Monday, December 19, 2011

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Cannot wait to see this...don't know what I'm gonna do til then...

I want to read this novel first - bc even the author says that this movie is an awesome adaptation of his story!

Check out "We Need to Talk About Kevin"

My brother's name is Kevin...coincidence?...or inspiration? (Juuuuust kidding Kev :) Love yoooou)

PS - Here's another one that may even help you learn French

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The 1st RVA Musicfest

Slight delay on this one.  Lot of information, not a lot of time to focus on it.
On Sunday September 11th, Richmond made history by having its first all hipster music festival J Ok, maybe that’s a stretch, but it definitely had a target audience in mind.  The 1st (Annual? Will it happen again? Can it even be called “annual” the first time around?) RVA Musicfest took place in Shockoe Bottom on 18th Street between Main and Broad, with the main stage being on 18th and Grace St., while a 2nd stage was on Franklin between 18th and 19th St.
Officially, the event took place on Saturday September 10th as well as Sunday September 11th.  However, Saturday was filled with “Showcases” at local bars and clubs, and I’m sure each has its own amazing review, but I only went to three of them and they all added up to a pretty typical night in RVA if you ask me, so let’s focus on the important biz.
Sunday was where (when?) it was at.  The headlining bands were Girl Talk, Best Coast and The Trillions (I’m gonna go ahead and throw No BS! Brass Band in there, too.  They’re a personal local fav of mine.)
The gates opened at 2:00 with the first act, The Climbers, going on at 3:00 on the main stage.  Local band Proverbial was the first band to play on the 2nd stage at 3:30.  The crowds were thin when I arrived around 4:00.
The streets may have been closed, but the bars were open.  McCormack’s (in collaboration with WRIR 97.3 FM Richmond Independent Radio) even had a special set-up in their upstairs section where fans could sit in on interviews with the bands after they played.
Tents from local spots like the Camel and Republic were set-up with contests, prizes, and promotions while a blimp floated above Tiki Bob’s Cantina in the (approximate) center of the madness. (lots of free cigs were given away surprisingly – if you weren’t in attendance, you missed out cancer lovers).
The masses started to gather around 5:00.  By the time the 7:00 bands went on, you were officially standing in a crowd no matter where you went.  But it still wasn’t bad compared to other festivals/concerts/whatever.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or just aren’t into this kinda music J) you knew one thing to expect from this concert:  Girl Talk would equal pandemonium.  And oh how it did.  This is where the crowds stopped and the mob began.  That guy is a never ending party, and everyone wants in.  And by never-ending party, in this case, I mean an hour and 5 minutes of dance, sweat, props and every song you’ve heard at a party since you were a teenager (or younger in some cases).


PICTURES TO COME SOON

Oh... MY god...

http://cocoperez.com/2011-10-19-patrizia-reggiani-rejects-parole-in-maurizio-gucci-murder-because-shed-have-to-work
I understand if rich people want to flaunt it that they're rich, but this lady is not rich.  She was mooching off someone else's prosperity...and then had him killed.  That's the first sign of worthlessness.  But to get a chance for freedom and turn it down because it means you'll have to work? And to admit that to a parole board? I thought caricatures of people like this only existed in TV and movies...how many ways are there to say worthless??

Plan 9 nooooooooooo

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/business/news/2011/oct/19/plan-9-music-files-for-bankruptcy-ar-1394114/
But at least they'll (hopefully) continue operating.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

....AAAAAHHH kinda movies

Ok, this was supposed to be posted going into Labor Day weekend so everyone could celebrate in true American style with some blood n’ guts, but womp womp, oh well.  J  There are a lot of horror movies that have come out (or are coming out) this year that look per-retty inneresting.  Check out a few of them below.


