"People's budget" finalized: How Richmonders want to spend city money
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Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
The results are in for Richmond's first-ever "people's budget," and locals voted big for transit and pedestrian safety, plus lots and lots of trees.
Why it matters: Every district in Richmond is likely to see the specific improvements that locals voted for, like bus shelters near VMFA and Lombardy Kroger, and better lighting in Church Hill parks.
State of play: Delegates for the city's first participatory budgeting plan, dubbed "the people's budget," spent much of the last year collecting community input and winnowing ideas for how each district should spend city funds.
- The final project list is the result of last month's ranked-choice voting by locals who live, work or play in one of Richmond's nine districts.
- And last week, City Council found $1.7 million in the proposed city budget to fund the projects. That's less than the $3 million initially proposed, but it's not nothing.
Between the lines: The projects that locals voted to fund across the districts underscore long-running resource and infrastructure disparities in Richmond's neighborhoods.
- Some districts, like the 1st (Near West End) and the 2nd (Fan and Jackson Ward) and 3rd (Northside) seemed to focus on particular projects in specific locations. Others asked for simple districtwide improvements, like landscaping and sidewalk repair.
- That's also why the city allocated more money for "socially vulnerable" districts and less for others.
Yes, but: The projects are estimated to cost just under $2.8 million, so it's unclear how the RVAPB Commission will prioritize what gets done with its $1.7 million budget.
- The group did not reply to Axios' request for comment.
How they did it: After ranked-choice voting, the commission narrowed the winners in part by awarding extra points for districtwide projects and removing ones that were too expensive. They also worked to use each district's budget to fund the most-popular choices after that.
- For example, a covered skate park at Southside Community Center in the 9th District that would've cost $500,000, the district's entire budget, was removed.
By the numbers: Districts 3 (Northside) and 7 (East End) had the most votes per district at 745 and 860, respectively.
- Districts 8 and 9 on the city's Southside had the fewest, at 222 and 155.
- Every other district saw around 600 votes each.
Zoom in: These are the more than two dozen final projects selected by residents in all nine districts.
- District 1 (Museum District and West End): Pedestrian safety upgrades, a community garden expansion and water fountain for Humphrey Calder Community Center, plus bus stop shelters near VMFA and better pedestrian safety at Belmont Library (a total of six projects for $195,000).
- District 2 (Central): Trees in high-heat index neighborhoods, like Jackson Ward, Carver, Newtown West and Scott's Addition; bus shelters at Lombardy Kroger; and trash cans in high-traffic areas (three projects for $175,000).
- District 3 (Northside): Trees districtwide tech upgrades for Calhoun Community Center and North Avenue and Ginter Park libraries, pedestrian crossing improvements on Brookland Park Boulevard, and an RRHA parklet renovation (four projects, $250,000).
- District 4 (Southwest): Sidewalk repairs districtwide (one project, $200,000).
- District 5 (Central): Traffic calming infrastructure — like hybrid beacons and curb bump-outs — and a study of low-visibility intersections (two projects, $300,000).
- District 6 (Downtown/Manchester): Tree planting and sidewalk improvements districtwide, and accelerated bus shelter upgrades (two projects, $500,000).
- District 7 (East End): Tree planting, upgraded bus stops, public lighting, and bat houses in parks (four projects, $300,000).
- District 8 (Southside): Beautify high-traffic bus stops and improve bus accessibility along Richmond Highway and other key corridors, plus tree planting to combat urban heat islands, upgrades for Broad Rock Community Garden and Hickory Hill beautification projects, and road and safety improvements (six projects, $450,000).
- District 9 (South Central): Sidewalk improvements on Jahnke, trash cans at bus stops, plus bus shelters at Broad Rock Boulevard and Warwick Road, landscaping on Midlothian, and traffic calming on Alaska Avenue (five projects, $410,000).
What's next: The RVAPB Commission will release public-facing project trackers on its website in the coming months so residents can follow the progress.
- The goal, the group says, is to complete the projects within two years.