This was a fun read. I was hoping for more stories from people...

yeah. I find that Axios is hit or miss; sometimes I'm ok with just the brief summary, but there are times (like this) where a long form piece is more what I'm after.

Kudos that they did answer the question of why.

Something about the outside of those buildings makes me think they aren't completed

I'm not familiar with Axios. Is this one of those fake publications that does paid advertisements disguised as news? That's what this looks like.

These personal-level anecdotes are what I dislike about NPR. Give me overarching data and trends.

>I was hoping for more stories from people...

They said it's an "occasional series" and they're starting it off with this one story. My guess is these will be sprinkled in on slow news days to keep their (relatively short) email length fairly consistent.

It's news and ads. This morning the email had two sections advertising some app to give me cash back on my purchases.

It also has a very obnoxious style of repeated, bold subheadings guarding one sentence of content at a time, as visible in the linked article. They should just omit those headings IMHO.

But yeah, I'm still subscribed because on balance it's worthwhile

As someone who lived in one of these new buildings in Manchester up until very recently — I think the idea that they’re full of 30-something gentrifiers is wildly wrong. There were families in my building. People coming from public housing. One of our neighbors was a widow in her 60’s who had lived in Richmond all her life.

2200 a month to hear the motorcycle gangs drag race down Broad Street in the middle of the night hooooo weeeee

I'm just glad they have balconies. I think those should be in every building whenever possible. If the savings on the garbage looking facade allows that, I guess it's worth it.

I love my balcony (I live elsewhere) so I agree.

I also wonder what these will look like in 20 years. I suspect they will age badly

SOP in every city in America. Richmond was late to the high COL party.

Edit: every city worth living in

It's not uncommon for them to include a percentage of subsidized housing in the new buildings because they get HUD grants for it.

good thing this isn’t NPR

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real publication run by real, longtime richmond journalists. they specialize in short-form content, which is how they can get a two-person team (maybe more) to put out a fresh newsletter every day.

they have an info page here: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/local

Lol, I knew this smartass reply was going to happen. Let me clarify for you in a fuller way.

"Stories like these personal-level anecdotes are something I don't like. Relatedly, this is why I don't like NPR, because they are full of them."

Hope that helped. 👍🏽

Overarching data and trends of what?

That was an advertisement for the apartment complex. This is not a story and definitely not investigative news or anything really other than an advertisement.

>The couple lived in a single-family home a block away on Grace Street for eight years, which they rented for $1950 a month.

I'm sorry... what?! They don't own that house? Are housing prices for mortgages like that in the city? I live in midlothian and my guess is that my house is bigger than the house on grace street.

Yeah but your house is in Midlothian.

I walked by a house on Ellwood Ave the other day, it's lime green and there was a note on the door that says 'THE CRACKHOUSE HAS MOVED' - was curious, so I texted the number on the for-sale sign. $415k.

damn, they didn’t even give a forwarding address???

You just can't find good service these days

I know my choice. I just can't believe that much of a hike. I feel there are plenty of houses for sale around that area over the last 8 years they could have bought for the same amount they were renting.

Of the people moving to Richmond's new apartments, as was implied by the article title. Not just background on 1 individual renter and her SO.

For a single-family home rental in that area of the Museum District, that sounds about right. My mortgage in the same area of town is decently less, but I wouldn't say significantly.

But to be paying over $200 more for a chintzy apartment when you could have a whole house...? That's nuts to me.

I've been enjoying Karri Peifer's work for years. Granted, most of the Axios stuff is Journalism-Lite, but it's still useful and mostly original content.

I see that her husband owns Pinky’s. I wonder if they just wanted to be in walking distance of the restaurant. Those apartments have nice features but yes, the living space is tiny

Did you buy around 6-8 years ago? It sounds like their rent never went up either, which is insane. If it changed over the years, then nevermind my questions but if they were paying that much a month over the 8 years, crazy.

I agree that having a whole house is probably a better space, but the difference in utilities/the work you have to do in the yard (which for some reason is on the tenant and not the owner) more than makes up for the $200/month

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8 years ago they totally could have. But 1950 for a whole house in a great location doesn't strike me as bad

And given the guy was starting up pinkys and I think some other stuff that probably sucked away their money

Totally agree with you I don't get the downvotes

There is far too much anecdote in all the good news sources these days sadly

Good news, they dropped the price to 395k

Parcel carrier here… 100% agree. You’d be surprised at how the innards of most these new buildings look. 3-5 year old structures crumbling in places

Readily available crack is an important amenity, they should drop it more

AGI limits, sure, in the higher percentages, but none of these units are for folks who are on public assistance. And it's usually taxes incentives for a % affordable units.

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Remember when journalists would talk to more than one person?

I gotta know, who else instantly knew the chef she’s married to? Haha

Username checks out

Probably a friend too

> I think those should be in every building whenever possible

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turns that affordable 800sqft into luxury with this one simple trick

This is the case for most apartment communities. Theres usually a fairly diverse mix. Most people rent because they cannot own. Lots of people in this city want to paint renters as evil gentriers (read white middle class and single) but then turn around and complain about not enough places to rent.

Last place I lived in the fan we got to listen to drunk bros stomping down Robinson 3-4 nights a week. Not alot better and it's even more expensive.

People also complain about rent but the rent includes a gym, pool, dog park, package lockers, free maintenance 24/7, community events, free event spaces, etc. Not to mention everyone has to have a car so instead of 200 more units that would have helped lower the rent for everyone, you get to subsidize the owners who had to build a massive garage.

True. Just all insane to me.

Down payment depends on the loan and your credit. Its not a knock, I just can't imagine spending that much and at the whim on some person who just literally collects money for a living.

It took 11 years but finally someone gets the reference

Right, "whenever possible"; I know it isn't always possible or best. Not sure that's going to be the thing that tips the scales though, even though I know it's not a small undertaking. It's also all the other dumb shit that people pay extra for, like stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Most building owners are going to charge as much as they can regardless and a balcony isn't a huge predictor of rent price.

It's just a basic quality of life thing. They're great for mental health, air, just having a private outdoor space (quite handy in a pandemic), a place for people to grow their own food, etc. The doors are usually big enough that they make a whole space feel larger. I imagine for most people having one will have a bigger impact on their well being than a walk-in closet or whatever other feature they're using the justify an insane rent.

Most importantly, drinking on porches and balconies is peak Richmond.

Firefighter here

chuckles, I’m in danger