Grave Encouters (Trite, but not overdone)




Don't forget to check out the blogs below for info on a freaky new  Val Kilmer horror movie and, of course, Kevin Smith's new masterpiece.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Station 2 – Climbing the Ladder in Good Richmond Restaurants



We walked into the renovated fire station on a Thursday night around 8:30.  It was considerably crowded, but apparently there just happened to be a lot of parties there that night.  The first thing I noticed was how loud the concrete floors made it the room (think Bottom’s Up x3).  But there was a narrow seating area outside so we decided to give that a shot.

The outside seating space was nice but kinda weird since it’s sandwiched inbetween two brick walls.  But the crowd seemed nice – 20 something’s up to 50 something’s (all coincidentally in big parties that night).  So the place was loud but not rowdy, per se. 
The waitstaff was nice but terribly unorganized.  It took us so long to get a server, the host came over and got us our waters.  But they were pretty busy that night with the all the big parties, so we cut ‘em some slack.  They were definitely nice, but they couldn’t tell what table was what number.  I’m pretty sure the manager brought our food out and he didn’t even know what table to go to.  But they were all very polite and attentive.
I got the BBQ Barista – a seemingly typical BBQ burger, except it’s rubbed down with coffee grounds and topped with gouda cheese.  It was deeeeeeeeelicious.  The most flavorful BBQ burger I’ve ever tried.  I think it’s the first time the sauce hasn’t completely taken over the whole burger before.  And it was cooked PERFECTLY. *gasp* first time I've ever said that.  Medium rare - just enough pink throughout (heh) and beef that was crumbling apart a little near the end. MMMM
(BTW New favorite salad dressing alert!  Italian feta? Hell yes.  For a cheese lover like me who’s getting sick of blue cheese dressing, it was a tasty, refreshing substitute.)
Enough about the food, can we talk about the milkshakes?!  They have regular and alcohol options, although I couldn’t really detect much alcohol in my Naughty Girl Scout (either really weak or really dangerous J).
My comrade got the Chow Bella, which consisted of peppers, bacon, gouda, and arugula with a garlic aioli sauce.  I love the way they don’t just stock a couple of basic ingredients and then use different combinations for each burger.  They really thought about what unique ingredients go well together and came up with burgers I never would've thought of.  My friend said his burger was really good (since I didn’t try it, I can’t say much).
For a milkshake he tried the Monkey Palm, which I’m glad he chose because I’ll probably never try it due to the real bananas in it (I’m sorry, if I want fruit, I’ll eat fruit – when I get milkshakes, I want chocolate, vanilla, and other eeeevil sugars only.  THANKS).  He said it was really good, which means a lot coming from someone lacking a sweet tooth.
In the end, this place definitely did not disappoint, and I am to get back there soon to try the other burgers and their delicious looking appetizers (beer cheese? Sign me up!).  And of course, every milkshake.
To Be Exact :  (taken from Station 2 website - http://station2richmond.com/)


PS- For anyone who’s a fan of eating challengers, check out The Ladder at the end of the burger list.  If anyone tries this, write me when you get out of the hospital after your heart attack.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Are there enough scary movies coming out yet?



I swear I've seen 20 trailers for scary/creepy/thriller-type movies that are coming out within the next year.  But something about this one says it's going to be quality (as well as Kevin Smith's move Red State, but that seems to border on badass comedy a lot, at least as far as dialogue goes. Come on, John Goodman's in it.)

From the producer who brought you Jeepers Creepers I and II (as well as The Good ShepherdLost in Translation, and Marie Attoinette - let's be fair) here's Francis Ford Coppola's latest attempt at a masterpiece.

Twixt!

P.S. - Val Kilmer, what happened to you man?!

