News
PARTNERSHIP FOR SMARTER GROWTH
Acres of Vacant Parking Lots, Shuttered Retail Highlighted on Regional Tour
PSG's River City Saunter at Cloverleaf Mall Highlights the Need to Change Development Priorities and Revitalize Older Communities in the Richmond Region
- WTVR Channel 6 Coverage: Reviving Aging Properties: Area Leaders Tour Metro Richmond
- NBC 12 Top Story Coverage: Group Advocates Smart Growth to Area Leaders
- October 26, 2009
- Sheila Sheppard, 804-644-4774 (w) 804-652-9901 (c)
For Immediate Release
RICHMOND - Over 150 participated in a revitalization bus tour yesterday through Chesterfield, Richmond, Henrico and Hanover as part of the Partnership for Smarter Growth's (PSG) Second Annual River City Saunter. The two hour tour took elected officials, business and civic leaders and citizens along two routes, highlighting the acres of vacant land in commercial corridors throughout the Richmond metropolitan area.
Participants evaluated the need and opportunities for rebirth in these corridors through good planning and investment, including modern transit, mixed-use development, and parks. Elected officials and participants celebrated and enjoyed local food after the tour, under tents at the vacant, defunct Cloverleaf Mall.
Elected officials who participated in the bus tour included:
- Delegate Joseph D. Morrissey, 74th District
- Supervisor Marleen K. Durfee, Chesterfield
- Supervisor James W. Eads, Goochland
- Councilmember Christopher A. Hilbert, City of Richmond
- Mayor Faye O. Pritchard, Town of Ashland
- Supervisor Joseph Walton, Powhatan
- Supervisor Robert R. Cosby, Powhatan
- Supervisor James H. Burrelll, New Kent County
- Supervisor Gilbert A. Smith, Charles City County
"The tour allows us to see first-hand the decline and common elements of older commercials corridors and the need for revitalization and better connectivity to surrounding neighborhoods," said Supervisor Marleen Durfee of Chesterfield and a founding member of PSG. Richmond City Council Member Chris Hilbert commented, "We know we're going to expand. We want to do it in a thoughtful way using existing infrastructure and existing roads."
"I see great opportunities for redevelopment of these commercial corridors through public planning processes like the one we used for the Richmond Downtown Master Plan," noted Dr. John Moeser, Senior Fellow at the University of Richmond, one of the bus tour guides.
During his remarks at the celebration, Delegate Joe Morrissey said that all levels of government need to work together to create incentives for smarter growth.
PSG is an education and advocacy non-profit organization developed by and for citizens of the Richmond region. "We are a dynamic coalition of concerned citizens from nine area jurisdictions around the Richmond region," said Martha Wingfield, leader of the PSG Steering Committee.
"The purpose of the Saunter is to illustrate the choices that can be made in planning where and how we should grow," said Sheila Sheppard, PSG Coordinator. "Cloverleaf Mall is symbolic of the need and the opportunity to reinvest in existing infrastructure."
The tour offered information concerning:
- The rapid consumption of farmland, forests, and open space for development, which has left the urban and inner suburban core decaying;
- The oversupply of retail capacity in the region, such that newer centers simply shift spending from older centers which then fail and close. The Richmond metropolitan region has 25% more retail square footage per capita than the national average; and
- The acres of underutilized land with existing roads, water, sewer and other infrastructure which offer opportunities for reinvestment.
FOR MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA WHO WERE UNABLE TO ATTEND THE TOUR, PSG OFFERS ON-SITE INTERVIEWS AND DEDICATED TOURS, SUBJECT TO STAFF AVAILABILITY.