Richmond & Jacksonville: More In Common Than You Think
Historically, Jacksonville has more in common with this city than the average person can believe. Common features have included tolls on Interstate 95, Interstate 295 as a beltway, being a headquarters for CSX, festival marketplaces, Harlems of the South and underutilized urban waterways. However, when it comes to downtown revitalization, adaptive reuse and historic preservation, Richmond has been more than willing to work with existing building fabric. Here is a look at some common links Downtown Jacksonville shares with Downtown Richmond.
Tale of the Tape:
Richmond City Population 2012: 210,309 (City); 1,231,980 (Metro 2012) - (incorporated in 1737)
Jacksonville City Population 2012: 836,507 (City); 1,377,850 (Metro 2012) - (incorporated in 1832)
City population 1950: Jacksonville (204,517); Richmond (230,310)
City Land Area
Richmond: 60.1 square miles
Jacksonville: 747.0 square miles
Metropolitan Area Growth rate (2010-2012)
Richmond: +1.98%
Jacksonville: +2.40%
Urban Area Population (2010 census)
Richmond: 953,556 (ranked 45 nationwide)
Jacksonville: 1,065,219 (ranked 40 nationwide)
Urban Area Population Density (2010 census)
Richmond: 1,937.5 people per square mile
Jacksonville: 2,008.5 people per square mile
City Population Growth from 2010 to 2012
Richmond: +6,095
Jacksonville: +14,723
Convention Center Exhibition Space:
Richmond: Greater Richmond Convention Center - 178,000 square feet
Jacksonville: Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center (1985) - 78,500 square feet
Connected to or across the street from Convention Center:
Richmond: Richmond Marriott (410 rooms), Hilton Garden Inn Richmond Downtown/Miller & Rhoads (250 rooms)
Jacksonville: N/A
Tallest Building/Structure:
Richmond: James Monroe Building - 449 feet
Jacksonville: Bank of America Tower - 617 feet
Fortune 500 companies 2013 (City limits only):
Richmond: Altria Group (156), Dominion Resources (187), Genworth Financial (258), CarMax (279), MeadWestvaco (406)
Jacksonville: CSX (231), Fidelity National Financial (353), Fidelity National Information Services (434)
Urban infill obstacles:
Richmond: Limited access highways cut downtown off from the riverfront and adjacent neighborhoods.
Jacksonville: State & Union Streets cut downtown off from Springfield.
Downtown Nightlife District:
Richmond: Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom
Jacksonville: The Elbow, The Jacksonville Landing
Common Downtown Albatross:
Surface parking lots
Who's Downtown is more walkable?
Richmond: 93 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
Jacksonville: 78 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
About Downtown Richmond
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Richmond,_Virginia
Interstate 95
The James River Bridge (Interstate 95) with the downtown Richmond skyline in the background.
The only two major cities Interstate 95 travels through between Washington, DC and South Florida are Jacksonville and Richmond. Also, for much of the 20th century, tolls were charged on Interstate 95 in both Jacksonville and Richmond. Tolls in Richmond were removed in 1992.
CSX Headquarters
CSX's former headquarters was located on the 20th floor of 901 East Cary Street. 901 East Cary is the second tallest white building in the center of this image from the James River Bridge.
Before relocating to Jacksonville in 2003, CSX was headquartered in Richmond. CSX had set up its Richmond headquarters in 1980 as a compromise between its two predecessor companies, Cleveland's Chessie System Inc. and Jacksonville's Seaboard Coast Line Industries Inc. Despite the loss of CSX, Richmond remains a popular location for Fortune 500 companies. Fortune 500 companies based in Richmond today, include Altria Group (156), Dominion Resources (187), Genworth Financial (258), CarMax (279) and MeadWestvaco (406).
According to a recent report by the International Downtown Association, 80,313 people are employed within a one mile radius of Downtown Richmond.
General George Washington Statue at the Virginia State Capitol.
Rouse Festival Marketplaces
In 1985, Rouse's Six Street Festival Marketplace opened at the intersection of Sixth and Broad as a part of a plan to revitalize downtown Richmond's retail scene. When it opened, the marketplace had more than 50 tenants with the Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimers department stores as its anchors. Like Rouse's Jacksonville Landing, the center never lived up to expectations. Sixth Street Marketplace was demolished in 2003.
