Parks and Rec

[JSI]

When I used to live in the Fan and would run down Broad St. I would always shake my head at the amount of trash on the ground at the bus stops when a trash can was always within 5ft. of the stop. It never made sense to me that people would not throw trash away. I guess some people have no pride for our great city??

Edited June 26, 2018 by JSI

[Brent114]

I don’t think that people litter at greater rates in Richmond.  The city just doesn’t pick up the trash.  From my perspective there aren't nearly enough trash cans either.   The bus stops usually have a single trash can overflowing with cups placed around the perimeter.  The city doesn’t empty them regularly and won’t add a second (or third).   A few weeks ago I picked up trash on the flood wall and couldn’t find a place to throw it out until i crossed back over the river and found one on the Canal Walk.  That can was overflowing. 

Business and property owners should be fined for not keeping their sidewalks clean too.  Subway needs to pick up Subway wrappers in front of their business, regardless of how they end up there.  Dollar Tree should clean their parking lot every morning.   This is the expectation in most cities.

 

Edited June 26, 2018 by Brent114

[vaceltic]

2 hours ago, Brent114 said:

I don’t think that people litter at greater rates in Richmond.  The city just doesn’t pick up the trash.  From my perspective there aren't nearly enough trash cans either.   The bus stops usually have a single trash can overflowing with cups placed around the perimeter.  The city doesn’t empty them regularly and won’t add a second (or third).   A few weeks ago I picked up trash on the flood wall and couldn’t find a place to throw it out until i crossed back over the river and found one on the Canal Walk.  That can was overflowing. 

Business and property owners should be fined for not keeping their sidewalks clean too.  Subway needs to pick up Subway wrappers in front of their business, regardless of how they end up there.  Dollar Tree should clean their parking lot every morning.   This is the expectation in most cities.

 

I experience this issue in my neighborhood. The majority of public trash cans are overflowing and the wind blows the trash everywhere when their not emptied on a daily basis. Its not necessarily people purposefully littering, although I have seen someone  literally toss an entire bag of garbage onto the street before.  Some folks are just bad apples.

[eandslee]

On 6/21/2018 at 4:34 PM, Ward Wood said:

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

Any update on this?  Did the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities actually come out and fix this problem?  I'm just wondering how responsive (if at all) they were.  I really appreciate Ward Wood doing this.  This is what happens when we get involved and care for our community!  It makes for a better place to live and other people will want to live here too...just don't bring your trashy habits with you! 

[Brent114]

I had dinner with the director of parks and rec last night.  The city has recently taken over maintenance of Kanawha Pkaza.  The delay in trimming, cutting and pulling was due to delays in finalizing the contract.  It should get regular maintenance going forward (haven’t seen the plaza in a week but I’m told that dumpyruck loads of weeds have been carted off  

[eandslee]

40 minutes ago, Brent114 said:

I had dinner with the director of parks and rec last night.  The city has recently taken over maintenance of Kanawha Pkaza.  The delay in trimming, cutting and pulling was due to delays in finalizing the contract.  It should get regular maintenance going forward (haven’t seen the plaza in a week but I’m told that dumpyruck loads of weeds have been carted off  

Thanks for the report Brent!  This is good to hear.  It's such a nice place right there in the center of the financial district - would hate to see it ruined by lack of maintenance.

[jbjust]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

I had dinner with the director of parks and rec last night.  The city has recently taken over maintenance of Kanawha Pkaza.  The delay in trimming, cutting and pulling was due to delays in finalizing the contract.  It should get regular maintenance going forward (haven’t seen the plaza in a week but I’m told that dumpyruck loads of weeds have been carted off  

You didn't happen to ask whether EnRichmond is still involved?  They are standing in the way of food trucks being present there by charging huge fees for them to park there. 

[Brent114]

I did ask about the food trucks.  He said that the fee was only $50.  Maybe that’s the new rate now that the city has taken over? 

[jbjust]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

I did ask about the food trucks.  He said that the fee was only $50.  Maybe that’s the new rate now that the city has taken over? 

Thanks.  That sounds pretty reasonable to me, but I'm not in the food truck business.  Then again, how much does the city charge just to park on the sidewalk?  

[Marcus Squires]

Hey, I'm holding a ceremony in Kanawha Plaza, I'm installing a waypoint sign as the chairman of the Richmond Sister Cities Commission. It's taking place on August 6th, at noon.

