Comments on: Dude, where’s the skate park?

By: Spencer Hansen

Spencer Hansen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:04:16 +0000

A skate park would probably get much more use than an ice rink, but it’d be worth touching base with the guys that do that kind of thing every day. The Friends of Chimborazo Park as mentioned above, but also try the editors of Born Ugly Magazine. They’re local Richmond skaters who are very experienced building things to skate on, over, and through. bornuglymag.com. I’m sure they’d be able to describe the likely hood of themselves and some of their readership taking advantage of that kind of project.

Making this city more bike friendly is also a great idea. In my opinion its mandatory and part of the solution to so many of our city’s issues. But I imagine progress will be slow with this one. Copenhagen wasn’t built in a day.

For the goals your group set out to achieve, I think the city wide book club is most on the mark. Its the one project that can easily scale to the public response, making it most likely a success. Its so hard to coax participation out of any group of people, but the book club could provide multiple ways for us all to take part, like the library meetings in person, maybe a recap and the initial announcement in local periodicals, and of course an online discussion for those who are so inclined. It would only take a small number of people reading and discussing to make it a success, but would have the potential to easily engage the entire city. I’m excited to see this one pan out and am eager to help if and where I can.

By: john m

john m — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:26:55 +0000

The Friends of Chimborazo Playground have a plan to put a skatepark in Chimborazo Playground, adjacent to Chimborazo Park. Contact them if you are interested in helping to make this a reality.

By: Corey

Corey — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:07:48 +0000

Great comments folks! We enjoyed reading your thoughts this afternoon. If you have additional ideas or want to help contribute, please shoot us an email: corey at thefrontierproject dot com

By: Frank Maloney

Frank Maloney — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:49:20 +0000

Must work towards bike lanes and bike/pedestrian only streets in certain areas. This is working well in Europe. Trucks and cars are the problem. The vehicles prevent interaction and conversation. London is trying to do this. Determine what parks, canals, roads, etc. will be the focus and start selling it to the city. Keep up the dialogue. Good luck! Frank

By: dyw

dyw — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:33:01 +0000

Where can we all participate/send in our ideas?

By: Tom Bowden

Tom Bowden — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:13:29 +0000

Here’s an extensive set of slides showing a variety of approaches to making city centers more livable. It’s focused on making the city center a welcoming place for pedestrians and cyclists. Rather than build specific purpose attractions such as skate parks or ice rinks, which commit large amounts of space and may have limited appeal, just make a safe zone and people will do what they want with it.

http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/

By: Bruce Milam

Bruce Milam — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:03:29 +0000

The biggest opportunity to create such public space is now before us on the Canal with the news that the Reynolds buildings will be removed and or rehabilitated for apartments. The number of apartments in the pipeline for downtown is nearly staggering, but even at 50% capacity there will be a resurgence of everyday pedestrian traffic in that area. I see a Renaissance in Richmond as this economy rebounds over the next five to ten years.

By: Charles Batchelor

Charles Batchelor — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:54:16 +0000

Good report, good ideas. Richmond has the potential of being a very “cool” city. And, these folks see a prime issue toward making that happen–Richmond needs more people downtown.

Typically, the primary issues are less sexy than “the number of non-chain restaurants,” although I thought that was an especially useful and compelling insight.

Take a lesson from the malls. Or, if you prefer, the churches. The United Methodist Church did a study about 10 years ago about how people selected a church. I was expecting something “sexy” such as music, family programs or outreach to be the top reason. Maybe even something spiritual?

The Methodist’s professional, in-depth study concluded the number one factor was…parking.

And parking is a spin-off of safety. For church. God help us…

Of course, if you have been downtown recently, you know that parking is not a serious problem. But, from what I hear here in Midlothian is, “Let’s drive together to make parking easier.”

A good example might be Charlottesville’s downtown mall. Yes, they have “a number of non-chain restaurants” and you can see their appeal in action when you visit. But, note how the mall is surrounded by parking decks. And it’s usually easy to look around and see a policeman.

Making something more “easy” works amazingly well toward making it more compelling. BTW: being “clean” is good, too.

By: Beth Weisbrod

Beth Weisbrod — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:43:48 +0000

Bravo! There are lots of reasons to be optimistic about these changes. With the first 1/2 mile of the Virginia Capital Trail opened on Dock St. downtown, and improvements to Shiplock Park planned, and bike/pedestrian links to other downtown amenities and trails being studied, and bike racks planned for locations throughout the city, and many hands and heads working to move downtown Richmond towards vitality, we’ll succeed. Planning, coordination and follow-through (with some education and persistence thrown in) — it’s all coming together.

By: Elaine Odell

Elaine Odell — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:21:12 +0000

I am in total agreement with the group’s consensus that what Richmond (and many other US cities) lack is a central gathering place, or “town square”.

Whenever I travel abroad, EVERY village, town or city has at least one, if not several “town squares” surrounded by cafes. Often there is a small park, a monument or fountain. There is ALWAYS a lot of outdoor seating, where the community gathers and does everything from visit with friends to play with kids. In any town square in Central/South America, Europe or the Middle East, you see people of all ages. Often there will be musical performances or political rallies, but more often you’ll simply see folks socializing or relaxing.

Domestically, a good example of such a park/square is Washington Square Park in NYC. What makes it work is that the square is surrounded by a mix of retail & residential buildings, and neighborhood streets. This is quite unlike Browns Island or Festival Park at the Richmond Coliseum…neither of which fit the model of a “town square”.

Secondly, I think it’s important that we accept and encourage a “new guard” of leadership in Richmond. So many new folks have moved here over the last 25 years…folks with perspective, knowledge and experiences gained from outside Richmond.

Let’s embrace this “brain gain” and work with Mayor Jones and City Council envision changes in this city that will make us all proud.