2022 mobile tours & Special Events

Sunday, June 17th — 1pm-5pm

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Brown’s Island and the T. Tyler Potterfield Bridge

(City/Downtown: Walk)

Visiting these two cultural resources is not only a great way to see downtown Richmond and the James River, it’s a rare opportunity to see contemporary planning and implementation in an ever-evolving historic area. Join Maritza Pechin, Deputy Director for the Office of Equitable Development or Kevin Vonck, Director of Planning and Development Review, and Max Hepp-Buchanan, Venture Richmond’s Director of Riverfront and Downtown Placemaking, for a tour of the T. Tyler Potterfield Bridge, a keystone of implementing the 2012 Richmond Riverfront Plan, and Brown’s Island, including a description of Venture Richmond’s ongoing Brown’s Island planning effort. After the tour, feel free to explore nearby sites: George Washington’s Kanawha Canal, the American Civil War Museum at Tredegar Iron Works, and Belle Isle, a former Civil War POW camp, former site of hydraulic pump houses that powered Richmond’s trolley lines, and current beloved recreational resource.  

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Urban Design Tour: Great (and not so great) Places in Downtown

(City/Downtown: Walk)

Take a stroll through Downtown Richmond and discuss the features that make Grace Streets fantastic and the need to expand those features to other parts of Downtown. Learn about the plans for City Center, the Fall Line trail, and other efforts to continue to bring more people to Downtown. Since 2010, the core part of Downtown has added over 10,000 residents. During this tour, you'll see how the influx of residents has increased storefronts in certain parts of Downtown and explore areas that are still on the verge of regeneration. 

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Diamond District Redevelopment

(City/Downtown: Private Bus)

Learn about the City of Richmond’s public-private partnership to create the Diamond District, a new neighborhood that will be anchored by a new minor league baseball park. Visit the strong growing neighborhoods that surround the Diamond District – including Scott’s Addition, Northside neighborhoods, and the Sauer Center.

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Infill Development and Reuse in Richmond

(City/Downtown: Private Bus)

Visit to Cary St. Station, aka the "Trolley Barn" brownfield redevelopment site in the lower Fan neighborhood of Richmond, and several other nearby alley infill and adaptive reuse projects. Learn how established neighborhoods, like the Fan and the Museum District, can fit in new housing units that align with the historic character of the urban environment.

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Monday, June 18th — 1pm-5pm

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Tale of the Two Sides of Jackson Ward

(City/Downtown: Walk)

Take a stroll through Jackson Ward and learn about the historic educational, economic, religious and social institutions that inspired its monikers as the "Black Wall Street", and "The Harlem of the South.” Reflect on the role of highway construction and public housing in permanently altering Jackson Ward’s physical and social environment. Learn how planners are developing community-driven plans to redevelop Gilpin Court and reconnect Jackson Ward over the highway.

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Richmond Parks and Greenspaces

(City/Downtown: Private Bus)

Learn about Mayor's effort to provide more parks in areas that lack park access. Tour existing parks and discuss the features that make them successful community amenities. Then head to South Richmond to tour the sites of new proposed parks and learn from park planners about their efforts to engage the community in designing the new parks. Discuss recent research by Jeremy Hoffman of the Virginia Science Museum on the urban heat island effect and its correlation with various social and public health disparities in redlined neighborhoods.

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Richmond Highway: From Manchester to Chesterfield

(Regional: Private Bus)

(Bus tour of the redevelopment of Manchester and Route 1 Highway). Attendees will ride a charter bus across the James River and into Manchester. A short guided walking tour of several of the recent redeveloped factory buildings and new apartment buildings in "downtown Manchester." Then the bus tour will travel southward along Route 1 to the successful affordable housing project known as "Winchester Green." The nonprofit "Better Housing Coalition" will provide an informative overview of the housing project and their plans for expansion. A short walking tour of the grounds will be provided. Then the group will travel to Falling Creek Ironworks Park, site of one of the first iron production facility in North America, for a short overview and walking tour. The tour will conclude with an explanation of how the proposed "Fall Line Trail" will wind its way through Chesterfield County (including a connection to the Ironworks Park) and continue to thread its way through Richmond and northward to Ashland. 

 

• Stop 1: Hatch Local (Richmond's first food hall.

• Stop 2: Clopton Site Works (site of Hatch Kitchen - a commercial kitchen).

• Section 3: Drive down Richmond Highway - talk about the Fall Line Trail.

• Stop 4: Winchester Green.

• Stop 5: Ironworks Park.

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Tuesday, June 19th — 8:00am-11:30am

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Richmond Slave Trail Experience

(City/Downtown: Walk)

Take part in a guided 1.5-mile walking tour of the Richmond Slave Trail also known as the Trail of the Enslaved African.  The walk, which will chronicle the slave trade from 1619-1965, will begin at Libby Hill to the Manchester Docks over to Lumpkin’s Jail site and will conclude at the Reconciliation Statue.  You will be challenged as you imagine and process the arduous journey of those who lived the story. Consider the powerful effect of trails to move the heart, mind, and soul, and the responsibility of planners in telling a story. 

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The Power of Public Art

(City/Downtown: Private Bus)

Explore how public art energizes spaces and how public art must change over time to reflect changing society. Stops will include Monument Avenue, Maggie Walker Plaza, the Riverfront Rings, Reconciliation Statue, Emancipation Statute, and several murals. Discuss how the City can play a role in guiding the process for reimagining Monument Avenue and connecting it to Shockoe.

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Development Along the Pulse BRT: Scott's Addition and Rockett's Landing

(City/Downtown: GRTC Bus)

Attendees can ride the Pulse BRT and get a brief tour of two neighborhoods along it: Scott's Addition and Rocketts Landing. We will take the Pulse from the host Marriott to Scott's Addition. The Scott's Addition tour will be led by Jeremy Hoffman of the Scott's Addition Boulevard Association (SABA) with a stop at the new Scott's Collection Apartments. Architect Jake Sherry of 510 Architects will provide an overview of Scott's Collection. Attendees will then take the Pulse BRT to the other end of the line at Rocketts Landing. Developer Jason Vickers-Smith will provide a tour of Rocketts Landing, and Cat Anthony of the Capital Trail Foundation will shed light on how the Capital Trail and Rocketts Landing have been mutually beneficial in terms of the value of the trail to Rocketts residents and ridership/promotion of the trail by Rocketts residents. Lunch could be provided at the Boathouse. Note: If this is on Sunday or after-hours it could feature a brewery or cidery stop in Scott's Addition

 

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