P.P.S. - In case you wanted to check out Red State:
Official Trailer

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Thank you Perez


Some guys really are a dime a dozen!  So reassuring. Ladies, know any guys that answered these questions? Fit into these percentages? :)

http://fitperez.com/2011-07-28-half-of-men-would-dump-girlfriend-for-weight/?feat=yes

I definitely chuckled and knodded (or shook my head, depending) at a few.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

That was a HOOT (yeah, I went that corny with it)

This was my first year going to Hoot on the Hill at Colonial Downs (hosted by the Virginia Ski Club and partially sponsored by Hooter’s and K-95).  I didn’t really know what to expect going into it, and after this experience all I have to say is- unless you like cornhole and drinking in public, it ain’t much. 
It was fun, don’t get me wrong.  If you have enough good people, food, and alcohol around you, you’ll be good to go.  But you can get that a lot of places.  The horses were a little extra excitement, but they mostly kept to the inner tracks for most races, and a lot of people weren’t on the rail so you weren’t even that close when you were watching.
So all that being said, my experience was pretty fun!  There were 10 of us in our group, and our plot had plenty of room for us.  We had a tent, little picnic table, bunch of chairs, coolers, blankets, booze, and bodies!  We didn’t even have a cornhole set with us and we still had a blast.  I guess the girl fight in front of us didn’t hurt. Plus two of our friends entered the hot wing eating contest (or maybe one more jumped in after she found the wings were boneless). They may not have won, but they got Hooters shirts! Lol

So if you’re looking for a more relaxed, watered down version of Strawberry Hill, this event is perfect for you.  Or even if you’re just looking to enjoy some nice weather with a little drinking in public with a few of your friends, I guess it’s worth the $20.  Couldn’t hurt right? At least it didn’t for me.

So much security...for 2 chicks?
I <3 Hooters (the sticker said so)


Yet Another Hadad’s Party!

On June 9th, Rumors Boutique and the crazy kids known as Bitch City Crew threw another fun and eventful shindig out at Hadad’s Lake.  With about 14 kegs, 30 pizzas, and DJ Cobra Krames being “too fucking loud”, everyone had enough fuel to keep them energized for the day (which started at 11:30 for some and lasted into the evening).

Despite an early warning from Rumor’s co-owner Casey Longyear that the police were on their way and would be I.D.-ing everyone in attendance, the 5-0 never showed and (presumably legal) fun was had by all!

See for yourself:








Didn't really have too much to write about this one.  I mean, there was beer, pizza, and music - can you guess what happened next? :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Queso Critic

Best Queso In Richmond (and kind of the surrounding area)

1.       El Caporal
-I’ve thought to myself every time I’ve eaten there “OK, this HAS to be the best queso ever”.  And so it was written.
2.       Casa Grande
-This is a veeerrrrry close 2nd….I mean, it’s the 2nd listed #1 best queso
J lol
3.       Republic
-Believe it or not, for a non-Mexican designated restaurant, their queso is DAMN good
4.       El Paso
-They could tie with Casa really, but I think Republic beats them bc of their non-Mexican restaurant designation.  It’s still damn good queso.
5.       Nacho Mama’s
-It’s a meal in itself.  A delicious meal!
6.       Mexico
-C’mon, if you’re just straight rocking the country’s name, you gotta step up the queso.
7.       La Casita
-Pretty good, but a little blander than the restaurants over in the West End.
8.       Plaza Azteca
-For a pricier Mexican restaurant, I expected more.
9.       Baja
-I know I eat it every week, but even when I put stuff salsa or sausage in it, it’s still….yeah
10.   Legend’s
-….Just don’t get it. It’s yellow for god’s sake.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Whatchu know 'bout Oregon Hill?










