Richmond

Richmond is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. At the 2010 census, the city's population was 204,214; in 2020, the population had grown to 226,610. The Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029, the third-most populous metro in the state. The Jackson Ward neighborhood is a traditional hub of African-American commerce and culture. There are several Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city including: Dominion Energy, WestRock, Performance Food Group, CarMax, ARKO, and Altria with others, such as Markel, in the metropolitan area. The city continues to struggle with high rates of murder and violent crime, making it one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. The site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was briefly settled by English colonists from Jamestown from 1609 to 1611. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737. It became the capital of the Colony and Dominion ofVirginia in 1780, replacing Williamsburg. The settlement was laid out in April 1737 and incorporated as a town in 1742. In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech in Richmond's St. John's Church for deciding Virginia's participation in the First Congress and setting the course for independence. On April 18, 1880, the colonial capital was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond to provide a more centralized location for Virginia's increasing population.

History

Richmond is the primary city name, but also Ampthill, N Chesterfld, North Chesterfield are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is City of Richmond. The earliest European settlement in Central Virginia was in 1611 at Henricus, where the Falling Creek empties into the James River. In 1737 planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. Patrick Henry delivered his famous "Give me liberty, or give me death" speech in St. John's Church in Richmond, crucial for deciding Virginia's participation in the First Continental Congress. The state capital was moved from the colonial capital of Williamsburg to Richmond, to provide a more centralized location for Virginia's increasing westerly population, as well as to isolate the capital from British attack. After the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Richmond emerged as an important industrial center. By 1850 Richmond was connected by the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad to Port Walthall, where ships carrying over 200 tons of cargo could connect to Baltimore or passenger liners reach Norfolk. In 1861, the state legislature voted to secede from the United States and join the newly created Confederate States of America. Richmond was the new capital at the end of a long supply line, which made it difficult to defend for the bulk of the Northern Confederacy's four years of war. In 1849, Henry "Box" Brown made history by having himself nailed into a small box and shipped from Richmond through Baltimore's President Street Station northward on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (a well-used "Underground Railroad" route for escaping disguised slaves) to Philadelphia, in the free state of Pennsylvania.

Geography

Richmond is located at 37°32N 77°28W (37.538, 77.462). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 62 sq mi (160 km²) The city is in the Piedmont region of Virginia, at the James River's highest navigable point. The Richmond-Petersburg Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 44th largest in the United States, includes the independent cities of Richmond, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, and Petersburg. Richmond's original street grid, laid out in 1737, included the area between what are now Broad, 17th, and 25th Streets and the James river. The area between Belvidere Street, Interstate 195, Interstate 95, and the river, which includes Virginia Commonwealth University, is socioeconomically and architecturally diverse. Richmond is located 21.69 miles north of Petersburg, Virginia, 66.10 miles southeast of Charlottesville, Virginia and 79.24 miles northwest of Norfolk, Virginia. It is also 96.87 miles south of Washington, D.C., and 138.72 miles northeast of Raleigh, North Carolina. According to Köppen climate classification, Richmond has a humid subtropical climate (Köppens Köppe). The city's Southside and Southside neighborhoods range from the middle-class suburban Westover Hills to the impoverished Manchester and Woodside areas. The University of Richmond and the Country Club of Virginia are located this side of the Richmond-Henrico border.

Demographics

The population of Richmond City, currently 226,000, may be misleading as Richmond is a continuous metropolitan area in the Greater Richmond region. Richmond City is surrounded by Henrico County which has a population of about 334,000. Richmond experienced a spike in overall crime, in particular the city's murder rate, during the 1980s, 1990s, and the early 2000s. Its major crime rate, including violent and property crimes, decreased 47 percent between 2004 and 2009 to its lowest level in more than a quarter of a century. In 2008, Richmond had fallen to 49th on a Morgan Quitno Press ranking of the most dangerous cities in the United States and the city had recorded the lowest homicide rate since 1971. Richmond has a number of prominent Anglican/Episcopal churches, including St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. John's Anglican Church. In 1786, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was adopted by the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond. The First Baptist Church of Richmond was the first church of these, established in the early 17th century. Because of its early English colonial history, Richmond has several historic churches of English and Scottish descent. Richmond is home to the First Presbyterian Church, which was organized on June 18, 1876, in the first Presbyterian Reformed tradition. Richmond was founded by Methodists and Methodists, and made up another section of early Baptists andMethodists. The city was founded in 1786 by Thomas Jefferson, and is now commemorated by the First Virginia General Freedom Center.