Harlems of the South
Like Jacksonville's LaVilla, Richmond's Jackson Ward is a historically black district that was once called the Harlem of the South. Like LaVilla, Jackson Ward was split in two with the construction of Interstate 95 during the 1950s. Like LaVilla, Richmond's convention center is located on the edge of the historic district. Unlike LaVilla, much of Jackson Ward's historic urban housing stock still exists today.
Underutilized Urban Waterways
In 1999, Richmond completed its canal walk project, a refurbishment of a 1.25-mile segment of the Haxall Canal and the James River & Kanawha Canal that had fallen into disuse. Intended to be a tourist destination, the canal walk is similar to those in San Antonio and Indianapolis and an example of what Jacksonville's Hogans creek once was.
Urban Warehouse Districts
Tobacco Row in Shockoe Bottom
During the late and early 20th century, warehouse districts were a critical economic anchor of major city downtowns across the country. In Jacksonville, industrial districts included Railroad Row in LaVilla and the Bay Street riverfront. Today, not much is left due to urban renewal.
Separated by an elevated Interstate 95, Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom may be the crown jewels of downtown Richmond's renaissance. Shortly after the founding of Richmond, this area grew to become the epicenter of Richmond's tobacco and slave trade.
The name "slip" refers to canal boat slips where goods were once loaded and unloaded in downtown Richmond. Shockoe Slip originally developed as a collection of tobacco warehouses and related industries. Today, Shockoe Slip has become a commercial and entertainment district. Located just west of I-95, Shockoe Bottom is home to the Main Street Station, the 17th Street Farmers' Market and Tobacco Row.
In the last two decades, it has become a major nightlife, dining, and entertainment district. Combined, today Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom are easily one of the South's premier revitalized urban warehouse districts.
According to a recent report by the International Downtown Association, there are 49,702 residents living within a one mile radius of downtown Richmond. That's nearly 25,000 more than what surrounds downtown Jacksonville. The adaptive reuse of existing building stock in districts like Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom are major reasons for this population discrepancy between these two central business districts.
Main Street Station originally opened in 1901 and closed in 1975 due to a decline in passenger rail service. Rail passenger service returned in 2003 with the reopening of the landmark train station.
The site of the 17th Street Farmers' Market has been a public gathering place since 1737, and is one of America's oldest public markets. The open-air structure that is there today was built in the mid 1980's.
Tobacco Row developed as a collection of tobacco warehouses and cigarette factories along the James River during the 19th century. After the industry vacated the row in the late 1980s, local developer William H. Abeloff jumped started an adaptive reuse trend of warehouse conversions into lofts, apartments, condominiums, offices and retail space.
The Virginia Holocaust Museum was founded by Al Rosenbaum, Jay M. Ipson and Mark Fetter in 1997.
The Southland Wine Company Lofts includes 15 contemporary studio apartments and a striking facade mural by local Richmond artist Ed Trask.
The River Lofts at Tobacco Row are housed in century old warehouses once occupied by the American Cigar company and Consolidated-Carolina's tobacco manufacturing operations.
Shockoe Slip
Shockoe Slip
Shockoe Slip
Preserving "Main" Street
Broad Street has served as Richmond's commercial center since the founding of the city. The area around Sixth and Broad Street once included department stores such as Miller & Rhoads, Thalhimers, G. C. Murphy, Woolworth, Raylass, Sears, Cohen's and W. T. Grant. In 1987, the Broad Street Commercial Historic District was officially added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It can be argued that Jacksonville's Main Street once played a similar role. With its building fabric still standing, Broad Street provides a visual glimpse into the characteritics of an urban commercial district.
The 19-story Richmond City Hall was completed in 1971. The free observation deck on the 18th floor offers the best views of the city. Theatre Square, Richmond's theatre district, and many major downtown retailers once lined Broad Street.
Virginia Commonweatlh University (VCU) Medical Center's MCV campus is located in the east side of downtown Richmond, where Broad Street meets Interstate 95. Today the VCU Medical Center is composed of the hospitals and five schools (Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy) adjacent to the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. Overall, the VCU Medical Center has 865 licensed beds.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is the largest university in Virginia with 30,381 students. VCU's main campus anchors the Broad Street commercial corridor just outside of downtown Richmond.
