Top 10: Richmond in 2010

By: Richmond.com Staff | Richmond.com
Published: January 04, 2010

No Potholes

Fix the potholes: We'll pay some extra taxes if we have to, just make it so we're not in danger of breaking an axle every time we drive down 64. Pretty please?

Lay Off the Festivals

First the Italian Festival fled the city, for a "larger venue" at the raceway (we're betting if you measured inch for inch, it was about even) then Carytown New Year's Eve was no more. C'mon Richmond, lighten the restrictions some. We want our festivals safe and properly coded, but more than that, we actually want our festivals.

Dedicated Bike Lanes

Isn't it time? We all want them, cyclists and drivers alike.

Let Restaurants Open

We're not saying that the city does anything specifically to slow the opening of new restaurants but some of us (especially those who have been covering restaurants for years and years) are sick of watching the counties get a new restaurant up and running in a matter of weeks while the city takes years. Yes, we mean years. Sometimes.

New Celebrity

We want a new celebrity from Richmond. We're over Elliot Yamin, Shirley MacLaine and Edgar Allen Poe. Can we get our own version of Jon & Kate plus 8?

Carytown’s New Year’s Eve

We shouldn't even have to ask.

Smoking in Non-Corporate Restaurants

Let the restaurants and customers decide what they want to do, not the government.

A Toll-Free Nickel Bridge

It's the only non-expressway toll in the city. Drivers who take the Boulevard Bridge aren't taking it to shorten their commute or avoid traffic. They're taking it because it's the bridge that connects Westover Hills to that north side of the river … much like Huguenot residents take the Huguenot Bridge or Woodland Heights residents take the Lee Bridge or Manchester Residents take the Manchester Bridge. So why does Westover Hills and Forest Hill have to pay (not to mention sit in the traffic)?

Exurbs Traffic

It doesn't matter if it's the 288-corridor of Hull Street or the 64-area of Short Pump, this is traffic. Real, live, bumper to bumper traffic. And we Richmonders cannot abide traffic.

Something Else on the River

We got the Boathouse … yay, thank you! Now can we get something else … anything else along our riverfront? It's time.

What would you like to see in Richmond in 2010? Leave it in the comments below.