Themes of Impact

A GATEWAY TO RICHMOND Historically, Chamberlayne Avenue in Northside was a vital spot for tourism; a main stop for tourists on their way to the City of Richmond. It used to be connected to the city by the electric streetcar, which carried many daily commuters into the city and back. Today, as it was then, the area continues to be home to many families and contains a large number of single-family homes. Chamberlayne Avenue also continues to carry a large volume of commuters into Downtown, but the prevalence of the automobile has choked out public transport and walkability. With focused attention on celebrating and improving its many urban elements - commercial spaces, a park, a key traffic intersection, and institutional buildings - Chamberbrook can restore this former vitality to make Northside a gateway to Richmond once again.

Placemaking The same opportunities to revitalize Chamberbrook as a gateway can make it a better place to be in general: due to heavy car traffic and the almost complete lack of pedestrian accessibility, Chamberbrook is nearly always a place to pass through rather than one to stop in and enjoy. The area contains many potential public spaces and underdeveloped community resources. Pollard Park is one such place: a large park that's hard to access, hence it hardly sees visitors on a daily basis outside of public events, despite its location nested within a thriving community of single family homes along Brookland Park Boulevard. note: confirm; what's the makeup of the dwellings around Pollard? anything other than single fam? townhomes? dweller demographics?

Small Business Opportunities There are already multiple local vendors that have carved out opportunities for themselves within the Chamberbrook area and display their products in parks, parklets, and sidewalks. However, an examination of the placemaking potential of Chamberbrook immediately reveals many opportunities for dedicated spaces for the community's small business owners. There are opportunities for both permanent and temporary, eventbased commerce, in tandem with placemaking and tactical urbanism opportunities to design flexible, lightweight furniture to allow them to vendor elsewhere. The proposal also offers up live/work spaces for these stakeholders, especially for international stakeholders.

International Tourism Chamberbrook hosts an international-themed event, International Markets, every first Sunday of the month at Pollard Park.* The event is full of international cultural activities, vendors, and ways to learn from other cultures, but is mainly geared to international makers and small business owners. Chamberbrook continues to add vitality to the district by supporting international stakeholders through providing sales opportunities and spaces in addition to international-themed dwelling units. *from July to October 2022 at the time of writing

Local Art Street art is one of the most essential characteristics of Richmond. The city has an abundance of wall murals, ground murals, and street sculptures produced by local artists. Richmond is also home to the VCUarts, one of the most highly regarded collegiate institutions for the Arts in the world, which is located near the Arts District in Jackson Ward and Monroe Ward. The impact of street art is already felt at Chamberbrook, in the presence of a large wall mural on the southern facade of the RUMI building. Chamberbrook's status as a gateway to Richmond can provide inspiration to a new wave of street art: a large canvas for street art and sculpture that local artists take over to create a much-needed sense of place and vibrancy, presenting itself as a welcoming entry to the artistic scene of Richmond.

Children and Play Children's access to art, nature, and a variety of people is essential for their growth and character building. Current conditions in the Chamberbrook area make this type of access difficult. A major part of the reason for rendering the streets and public spaces of Chamberbrook more pedestrian and bike friendly is that they need to be accessible to people of all age groups, including children. In addition, there are many other opportunities for introducing play and child-friendly design into the area. Pollard Park, specifically, is an ideal location for a shaded playground.

Public Events Pollard Park is becoming a venue for community events, despite not containing the most basic public park infrastructure - benches, walking baths, lighting - and despite it being inadequately accessible due to heavy traffic. These events have nonetheless gained significant traction and displayed the potential of further developing the sense of community, culture, and place throughout the Chamberbrook Area.

Safety The lack of a sense of safety at Chamberbrook isn't confined to accessibility issues. The gunshot that killed Amiya Moses at the age of 12 was the moment that sparked this effort for radical change, yet Chamberbrook continues to be subject to multiple safety issues. For all its potentials and successes already, and for all the hope for its future, it remains an area riddled with drug dealership, prostitution, and other activities that threaten the safety and security of individuals and communities. This initiative purposefully and directly addresses communal safety through spatial design and revitalization.

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The Gateway

Placemaking Local Art Safety