Richmond: The Next Charleston or Detroit?

Richmond has never really had vision and Dr. Crupi's report doubles as our collective optometrist to help us see where we can go and how we can get there if we display the will.

Here are a few observations at first glance:

We have an abundance of talent and resources that many cities in this country do not but we don't take advantage of them.

He also points out that should the Mayor and Council President go to the Assembly with agreed upon charter changes, there is no way they would turn them down. Why didn't we think of that?! Is it possible? I'd like to think so.

One important warning he sounded was that if the city does not turn itself around and becomes a distant isle to "regional centers like Short Pump" and we allow all the growth to occur on the fringes of 288 and 295, then we are in serious trouble. So serious that his analogy was terrifying:

"If you don't believe it can happen, look at Detroit."

Ouch. If that isn't a call to action to get off our hands and open our minds, than I don't know what is. The $64,000 question is will we? I know we have started to tackle many of those issues but diligence is key.

One of the opening moments of his report summed up our situation best, and it is applied universally - if you look back at your life and examined the effects of the important changes you made, do you look back with regret and say the change wasn't for the better?

Without tying this analogy directly to Richmond (even though it is sooo spot on) he said people "tend to overestimate the value of what they have and underestimate the value of what you will gain by changing."

Richmond is a great place, we all know that, and we all know it can be so much better with a lot of work and this report is a great starting point to get us going.

Our collective vision for years has been fearing we will change and not receive any benefit from it when we know deep down that is not possible - we can and will only improve and become better with change.

But can we change? Can we do the hard tasks and become the hard teacher that pushes us to greatness?

I look forward to reading the whole report over the holiday and will report on it next week. Some other thoughts after glancing at selected parts of it and via stream of consciousness:

~ Dr. Crupi calls for an internal and even independent audits of every inch of city schools (gee, didn't the Mayor try that already but everyone freaked out? BTW, where is that promised second audit of the schools?).

~ He also offers several recommendations for tackling the social problems the schools face in conjunction with making the schools better, and these are issues that the business community must become involved with (and I say initiate).

There are those that say the city should not be doing a parents job, but I say we don't have a choice except to continue to lose future generations (note that is plural). How many generations of kids have we already lost? If we can fix one generation it will lessen the need for such assistance in future years; why keep waiting?

~ The city needs to continue streamlining its' "one stop shop" business services so people want to locate their businesses here and not make it so difficult to obtain permits, zoning, etc. Stat.

~ As for retaining young and creative people with Richmond's town like quality of life, his analogy was hysterical (and apropos). "This is a generation that grew up watching "Friends", "The Jeffersons", and "Seinfeld" and not "Leave it To Beaver."

~ The sad thing about our lack of vision is something we have all known for years - there has been little - if any - room at the table for new faces and ideas. "Go along, get along, and follow my lead and we will be fine" has been the mantra, and the track record is indicative of that.

Crupi notes: "When [leaders were] asked who they thought would be the up and coming leaders five years from now, virtually all of those interviewed responded with blank stares. This is unusual in these kinds of studies and is not a good sign for the metro area."

Tell me about it. I could reel off 10 names in 20 seconds, but no one asked me!

~ Crupi also urges Richmond to "involve people with social and intellectual capital and youth with regularity." Hell, how about for once! But I digress......


When the relatives and in laws start aggravating you over the weekend, take a trip to the Chamber's web site and read the report for yourself, or just skim through it. They also have the original report if you really don't want to be around family anymore.

You can also listen to Dr. Crupi himself on WRVA, which has a 12 minute stream of his talk.

The reports are both worth reading and important baselines for anyone interested in using this report as a springboard to making Richmond a better place.

That should be our collective goal, and we should no longer tolerate underestimating the value our future and the positive impact change can have on our city if we decide to forge it. I know we can.

That is a much more palatable option than becoming the next Detroit.
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