Brookland Park

02 BROOKLAND PARK

RETAIL CORRIDOR Brookland Park Boulevard first developed as a commercial high street as a result of the development of Richmond’s electric streetcar system in the late 19th century. By the 1920’s, it was a thriving commercial corridor, home to grocery stores, restaurants, tailors and clothiers, general stores, offices, apartments, churches, and a grand schoolhouse, now Richmond Community High School. Desegregation and the resultant white flight led to a period of disinvestment in the latter half of the 20th century, but in recent years the area has experienced a revitalization of sorts.

Today, Brookland Park Boulevard is a primary east/west commercial corridor, and a symbol of resurgence in Richmond’s North Side.

03 VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EDUCATION Virginia Union University was founded in 1865 to give the newly emancipated freedmen an opportunity for education of the mind in an ethical, religious environment. A historically black university, Virginia Union University embraces the uniqueness and contributions of the African Diaspora, celebrating the value of cultural and intellectual diversity. However, enrollment is open to all students without regard to racial background.

Community Process.

"The right to the city is far more than the individual liberty to access urban resources: it is a right to change ourselves by changing the city...The freedom to make and remake our cities and ourselves is, I want to argue, one of the most precious yet most neglected of our human rights." - David Harvey