             Oregon Hill is a fascinating, ever-changing neighborhood.  Already rich in Richmond history, it continues to be an important part of the city’s developing history while undergoes changes in its population and dynamic.
In 1968, the Richmond Downtown Expressway razed almost one hundred structures. Virginia Commonwealth University, to the north, has demolished entire blocks of residences.
            The complete demolition of all the houses on a three block area was a source of bitter contention between the neighborhood and the Ethyl Corporation, which owned the land. Ethyl had planned to do more, but had too much resistance from residents.
             “They successfully fought off Ethyl which purchased land and was going to do different things, including put up some apartments, put a research facility, put a theater up at one point,” explained Oregon Hill resident Lynn Ivey.  “They successfully thwarted Ethyl as well as VCU who wanted to start marching towards the river to put up dorms, and basically do the stuff that ultimately ended up doing on Board Street.”
To contrast all the destruction, recently there has been much development throughout Oregon Hill.
Jennifer Hancock is the President of the Board of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council (OHHIC), the President of the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) and a resident of the neighborhood.  She moved into the neighborhood around 2003. 
            “My home was a market rate house built by OHHIC, our local nonprofit,” Hancock said.  OHHIC has been renovating and building workforce housing in the neighborhood since the 1970’s.  “Market rate houses were sold to help OHHIC offset the cost of selling affordable houses at a loss,” Hancock explained. 
            According to Hancock, OHHIC was originally started as a way to help the original families of Oregon Hill to become homeowners after renting for generations, in the face of gentrification.  “When I moved into the neighborhood, this was still very much a concern,” Hancock said.  “Housing prices were climbing.  The assessment on my home went up 28%.”
            “I know that it is hard to remember that time now that we are in a recession, but [Oregon Hill residents] was concerned about people being pushed out of the neighborhood that they had lived in for their entire life.”  OHHIC has been able to help someone of these residents.
Infill projects have erected houses in lots that were previously vacant due to fires or other demolition. Many old buildings have either been renovated or torn down and replaced with townhouses. As of 2007, a new townhouse complex called "The Overlook" has been mostly completed and inhabited on the blocks overlooking the James River.  

Robert Fritzman is one of the residents of The Overlook.  “I mean, I heard it was the ghetto and whenever I tell people where I live, the first face they make is one of shock,” Fritzman said. 

Now that he has been living there almost a year, he’s warmed up to the area, but still has some mixed feelings. “It's a great neighborhood and I love living there; however, I think it's still somewhat a little unsafe. Just last Friday the cops were on my street again because a guy was trying to break into everyone’s cars,” Fritzman said.

“I love the location of Oregon hill and the fact that I am so close to the Fan without paying the price to live in the Fan. I just wish they would spend some time cleaning up the homeless problem and some of the houses.”
            Jennifer Hancock has noticed several issues with an of students and young people.  “Noise and parties are a concern, usually at the beginning of the school year.  After the police get called a few times, they will usually settle down,” Hancock said. 
            As Fritzman pointed out, crime can also be an issue.  Hancock agrees.  “Many of these students have never lived in an urban environment and there is a bit of a learning curve.  Such as don’t leave valuables in plain sight in your car.  Or if you allow anyone to show at your party, you may end up being the victim of a theft.” 
            Hancock pointed out that learning the ins and outs of city living can be a struggle for students.  “What day is trash day?  Recycle day?  Why do they pick up trash in the alley, but recycles on the sidewalk?  Why can’t I leave my recycle bin on the sidewalk 24/7?  My dog/cat is lost.  Help!” 
            She added, “And those of us that have seen the neighborhood change are still trying to learn to live with the students and trying to figure out how to connect with a constantly changing population,” Hancock explained.  “You get one group trained and it’s time for the new group to move in.”
            Any other problems the students are causing?  “Parking. Parking. And, oh yeah, parking.”  Hancock says it’s a common occurrence to have three, four or more students renting or living in a house and each student has a car. 
            She also said commuter students park there because it’s free.  As a result, neighbors are having to park blocks from their houses.
            Hancock had one last thing to add on the topic of students.  “With a large and constantly shifting population, and the loss of many long-time Oregon Hill residents, it can be hard to find volunteers for neighborhood activities.  Students are often not interested.  They don’t feel like it is their neighborhood/home.  They are leaving in a couple of years (although many, to their surprise, end up staying after they graduate).”
            To clarify, Hancock doesn’t feel that the students are necessarily “pushing” the older generations out (as in gentrification). 
“Now that gentrification is no longer a concern, student renters are the big concern.  A neighbor forwarded a study that showed that levels of poverty are rising in OH.  I suspect that the decrease in income levels can be attributed to the students (not because of poverty, although students are often poor, but because they are students.  They have part-time jobs or get money from their parents or student loans.  When they graduate, their incomes should start rising, I hope.  We are in a recession.).  Gentrification is never mentioned anymore.”
But some feel the increase in students may not be such a bad thing.  “It was run down, dirty, slummy, and overall sketchy,” said former Oregon Hill resident Nathan Faison.  “I started noticing that as VCU expanded, more and more college students were pushing out and filling farther and farther reaches of Oregon Hill. It seems that the population shift now has students out-numbering the older lower class inhabitants. Renovations look like they’re having a good impact as well, especially in the backside reaches near the back of Hollywood [Cemetery].”
Besides students, Oregon Hill has its share of characters.  Lynn Ivey remembers Robert Brunk, a “70-something year old man” who would stop people on Laurel Street and make them pay him a dollar to move on, much like a toll.   “He had a red hat and was obviously not completely wired,” Ivey explained.  “He was very tall and very lean and would walk up to the side of your car and go ‘hey buddy, hey buddy, gimme a dollar, gimme a dollar’.” 
Ivey added, “I started keeping dollars in my car just to give him one,” Ivey said.  If you opened your wallet and saw that you had more in your wallet, he’d ask for more.  Ivey isn’t sure if Brunk lived in the neighborhood, but he says he was always around.

