America's coolest, most overlooked midsize city struggles with growth
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The first rule of Richmond: Don't talk about Richmond.
- That's locals' unofficial motto for Virginia's capital, an oft-overlooked yet culturally rich, midsize East Coast city with a lower-than-average cost of living.
Why it matters: Richmond's secret appears to be blown. Now, locals are grappling with how to preserve its character and soul amid nonstop growth.
The big picture: Richmond's affordability, thriving Black culture and vibrant arts scene are all key to its identity.
- But they're each under threat as waves of newcomers from more expensive cities flock here post-pandemic, driving up housing and studio costs.
State of play: Richmond has plenty making it an attractive place to live: It's along the I-95 corridor and two hours from the mountains, the beach and the nation's capital.
- Plus it's downright cool: It has award-winning restaurants and museums, historic architecture and neighborhoods, a 600-acre park and river in its center, and a thriving arts and music scene.
By the numbers: People have been flocking to the Richmond region, which added a little over 40,000 people between 2020 and 2023, or around 34 new residents a day, according to a local economic development group.
- Remote work and the search for cheaper housing drove many transplants' moves, says Hamilton Lombard, demographer at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center.
- They've come in the largest numbers from two of America's priciest housing markets: California and Northern Virginia.
- More than a quarter of the people who moved to Richmond between 2020 and 2021 alone were remote workers — the sixth-highest in-migration of remote workers in the nation, per the New York Times.
Between the lines: The influx of remote-working newcomers has helped push housing prices beyond many locals' price range, says Laura Lafayette, CEO of the Richmond Association of Realtors.
- Richmond's median home sale price has shot up around 50% since 2019 — from $273,500 to about $421,500 as of last month — while the salary needed to qualify for a starter home in the area has nearly doubled in four years, from $66,000 to $116,400.
- More than half of Richmond renters can't afford their monthly payments.
- And Black Richmond homeowners are disproportionately at risk of displacement due to surging property values and taxes.
Friction point: All the uncertainty about the region's fate boiled over into online outrage earlier this year aimed at a "digital nomad" who "discovered" Richmond.
- After 10 months of living here, she launched a video travel series and began selling a self-published guidebook for newcomers.
- Her upbeat and colorful montages were seen by locals as the antithesis of Richmonders' self-effacing and slack vibe; the guidebook as an exploitive unauthorized biography that whitewashed the city's cherished grittiness; her series as a beacon to other transplants to join in.
The latest: Local leaders are zooming in on affordable housing solutions.
- Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney last year declared an affordable housing crisis, pledging $50 million to combat it.
- The city is rewriting its zoning ordinances to allow for greater density and more housing, as are its suburban neighbors.
- The region's second-largest county last month launched a multimillion-dollar affordable housing trust fund through taxes on data centers.
What's next: It'll take time for any of those policies to have a meaningful impact.
- In the meantime, Richmonders better get comfortable with an influx of newbies — and figure out how to integrate them without losing the city's identity.
