OPINION

Opinion | It’s Time to Rethink Primaries

Opinion | It’s Time to Rethink Primaries

Editor's Note: The views expressed are those of the author. Lisa Vedernikova Khanna ran for Congress in Virginia's 1st Congressional District and previously served as Chief of Staff at the Democratic National Committee. This essay reflects her perspective and personal...




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Opinion | Wake Up, America: Why We Can’t Keep Normalizing This

Editor's Note: A nationwide protest known as the Free America Walkout is scheduled for Tuesday, January 20, including a demonstration in downtown Richmond at Kanawha Plaza. More information is available at freeameri.ca. We’re barely three weeks into 2026,...

Op-Ed | Why I Support Richmond Code Refresh and Upzoning

Editor’s note: This is an op-ed. The views belong to the author and not necessarily RVA Magazine. We publish opinion pieces to spark conversation, share perspectives, and give space to voices in our community. by Jacob Sherrod Richmond’s zoning code, the policies...

Opinion | The Grocery Bill That Stares Back at You

In Richmond, you walk into Kroger or Food Lion for the usual and walk out $80 lighter with barely a bag and a half. No steaks. No extras. Just the basics you’ve been buying since you first learned how to cook on a crooked burner in a Fan apartment. And now you’re...

Same Box, Different Day: A Love Letter to Beige

By Someone Who Remembers When Buildings Had Souls As reported by Richmond Bizsense yesterday, the Feed More building is gone, and in its place will rise another stack of rectangles pretending to be a home. The renderings are in, and boy, they sure did it. They...

Opinion | Richmond, We Don’t Need Another Love Song

Music has always been a mirror. It tells us who we are, what we value, and, sometimes, what we’re too afraid to face. But if music is supposed to reflect the world around us, then what does it say that so much of today’s mainstream music says… nothing at all? Richmond...

Opinion | The Divide We Face: Democracy in Decay

It is not our failures that make us human, but rather our convictions to yet succeed. The accelerating collapse of corporate and governmental accountability has led to widespread civic abandonment. Mass layoffs at social safety net agencies, executive rollbacks on...

Op-Ed | Why I Support Richmond Code Refresh and Upzoning

Editor’s note: This is an op-ed. The views belong to the author and not necessarily RVA Magazine. We publish opinion pieces to spark conversation, share perspectives, and give space to voices in our community. by Jacob Sherrod Richmond’s zoning code, the policies which govern what buildings can be built and where, is being rewritten as per a...

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Richmond-Code-Refresh_photo-by-Skyler-Gerald_RVA-Magazine-2025

Opinion | The Grocery Bill That Stares Back at You

In Richmond, you walk into Kroger or Food Lion for the usual and walk out $80 lighter with barely a bag and a half. No steaks. No extras. Just the basics you’ve been buying since you first learned how to cook on a crooked burner in a Fan apartment. And now you’re staring at the receipt like it might explain itself. It doesn’t. Prices aren’t...

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Richmond grocery prices_photo by Joel Muniz_RVA Magazine 2025

Same Box, Different Day: A Love Letter to Beige

By Someone Who Remembers When Buildings Had Souls As reported by Richmond Bizsense yesterday, the Feed More building is gone, and in its place will rise another stack of rectangles pretending to be a home. The renderings are in, and boy, they sure did it. They designed a building. Not a good one. Not a bad one. Just a building. It’s a triumph of...

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Same-Box-Different-Day-A-Love-Letter-to-Beige-by-Salty-Oldman_RVA-Magazine-2025

Opinion | Richmond, We Don’t Need Another Love Song

Music has always been a mirror. It tells us who we are, what we value, and, sometimes, what we’re too afraid to face. But if music is supposed to reflect the world around us, then what does it say that so much of today’s mainstream music says… nothing at all? Richmond once had something to say. It made music that rattled cages, music that took a...

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Richmond-we-dont-need-another-love-song-by-R-Anthony-Harris_photo-Tamara-Gore_RVA-Magazine-2025

Opinion | The Divide We Face: Democracy in Decay

It is not our failures that make us human, but rather our convictions to yet succeed. The accelerating collapse of corporate and governmental accountability has led to widespread civic abandonment. Mass layoffs at social safety net agencies, executive rollbacks on identity rights, the erosion of science-based policymaking, and the privatization...

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Opinion_The Divide We Face_Democracy in Decay by Mike Avey_RVA Magazine 2025

Opinion | Water Fiasco’s Silver Lining? by Paul Goldman

Mayor Danny Avula is at a defining moment. The same for the 2004 Elected Mayor law. Here’s why. Then a win-win-win. The 16-year era of the race-baiting politics of former Mayors Dwight Jones and Levar Stoney needs to come to an end. They and their cronies have used race to enrich too many, for far too long, with contracts they don’t deserve, jobs...

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Water-fiascos-silver-lining_Paul-Goldman_RVA-MAgazine-2025