The neighborhood retains some of its original architecture and working-class feel, while mixing with newly constructed buildings and the energy of the VCU students and young professionals who may be new to the area.  Oregon Hill is truly a unique neighborhood, holding onto its history while transitioning into the future as a desirable place to live.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Look Out Carytown


To quote singer Bob Dylan- “For the times they are a-changin’.”  And they appear to be changing quite dramatically for Richmond’s Carytown area. 
Richmond City Council voted 9-0 at their March 28th meeting to approve a special use permit for a new retail development in Carytown Place on North Nansemond Street.  The council also voted 6-3 to approve a city master plan amendment for the area.  And many in the community are not pleased with the council’s decision.
The controversial master plan amendment called for certain properties along Floyd Avenue, Ellwood Avenue, North Thompson Street and North Nansemond Street to have their designation in the city’s master plan “land use plan” changed from “transitional office” to “community commercial”.

Councilman Bruce Tyler, whose 1st District includes the site in question, began the council discussion at the Monday meeting by pointing out that “this is not a business decision, this is a land use decision.”

Tyler explained that, “The Commonwealth of Virginia provides us with certain rights as a city, and one of those rights is to delegate land issues and land use issues to the city.” 
He said the commonwealth does not delegate to the City of Richmond the right to decide what business goes in a building and which one does not.  “If I have two competing businesses, well it’s not my place to say this one can come in and this one can’t,” Tyler said. 
He also explained that SUP’s have to be decided on according to the criteria set forth by the code in the city’s master plan. “And the criteria’s very clear – it cannot increase congestions, in cannot encroach on other people’s property, it cannot be overdeveloped [to name a few],” Tyler said.  “That’s critical.”

