The more things don't change the more they stay the same

Richmond's Style Weekly reports on the state of Mayor (ex-Governor) Wilder's "City of the Future" efforts, comparing them to a report entitled "Back to the Future: Richmond at the Crossroads" published back in 1992. From the article:

After interviewing most of the city’s business leaders, Crupi found a common thread: “Richmond does not see itself as a regional system. Most people identify with either Richmond, the city, or with a particular county. Metro-Richmond is a term used to describe the area, but it does not reflect any sense of reality.”

Ouch. Crupi may have hit the proverbial nail. Because there is no regional government, support for things such as regional mass transit doesn’t exist. Factor in the long history of racial divisiveness and regional solutions move further out of reach.

“Additionally, the city is no longer the dominant political and economic force in the region,” Crupi wrote. “The counties of Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover (predominantly white) are now the new centers of economic prosperity and have not forgotten the city’s attempts to subjugate them through annexation and school consolidation.”

Index Keywords: urban-revitalization