More thoughts on a better downtown

Re: Improving downtown, suggestions (Cover story, Nov. 16):

1. Sell City Hall to VCU and move city offices to Miller & Rhoads or Thalhimers. Shops on ground floor and city offices upstairs.

2. Construct 600 apartments (three towers of 200 each) north of The Coliseum on blocks bounded by Leigh, Jackson, 5th and 7th streets. These apartments would (a) save time for MCV, state and city employees driving in from Hanover, Brandermill, Wyndham etc. (b) give senior citizens good walking access to MCV health facilities (c) create a downtown voting power (d) occupants could walk to events at The Coliseum and the convention center (e) eliminate the hassle of driving downtown with parking tickets and/or expensive parking

3. Stop wasting money on Main Street Station. Staples Mill Road terminal is fine.

4. Cheap public transportation from the airport to downtown (San Francisco cost $1.25 last time I was there ) from the airport to downtown.

S.S. Richardson

Low-income synonymous with hard-working

Concerning Rob Morano’s statements on employment opportunities at the University of Richmond, (Street Talk, Nov. 16):

I found the statement “and low-income workers are in fact the most in demand at the school, for positions in areas such as dining services, maintenance and the custodial department.”

Is this the only thing that can be offered to the so-called ” low-income worker?” (Another term used in this city to describe hard-working people of color or poor whites.) Many of these low-income workers you speak of could also qualify for positions that offer some future at UR like computer systems, security (campus police), library research and assistants. Don’t be so narrow-minded in the future when speaking about your “low-income” work force. Even UR, with its rich endowment and yuppie alumni, can see potential in people who aren’t so well connected in our society.

Darrl Davenport

Where does the West End end?

Several years ago I bowed to popular opinion and agreed reluctantly to call the neighborhoods west of the Boulevard “the Fan.” It was known simply as the West End when I was growing up there in the ’50s. But Style Weekly apparently has chosen to align that area even closer to the city’s center. An article in the Nov. 30 edition now dubs that portion of Richmond as “downtown” (Street Talk, Nov. 30).

An article on Lowe’s (“Lowe’s Searches for Downtown Digs”) reports that the home-improvement chain is “moving deeper into downtown Richmond.” Moreover, the chain’s general district manager is quoted as saying, “We definitely want to stay downtown.” STAY downtown? When did his chain actually enter it? The Lowe’s store featured in the article is roughly four or five miles from the downtown center, or at least what I consider to be the downtown center.

So, are Carytown and Willow Lawn now officially downtown? If so, this certainly poses enormous confusion for Petula Clark and others trying to locate the lights of the city as they flee a life that’s making them lonely.

Paul Miller