Conclusion
Downtown Richmond
Like downtown Jacksonville, downtown Richmond is a district that has had to overcome suburban growth and competition from major developments such as the St. Johns Town Center. In Richmond's case, the suburban Short Pump Town Center is anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's, Macy's, and Nordstrom and includes an additional 140 retail, dining and entertainment venues.
If that isn't enough, a second major upscale retail center, the Stony Point Fashion Park, opened the same year as Short Pump. Stony Point is anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's, Saks Fifth Avenue and CineBistro.
Despite the challenges, this Interstate 95 community has been able to successfully build an unique walkable atmosphere by branding its history and utilizing it's historic building fabric. In other words, urban Richmond offers a lively neighborhood setting that can't be replicated anywhere else within that metropolitan area. In the meantime, Jacksonville has done the opposite achieving subpar results in return. Perhaps it's time for Jaxsons to take advantage of our own urban core's unique history and existing building fabric. It's certainly working for Richmond.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP.
Richmond City Population 2012: 210,309 (City); 1,231,980 (Metro 2012) - (incorporated in 1737)
Jacksonville City Population 2012: 836,507 (City); 1,377,850 (Metro 2012) - (incorporated in 1832)
City population 1950: Jacksonville (204,517); Richmond (230,310)
City Land Area
Richmond: 60.1 square miles
Jacksonville: 747.0 square miles
Metropolitan Area Growth rate (2010-2012)
Richmond: +1.98%
Jacksonville: +2.40%
Urban Area Population (2010 census)
Richmond: 953,556 (ranked 45 nationwide)
Jacksonville: 1,065,219 (ranked 40 nationwide)
Urban Area Population Density (2010 census)
Richmond: 1,937.5 people per square mile
Jacksonville: 2,008.5 people per square mile
City Population Growth from 2010 to 2012
Richmond: +6,095
Jacksonville: +14,723
Convention Center Exhibition Space:
Richmond: Greater Richmond Convention Center - 178,000 square feet
Jacksonville: Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center (1985) - 78,500 square feet
Connected to or across the street from Convention Center:
Richmond: Richmond Marriott (410 rooms), Hilton Garden Inn Richmond Downtown/Miller & Rhoads (250 rooms)
Jacksonville: N/A
Tallest Building/Structure:
Richmond: James Monroe Building - 449 feet
Jacksonville: Bank of America Tower - 617 feet
Fortune 500 companies 2013 (City limits only):
Richmond: Altria Group (156), Dominion Resources (187), Genworth Financial (258), CarMax (279), MeadWestvaco (406)
Jacksonville: CSX (231), Fidelity National Financial (353), Fidelity National Information Services (434)
Urban infill obstacles:
Richmond: Limited access highways cut downtown off from the riverfront and adjacent neighborhoods.
Jacksonville: State & Union Streets cut downtown off from Springfield.
Downtown Nightlife District:
Richmond: Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom
Jacksonville: The Elbow, The Jacksonville Landing
Common Downtown Albatross:
Surface parking lots
Who's Downtown is more walkable?
