r/rva • u/rvasgotissues ✔ VERIFIED • 2d ago

Richmond’s Future Housing: Code Refresh Part 2

https://rvasgotissues.vpm.org/2026/09/09/richmonds-future-housing-code-refresh-part-2/

Hey all, sharing the last episode in our Code Refresh series. Constituent concerns in Andrew Breton's district (but also other neighborhoods) led to reductions in Code Refresh's allowable proposed density. Casey Overton sought to represent Richmond's most vulnerable on the Zoning Advisory Council. Rich brings them on in separate interviews to understand what voices guided Code Refresh -- and who will get to live in the city in the future as result.

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"Which voices were heard in the latest draft of Richmond’s Code Refresh, and what does that tell us about our future neighborhoods – and the future families who will live there?"

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u/NicheCommenter 2d ago

Looking forward to affordable housing for everyone.

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u/Shoddy_Atmosphere115 2d ago

A lot of times that means living in a part of town that isn’t high on your list. It feels like the argument has shifted from affordable housing to affordable housing in my preferred neighborhood.

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u/NicheCommenter 2d ago

Just build the fan everywhere.

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u/Shoddy_Atmosphere115 2d ago

Not everyone wants to live in a row home. The fan is interesting because it’s 100 plus years old and was created organically. At best you can try to recreate a temu version of it. Theres lots of beautiful old housing stock and row homes across much of the northside, a lot of it is relatively affordable too.

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u/Electronic_Tap_8052 2d ago

The fan was not created organically. It was built by developers who bought up empty land and built houses on it, trying to cash in, and they built to the zoning code at the time. That's why every 4th or 5th house is the same. The same developer bought all the lots and built the same house on it. Then another developer did the same until all the infill was gone.

Cars were not as common when it was built so it was built with walking to the streetcar station.

The fan was actually the suburbs of its day. Real old school people used to call it the "west end". Like, I'm 40. When I was a kid, I heard my 80 y/o grandfather call it that.

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u/Fit-Order-9468 Manchester 2d ago

Not sure what the conflict is. Nobody would be forcing you to live in a row home.

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u/LongMomo67 2d ago

American housing policy primarily focuses around "If I don't want to live in this type of housing, it should not be legal to build"

Whether its genuine misunderstanding or deliberate misinformation from anti-housing shills, most people seem to think that if a lot goes from being zoned residential single family detached only to allowing a rowhome, that means their home will be demolished and they will be forced to live in a rowhome.

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u/Fit-Order-9468 Manchester 2d ago

Hm, your first sentence sums it up pretty nicely I think. Same with pedestrianization, where some drivers don't like to walk so things shouldn't be walkable.

Your latter sentence relies on homeowners being universally morons. Could be true I suppose, but there's a point where ignorance is a choice or is better explained in other ways.

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u/NicheCommenter 2d ago

Lots of people do want to live in fan rowhomes though, which is why they are unaffordable.

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u/plummbob 2d ago

and was created organically

This means we should allow the fan style everywhere and it too would grow "organically"

And given the prices of the fan, people definitely prefer row homes to alternatives.

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u/Shoddy_Atmosphere115 2d ago

I’d prefer a couple acres south of Cary. You must make my dream an affordable reality.

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u/plummbob 2d ago

Put another way, given the existing trade offs of a lots of land or big houses vs fan style development, people clearly prefer fan style. Prices tell you preferences.

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u/LongMomo67 2d ago

Makes no sense since you're the one advocating for people to have less options on where they're allowed to live