks waving confederate flags and trying to goad me into arguments, it definitely flavored the environment
DefaultSubsAreTerrib t1_j1vc98r wrote
Until about two weeks ago there was a Confederate monument down the street from me. Until about two years ago there was a street named Confederate Ave just a few blocks from me.
dsbtc t1_j1vneb5 wrote
New York is an incredibly myopic city, some lifelong citizens there view it like Europeans view their capital cities, as the lens through which the rest of the world is to be viewed.
Which is weird to me because NYC is an extreme outlier as far as American cities go. It's like 10 cities mushed together.
pocketdare t1_j1wnebl wrote
I lived in NYC for 15 years before moving to Richmond 2 months ago. I've asked many people there where they would like to retire or which city they would prefer moving to if they could move anywhere and often I get a look like I have two heads. Why would you live anywhere other than New York?
Rs90 t1_j1wjj3n wrote
With 10 cities worth of garbage dumped on top to blow around in the wind.
freetimerva t1_j1vlttj wrote
I grew up with confederate flags in the christmas parade.
I_AM_RVA t1_j1x0vrx wrote
Yeah from the article you would think that the City has a bunch of massive statues commemorating slave owners and treasonous seditionists but I mean come on we haven’t had that for like at least three weeks.
ShuRugal t1_j1x9kek wrote
>Is that really how big city people view us?
I hope so. It's probably the only reason we aren't already NOVA.
Ok-Owl6515 t1_j1vbpd2 wrote
Those damn Yankees failed at Reconstruction!
jodyhighrola t1_j1zevkf wrote
>Is that really how big city people view us?
Tbh, Richmond is not even on the radar of most Americans. I talk to people from all over the country in big cities (through work), and most raise their eyebrows when I say I live here and not Austin, NYC, DC, Denver, Bay Area etc. I get the "what's it like there?" question often. The most common thing people say is "I have heard it's beautiful out there". My hometown in the Midwest can't even find Virginia on a map.
Exception being people who have visited UR for campus tours etc. That school draws fancy folk from all over it seems.
wereworfl t1_j1zjr1r wrote
You know, we were a crime capital 15 years ago
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