In Defense of Cities: A Grumpy Letter to the Editor of the Newspaper

Editor, Times-Dispatch:



As a longtime city resident, I would like to respond to David Perel's letter that attempts to explain the absence of suburban visitors to downtown Richmond. Perel outlines the city's flaws, chief among which are its lack of attractions comparable to the new shopping centers in Stony Point and Short Pump.



The letter suggests that if Richmond were a first-tier city, downtown would be home to national, upscale retailers such as those that have transformed the shopping landscapes of Chesterfield and Henrico. I agree.



In the 1970s shopping malls exploded in large part to simulate an urban shopping experience in suburbs. The trend has now ironically reversed itself; the suburban shopping mall slowly consumes city shopping districts.



Manhattan's SoHo and Washington's Georgetown exemplify the trend toward the suburbanization of urban spaces. Thirty years ago, both neighborhoods were home to many one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants. Today, walking down Wisconsin Avenue or Spring Street is like walking through a roofless shopping mall. The Georgetown and SoHo Eddie Bauer, Banana Republic, and Starbucks may be situated inside warehouses and brownstones, but the interior effect is the same: a blandly neutral aesthetic experience that is unchanged from city to city. Should this trend go on unchecked, in time, a patron will be sitting in a Panera Bakery and have the surreal experience of not knowing for a moment whether he is in Chicago, San Francisco, or New York, so homogenized will those formerly distinct cities have become.



As residents of a smaller city, Richmonders routinely enjoy attractions that are unique to the city and which, indeed, define its character: brunch at Millie's or Cafe 821, coffee at Cafe Gutenberg, antiquing at the Farmer's Market, browsing for old books and ephemera at the Richmond Book Company, seeing exhibitions at 1708 or Art6; the list goes on, and each Richmonder has a slightly different roster of favorites.

I hope Perel and his neighbors will visit some of the gems in downtown Richmond that stubbornly remain "terra incognita" to so many in the counties.



Rebecca E. Jones