Tyler is for the development, but against changing the master plan to cater to the developer.
            “I just felt it was inappropriate to do it that way,” he said, referring to the changing of the master plan so that this one project could be approved.  “If you don’t do spot zoning, you shouldn’t be able to do spot master planning.”
Zoe Anne Green, a representative from the Museum District Association’s Board of Directors, agrees.  She said the association spent 8 months working with the developer on the plans for this project and “certainly not everyone’s happy, but we feel like we did the best thing for the neighborhood with that property.”
Green said the MDA, which represents the area west of the Boulevard, feels like the planned development is a really good use for a vacant property that is not really suitable for office space.  Green added, “The parking lot is oriented towards Thompson, not Nansemond, so we believe it’s not going to have a lot of impact on the residents on Ellwood and Floyd.”
The MDA voted in November to oppose the SUP, but the developer made several changes and the association then voted to support the altered plans.
However, the association does not feel like the city administration did the right thing by introducing the master plan amendment.  “We would’ve preferred that council voted against that,” Green said, adding, “It’s more on the way it was done than what it was.” 
She said the association feels that there wasn’t enough notice given about the amendment and there wasn’t enough opportunity for public input.  “But we feel they did the right thing on the SUP.”
Hunter Jamerson, attorney at Macaulay and Burtch and representative of Don’t Big Box Carytown, claimed that these plans would violate Virginia Code Section 15.2.22.1.
"Long story short, that code section governs the relationship between localities and the state with regards to transportation planning,” Jamerson explained, adding, “It says that any time [the city is] rezoning an area, and the SUP is a form of rezoning, that is within 3000 ft. of a state controlled highway and it creates a substantial impact on state controlled highway transportation, then you have to report to the Virginia Department Of Transportation (VDOT) with regard to what [the city’s] site plan is so that [VDOT] can review it and determine whether any changes need to be made.”
 In this case, the Carytown Place development is about 1500 ft. away from Interstate 195. If the new development generates more than 250 vehicle trips per day, then a site plan must be given to VDOT.
"It's going to generate traffic in excess of the reporting requirements, so that requires VDOT to study it.”
Jamerson explained that VDOT has a system similar to assigning letter grades to these projects “like A-F and my bet is...these are C level intersections”.  So while the project would not fail, it would require some changes to the existing traffic pattern in order to improve the situation. 
“And those would be things like removing street parking on Ellwood Avenue and that block in order to alleviate the strain, changing some of the one way patterns or signage and little things that,” Jamerson said.
Jamerson wrote a letter to the city council members explaining all of these details, but claims no such report or study has been made.
Supporters and opponents had packed council’s chamber at the March 28th meeting, offering conflicting viewpoints.  A prominent voice amongst those in opposition was the group Don’t Big Box Carytown.
Jamerson said Don’t Big Box Carytown opposed the project in principle on the basis that this was not an appropriate development for the neighborhood.  “I think our basis for [that belief] is [the council] had to amend the city’s master plan to even justify this kind of use in this neighborhood,” Jamerson said. 
He added, “We would have preferred to see this kind of development go on the Boulevard or Broad and Belvidere; somewhere where there’s an appropriate site for these kinds of development.”
As Jamerson put it, “This wasn’t just a ‘not in our backyard’ campaign.” 
Jamerson said the group’s main point was that something along the lines of a mix-use, small retail housing or multi-family housing, like apartments or condos, would have been a much better fit, and “probably would have generated a better product for the local, existing retail.”
“If you build more apartments you create more retail space for the merchants you already have there,” Jamerson explained.  “Instead, they’ve added another grocery store to compete with the existing three.”

Hiatus

Apologies for the long break inbetween posts, but I've been swamped with work and other madness.

But rest assured, many posts to come soon.

Monroe Park Situation - in case you've been living under a rock...



Monroe Park, located in the middle of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park Campus, was established in 1851 at its current address of 620 W. Main St.  Since then, not much has been updated or renovated in the park, if anything at all.

Richmond City Councilman Charles Samuels oversees the city’s 2nd District, which happens to include Monroe Park, and became involved with the project when he was elected to Richmond City Council in 2008 and took office in 2009.

“There have been plans throughout the years, I mean decades, to improve, fix up and renovate Monroe Park,” Samuels said.  “The most recent one occurred about nine years ago.”
The Monroe Park Advisory Council was appointed by the members of City Council and has been in charge of developing the renovation plans for the park.  The group developed the Monroe Park Master Plan.

