Good morning, RVA! It's 49 °F, and the forecast today is filled with rain. Expect a decent chance of showers throughout the day, followed by a solidly sunny weekend.
Water cooler
Mark Robinson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has some news about the City potentially relocating the Department of Social Services 💸 from directly behind City Hall to the deep, deep Southside in the old Philip Morris Operations Center. Robinson says the move is to “clear the way for the $1.4 billion redevelopment of the area around the Richmond Coliseum” and that 350 employees and 3,600 clients would now need to make their way out to the new location each and every day. That’s a lot of folks trying to get to a location that’s hard to access by anything other than a car. Sure, the area is currently served by a peak-only bus route, the #88 (PDF), but you’d think that would need to become an all-day route if the move were to happen. Right? I dunno, seems like a far-flung spot for something that needs to be fairly central. To be clear, I definitely have absolutely zero inside knowledge on this conversation, but, from the way, way outside it looks like a plan built without making equitable access a priority. That makes me sad, but I do reserve the right to be corrected and shown how the new location (paired with some transportation improvements) actually makes more sense for the folks who’d need to access it most. Until then, though, I’m sad. Also, while we’re talking new Southside bus routes, check out this more expensive option ($2.8 million) that would provide access to the proposed Social Services site while also improving frequencies across a big chunk of the Southside. Councilmembers Jones, Trammel, and Agelasto: You should check this out! It’s “Service Improvement 93” in GRTC’s TDP (PDF) and you could totally make it happen!
The Richmond Marathon begins almost 24 hours from the moment I write this. Good luck to all the racers! This is quite a thing you do that I simply cannot understand, but I’m in awe that you do it intentionally. Last year I went out to cheer folks on in the back half of the race, and, I tell you what, I experienced some serious emotions. Anyway, streets will close and traffic patterns will change until about 3:00 PM, plus GRTC will implement a ton of bus route detours (including the Pulse). The massive wall of text describing the detours is hard to parse, but it sounds like most buses will head to the transfer plaza and the Pulse will bypass the middle chunk of stations via the highway. Basically, expect delays in all forms of travel (except by bike, which is a fantastic way to get around during the marathon!). P.S. Shoutout to Sports Backers for linking to the GRTC detours on their traffic-pattern-changes page.
Jonathan Spiers at Richmond BizSense has the winners of this year’s Golden Hammer awards. These awards highlight and honor “excellence in neighborhood revitalization projects”—basically sweet buildings and other urban spaces.
I don’t have a ton of thoughts on Chesterfield electing a new progressive Commonwealth’s Attorney—other than more progressive folks elected to more offices seems great. Luckily, I have Michael Paul Williams at the RTD to write the thoughts for me.
The coming Sunday, the Cheats Movement will host a live recording of their podcast at the ICA with some pretty legit incredible guests. This looks like something that’s definitely worth your time!
Dara Lind is my favorite immigration reporter, and they have an explainer up on Vox about Trump’s asylum ban. Follow Lind on Twitter for more information today as things progress/regress.
Reminder: Veterans Day is this Sunday. Thank a Veteran near you.
This morning's Patron longread
Life Advice: Don’t Find Your Passion
From Patron Caitlyn comes this longread about how to live your life. This article speaks to me and how I’ve ended up with a job and a collection of side hustles that I really enjoy. It definitely gets my endorsement!
A fixed mindset about interests can be limiting in two ways. First, it implies that our interests and talents may be narrow or specific. Once we find a path that intrigues us and brings success, we may curb or even abandon exploration of other potential interests. Second, we may expect pursuit of our one true passion to be easy – after all, this is the pathway that will provide endless drive and excitement, and will yield the greatest achievement. Consequently, instead of demonstrating resilience and perseverance in pursuit of this passion, we may fold when faced with failure or significant challenge. Difficulty may be perceived as indication that we are simply on the wrong path. By contrast, individuals with a “growth mindset” believe that interests or passions can be developed or cultivated through experience, investment, and struggle. There is not a single, “right” path to be discovered or revealed; instead, many different interests are viable, even simultaneously. With a growth mindset, success in one arena doesn’t preclude or limit exploration of other interests, nor does difficulty signal the need to change course.
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