I can tell you specifically the effects it’s having and why that’s worthy of my dislike. It’s gentrifying Richmond at a rate that means people who don’t make a Nova salary and aren’t real estate investors are already priced out of buying property, and pretty much out of renting too. It means that historically black and low income neighborhoods are being whitewashed and long time residents can’t afford to pay their property taxes or skyrocketing rents and are pushed further and further to the periphery, where they don’t have access to services and things like grocery stores (look up food deserts in Richmond… it’s a massive problem). So unless you have a WFH job that’s paying a rate intended for a place with a much higher cost of living, Richmonders either can’t reach even the bottom rung of the property ladder or are being pushed off wherever they were.

Also the traffic. 10 years ago you could go anywhere in the city in 15 minutes. Now you spend 30 minutes trying to get through 3 stoplights on Belvidere or Broad.

This really depends on if you’re looking for Celiac friendly level of gluten free or just some no-wheat based menu options. Plenty of places here have non dairy, gf, veggie or vegan options, or they will accommodate you if you just ask. But as most places in the city have relatively tiny kitchens, very few are truly able to eliminate cross contamination fully.

Not sure if they’re still doing it, but VCU’s film program used to put on a Cinémathèque like once a month or once a week in the Grace St Theatre that was free and open to the public