Richmond: 93 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
Jacksonville: 78 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
About Downtown Richmond
Quote
From the 1800s, downtown Richmond was a booming city, one of the largest in the nation, and a major player in the slave trade market. The district now known as Shockoe Bottom was the largest and most famous slave trade market in the entire nation, with people traveling from the South to trade, purchase, or sell slaves. When the Civil War came, though, Richmond became much of a military town, serving as the capital of the newly formed Confederate States of America. As the war came to an end, the South, in a last resort, deliberately set fire to Richmond, so that when the Union troops arrived, the entire city was ablaze. The troops tried to extinguish the fire, but 80 percent of the buildings of Downtown Richmond was completely burnt to the ground. In the era of Reconstrucion, Richmond devised to rebuild and prosper back to the top as it once was, and quickly rebuilt itself. Now that all of the slaves were free, Richmond saw new economic opportunities in other businesses, such as finance, retail, and banking. In the 1920s, America shifted into an Art Deco period, which included the construction of many fancy buildings in Downtown Richmond, notably the Central Bank Building. Also, department retailers saw investment in the downtown sector, and opened up flagships. This included Sears & Roebuck, Thalhimers, and Miller & Rhoads. But the slow yet massive move out into suburban areas began making its mark on Downtown, as these department stores expanded out to the new suburban shopping centers, and eventually Sears closed the downtown store, and Thalhimers and Miller & Rhoads went defunct in the 90s. Although retail was becoming less and less of a viable economy for downtown, banking and big business began booming, and in the 1960s, Richmond began a massive build-out, which included the construction of over 600 buildings. This would go on into the 80s, until the last few skyscrapers were topped out. In 1978, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, designed by renowned architect Minoru Yamasaki, debuted. Now, the economy of Richmond is booming, with several Fortune 500 companies headquartered there. Dominion Resources, MeadWestvaco, and Universal are among those headquartered in the downtown district. MeadWestvaco built its new headquarters in 2010. However large areas of the town were allowed to fall into disrepair until the creation of large swathes of HUD priority areas in the worst areas. Developers were quick to take advantage of the generous re-development loans especially since there was a ready-made market in the form of students requiring cheap housing.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Richmond,_Virginia
Interstate 95
The James River Bridge (Interstate 95) with the downtown Richmond skyline in the background.
The only two major cities Interstate 95 travels through between Washington, DC and South Florida are Jacksonville and Richmond. Also, for much of the 20th century, tolls were charged on Interstate 95 in both Jacksonville and Richmond. Tolls in Richmond were removed in 1992.
CSX Headquarters
CSX's former headquarters was located on the 20th floor of 901 East Cary Street. 901 East Cary is the second tallest white building in the center of this image from the James River Bridge.
Before relocating to Jacksonville in 2003, CSX was headquartered in Richmond. CSX had set up its Richmond headquarters in 1980 as a compromise between its two predecessor companies, Cleveland's Chessie System Inc. and Jacksonville's Seaboard Coast Line Industries Inc. Despite the loss of CSX, Richmond remains a popular location for Fortune 500 companies. Fortune 500 companies based in Richmond today, include Altria Group (156), Dominion Resources (187), Genworth Financial (258), CarMax (279) and MeadWestvaco (406).
According to a recent report by the International Downtown Association, 80,313 people are employed within a one mile radius of Downtown Richmond.
General George Washington Statue at the Virginia State Capitol.
Rouse Festival Marketplaces
In 1985, Rouse's Six Street Festival Marketplace opened at the intersection of Sixth and Broad as a part of a plan to revitalize downtown Richmond's retail scene. When it opened, the marketplace had more than 50 tenants with the Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimers department stores as its anchors. Like Rouse's Jacksonville Landing, the center never lived up to expectations. Sixth Street Marketplace was demolished in 2003.
Harlems of the South
Like Jacksonville's LaVilla, Richmond's Jackson Ward is a historically black district that was once called the Harlem of the South. Like LaVilla, Jackson Ward was split in two with the construction of Interstate 95 during the 1950s. Like LaVilla, Richmond's convention center is located on the edge of the historic district. Unlike LaVilla, much of Jackson Ward's historic urban housing stock still exists today.
Underutilized Urban Waterways
In 1999, Richmond completed its canal walk project, a refurbishment of a 1.25-mile segment of the Haxall Canal and the James River & Kanawha Canal that had fallen into disuse. Intended to be a tourist destination, the canal walk is similar to those in San Antonio and Indianapolis and an example of what Jacksonville's Hogans creek once was.
Urban Warehouse Districts
Tobacco Row in Shockoe Bottom
During the late and early 20th century, warehouse districts were a critical economic anchor of major city downtowns across the country. In Jacksonville, industrial districts included Railroad Row in LaVilla and the Bay Street riverfront. Today, not much is left due to urban renewal.
Separated by an elevated Interstate 95, Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom may be the crown jewels of downtown Richmond's renaissance. Shortly after the founding of Richmond, this area grew to become the epicenter of Richmond's tobacco and slave trade.
The name "slip" refers to canal boat slips where goods were once loaded and unloaded in downtown Richmond. Shockoe Slip originally developed as a collection of tobacco warehouses and related industries. Today, Shockoe Slip has become a commercial and entertainment district. Located just west of I-95, Shockoe Bottom is home to the Main Street Station, the 17th Street Farmers' Market and Tobacco Row.
