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Three quarters of a million people visit Lakeside each year – and the business community wishes they would linger a bit longer.



On Dec. 13, a group of Virginia Commonwealth University graduate students met with Lakeside residents and business owners to share the results of months of research about the vicinity, and to provide a few ideas to entice visitors to stay and spend. The meeting at Westminster Canterbury was also attended by Mary Reynolds , community revitalization planner for Henrico County, and Dick Glover , who represents the Brookland District on the Henrico Board of Supervisors.



As Reynolds noted in her opening remarks, "Everyone in this room knows this is a great place, whether you grew up here, have had a business for decades, or just opened your business.



"But not everyone in the area knows that."



The 16 students in John J. Accordino 's urban commercial revitalization class examined Lakeside as part of their fall coursework, just as previous classes have studied commercial districts in Richmond, Hopewell, Chesterfield County and Petersburg over the years. The "academic-slash-service" project involved a market analysis, months of interviews with business owners, residents and shoppers, and an assessment of existing conditions as well as revitalization potential.



"This has been a marvelous experience for us," said Accordino.

With its mile-long corridor anchored by two popular attractions, Bryan Park and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (LGBG), Lakeside enjoys a position unique to the region. Some 450,000 people visit Bryan Park every year, thanks in part to its status as a hub for soccer tournaments. Another 250,000 annual visitors frequent the Garden. Recruiting new businesses that tempt soccer families and LGBG patrons to tarry before heading home was a primary focus of the plan.



Students noted that clustering convenience foods such as ice cream shops and a 1950s-style diner around the park end of Lakeside Avenue would appeal to hungry soccer players as well as to busy commuters. At the garden end of the avenue – the site of a recently approved farmer's market – shoppers would be drawn to specialty food and sophisticated retail, such as a wine shop, gardening and gift stores.



But Lakesiders also wants to draw local visitors, as they did with an inaugural "Holly Jolly Christmas" event, featuring carolers, trolley rides and extended shopping hours. Students described additional celebrations that would capitalize on Lakeside's small-town, 1950s appeal and make it a regional destination: a floral-related spring event, coordinated with Lewis Ginter's plant sale, and an antique auto event in early fall.



Aside from the shortage of food and entertainment options, agreed students and officials, the primary obstacle to lingering is Lakeside's lack of connection between the two commercial nodes. The largely residential area between park and garden acts as a barrier, and there is little to tie the two ends together or brand the area as one.

The urban design and landscape is decidedly auto-oriented and not conducive to strolling, with far too many curb cuts and a dearth of public parking places for the 14,000 cars passing through daily.



To tie the two commercial districts together, students recommended developing Lakeside's midsection into a mixed-use zone of office space, retail and multi-family housing flanked by a public park. The county, which recently completed a $4.2 million Lakeside Avenue enhancement project adding sidewalks, curbing and a new median, could expand enterprise-zone incentives that offer grants for landscaping, paving and renovation. Among the improvements that would create a more pedestrian-friendly environment, said students, would be raised brick crosswalks at the avenue's intersections with Dumbarton and Hilliard.

Students also suggested a traffic roundabout at Lakeside and Hilliard – perhaps marked by a statue of Maj. Lewis Ginter pointing to the Garden – and recommended a decrease in the speed limit to 25 mph to lower the "intimidation factor" for pedestrians.



Student presenter Kelly Kinahan noted a number of promotional goals that would also help Lakeside define a continuous corridor and project a more cohesive image. Among the suggestions were distinctive signage and enhanced visual identity, such as pillars at the entrances and banners announcing events – perhaps incorporating the old-fashioned bicycle wheel logo from Lakeside's 1995 Lakeside Avenue enhancement plan.



"Something," Kinahan said, "that says, 'Hey, you're here, it's Lakeside.'"



Kinahan also suggested creating a slogan ("Lakeside: Where Business is Blooming") and devising design competitions for unique bicycle racks or banners.



Flower baskets, lighting and street furniture such as park benches would also enhance connectivity, as would partnerships with Garden, business and volunteer groups to provide lush landscaping in the medians and along sidewalks – a breathtaking scene that grabs drivers "as they crest that hill over the interstate," Kinahan said.



With park settings at each end, Lakeside is uniquely positioned for development as a green corridor, said students, suggesting that the county expand incentives to establish a green business zone. Environmentally friendly practices might range from rain gardens and green roofs to energy-efficient lighting and permeable paving, and include such simple incentives as a logo that green businesses could post in shop windows.



Kinahan told the crowd that in their three and a half months on the project, students had been struck by two Lakeside themes: the area's unique location and its small-town charm.



The time is ripe, students agreed, to play up those strengths and promote Lakeside as a mom-and-pop alternative to the big-box chains and retail development pressuring the area – to paint it as a mini-getaway from the city and a step back into a time "when shop owners knew your name."

In the question-and-answer session that followed the presentation, one woman expressed surprise that business leaders wanted to attract a retail gardening shop. Wouldn't that compete with LGBG?



Randee Humphrey , education manager at the Garden, assured her that LGBG officials would welcome the shop. "We have people all the time that say, 'Where can we find a plant we just saw at Lewis Ginter?"



When a questioner asked about funding sources for the improvements, Accordino stressed that cooperation will be the key.



"It can' t be all on the county, or all on property owners," he said.

Accordino noted that the plan assigned objectives to a variety of stakeholders, including the network of community organizations that represents another of Lakeside's assets – from the Lakeside Business Association and Friends of Bryan Park to cycling and soccer groups and residents of nearby Bellevue.



When one resident voiced the question that seemed foremost in many minds – "Is there life after tonight?" – Accordino said he and his students would be happy to return for more talks, even though the class was over.

Franco Ambrogi , owner of Franco's Clothiers, was one of many who rose to express his appreciation.



"The class has done a tremendous job," Ambrogi told the audience. "Now it's up to the people and the merchants, the owners of the corridor … to get off the pot and do something about it."



For information on upcoming events in Lakeside, visit discoverlakeside.com.

For in-depth coverage of Henrico County, pick up a copy of Henrico's hometown newspaper - the Henrico Citizen - at Ukrop's, Kroger, Wawa or any Henrico public library, or call (804) 262-1700 to subscribe.