This weekend, the urban planning firm of Dover, Kohl & Partners will lead a process called a “charrette,” which depends heavily on citizen input, feedback and participation. You don’t need a secret password, you don’t need to donate money and it’s not required that your bloodline be connected to at least one of the men on horseback along Monument Avenue. Just show up, speak up and keep the hover-car jokes to a minimum.

“Charrette week” kicks off on Friday with an introduction to the process and a crash course in city planning practices. On Saturday, participants divide into creative teams for a day of brainstorming and rough drafts. All throughout next week, the professionals open their studios and post their daily progress on the final plan.

While news of the planning process sounds like a refreshingly “un-Richmond” way of doing things, we’d be remiss if we didn’t play the skeptical cynic for a moment. In many ways, as much as a definitive Downtown Master Plan will bring answers, it will raise just as many questions. And it’s easier to get excited about colorful drawings and scale models than it is to demolish eyesores and pour fresh concrete.

We’ll be fine if we remember that after the heady buzz from intense brainstorming comes the reality hangover. Money needs to be found, consensus needs to be reached and a thick jungle of political foliage must be hacked through with machetes before we can all sip a latte and gaze out at our spanking new skyline.

Hopefully, those in power will follow the advice of firm partner Victor Dover who wrote: “Charrettes are not a panacea for political gridlock, and consensus doesn’t happen magically. Participants need to be realistic, and work through their disagreements deliberately. A good rule of thumb is that everyone leaves with something they want, but no one leaves with everything they want. Charrette leaders are responsible, though, for making sure the event does not get seized by special interests, NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard) or others. To elected officials and developers: follow through on promises you make in the charrette. Don’t just go through the motions. Act upon the plan, and you’ll build trust.”

While the week promises to rally some of our best and brightest to help shape Richmond, it’s important to remember that there are problems that can’t be fixed with new sidewalks and street lamps. The city has a lot of canvas priming to do before anyone can paint a masterpiece. After all, the plan is just a plan. It won’t work miracles overnight.

Once it’s finished, will the owner of every vacant, rotting building suddenly feel compelled to sell or improve their property? Will it magically become easier for restaurant owners to comply with building codes and ABC regulations? Will the economic and social gaps between the people who want to “fix” downtown and the people who currently use downtown suddenly disappear?

If you can spare some hours this weekend and have a head full of ideas, join the process. If you have the time, but are short on ideas, we’ve jotted down a few on the next page. Clip ‘em, carry ‘em in and claim them as your own. We don’t want any credit… the smiling faces of our grandchildren as they hover-car from the Downtown Galleria to the Shockoe Bottom Speedway will be all the thanks we need.

Your Handy Charrette Checklist
{ During the discussions, you are welcome to help yourself to humble suggestions from Brick’s Department of Urban Renewal and Futuristic Development.}

What Downtown Richmond really needs is:

[ ] Lots more green space. Think ecological Feng Shui, tranquility gardens in the hectic heart of the concrete jungle.

[ ] More statues, monuments and plaques. We already have Monument Avenue, but downtown needs to wear its history a little more proudly on its sleeve. How about a giant bronze recliner to commemorate the now-defunct furniture district?

[ ] Mandatory downtown-wide WiFi. Richmond on the cutting edge of technology? It doesn’t have to be a laughable dream. Would you move downtown for free internet access? Or maybe just linger, loiter and loll about for a few hours? In the short term it’s expensive, but as an investment in the city’s future, it’s a shoe-in.

[ ] Late night eateries. Get ‘em downtown, keep ‘em downtown. You want to see a creative renaissance? Open a 24-hour noodle bar, put on a fresh pot of coffee and wait for the sparks to fly.

[ ] Street vendors. Imagine the convenience of: kebabs at 2am, Belgian Fries with peanut sauce on a fall afternoon, roasted chestnuts, hot pretzels, exotic periodicals, the latest Bollywood soundtrack or a bootleg DVD of “Transformers.”

[ ] Pedestrian-only blocks. Think the mall in Charlottesville. Then think East Grace Street from 4th Street to the State Capitol.

[ ] A Chinatown. What great city does not have one? A downtown that smells like eggrolls = nirvana.

[ ] Curbside dining. Is there anything more charming than eating outside with your fellow citizens on a lovely evening? Nothing beats chili nachos and Red Stripe under a harvest moon.

[ ] Movie Theaters. Why drive all the way to Short Pump to spend ten bucks to see crappy Hollywood movies? Waste your money closer to home. Better yet, cut the crap and build an art house/screening room for local filmmakers.

[ ] A bowling alley, a skating rink, a mini golf course or batting cages. An active citizenry is a happy citizenry. We need more stuff to do besides eat, drink and be merry.

[ ] A better connection to the river. Reroute the James to flow through downtown? That’s crazy. But rerouting downtown to flow to the James? That’s common sense.

[ ] A new sports venue. A spot for everything from Richmond Lucha Libre and Rollergirls to Dodge Ball Nationals and The Cup Stacking World Championships. The Coliseum might work, but we’d need to butch it up and redub it “The House of Pain.”

[ ] More independent retail. Let’s encourage the return (and survival) of small, locally owned shops which have always been the lifeblood of downtown. Bring on more music, book, gift, toy and gadget merchants. And what ever happened to head shops?

[ ] Some corporate retail. As long as Wal-Mart isn’t invited, responsible corporate retailers would add to the flavor of downtown. It’s working on a small scale for VCU, now how about giving those of us without backpacks a chance?

