.Having been totaly wiped out by a hour and half(more like 2 hours) to get from Staples Mills Amtrak to/from Downtown and 2 buses rail sounds very good right now. The Short Pump Shopping Complex is almost as big as Tysons Corners but not even rush hour park and ride go out here Here are a couple of reasons why 1.Richmond and the state of VA for that matter has a city/county form of goverment. While proponants of regionlisation like to point out Toronto as a shing example what they fail to realise is that our neighbors to the north have a low crime rate are mostly homogeneose in nature. While Americas citys have high concentration of poverty and black and black gun crime is off the charts driving http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/gun-violence-murder-blacks-cdc-study_n_3582303.html what is left of the middle class both white and black out to the Suberbs. 2. Henrico County which envelops the city of Richmond has no say in City Politics unlike other major citys like Chicago or Columbus OH (Franklin County) which is comparible to Richmond VA aka known as RVA the county goverment provides some services such as policeing, water and sewer,courts and human services. Henrico county does none of these things. 3.Henrico county goverment and voters have to opt in to the GRTC since 95% of households have a car there seems to be no need HOWEVER Henrico county has thousands of jobs wanting because of no Public Trans to strip malls and hotels and light industry. 4. Most of Henrico County Developed after 1979 and there never was a interurban or trolley that made it out there unlike Baltimore County which had interurban service that turned into buses later. 5.Northern VA or NOVA had the Washington and Old Dominion and therefor the collective memory was ingraved into the minds of all even those who were never born. Part of this was the drving force behind todays Silver Line. 6. The No Compete rule of the FTA which says that new rail has to attract new transit riders and can not replace existing bus service. The net eff
Of course, one difference between the relation of Richmond and Henrico County and the relation of Chicago and Cook County is that Richmond (just like many other cities in Virginia) is an independent city, and has no connection with Henrico County, so far as government is concerned.
A recent (last weekend) houseguest, who now lives in Richmond but was born and raised just west of Lynchburg, said exactly what Johnny posted, and most - but not all - of what the Original Poster stated. Since he’s in his 60’s and an experienced corporate executive (turn-arounds, esp. in consumer mail-and-phone order type operations, both in the US and internationally, including several years in Amsterdam), I put a lot of credence into what he said.
- Paul North.
There are over 20+ independent cities in Virginia. The best way to describe them might be to consider them operating like a county, Believe even cities completely surrounded by county had there own court system. Chancery court . Of course there are multi jurisdiction agreements as all over the country.
I was born in such a city and had an argument with some agency wanting a county on an application as county had no record. . Finally listed the city as the county and it went thru. Now all vital statistics records kept in central state records.
Does not this thread belong on the Transit Forum?
Dave, I would say, “Yes.”