by Jon Baliles
The debate about making Richmond’s Carytown a car-free zone is edging closer to the forefront in recent months with strong opinions, interesting suggestions, some good ideas, and some bad ones.
The Times-Dispatch Editorial Board weighed in with its opinion, and it was vocal. It’s worth the entire read and filled with stats you probably never heard of, such as that of the 250 or so pedestrian malls created in the U.S. since the 1960’s, only about 10 remain. The piece is filled with great information and two quotes worth noting:
Making Richmond a walkable paradise is certainly a worthy goal. But turning Carytown into a pedestrian mall, and undercutting the businesses that have made it into a regional shopping destination — is not.
The editorial points out that making Carytown car-free could lead many shoppers (who come from near and far) to go elsewhere, and worries that the owners of the unique mix of shops and merchants could be driven out of business, which is also a way of making it a car-free zone. It also points out that many in Carytown are open to new ideas, and certainly to making it safer, but skeptical of closing it to cars.
Dismissing constituent calls to make Carytown safer, and more pedestrian-friendly, would be politically imprudent. A citywide influx of young professionals and families seeking refuge from hyper-trafficked suburban centers — places like Northern Virginia — has emboldened a coalition of progressive, environmentally conscious Richmonders who see a dangerously congested West Cary Street. They care, and they see a solution.
But it’s a solution in search of a problem. Carytown is already flourishing as a suburban shopping district (in other words, because of the cars). It is vital to a city tax base that sorely lacks retail.
Rocket science, this is not: Carytown’s strength is its ability to draw shoppers not just from the city, but from across the region. It’s a destination retail district, a tourist draw that is heavily dependent on suburban shoppers from bordering Chesterfield and Henrico counties, and beyond. It’s located just off Interstate 195 and the Downtown Expressway, making it easily accessible to car-bound shoppers.
Making Carytown carless would be a grievous mistake.
Jon Baliles is a former Richmond city councilman. Republished with permission from RVA 5×5.
