Parks and Rec

[jbjust]

The Sierra Club is really getting their panties in a twist about losing a few trees in an urban park.  It's still staying a park, folks!  I would bet that all the new plantings in Kanawha Plaza more than offset any tree loss in Monroe Park. 

If they're really so worked up about losing a few trees, I bet they could spend use their energy and plant enough trees in one afternoon to offset their loss.  

Edited February 10, 2017 by jbjust

[Blackbird Fly]

This page has aerial views of Monroe Park prior to starting the renovation and two dates after (late December and in January) and there are a significant amount less trees and it appears more to be removed. 

http://wiki.thisdangcity.com/Monroe_Park_Renovations?mc_cid=573cc7cedd&mc_eid=[UNIQID]

[vaceltic]

It seems like alot of the opposition to the park design is about the process and avoiding  public participation involvement when tree cutting was decided. Trees were probably cut down for lots of reasons (rooting in underground utilities, cracked pavements, dead/diseased, etc.). What I find a bit frustrating about the park design is that there really isn't space to throw a frisbee/football without crossing a pathway and potentially hitting someone walking across the park. Sure, there are organized sports fields at VCU, but a large, common green area typical of college campuses isn't.

That being said, I do hope the park is used more frequently when the construction is complete.

[Wahoo 07]

http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/richmond-panel-advances-long-range-plans-one-for-downriver-portion/article_8811ccc9-6b6a-57fd-b9ee-40e9444d1f3d.html

More news on the former Lehigh Cement location.

[drayrichmond]

Yep, I was just looking at the new PDF, updated riverfront plan; here it is for perusal

http://www.richmondgov.com/PlanningAndDevelopmentReview/documents/PlansRiverfront/2017_03_22_Richmond_Riverfront_Plan_Amendment_1_optimized.pdf

 

[drayrichmond]

the 17th street farmers market is breaking ground Monday for their remodel.

 

[Brent114]

Great news! 

[Wahoo 07]

https://richmondbizsense.com/2018/02/01/high-line-engineers-join-manchester-bridge-park-project/

Article about the status of the RVA version of the High Line.  I like the idea of re-purposing part of the Manchester Bridge.  Continuing it across downtown would create a unique urban greenway.

[georgeglass]

Pics I took earlier this week at the Farmers Market project....not much progress and I totally understand the frustration of the businesses. There may be a good reason, but not sure why everything was torn out if they weren’t ready to proceed further. There was one section that had been dug a little deeper and there are some exposed pilings. I am not sure if these are from the most recent structures or if they date to an earlier time. Up close, they look pretty old, but I am not sure.

 

[Wahoo 07]

http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/richmond-group-revives-long-running-push-to-renovate-pump-house/article_2da40dc4-785a-5a0d-90a7-b8e8d5e3e948.html

Article about renovating the old Pump House.  This should happen.  It would be great it they could find a full time use for it.

[eandslee]

I really like this idea!  The place is amazing...as long as it is easily accessible (something I'm not sure of as I haven't been there myself, but the videos and pictures make the place look absolutely stunning!).

[Brent114]

Kanawah Plaza is a disgrace.

 

They did just cut the grass (first time in 2018).  Maybe they’ll get around to pulling weeds one day . 

[wrldcoupe4]

A rhetorical question and a real one ...

Why is the city so inept at so many things?

Is this something that is supposed to be cared for by Venture Richmond? 

[Brent114]

This kind of negligence is why I’m happy that Monroe Park was turned over to VCU to manage.  

[eandslee]

Frustrating and embarrassing. 

[Ward Wood]

This is when I turn to Twitter. @Brent114 I hope you are okay with me using your pics for my tweet!

[jbjust]

11 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

A rhetorical question and a real one ...

Why is the city so inept at so many things?

Is this something that is supposed to be cared for by Venture Richmond? 

It's managed by Enrichmond, believe it or not.  What's crazier is that the reason there are no food trucks there is that Enrichmond charges food trucks exorbitant rates to park there, so none of them come so the park doesn't get used for its intended purpose.  

[drayrichmond]

I'll be honest, I've never been a fan of the plaza. Plazas in central business districts just don't work and are under utilized. Why have events at Kanawha when Browns Island is so close and there is zero residential around it to make it a useful park, so it just sits empty most of the time. 

[jbjust]

Office workers actually go out there during the day, believe it or not.  It would be vibrant if it had food trucks during the day.  

[eandslee]

Seriously!  I don't don't know why this city has the propensity to continuously shoot itself in the foot.

[Ward Wood]

Looks like they’re handling the overgrowth! Quick response. The city could use some more efficiency like this 

[jbjust]

They actually mowed the grass there a couple of days ago.  

[RVAbigdawg]

If they mowed the grass, why didn't they pull all the weeds??  It looks TERRIBLE.

[Brent114]

I honestly belive that the people tasked with keeping the parks nice don’t know the difference between weeds and shrubbery and bedding plants.   No one seems to know how to mabtain the trees either.  

 

The state is just as bad.  The planters outside of the Library of Virginia have been full of weeds (and nothing else) for 20 years.  Those drainage things around the Capitol are full of weeds and litter.  The planters outside of the state Supreme Court have never had any flowers in them.  

Norfolk puts Richmond to shame in this regard. 

Edited June 25, 2018 by Brent114

[Brent114]

I’ve pulled some weeds but it feels weird and I could probably get arrested for it (on camera it probably looks like vandalism).  I don’t trust the cops to know the difference either. 

I do pick up trash along Broad Street..