Richmond off-topic postings

[Hike]

1 hour ago, I miss RVA said:

Wellllllllp... I'm now OFFICIALLY 60 today (as of a few minutes ago, based on the time of day I was born). Just was wondering if our wonderful friends at CoStar might give me a birthday present by showing any movement on the site today. If the previously-mentioned memo is accurate, we're 11 days out to construction fencing being installed. I was just curious if there's been any activity so far this week. I'm ready to get this tower built!

Happy Birthday! I wouldn’t look for any advance set up, this weekend is the annual folk festival, which isn’t technically on the CoStar site, but wraps around it and is very busy, like average 200k over the weekend, so I’m assuming they’d wait until after all the stages, food venues, etc. are taken down,  maybe they’ll just leave a few port-a-potties for the job, cause there will be hundreds down there. Also, the hurricane remnant’s have hung around here for days and days, lots of clouds, just ugly and ushered in the cold. September flew by and we seemed to have jumped right to November. Hopefully October comes back and they get started, cheers! 

[Downtowner]

7 minutes ago, Hike said:

Happy Birthday! I wouldn’t look for any advance set up, this weekend is the annual folk festival, which isn’t technically on the CoStar site, but wraps around it and is very busy, like average 200k over the weekend, so I’m assuming they’d wait until after all the stages, food venues, etc. are taken down,  maybe they’ll just leave a few port-a-potties for the job, cause there will be hundreds down there. Also, the hurricane remnant’s have hung around here for days and days, lots of clouds, just ugly and ushered in the cold. September flew by and we seemed to have jumped right to November. Hopefully October comes back and they get started, cheers! 

Yes the weather has really made me feel sluggish. This weekend I wasn’t in a great mood. I think lack of sunshine had alot of us in my family in a mood. When it’s like this outside I’m not in the greatest of moods. I just like to stay in my lounge wear and stay inside the house. This weekend was definitely that type of weekend.

[Hike]

7 minutes ago, Downtowner said:

Yes the weather has really made me feel sluggish. This weekend I wasn’t in a great mood. I think lack of sunshine had alot of us in my family in a mood. When it’s like this outside I’m not in the greatest of moods. I just like to stay in my lounge wear and stay inside the house. This weekend was definitely that type of weekend.

Me too, did the same thing, plus, I got the latest Covid booster Friday and basically slept, didn’t move much, the entire weekend. Actually, really enjoyed being at home, kicked back in the lounge chair, binge watching Breaking Bad, finally.  

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Hike said:

Happy Birthday! I wouldn’t look for any advance set up, this weekend is the annual folk festival, which isn’t technically on the CoStar site, but wraps around it and is very busy, like average 200k over the weekend, so I’m assuming they’d wait until after all the stages, food venues, etc. are taken down,  maybe they’ll just leave a few port-a-potties for the job, cause there will be hundreds down there. Also, the hurricane remnant’s have hung around here for days and days, lots of clouds, just ugly and ushered in the cold. September flew by and we seemed to have jumped right to November. Hopefully October comes back and they get started, cheers! 

Thanks, my friend!  Much appreciated! Seems like these b'days come quicker and quicker each year. Time warp, maybe?

Folk Festival: makes sense. That would explain why the CoStar fencing wouldn't go up 'til the 15th. Hey - maybe they could snag a few free port-o-potties, though!  If not, I have a few tiny blue ones they can have.  

We lucked out - a front moved through (the same front that no doubt impacted the steering currents of the hurricane remnants) and we've had sunny days and clear - COLD nights. Even had frost advisories up for the area a couple of nights (lows got down into the mid 30s!   It's been nice today - bright sunshine and about 71 for a high. By Friday, according to the forecast, high of 51, low of 34.  And friends, 'round these parts, we call that PERFECT FOOTBALL WEATHER!!! 

[Downtowner]

33 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

Thanks, my friend!  Much appreciated! Seems like these b'days come quicker and quicker each year. Time warp, maybe?

Folk Festival: makes sense. That would explain why the CoStar fencing wouldn't go up 'til the 15th. Hey - maybe they could snag a few free port-o-potties, though!  If not, I have a few tiny blue ones they can have.  