Also yes enRichmond does control the park. 

Thank you all for your support on these pages - Marcus 

[Brent114]

Awesome.  I really like these markers.

[drayrichmond]

The 17th Street Market is finally starting to look like something

 

[blopp1234]

38 minutes ago, drayrichmond said:

The 17th Street Market is finally starting to look like something

 

Awesome progress! Wish they would have extended the plaza all the way from Main to Broad though.

[eandslee]

Looks like the fence around Monroe Park will be removed by the end of the month!  Finally, after a couple years of construction there will be a new park!  The official ribbon cutting will take place in September and some work will continue until then. The reason for the latest delay, they say, is because of the rain (we have seen a lot of it lately):

https://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/fence-around-monroe-park-to-come-down-at-end-of/article_6eaba557-4937-578a-9e44-c52ca83a12df.html

[Brent114]

Monroe Park is looking fantastic. Especially at night. 

 

I love this  new gazebo addition to the park/Richmond. 

 

I’m also really happy to see that the old kiosk that was at the Laurel and Franklin entrance has been reinstalled (acrosss from the new GRC).  That was one of many that were erected around the city in conjunction with construction of the Coliseum (it looks like a mini coliseum). 

[Shakman]

Reminds me of Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Shakman

[Brent114]

The fences are coming down at Monroe Park today!  I’ll stop by later to snap photos.  

I hope the lights are on tonight.  I’ve seen them on once and it truly looks  like a works-class park. 

 

[Brent114]

Park was pretty crowded.  It’s going to be a success (at least with students).  Everything is still really soggy so there weren’t many people on the grass.

I saw about 20 scooters.  They will also be a success. 

 

 

[Shakman]

Hopefully it stays maintained; without the graffiti.  

[eandslee]

47 minutes ago, Shakman said:

Hopefully it stays maintained; without the graffiti.  

...or a ton of homeless people. 

[Wahoo 07]

https://www.richmond.com/news/local/could-the-richmond-region-build-a--mile-bike-trail/article_1f8de240-0bda-521b-8737-e78eb53b950f.html

Article about a proposed bike trail from Ashland to Petersburg.  I hope that this happens.  This is a good idea.

[Brent114]

If I recall maintenance was temporarily handed back over to Richmond parks and rec last summer.    They cleaned it up.  I think that it’s back to being  “managed” by a private company again  (Venture  Richmond or something like that). 

It’s  shameful.  I really don’t get it at all.  It’s clear that it wasn’t installed very well (weeds are out of control, not at all like other parks that go without maintenance).  They must not have used any landscape fabric under  the beds?   It really is a dumpster fire.  It needs to be completely ripped out and reinstalled.   I’m not confident that it can be fixed (weeds  separated  from the ornamental plants). 

[wrldcoupe4]

I was thinking the same thing this week. There is such a lack of care from the City. I know of a couple companies that were in town this week considering Richmond for expansions or major investments. I wonder what they think when they see things like Kanawha Plaza.

[georgeglass]

I walked by last night, along with hundreds of others, on the way to Friday Cheers and was absolutely disgusted. I cannot think of any other city I have lived in or visited that has a park in the center of town in this condition. Furthermore, it isn't like there are tons of parks in the city center to care for and it also isn't the case that other parks like Chimborazo are faring any better. Richmond deserves better! I mean what was the point of investing all that money to renovate the space if it's going to be left to ruin??

[Wahoo 07]

3 minutes ago, georgeglass said:

I walked by last night, along with hundreds of others, on the way to Friday Cheers and was absolutely disgusted. I cannot think of any other city I have lived in or visited that has a park in the center of town in this condition. Furthermore, it isn't like there are tons of parks in the city center to care for and it also isn't the case that other parks like Chimborazo are faring any better. Richmond deserves better! I mean what was the point of investing all that money to renovate the space if it's going to be left to ruin??

Agreed.  If the city does not have the resources to maintain its parks, then they should organize volunteer efforts.  Detroit has (or had) a program like this where people volunteered to maintain their neighborhood's park.  Richmond could implement something similar.  A good start would be to contact local Boy Scout troops.  Boy Scouts need community service hours for each rank so they are always looking for opportunities.  Surely there are dozens of organizations  and thousands of people who would help.  Without too much effort, the city government could tap a vast reservoir of volunteer labor.  This would serve a maintenance need and potentially engender or augment a sense of local pride in the participants.