While running for Mayor in 2024, candidate Avula’s top priority in the “Thriving neighborhoods and affordable housing” section of his platform stated: As Mayor, he will: Fight displacement of long-term residents and expand the supply of deeply affordable housing for...
The water crisis on January 6th immediately and obviously grabbed everyone’s attention because it left city residents without safe water for six days and came on suddenly; people were scrambling for water long before the city even notified the public that afternoon. The city’s Finance department has had challenges for years, but lately, it better...
“I never would have thought that I would be the minority in my neighborhood,” said Sandra Bowman, a Black resident of Richmond’s East End. She told an interviewer last year that the recent arrival of white neighbors has led to changes. That shift has also brought frustration. “If a brick comes up in their sidewalk,” she said of...
Sixty-five years ago, a group of brave young Black Richmonders walked into a department store, sat down at a lunch counter, and refused to leave. That’s what they did. That’s what got them arrested. They just sat in a segregated space where their presence alone was considered a crime. https://vimeo.com/9827740?share=copy That moment—the...
In December, we wrote an article for the Richmonder with five issues we would be talking about in 2025, and one of those issues was that community outreach would be critical with a new Mayor in office. We were hopeful that Mayor Avula would establish “real and regular outreach to the community and its neighborhoods. It could come in the...
Following the nationwide protests on February 5th, which saw demonstrations in all 50 states, the Virginia chapter of 50501 has announced another major rally set for Monday, February 17th, at 2 PM in Capitol Square. This Presidents Day Protest aims to push back against what organizers describe as “fascism and...
The residents of Bacon Retirement Community, a low income retirement community in Church Hill have spent months without hot water, inadequate heating during the coldest months of the year, and a lack of response from property management. Jasmine Howell, whose father, Leonard Howell, is a resident, recently spoke to us about the ongoing neglect,...
One evening in Richmond’s East End, a 42-year-old father of two overdosed on fentanyl in his car while his children waited inside their apartment. A neighbor, recognizing the signs, administered Narcan before paramedics arrived. He survived, but the overdose was his third in a year. He had tried to quit opioids before, cycling through short-term...
In 2020, a teacher in Richmond could afford a home on their salary. Today, that same teacher would need to nearly double their income just to keep up with soaring housing prices. The cost of living in Richmond isn’t creeping up—it’s skyrocketing, and for many residents, homeownership is now a distant dream. According to the latest State...
Richmond’s journey into participatory budgeting has reached an impressive milestone. Following up on our earlier coverage, where we explored how residents could influence the allocation of $3 million, the Richmond People’s Budget initiative has completed its first idea collection cycle—and the results are worth celebrating. A Record-Breaking...