Economy

The city of Richmond is home to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. It is also home to a number of international law firms. The city is also the home of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) The city has been the site of several high-profile films, including "Lincoln" and "The Shawshank Redemption," starring Tom Hanks and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. It was named the No. 1 city in the United States for business in 2007. It also has one of the world's largest airports, the Richmond International Airport, which opened in 2008. It has a population of 2.2 million, making it the second largest city after New York City, after the city of Los Angeles, with 1.7 million people. It's the largest city in Virginia, with more than 1.5 million people living in the state, and 1.4 million people in the surrounding region. The area is also known for its history of railroads, which were built in the 1800s and 1900s, as well as for its water supply. The town has a long history of being a center of business, especially in the early 1900s when it became known as the "birthplace of the railroad" The city also has a large number of small businesses, which have been established in the area since the early 20th century, such as a bank, a restaurant, a bank and a bank. In 2008, the city became the first in the country to have its own airport, which is now the second busiest in the world.

Arts and culture

Richmond is home to museums and battlefields of the American Civil War. The city was home to many monuments and memorials, most notably those along Monument Avenue. Musicians of note associated with Richmond include Jason Mraz, Jimmy Dean, Agents of Good Roots, Aimee Mann, Alabama Thunderpussy, Avail, Broadside, Carbon Leaf, Cracker, D'Angelo, Denali, Down to Nothing, Engine Down, Four Walls Falling, Lil Ugly Mane, Lucy Dacus, Municipal Waste, Nickelus F, River City High, Sparklehorse, Strike Anywhere, Chris Brown, Eric Stanley, and Fighting Gravity. Richmond is also home to GWAR, a heavy metal art collective based in a Scott's Addition warehouse. The Richmond Mural Project (RMP) by RVA and Whino Whino was founded in 2013 as the RVA Street Art Festival. RMP has attracted more than 100 murals from international artists such as Aryz English, Natalia Rakz, and Natalia Roa. The RVA Art Festival is held every year on the last Friday in June. The festival is run by local artist Nils Westergard, who was already on the international art circuit when he founded RMP. The 2014 festival is being helmed by long-time local artist Ed Trask, Jeff Soto, and Jacob Eveland, with the two unrelated RMP Art Festivals being held next year and the year after. The 2015 festival is scheduled to be held on the first weekend in July.

Sports

Richmond is not home to any major league professional sports teams, but since 2013, the Washington Commanders of the National Football League have held their summer training camp in the city. The city is home to the Richmond Black Widows, the city's first women's football team, founded in 2015 by Sarah Schkeeper. The 6,000-seat Arthur Ashe Athletic Center, a multi-purpose arena named for tennis great and Richmond resident Arthur Ashe, hosts a variety of local sporting events. In 2010, the United States Tennis Association named Richmond as the third "Best Tennis Town", behind Charleston, South Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia. Auto racing is also popular in the area. The Richmond Raceway (RR) has hosted NASCAR Cup Series races since 1953, as well as the Capital City 400 from 1962 1980. RIR also hosted IndyCar's SunTrust Indy Challenge from 2001 2009. Southside Speedway has acted as the breeding grounds for many past NASCAR legends including Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip, and claims to be the home track of NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin. In 2015, Richmond hosted the 2015 UCI Road World Championships, which had cyclists from 76 countries and an economic impact on the Greater Richmond Region estimated to be $158.1 million. The course used for the championships was the first real-world location to be recreated within the indoor cycle training application, Zwift, and has been subsequently joined within the game by the UCI world championships courses from 2018 (Innsbruck) and 2019 (Harrogate).