We lucked out - a front moved through (the same front that no doubt impacted the steering currents of the hurricane remnants) and we've had sunny days and clear - COLD nights. Even had frost advisories up for the area a couple of nights (lows got down into the mid 30s!   It's been nice today - bright sunshine and about 71 for a high. By Friday, according to the forecast, high of 51, low of 34.  And friends, 'round these parts, we call that PERFECT FOOTBALL WEATHER!!! 

Yes that’s about what I did most lounge around watching football Saturday and Sunday.

[I miss RVA]

32 minutes ago, Downtowner said:

Yes that’s about what I did most lounge around watching football Saturday and Sunday.

Indeed, Sunday was a football smorgaboard for me - 13-plus hours, NON STOP of professional football. Yes - including that ugly Redballteammanders egg-lay at hated Dallas... ugh... the former Burgundy and Gold are going NOHHHHH-WHEREEEEEE this season - idk why I still love this team. 

But (aside from the gruesome injury to the Vikings player) - enjoyed some football American style in Merry Ole England in the morning (my brother, on the other hand, texted that he was watching the Premier League - WHATEVERRRRR!!!) -  I even dove into some NFL Red Zone for a while and capped everything off with the Sunday Night game - and we get to do it again THIS Sunday with another NFL game at Tottenham Stadium (I just wish they'd play on GRASS and not the synthetic garbage... )

Yes - I'll admit it - I LIVE for the NFL season!! To the point that I'll go online in August and catch streams of preseason games - doesn't matter who. 

[Shakman]

On 10/4/2022 at 4:00 PM, wrldcoupe4 said:

Anyone have a shovel in their car that can turn a little dirt over there to make this man's dreams come true? 

I have a garden shovel.   Remember, one scoop at a time.

On 10/4/2022 at 3:14 PM, I miss RVA said:

Wellllllllp... I'm now OFFICIALLY 60 today (as of a few minutes ago, based on the time of day I was born). Just was wondering if our wonderful friends at CoStar might give me a birthday present by showing any movement on the site today. If the previously-mentioned memo is accurate, we're 11 days out to construction fencing being installed. I was just curious if there's been any activity so far this week. I'm ready to get this tower built!

Happy Birthday!!!

Edited October 6, 2022 by Shakman

[ancientcarpenter]

19 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Wellllllllp... I'm now OFFICIALLY 60 today (as of a few minutes ago, based on the time of day I was born). Just was wondering if our wonderful friends at CoStar might give me a birthday present by showing any movement on the site today. If the previously-mentioned memo is accurate, we're 11 days out to construction fencing being installed. I was just curious if there's been any activity so far this week. I'm ready to get this tower built!

Happy birthday to you!

 

If it makes you feel better, as a belated bday gift my inside scoop says Oct 1 was going to be the start day but they rescheduled due to Folk Festival. Allegedly, new day is Oct 15! Get your birthday dress!

[Downtowner]

17 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Indeed, Sunday was a football smorgaboard for me - 13-plus hours, NON STOP of professional football. Yes - including that ugly Redballteammanders egg-lay at hated Dallas... ugh... the former Burgundy and Gold are going NOHHHHH-WHEREEEEEE this season - idk why I still love this team. 

But (aside from the gruesome injury to the Vikings player) - enjoyed some football American style in Merry Ole England in the morning (my brother, on the other hand, texted that he was watching the Premier League - WHATEVERRRRR!!!) -  I even dove into some NFL Red Zone for a while and capped everything off with the Sunday Night game - and we get to do it again THIS Sunday with another NFL game at Tottenham Stadium (I just wish they'd play on GRASS and not the synthetic garbage... )

Yes - I'll admit it - I LIVE for the NFL season!! To the point that I'll go online in August and catch streams of preseason games - doesn't matter who. 

you and me both I will watch any nfl game preseason or regular season. College football I mainly just watch Georgia but I love watching the other games too and of course the upsets. I’m excited for the nfl game they are supposed to have in munich Germany. That is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

[I miss RVA]

@Shakman& @ancientcarpenter-- humble thanks, my friends! Very much appreciated! 

@Downtowner-- I'm also looking forward to the NFL game in Germany. I just HOPE AND PRAY they play it on NATURAL GRASS. Whilst (using some British English here) I'm glad that there's a "permanent" site - a "fixture" location in Greater London for NFL games, I just wish that Tottenham Stadium had NATURAL GRASS for the NFL (I know it's a cost thing - they keep the NFL field underneath the removable grass pitch used for Tottenham-Hotspur soccer matches) ... the one hope is that there will be more games at Wembley Stadium, which is natural grass and doesn't have a "secondary" pitch that's used for the NFL.