“The original objective was… they were looking at paving a significant portion of the park and turning it into a parking lot,” Samuels explained.  “There was a question about whether or not that was the best use for the park and whether or not there should be something else done instead of that.”

“They decided to look at what the role of the park should be… in the community and what would make good sense to do with the park.”

The full Monroe Park Master Plan is 130 pages long and includes objectives like replacing all the utilities, removing vegetation and introducing entertainment elements such as sculptures, a farmer’s market, a stage, a carousel, a cafĂ© and an ice cream cart.

“[The project] has an opportunity to make both the pathways and the restrooms [Environmental Protection Agency] compliant and handicap accessible, which could be a really big deal,” Samuels said. 

“A lot of the community is on board with [the project],” Samuels said.  He said the plans are drawn up and now “it’s a matter of putting it out to bid, getting a request for proposals, and getting that kind of stuff taken care of so that we can begin.”

However, some Richmonders see more problems with the Monroe Park Master Plan than with the park’s current condition.

Peggy Sterling is an advocate with the Monroe Park Campaign, a group dedicated to keeping the park open during the renovations.  Sterling has been with the group since attending a meeting in November that was hosted by Councilman Samuels.

“Councilman Samuels organized a meeting for those of us who had concerns about the park closing,” Sterling said.  “Basically the meeting was, in his words, to discuss what would happen when the park closed.”

“At the meeting…there was no consensus that we wanted the park to close,” explained Sterling, adding, “At the end of the meeting, Councilman Samuels got up and said the meeting was a success and that we would all go to the Conrad Center when the park closed.”

Sterling said newspapers reported this conclusion from the meeting, but that it was inaccurate.  “I’m not saying Councilman Samuels is a liar, but he was not being entirely truthful about the results of that meeting.”

The Conrad Center, located at 1400 Oliver Hill Way, provides a regular program where a hot breakfast and dinner are served five days a week to over 300 people in need.

But Sterling says the Conrad Center is an inadequate replacement for Monroe Park.

“Some people are not going to be able to get services,” she said.  “Certainly the Conrad Center provides services, but the Conrad Center is not very accessible to someone who does not have the ability to obtain transportation.  The walk up that hill is almost impossible for someone who is handicapped and so to get to the Conrad Center for anything is extremely difficult.”

However, free transportation is being set up in the form of a shuttle for people who are unable to transport themselves to the Conrad Center.

Melba Gibbs, executive director for Freedom House, the association that runs the Conrad Center program, said, “This shuttle is a pilot program that we are conducting for a 6 month period.”

The shuttle will be used to transport people to and from the Conrad Center to medical and social service appointments first, then for the meals program. “We will not start the shuttle until March 15th so I have no way of knowing what the results will be,” Gibbs said.

But Sterling said it’s not just the meals that are the issues.  “Food Not Bombs brings in … potatoes, tomatoes, basically groceries, and taxes them out and people take them home as groceries for the week.  I don’t believe that the Conrad Center does any such thing,” said Sterling, although she admitted that there are churches in the area that offer similar services.

Food Not Bombs, a group that serves a meal in Monroe Park every Sunday at 4 p.m., is an organization that has been vocal in their opposition to the closing of the park.

A representative from Food Not Bombs who said his name was Donnie (and that he “doesn’t use a last name”) explained that the organization has an issue with more than just the closing of the park.  

“Food Not Bombs isn’t really a charity organization, and what we do is very much political, and any attack on people within a society is an attack on everybody in that society,” he said.

Samuels is aware of the concerns of this and other organizations. “I try to take into account everyone’s feelings and positions on this.  The feeding services are, fortunately, services that can occur almost anywhere,” he said.

“While I feel for them that there is potential that they won’t be able to feed where they have been doing it in the past, [the plan] doesn’t prohibit them from continuing to do so.  Just for a series of time they’ll have to do it somewhere else.”

But Donnie explained, “It’s not an issue of services.  It’s an issue of this is an attack on the poor and it’s part of the continued process of gentrification that VCU and the city have been involved in in that neighborhood for years and years and years.”