In the last two decades, it has become a major nightlife, dining, and entertainment district. Combined, today Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom are easily one of the South's premier revitalized urban warehouse districts.
According to a recent report by the International Downtown Association, there are 49,702 residents living within a one mile radius of downtown Richmond. That's nearly 25,000 more than what surrounds downtown Jacksonville. The adaptive reuse of existing building stock in districts like Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom are major reasons for this population discrepancy between these two central business districts.
Main Street Station originally opened in 1901 and closed in 1975 due to a decline in passenger rail service. Rail passenger service returned in 2003 with the reopening of the landmark train station.
The site of the 17th Street Farmers' Market has been a public gathering place since 1737, and is one of America's oldest public markets. The open-air structure that is there today was built in the mid 1980's.
Tobacco Row developed as a collection of tobacco warehouses and cigarette factories along the James River during the 19th century. After the industry vacated the row in the late 1980s, local developer William H. Abeloff jumped started an adaptive reuse trend of warehouse conversions into lofts, apartments, condominiums, offices and retail space.
The Virginia Holocaust Museum was founded by Al Rosenbaum, Jay M. Ipson and Mark Fetter in 1997.
The Southland Wine Company Lofts includes 15 contemporary studio apartments and a striking facade mural by local Richmond artist Ed Trask.
The River Lofts at Tobacco Row are housed in century old warehouses once occupied by the American Cigar company and Consolidated-Carolina's tobacco manufacturing operations.
Shockoe Slip
Shockoe Slip
Shockoe Slip
Preserving "Main" Street
Broad Street has served as Richmond's commercial center since the founding of the city. The area around Sixth and Broad Street once included department stores such as Miller & Rhoads, Thalhimers, G. C. Murphy, Woolworth, Raylass, Sears, Cohen's and W. T. Grant. In 1987, the Broad Street Commercial Historic District was officially added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It can be argued that Jacksonville's Main Street once played a similar role. With its building fabric still standing, Broad Street provides a visual glimpse into the characteritics of an urban commercial district.
Quote
Broad Street, because of its central location impressive attributes, became one of the focal centers of Richmond as well as a commercial center. It was built in a long, straight line in order to enhance the idea that it was in fact the commercial center. Being able to see all along the road easily influenced the people walking down it to feel as though it was the hot spot of the city. The idea of “linear perspective” is that when an object looks imposing and long, it gives it an air of greatness and importance. This idea most likely adds to Broad Streets seeming grandeur.https://urmappingamericanhistory.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/the-progress-of-broad-street/
The 19-story Richmond City Hall was completed in 1971. The free observation deck on the 18th floor offers the best views of the city. Theatre Square, Richmond's theatre district, and many major downtown retailers once lined Broad Street.
Virginia Commonweatlh University (VCU) Medical Center's MCV campus is located in the east side of downtown Richmond, where Broad Street meets Interstate 95. Today the VCU Medical Center is composed of the hospitals and five schools (Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy) adjacent to the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. Overall, the VCU Medical Center has 865 licensed beds.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is the largest university in Virginia with 30,381 students. VCU's main campus anchors the Broad Street commercial corridor just outside of downtown Richmond.
Conclusion
Downtown Richmond
Like downtown Jacksonville, downtown Richmond is a district that has had to overcome suburban growth and competition from major developments such as the St. Johns Town Center. In Richmond's case, the suburban Short Pump Town Center is anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's, Macy's, and Nordstrom and includes an additional 140 retail, dining and entertainment venues.
If that isn't enough, a second major upscale retail center, the Stony Point Fashion Park, opened the same year as Short Pump. Stony Point is anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's, Saks Fifth Avenue and CineBistro.
Despite the challenges, this Interstate 95 community has been able to successfully build an unique walkable atmosphere by branding its history and utilizing it's historic building fabric. In other words, urban Richmond offers a lively neighborhood setting that can't be replicated anywhere else within that metropolitan area. In the meantime, Jacksonville has done the opposite achieving subpar results in return. Perhaps it's time for Jaxsons to take advantage of our own urban core's unique history and existing building fabric. It's certainly working for Richmond.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP.