Two of the three City Council candidates for the 2nd district have submitted their responses to the first in a series of weekly questions put to them by RVANews. The question: List five initiatives that you believe are more important than finding a new baseball team for the City of Richmond.

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A special meeting of City Council’s Land Use, Housing, and Transportation Standing Committee has been scheduled to discuss the Downtown Master Plan. The meeting will be held at 3:PM on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 in City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall (900 E. Broad Street). An opportunity for comments from members of the public will be provided at the meeting.
A public hearing on the Downtown Master Plan (Ordinance No. 2008-208) will be held during the City Council meeting on Monday, October 13, 2008.

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cbs6 is reporting that “a squirrel got into a electric transformer causing a power outage in Richmond’s Carver neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. The outage knocked out power to 6,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers.”

From the NY Times, Sept.17, 1904, an account of a speech by the publisher of the Richmond Planet and president of the Mechanics’ Savings Bank John Mitchell Jr.

Join the Partnership for Smarter Growth the River City Saunter, a smart growth bus tour that will include experts guides such as Rachel Flynn (Director of Community Development, City of Richmond), Brooke Hardin (Principle Planner, City of Richmond), Daniel Moore (Principle Planner, Department of Conservation and Recreation) on Sunday Sept.21 from 2-4PM.

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1708 Gallery blog has a great little slideshow of photography by Andrew Montgomery of Peter Culley’s Light House_1:

Michael Paul Williams looks at the planned redevelopment of Gilpin through the lens of Blackwell:

Before any transformation takes place in Gilpin Court, the ghosts of Blackwell must be purged. Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority is planning to remake Gilpin Court and several other neighborhoods into a mixed-use, mixed-income community. But since only a third of those units will be public housing, residents are wary.

[...]

City Council candidate Tyron Bey recalled his family moving from public housing in Bainbridge to a home in Carver, only to see their new neighborhood gentrified by VCU growth.

“I’m a realist,” he said. “In order for a student to live in this house, a family has to be uprooted.”

Haustalk is a design forum that enables all citizens of Richmond to have an open dialog to discuss how design can be used to strengthen and improve the greater Richmond community. The discussion is a platform to persuade citizens to become more socially conscious and to take action to help Richmond move forward into the future. September Topic: Living, Working, and Designing Green: Eco-Friendly Consciousness, Part 1. Wed., Sept. 24th, 2008 at 7PM FREE

The agenda for the next city council meeting (9/22) has items of local interest:

Ord. No. 2008-203 (Patron: Mayor Wilder) – To approve and adopt a Spot Blight Abatement Plan *** for the structure located at 133 West Jackson Street.

Ord. No. 2008-204 (Patron: Mayor Wilder) – To declare that a public necessity exists and to authorize the acquisition of *** 133 West Jackson Street for the public purpose of implementing a Spot Blight Abatement Plan ***.

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Bend Your Ear; Tuesday Verses; Haustalk; author Brooklen Borne @ The Black History Museum; MORE…

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The Partnership for Smarter Growth’s River City Saunter, a smart growth bus tour with commentary by Rachel Flynn, Brooke Hardin, and Daniel Moore, rolled today from Manchester to Church Hill, Libby Hill, Rocketts, downtown, Jackson Ward, Monroe Ward, Oregon Hill, and back down Semmes to Legend Brewery.

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One of the three City Council candidates for the 2nd district have submitted their responses to the 2nd in a series of weekly questions put to them by RVA News (last week). The question: What are two qualities that people who know you well might say make you suited for the office you seek?”

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