The organization’s frustrations go beyond on their feelings on the gentrification issue.

Donnie claims that the Monroe Park Advisory Council removed the Master Plan from their website after Food Not Bombs came to one of their meetings and “were pointing out things from the plan that were questionably legal, but definitely oppressive and terrible.” 

He said the council also removed most of the contact information for its members after that meeting and now claim that they don’t exist.

Food Not Bombs is also frustrated because the city is not being forthcoming with information.  “There have been [Freedom of Information Act] requests from people involved in the [Monroe Park Campaign] that have gone nowhere, that have been completely ignored, or we’ve been told that the documents we’re requesting don’t exist,” Donnie said.

Food Not Bombs has made a list of how its organization wants the park to be handled, including keeping at least 25 percent of the park open at all times during renovations (the list can be viewed online at(http://fanofthefan.com/2010/10/more-on-the-monroe-park-renovation/).

But Samuels doesn’t see how planners can meet the demands of the organization.  “They made a list of demands and that’s certainly within their purview to make them, but when people make non-negotiable demands it’s very difficult to find common ground to compromise,” he said.

And non-negotiable is right:  in a statement posted on The Wingnut Anarchist Collective, a blog group closely affiliated with Food Not Bombs, and other publications, Mo Karn released a statement that begins with, “Food Not Bombs will resist all attempts to shut the entire park down for any amount of time” (http://wingnutrva.org/2010/11/01/article-on-monroe-park-in-todays-richmond-times-dispatch/).  

However, Samuel states that all underground utilities will be dug up for the renovation and the park must be entirely closed for public safety reasons.

“If I tell you, you absolutely positively have to do something and it’s not something that you feel you can reasonably do, how do you negotiate with me if I don’t bend?  If I’m not willing to work with you to find the solution, how do you resolve that?”

But Donnie explained that the members of Food Not Bombs are not interested in compromising on this issue.

“Under no circumstances will the park be closed.”

Food Not Bombs and activists like Sterling have other concerns and issues with the proposed plans for the park.

Donnie said that the renovation plan is a “massive waste of funds” and the proposed maintenance budget for Monroe Park is well over any other park in the city.  He also said a private non-profit organization would be put in charge of managing the park, with the director receiving “a whopping salary, well over $100,000.”

Another concern is where the homeless people who currently frequent the park go.  Sterling argues that if the homeless were to move into parks in The Fan area of the city, the police would remove them “because those parks are used by Fan area residents, have swings in them for children and people would get upset”. 

She worries that the homeless will be forced to move somewhere in the city where they would be arrested.  “So where can someone just sit for a few moments and rest? If you’re homeless and walking the streets, where do you go?”

Donnie explained that the Monroe Park Master Plan included a section that addressed the homeless situation in the park.  “It specifically states in there that [the plan] wants to acquire a show of 75 non-homeless appearing people to one homeless appearing person because women are afraid of homeless people.”

Food Not Bombs also has a problem with the plan to bring in a private security force.  “Anytime you start privatizing security, that’s when peoples’ rights start getting violated left and right,” Donnie said, adding, “It seems sort of like an attempt to drive out people that VCU and the affluent white folks in the Fan don’t like being in that park.”

But Samuels defends his intentions.  “My goal is to make sure that I represent everybody in the 2nd District and not any one group; not landowners over renters, not rich people over poor people, not poor people over rich people, anything like that.”  He added, “My goal is to really look out for what’s in the best interest of the district as a whole.”

Samuels also defends the intentions of others involved with this project.  “Our goal is to make sure that everybody feels welcome there regardless of socio economic condition, regardless of race, regardless of anything.  We want to make sure that this is a park that’s open for everyone.”

The full Monroe Park Master Plan can be viewed on-line at http://www.richmondgov.com/planninganddevelopmentreview/PlansAndDocuments.aspx.