Given what's happened with Tua over the past week plus, I've seen plenty of reporting where the players are once again calling for abolishing field turf playing surfaces and asking the league to mandate natural grass fields. Now - yes - Tua suffered the initial injury against Buffalo on natural grass at Hard Rock Stadium - HOWEVER - it can't be overlooked that the field-turf playing surface at Cincinnati may have contributed to the SEVERITY of the second injury. There's a grass-roots movement among independent online 'media' providers (such as folks who have YouTube channels and provide regular commentary on sports) calling for abolishing field turf across ALL of football, be it the NFL, NCAA and high school level. I think this is a VERY needed and worthwhile movement, even if it doesn't gain much traction because of the money factor (not just the "cost" factor - but you KNOW the manufacturers of Field Turf likely contribute a LOT of coin into the coffers of AT LEAST the NCAA, if not also the NFL...)

I'd like all of these synthetic fields done away with -- natural, God-given grass is the only surface upon which football, baseball, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, etc. should be played. I don't care about costs, profits, maintenance... none of it. I do believe there will be (if there isn't already) sufficient data to link field turf with increased non-contact injuries and more severe injuries (contact and non-contact). While on the one hand protocols for such injuries as head/neck/back/concussion, etc. MUST be reviewed, updated, tightened and ENFORCED - the leagues and sanctioning bodies that claim to "care about player safety" could go a LONG way to improving the prospects of player safety by mandating natural grass playing surfaces at all levels of outdoor sports. The major international soccer leagues mandate natural grass. You won't find Field Turf ANYWHERE in the EPL or the other major European Leagues. Nor will you ever see it at the World Cup.

If it's good enough for FIFA, the EPL, the Bundesliga, Serie-A, La Liga - then it should be good enough for the NFL and the NCAA.

[Icetera]

23 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

Wellllllllp... I'm now OFFICIALLY 60 today (as of a few minutes ago, based on the time of day I was born). Just was wondering if our wonderful friends at CoStar might give me a birthday present by showing any movement on the site today. If the previously-mentioned memo is accurate, we're 11 days out to construction fencing being installed. I was just curious if there's been any activity so far this week. I'm ready to get this tower built!

Happy Birthday to you!!

Please note that I moved a chunk of this thread to Off-Topic.  Stop teasing us with CoStar and then torturing us with football!

[I miss RVA]

11 minutes ago, Icetera said:

Happy Birthday to you!!

Please note that I moved a chunk of this thread to Off-Topic.  Stop teasing us with CoStar and then torturing us with football!

Humble thanks, my friend! Much appreciated! 

No worries - I'd contemplated putting it here - and I'm not sure why I dropped it over at CoStar... 

Now - if I REALLLLLLLLLLY wanted to tease everyone, I'd figure out how to deposit & scatter a bunch of those little blue port-o-potties I have here alllllllllllllllllllllllll over the CoStar construction site. Just for giggles, of course!

                                                                                 

Edited October 5, 2022 by I miss RVA

[ancientcarpenter]

Thought this was cool: Building in Detroit being built from top down instead of bottom up:

 

"For anyone interested - it’s from a company called LIFTbuild. Each floor is pre-assembled at grade then lifted into place. The proposition is that it’s much easier and safer to do this from an accessible position. Not sure how this outweighs the cost of the actual lift, but somehow they’re doing it. Source: looked into this on one of my projects in Detroit."

 

More in the reddit post comments: 

 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, ancientcarpenter said:

Thought this was cool: Building in Detroit being built from top down instead of bottom up:

 

"For anyone interested - it’s from a company called LIFTbuild. Each floor is pre-assembled at grade then lifted into place. The proposition is that it’s much easier and safer to do this from an accessible position. Not sure how this outweighs the cost of the actual lift, but somehow they’re doing it. Source: looked into this on one of my projects in Detroit."

 

More in the reddit post comments: 

 

SWEET!!! That's a GREAT find, @ancientcarpenter!  Aside from the color scheme, it looks like it was built out of LEGO blocks.

