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.