Parks and recreation

The James River Parks System offers bike trails, hiking and nature trails, and many scenic overlooks along the river's route through the city. There are also parks on two major islands in the river: Belle Isle and Brown's Island. The James River itself through Richmond is renowned as one of the best in the country for urban white-water rafting/canoeing/kayaking. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is one of only two independent public botanical gardens in Virginia and is designated a state botanical garden. Several theme parks are also located near the city, including Kings Dominion to the north, and Busch Gardens to the east, near Williamsburg. The city has more than 40 parks comprising a total of more than 1,500 acres (610 ha) and is home to the Virginia Commonwealth University campus. It is also the site of the annual James River Beer and Seafood Festival, which is held in the spring and summer, and the annual Friday Cheers concert series in the fall. The City of Richmond is located in the eastern part of the state, in the Henrico County portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the home of the Virginia State Museum of History and Art, which was founded in 1858. The Virginia State University campus is located near Richmond's Fan District. The University of Virginia is located nearby in the Richmond suburb of Roanoke, and has a campus that dates back to the 17th century. It was the first state university in the United States to be chartered in 1861.

Government

Richmond city government consists of a city council with representatives from nine districts. Citizens in each of the nine districts elect one council representative each to serve a four-year term. The current mayor of Richmond is Levar Stoney who was elected in 2016. The mayor is not a part of the Richmond City Council. The city council meets at City Hall, located at 900 E. Broad St., 2nd Floor, on the second and fourth Mondays of every month, except August. In order to be elected, a mayoral candidate must win a plurality of the vote in five of the city's nine council districts. If no one crosses that threshold, a runoff is held between the two top finishers in the first round. This was implemented as a compromise in order to address concerns that better-organized and wealthier white voters could have undue influence. Richmond's government changed in 2004 from a council-manager form of government with a mayor elected by and from the council to an at-large, popularly elected mayor. In a landslide election, incumbent mayor Rudy McCollum was defeated by L. Douglas Wilder, who previously served Virginia as the first elected African American governor in the United States since Reconstruction. The new city council elected Richmond's first black mayor, Henry L. Marsh. As of 2021, the Richmond city council consisted of:Andreas D. Addison, 1st District (West End)Katherine Jordan, 2nd District (North Central)Ann-Frances Lambert, 3rd District (Northside)Kristen Nye, 4th District (Southwest).

Education

The city of Richmond operates 28 elementary schools, nine middle schools, and eight high schools, serving a total student population of 24,000 students. Richmond's public school district also runs one of Virginia's four public charter schools, the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, which was founded in 2010. The class of 2020 saw an on-time graduation rate of 71.6% putting it at least 20 percentage points behind most other school divisions and making it the worst in the state. As of 2008, there were 36 private schools serving grades one or higher in the city, including Banner Christian School, Benedictine College Preparatory, St. Bridget School, Brook Road Academy, and Trinity Episcopal School. Virginia State University is located about 20 mi (32 km) south of Richmond, in the suburb of Ettrick, just outside Petersburg. Randolph-Macon College is Located about 15 mi (24 km) north of Richmond, in the incorporated town of Ashland. Several community colleges are found in the metro area, including J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and Brightpoint Community College (Chesterfield County). In addition, there are several Technical Colleges in Richmond including ITT Technical Institute, ECPI College of Technology and Centura College. There are several vocational colleges also, such as Fortis College and Bryant Stratton College. Virginia Commonwealth University (public), University of Richmond (private), Virginia Union University (private), South UniversityRichmond (private, for-profit), Union Theological Seminary & Presbyterian School of Christian Education (private).

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Richmond, Chesterfield County, Virginia = 9. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 80. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 91. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Richmond = 4.3 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 737,015 individuals with a median age of 35.9 age the population grows by 0.26% in Richmond, Chesterfield County, Virginia population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 3,782 residents per square mile of area (1,484.75/km²). There are average 2.24 people per household in the 82,818 households with an average household income of $39,679 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 9.70% of the available work force and has dropped -3.52% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 23.26%. The number of physicians in Richmond per 100,000 population = 276.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Richmond = 43.4 inches and the annual snowfall = 13.6 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 113. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 210. 89 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 27.5 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 41, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Richmond, Chesterfield County, Virginia which are owned by the occupant = 40.73%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 51 years with median home cost = $209,880 and home appreciation of -9.59%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $12.69 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,822 per student. There are 13.6 students for each teacher in the school, 321 students for each Librarian and 346 students for each Counselor. 3.31% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 18.74% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 10.87% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).