Hey - maybe if/when RVA pries the LEGO HQ away from Connecticut - perhaps this is an idea of what a headquarters building could look like - only with LEGO block colors! 

[mintscraft56]

1 hour ago, ancientcarpenter said:

Thought this was cool: Building in Detroit being built from top down instead of bottom up:

 

"For anyone interested - it’s from a company called LIFTbuild. Each floor is pre-assembled at grade then lifted into place. The proposition is that it’s much easier and safer to do this from an accessible position. Not sure how this outweighs the cost of the actual lift, but somehow they’re doing it. Source: looked into this on one of my projects in Detroit."

 

More in the reddit post comments: 

 

Well, that's definitely one interesting way to build a building, if i've ever seen one. Seems pretty tall too, at least for our standards. 
Though, I wonder how much that actually cuts the cost of building down-up by.

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

I was reading an article on Jersey Digs (a Jersey City development site -- being a real estate development junkie extends beyond Richmond for me lol), and it was mentioning how Jersey City's downtown has added enough units in the past decade to rank 8th in the country for units growth in downtowns. Sure enough, I look at the graph in the article, and look who I found at 19th place. 7,329 units built.

Got a kick out of it, figured you guys would too.

The article, by the way: https://jerseydigs.com/downtown-jersey-city-growth-study/

[I miss RVA]

16 hours ago, RVA-Is-The-Best said:

I was reading an article on Jersey Digs (a Jersey City development site -- being a real estate development junkie extends beyond Richmond for me lol), and it was mentioning how Jersey City's downtown has added enough units in the past decade to rank 8th in the country for units growth in downtowns. Sure enough, I look at the graph in the article, and look who I found at 19th place. 7,329 units built.

Got a kick out of it, figured you guys would too.

The article, by the way: https://jerseydigs.com/downtown-jersey-city-growth-study/

This is really interesting data. SO good (and encouraging!!) to see Richmond in the top-20 nationally with all these other name-recognition cities.

I haven't had time to sit down and work out the math - but I'm going to just toss out there that if we take this data and extrapolate out the rate of apartment construction relative to 1.) overall city population and 2.) overall population change for a loosely corresponding timeframe to the 2013-2022 reference points for each city listed, what I think we'll see is that RVA is actually a huge "overachiever" in terms of how hot the MF construction market is relative to those two points of comparison (city population and population change). All but one of the cities on this list have more raw-number units than RVA built over the nine-year period, but I'm hedging a pretty strong bet that on a percentage basis, RVA is actually outperforming every city on this list - or at a minimum, most of them. Meaning: we're punching WAY above our weight class in this area - and the end result is that like some boxers who move up in weight class over the course of their careers, RVA as a city is in the process of doing the same if we can maintain this pace going forward - meaning, we're going to get a lot bigger than perhaps we might have otherwise thought - and we might do so more quickly than we would have otherwise thought possible.

When I have time to sit with this and do the analysis, I'll work up some numbers and post the results, because I'm very curious to see how RVA is doing on a "performance" basis - rather than strictly on a raw-numbers basis.

Edited October 12, 2022 by I miss RVA

[eandslee]

3 hours ago, I miss RVA said:

This is really interesting data. SO good (and encouraging!!) to see Richmond in the top-20 nationally with all these other name-recognition cities.

I haven't had time to sit down and work out the math - but I'm going to just toss out there that if we take this data and extrapolate out the rate of apartment construction relative to 1.) overall city population and 2.) overall population change for a loosely corresponding timeframe to the 2013-2022 reference points for each city listed, what I think we'll see is that RVA is actually a huge "overachiever" in terms of how hot the MF construction market is relative to those two points of comparison (city population and population change). All but one of the cities on this list have more raw-number units than RVA built over the nine-year period, but I'm hedging a pretty strong bet that on a percentage basis, RVA is actually outperforming every city on this list - or at a minimum, most of them. Meaning: we're punching WAY above our weight class in this area - and the end result is that like some boxers who move up in weight class over the course of their careers, RVA as a city is in the process of doing the same if we can maintain this pace going forward - meaning, we're going to get a lot bigger than perhaps we might have otherwise thought - and we might do so more quickly than we would have otherwise thought possible.

