Revitalization of Church Hill
For the last eight to ten years, Church Hill has been on an upswing. Dilapidated and condemned houses are being torn down or restored selling for upwards of $300,000. Several of the old tobacco factories have been turned into luxury lofts renting for $1,900 per month and up, targeted towards young professionals. Businesses have started coming back to the area. A flood wall has been built to protect the stores and the newly developed single family homes in Fulton Bottom. Historical buildings are receiving facelifts. In 2017, Zagat declared the area as one of the 10 hottest food neighborhoods around the U.S. In 2015, Church Hill was named the most walkable neighborhood in the city (Zagat, 2014). The biggest lift to the area has been from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). VCU has a vested interest in Church Hill. VCU is expanding the university and Church Hill is in the path of its medical campus, the top-rated level I trauma center in Virginia. Many of the old duplex houses have been converted into apartments for on-campus living for VCU’s medical students. Rumors have surfaced that VCU has purchased Mosby Court Housing Project and that MLK will eventually become a specialty school for the gifted and talent students in and around Richmond. (A side note – Maggie L. Walker was closed in 1979 and later re-opened as Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies. Students are accepted by application only from Richmond and 13 jurisdictions. Also, adding to the validity of the rumor, every Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., the Junior Richmond Symphony gathers to practice. No students from MLK have been invited to be a part of the symphony as of this date).
The old Farmer’s Market has re-opened where local farmers can sell their produce. The night life in Church Hill’s Shockoe Bottom makes it the place to be. There are night clubs, live bands, and good cuisine running the gamut from soul food to New Orleans style. The Roots, a popular music group, makes a stop in Church Hill’s Rocketts Landing at least every two years drawing people to the area. Shockoe Bottom hosts the Irish festival “ShamRock the Block” where people gather not just because they are Irish, but to have good clean fun and drink all the green beer they can find. The UCI Road World Championships primary cycling track runs through Shockoe Bottom and Church Hill. Church Hill even has a new grocery store, The Market at 8th and Main, complete with a salad bar and hot and cold food deli. CVS Drugstore has opened shop in Church Hill which makes it the first franchised drugstore in the area. (Kathryn S. Parkhurst, A Case Study of Gentrification in Church Hill).
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