[ ] More public art (3D and 2D). We are a metropolis teeming with artists. And VCU mints a new batch of visual geniuses every semester, so why not put them to work? We can spare a few street corners and bare walls, can’t we?

[ ] A Jumbotron. People love TV, especially ginormous ones. How cool would it be to have crowds gather on Broad Street to watch “Lost” every Wednesday?

[ ] Quirky public performers like NYC’s Naked Cowboy. We’ve got plenty of quirky characters, but the problem is that they’re wasting their weirdness on close friends and relatives. Get them out of the basements, karaoke bars and coffee shops. Put them on the city payroll and tell them to make with the public shenanigans.

[ ] Downtown centered events. If we hear of one more Monument Avenue something or other, we’re going to lose it. Bring it back to Broad Street, folks. How crazy do we need to get? Gay Pride Civil War reenactments? Richmond Symphony does Hip-Hop Classics? The Running of the Maymont Bulls?

[ ] Slacker ABC regulations for a healthier restaurant and bar scene. Let’s smash the Mormon Mafia over there at the ABC. How about some healthy hedonism? How about we stop forcing nightclubs to serve actual meat and potatoes and let them get back to serving their real meat and potatoes…which is actually liquor.

[ ] Public recreation spaces (basketball courts, tennis courts, jogging tracks). Think about the Mount Vernon trail in Alexandria, or Rock Creek Park in DC. How about a spot for hoops after dark?

[ ] Man-made ponds. Every West End office complex has one, why can’t downtown? It would give the homeless ducks somewhere to hang besides Monroe Park.

[ ] Spectacular fountains. These could double as a source of coin-based revenue.

[ ] A Walk of Fame. A simple idea to jazz up dull sidewalks that would simultaneously feed Richmond’s pathological need to attach itself to celebrities.

[ ] More restored old buildings, less dilapidation. There have been no hurricanes, floods or Tomahawk missile attacks in the 23219 zip code. All of our ramshackle buildings look like hell because of neglect. Let’s force people to respect our elder architecture.

[ ] Community centers. Downtown will never be a gated community for twenty and thirty-something hipsters. There are plenty of kids who’ll need stuff to do. Something more than a concrete floor and a bin full of kickballs. Think of something like the Music Resource Center in Charlottesville, where young people of any socioeconomic status can learn to make and record music. Think of the NRC and Art 180.

[ ] A grocery store. There’s a few at VCU and one in the Bottom, but what about “The Limbo Zone” between Belvidere and 14th Street? How about a Ukrop’s flagship store downtown? If Ukrop’s employees are carrying groceries out to a customer’s car, you can bet your sweet grandma’s bippy that the safety of the surrounding area would become a huge priority.

[ ] Fast food joints on Broad Street. There is nothing from Belvidere to 7th Street and the closest McDonald’s is on 18th Street. Sometimes you’re hungry for that special something that only a pocketful of change can deliver.

[ ] Horse drawn carriages, trolley cars and rickshaws. The idea here is less vehicular traffic. Just be careful where you walk.

[ ] The Phillip Morris Museum of Smoking. Embrace the controversy! This could be a PR bonanza for Philip Morris. And it would help heal the wounds left behind by the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

[ ] Bike lanes. The Fan has them, why not downtown?

[ ] Neighborhood identities. Stop lumping everything together as “downtown.” Start with names that reflects the character of the neighborhood. Church Hill? How about CHILL. The Museum District would become famous as MUDI. Downtown is blasé, instead let’s spin it positively as WESHO, or West of Shockoe.

[ ] A gateway to Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom. The lower half of downtown has a different character than the top half, so why not exploit it. Big gates, swinging doors or some equally gaudy grand entranceway would give the area that extra “zazz.”

[ ] MCV Freaky Medical Museum. You know they see some wacko stuff. Think of the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. Deformed things in glass jars as far as the eye can see? It would be a tourist magnet. Or why not a forensics museum, like “CSI” meets the Children’s Museum.

[ ] Zip lines to Shockoe Bottom. Are you kidding me? How fun would that be?

[ ] A suspended monorail or aerial tramway over the James River rapids. Starting downtown and ending up on Belle Isle, the view would be amazing.

[ ] An iconic structure like the Space Needle, the St. Louis Gateway Arch or the Washington Monument. We need something huge that says “Richmond” immediately. Something people from far away will want to climb. Something Godzilla and terrorists would want to destroy. Something that would look great on our souvenir ashtrays.

Richmond Downtown
Master Plan
Charrette Schedule

Friday 7.20
Kick-off presentation and urban planning crash course at Plant Zero (Hull Street & E. 3rd Street) from 6:30pm-8pm.

Saturday 7.21
Hands-on design session with small groups at Plant Zero (Hull Street & E. 3rd Street) from 9am-2pm.

Sunday–Thursday 7.22–7.26
Open Design Studio in the The Commons at Plant Zero (220 Hull Street) on Sunday from 1pm-7pm; Monday–Wednesday from 9am-7pm; Thursday from 9am-noon. The main design team will be working and people are invited to stop by, offer input and monitor the work-in-progress. 

Thursday 7.26
Work-in-progress presentation at Plant Zero (Hull Street & E. 3rd Street) from 6:30pm-9pm.

For more information contact Brooke Hardin, City of Richmond at (804) 646.6310 or [brooke.hardin@richmondgov.com]

Other online resources:
http://www.doverkohl.com
http://www.floricane.typepad.com/buttermilk
http://www.richmondgov.com

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