When I have time to sit with this and do the analysis, I'll work up some numbers and post the results, because I'm very curious to see how RVA is doing on a "performance" basis - rather than strictly on a raw-numbers basis.

You may be onto something here. I think you might be right. I’d love to see the math on this. 

[I miss RVA]

54 minutes ago, eandslee said:

You may be onto something here. I think you might be right. I’d love to see the math on this. 

I'll start pulling and compiling data in the next couple of days and work up the analysis on this. It's still a hunch at this point, but I think the math will demonstrate that RVA's growth in this area (MF construction) is even more impressive than we've understood it to be.

[I miss RVA]

How cool is it that this year's Richmond Folk Festival pulled in a RECORD attendance figure of more than 230K! Fantastic!! 

Here's hoping that in the coming years, this event will grow significantly and be recognized nationally and internationally and achieve the same level of status as the Newport Jazz Festival  and become for Richmond what Coachella is for SoCal and Lollapalooza is for Chicago. I know the folk festival is already pulling in artists from around the world to come and perform. Particularly when the new amphitheater opens on the riverfront in the next few years, I hope the RFF really explodes as a real national-level/international-level event that REALLY REALLY REALLY puts RVA on the map!

From today's Richmond Times-Dispatch:

https://richmond.com/entertainment/richmond-folk-festival-records-highest-ever-attendance-with-230-000-visitors/article_ab56d2d8-6e9b-540e-8991-94cfd5f62bfe.html

Edited October 13, 2022 by I miss RVA

[Wahoo 07]

17 minutes ago, I miss RVA said:

How cool is it that this year's Richmond Folk Festival pulled in a RECORD attendance figure of more than 230K! Fantastic!! 

Here's hoping that in the coming years, this event will grow significantly and be recognized nationally and internationally and achieve the same level of status as the Newport Jazz Festival  and become for Richmond what Coachella is for SoCal and Lollapalooza is for Chicago. I know the folk festival is already pulling in artists from around the world to come and perform. Particularly when the new amphitheater opens on the riverfront in the next few years, I hope the RFF really explodes as a real national-level/international-level event that REALLY REALLY REALLY puts RVA on the map!

From today's Richmond Times-Dispatch:

https://richmond.com/entertainment/richmond-folk-festival-records-highest-ever-attendance-with-230-000-visitors/article_ab56d2d8-6e9b-540e-8991-94cfd5f62bfe.html

Newport seems like an apt comparison, given that folk music, like jazz, is not a mainstream genre.  It'd be great if Richmond carved out a nationally recognized niche in the music scene.  The RFF further demonstrates how Richmond hits far above its weight class when it comes to amenities. 

[I miss RVA]

1 hour ago, Wahoo 07 said:

Newport seems like an apt comparison, given that folk music, like jazz, is not a mainstream genre.  It'd be great if Richmond carved out a nationally recognized niche in the music scene.  The RFF further demonstrates how Richmond hits far above its weight class when it comes to amenities. 

Agreed on all accounts. When the new amphitheater is developed, I'd love to see it coincide with a serious push to make the RFF a major, national/international music event. Things like this when they grow big enough can go a long long way to making the name "Richmond" a true house-hold name that folks will readily recognize. Getting THAT level of recognition far and wide will have tremendous impacts for the city on multiple fronts, from tourism to promoting business recruitment - all of which enhance the city's reputation which in turn will enhance and hopefully pump rocket fuel into our growth as a city and as a metro.

Edited October 13, 2022 by I miss RVA

[wrldcoupe4]

The event is free. Would it help with stature if certain aspects or headliners were at a cost? 
Especially once the amphitheater is open

[ancientcarpenter]

15 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

The event is free. Would it help with stature if certain aspects or headliners were at a cost? 
Especially once the amphitheater is open

I really hope they don't do that. It will take the charm away from the Folk festival and RVA and just become another paid thing. Main reason I got into it was because it was free in my younger years and just learned to love it and love RVA even more.

 

From what I understand, Folk festival nationally came to RVA for first 3 years and then they moved to a different city - this is their entire schtick.  Then they hand it off to the local city and Folk festival organizers to manage. It's their way of leaving breadcrumbs and spreading the "movement" which is genius in my view. Making it a paid thing would crack the foundation of the Folk Festival philosophy at its core.  

[wrldcoupe4]

I meant keep say 80% or more free.