The other night I was walking alone down a dark, one way street in Church Hill towards my house, and you know what happened? Nothing.
The other night I was walking alone down a dark, one way street in Church Hill towards my house, and you know what happened? Nothing. In fact, the same can be said for every night that I’ve been back in Richmond; living in the oft, still misunderstood Church Hill. Of course, I am a guy, 6’3’’, and despite my granola esque appearance still have a bit of leftover size from my college football days. But, I’ve never seen anything resembling the legend of the dangerous Church Hill of the past. I think it’s time we put that baseless stereotype to bed.
January will in fact mark the first six months that I’ve been living in Richmond since high school. And, I truly believe that Church Hill is the best of what Richmond has to offer now. Beautiful houses and cobble stone streets aside, within about a half a mile from my house I can: walk to Jefferson Park and have the best nighttime view of the city, I can go to the second best restaurant in the city – Metzger Bar & Butchery, take my dog to Union Market for a little bit of anything, visit the old Richmond staple Poe’s Pub for a drink and some live music, get a great workout on one of the many, many steps at one of the many, many parks, or take the new Capital Trail all the way to Williamsburg (Varina for me) if I get a wild hair. And, that’s all while still having great access to the interstates, downtown, and the airport.
But, the best part in my opinion is also what still sadly probably keeps many people away. And, that is the diversity of the people in Church Hill. I love being able to walk around and see people from all different backgrounds, ages, races, socio-economic statuses, etc. And, as I hinted to before, see them living together as one distinct, friendly Church Hill.
I know why the stereotype still exists though. Despite all the amazing newness of the city that makes it feel like a whole new one to me now, Richmond still is an old city in many ways. I left and never thought I’d come back because I always disliked the pretentious cloud surrounding much of the social scene here; especially in the West End. I can remember going to parties where people just stood around in circles and pathetically, silently judged one another. None of them would have ever been caught dead in Church Hill or anything remotely like it, because it was, to put it bluntly, ‘too dark’. At least where I lived afterwards in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, that came with it’s own stereotypes, if the people there disliked you they had the balls to say it.
In a way, I’m glad that Church Hill seems to be a sanctuary from those type of people in Richmond now because of those issues, and that I’m surrounded by more open-minded, out going people like myself. But, it’s also sad to see how many people are still like that. I mean the world, this city, is full of so many amazing people and things. Why the hell would you limit yourself to just one version of that? Hell, who knows? One of those people you look down upon might even win the Powerball Jackpot. It’d be a shame to miss out on that.
So, that’s all Church Hill folks – a stereotype. The truth is, that it’s a vibrant place filled with all the best things that make a neighborhood home. Unfortunately, I think that secret is starting to get out and money is starting to come in based on all the construction cones I have to dart around recently. Let’s hope at least in Church Hill’s instance we keep a little bit of the old along with the new.
