Richmond’s geography and the fact that it’s an independent city surrounded by counties that aren’t particularly interested in regional planning sort of limit it’s growth potential. There just isn’t a lot of land in the city compared to, say, Charlotte which has grown much faster than Richmond.
I’ve lived in Portland in the 90’s which was right before it blew up and it was awesome. I know it gets a bad wrap now but I’m sure if you’re in the right situation there’s still a lot to love. But the growth displaced so many people and the local government gave up on the urban planning policies that they used to throttle growth. The land just became so valuable with Californians flooding in.
I think Richmond is going to follow the trend of ever American urban center. It will continue to grow, get denser, gentrify, and property values will push middle class families to the counties or smaller apartments and working class people will live in some cluster like Hopewell/Petersburg and get bussed in. Look at Springfield in northern Virginia. It won’t ever be Austin or Portland or Charlotte, for that matter. Still, the traffic will suck, the affordability will decline and some people will move to someplace a little further behind the development curve to get the “big little city” feel.
poontong t1_ja7k2it wrote
Reply to How long do you think it is before RVA meets the same fate of cities like Austin? by piratestears
Richmond’s geography and the fact that it’s an independent city surrounded by counties that aren’t particularly interested in regional planning sort of limit it’s growth potential. There just isn’t a lot of land in the city compared to, say, Charlotte which has grown much faster than Richmond.
I’ve lived in Portland in the 90’s which was right before it blew up and it was awesome. I know it gets a bad wrap now but I’m sure if you’re in the right situation there’s still a lot to love. But the growth displaced so many people and the local government gave up on the urban planning policies that they used to throttle growth. The land just became so valuable with Californians flooding in.
I think Richmond is going to follow the trend of ever American urban center. It will continue to grow, get denser, gentrify, and property values will push middle class families to the counties or smaller apartments and working class people will live in some cluster like Hopewell/Petersburg and get bussed in. Look at Springfield in northern Virginia. It won’t ever be Austin or Portland or Charlotte, for that matter. Still, the traffic will suck, the affordability will decline and some people will move to someplace a little further behind the development curve to get the “big little city” feel.