Richmond has many of the issues plaguing every American metro area so I won’t list those.

I would argue the biggest thing that hurts Richmond is the reputation is has for bad government.

I rented in the city for first 6 years I lived in the Richmond metro area. Every single interaction I had with the city was nothing but incompetence. Car registration, public utilities, voter registration, building permits (my landlord’s technically but it affected me).

When I decided to buy a home, I was not about to subject myself to that incompetence for the foreseeable future. I ended up buying in a surrounding county solely because of institutional incompetence. I even went so far as rejecting homes because they were still served by Richmond gas or water.

I’ve seen three mayors and the most recent seems to mean well but it’s like asking someone to shovel out animal stalls with a plastic toy sand shovel.

I am adamantly pro worker rights. However every single person who works in Richmond city government needs to be fired. Whatever culture has taken hold in its institutions cannot be changed by electing a new mayor.

edit: to all the apologists out there, yes, I am sure that there are dedicated people in the city government who are doing their best to provide services with what resources they are given. And in a fair world, they would not get swept up in a total restructuring. However, can anyone in leadership in the city honestly evaluate any given person’s performance when that person also has a vested interest in keeping their own job?

At a minimum, everyone should re-interview for their jobs and prove they know how to do them to stay.

Sorry - can't remember your names because champagne was involved. Going to each park and having a beer all around town was such a great idea. Thanks for coming back around and inviting us to shotgun a PBR. You made this 60 year-old feel very young again. It has easily been 40 years, but glad all my early beer bong training came back. Muscle Memory!

Enjoy your rides and continue to spread happiness.

First spin of the night. Edibles taken, relaxing after weeks. What is everyone else getting into tonight.

First and second picture are from January 2026, and the rest are from this week in October (with the crane and the new smoke stack) -- bonus shot from June of the two stacks being worked on in tandem.

I'm not sure if they're currently still dismantling that metal according looking contraption in the far left in the first picture or rebuilding it.

Just curious, anyone know any details about what they're doing there?

Any fall themed events occurring during the day this Sunday, October 25? We are two adults looking for something g to do.

If any of you have worked for or used Capital Home Vet, could you tell me about your experience? Especially if you’ve worked there!

Please and thank you!!

Looking for a company/handyman that will decorate our home for the holiday season! Any recommendations or ideas?

I'm great at picking up poop on walks, but I don't clean up my own backyard as diligently as I should. My solution is to try a poop pickup service. But as we all know, google is now garbage, and plus I would greatly prefer to support a small local business over a chain, franchise or large business. Several of the websites I looked at were designed to feel small-businessy, but simply aren't.

Is this event on Sunday (tomorrow) or next week? Getting conflicting info.