Change Agents

city government. This resulted in a lawsuit and a suspension of city elections for seven years, and the aforementioned Mayor Marsh and the Black majority council.

But all of that, coupled with bussing to achieve the long-delayed integration of Richmond Public Schools, resulted in an exodus, a large white exodus of white residents into the suburbs. Really, that was part of a national trend. There were obviously the history factors that I mentioned, but urban areas nationwide were experiencing that sort of exodus to the suburbs.

Richmond … got a population bump after that annexation, but it began losing residents. Then, as we go into the late 1980s and into the 1990s, crack and violent crime become very pronounced in the city, along with issues with Richmond Public Schools that led people to believe, when they reached a certain age with their children, that they must leave the city. The city started losing a lot of population. …

One of the most significant changes that I witnessed over the 40 years is the repopulation of Richmond by young, energetic creative people and the resulting boost in civic morale. Now, mind you, Richmond has a lot of problems, and there are some folks in the suburbs that view Richmond in not the most positive light, but the civic morale has increased tremendously since the nadir I spoke of.

You can see the development all around. Now, there are some negatives to that in the form of gentrification and the fact that Richmond’s becoming unaffordable to a lot of people, but that speaks to a certain demand that didn’t necessarily exist before.

Overall, Richmond is seen as a more livable and desirable place. A place that has transitioned over the 40 years perception-wise from a sleepy, hidebound, “Former Capital of the Confederacy,” stuck in its ways, resistant to change, really kind of boring, to a place with some sizzle, a place that’s viewed as a nurturer of the creatives, a place with a fascinating history – as troubling as much of it is – a place that’s easy on the eyes, a place with a lot of assets that have attracted the attention of people beyond Richmond.

What’s around the corner for Richmond?

A lot of that is up to us. Richmond, demographically, is following the trend of a lot cities in which it is becoming a place that the impoverished – and who are largely people of color – can no longer afford to live. It’s gone from a majority Black city, a city with a clear Black majority, to a city where Black people are no longer the plurality. I’d say, very soon, the white population will overtake the Black population, if it hasn’t already happened. The city’s gotten wealthier, but again, that leads to the question of displacement and what will happen to the people who get displaced.

There are economic runaway factors that we’ve got to get under control, lest we become another hip, but unaffordable, city in America.