Let's face it. Uptown Richmond is a dismal failure. Well, not, completely, it has stimulated a lot more Police action. And, whoa bessie, how about the parade of motor homes snaking their way through to Raper heaven! It serves just about everything except perhaps, families and older folks, festivals and public gatherings. And, is the place designed for outdoor theater a fabulous success? Wrong! The only performances we are likely to see there will be by hookers and drunks! Yup! Uptown isn't what it used to be but then it didn't aspire to such lofty heights as earthly delights, fountains, and sculpture, places to just sit and talk with friends and acquaintances. No, the agenda was practical! business! Well, we got the business all right. We decimated the only National Award Winning urban park space we had. But this bitching is purely academic - we all know there hasn't been any real improvement. So, what do we do? use our tax money to invest in Wall Mart? Total capitulation? No. Main Street- Uptown-(you know Amway renamed itself, too, recently)- isn't a lost cause. Helloooo. Let's turn it around. What do people like? Sex, drugs, and rock'n roll! How about some fun down there – not "down there," down town. Like the song - "Down town". What is the Uptown song? does anybody know. I bet its a hymn! Well, we need an independent movie theater. "Creosote" Theaters has a lock on films shown here - you can't see anything which isn't programmed -dumbed down - for us -by who? You know the last remaining downtown theater at Main & 9th Street was sold with a restrictive covenant prohibiting its use as a theater in the future! How about that folks. Now, where can you send your kids on foot to the movies with a dollar. That’s right! walk to the movies on a Saturday afternoon? And, by the way, "get an ice cream Sunday, after, on your way home". HERE IS AN ANSWER and its worked in "progressive" cities across the USofA to stimulate local neighborhood commercial micro centers and get people back on their feet - literally. Wouldn't it be grand to go for a walk and not have to thread through a sea of cars in 140øF parking lot hell. Be honest, it would! I vote we get a little theater going right in the center of down up town, with a bright marquee, blinkin’ lights and cool foreign & Sundance films - or The Sound of Music - FAMILY stuff. Hell, I'd take my family every week to just enjoy Richmond once more. Then if some lesser god decided to put a statue on the -heavens! forbid I use the dreaded word- Promenade!!!, then we could all think the nasty slide into the grim past of single dimensional commercial myopia had finally turned around. And, Richmond, chest out, heart pounding, with a snap in her step would lead the way to a promise we all still hope for: an innocent smile from a passerby on their way to some place - fun.
John McCreery
I agree. I strongly think there should be a theater downtown. But I'm not sure about the sundance movies. I liked the Sidewalk Cinema when it was there. Granted it only showed 2 movies but that was nice if got bored and it was close. I think it helped bring people downtown. What they have done to the "promenade" is just horrible. They should have NEVER touched it. It was fine. Maybe they could have brought some newer businesses but never tore it down none the less. We need a theater.
I pity you folks left to .... in Richmond. It could have been such a nice get-a-way community... not to far from bigger cities like Dayton, Indianapolis and Cinncinnati.. but the Right Wingers of the town ( the committee of ...._) made sure not to let new blood, new money and new ideas come into town.
There are lots of nice people there.... I wish Richmond politics didn't have to ruin a good town. It could have been an arts and music center... with an historic flair for B & B's.. but no.....
Sad to see but you can buy 5 houses in Richmond for only $ 100,000.
I think Ricmond seriously needs to rethink it's political standing. There are a lot of liberal minded people here and they need to prevail. Richmond is located in such a great area of this state and it has the ability to make an impact on the entire region. We need more of a night life, more arts and culture and most of all, it needs to come out of the closet. It's funny how many people from my generation think there could be so much more, but once again, the same old politics prevail and the "old" people tend to run our local government. Maybe we should be come the picture city for our entire state....who knows, maybe some of you will step up and make things change....can I run for mayor? My name is Ron Bailey, vote for me if I run and yes, I'm an independent. Not one or the other or the same old thing, but a person that see's the possibility of making something better.
I agree that there are people who are stuck in there ways when it comes to actually "changing" Richmond, but I don't think a political movement is the only way deep, sustainable change will take place. If you are young, and running for mayor, great. We could use a different voice up there, but I think you're skirting the issue when you blame RIchmond's problems on Republicans. In my opinion, it's the society that we have established as a community that is to blame. People need to SEE each other and COMMUNICATE with each other more. We should walk around (instead of shuttling ourselves in cars to wherever we go), sit outside for a bit, visit some locally owned businesses, establish some places that are fun for all generations to visit, and stop erecting barriers between people with different opinions even though we're living in the SAME community as them, and may have the same goal.
It would be awesome if there was a larger art, music, and night life scene in RIchmond, but that just wont happen unless we're all in it together and start TALKING to each other.
I think that that is correct, we need to get out of our cars and communicate with each other. Change needs to be had and it can be had. Richmond was a great place once and right now it is not, but we can change that. Legislation can help by making a move to lure more culture (arts, music, theater) and whatever here, but we need a more sustained ground level move. Change can only come if people believe that change can come, pessimism gets us nowhere. We need to put more pressure on the politicians to do what we want them to do. Sally Hutton is a great mayor and she is enthusiastic and excited and ready to help, but she needs to know that we need her help. If she, or any other politician does not know that their constituency is behind them 100% then they can do nothing when faced with a powerful and well supported opponent. We need to organize ourselves, and take things into our own hands. Richmond is still OUR town and we need to act like it is, not just pass our problems off on the naysayers.
I think both Lynn and Tyler have some great points. It isn't about opening ONE particular store or getting ONE piece of legislation passed. It's about the community binding together. In my experience people like to point fingers at who's to blame for the "downfall" of Richmond. I think if we all started to stop pointing our fingers we'd realize that Richmond hasn't fallen that far. It's still a great place with great people. There is incredible potential to be something more and the place to start is community. We need to talk to each other about what we already like about Richmond and what we'd like to see.
So my question is to you all:
How do you think we should be going about getting the things to happen that we want to happen? How can we better organize the community- at all levels- to create a better Richmond?
I agree with the message about community. Any event or local establishment that can bring people out of their homes and bring people together is important. It is often difficult not to be in a hurry in our lives, yet if we take the extra time to explore places and visit people, then it becomes more about this and less about just doing what we 'have to do' to survive everyday.
People should share what they want to see because there are probably things that people could gather together about and agree on that would help the community.