Our desire to live closer to our families and a burgeoning restaurant scene brought my husband and I to Richmond only 14 months ago, despite a commute to Washington each day for work. We first moved into a Shockoe Slip apartment and then purchased our first home together in the Fan District.

For the past few months, we’ve relentlessly immersed ourselves in getting to know the city through issues that we care about, and we’ve attended many public meetings on a variety of topics.

What we keep hearing is that Richmond wants to attract millennials. What we keep hearing is that Richmond wants to be inclusive. What we keep hearing is that Richmond wants to do things differently.

Well, do you really?

At these meetings, mostly white baby boomers who are lifetime Richmonders talk in code about how they really don’t want things to change.

The legacy of a pioneering African-American woman literally may be overshadowed by a tree. Redevelopment of a brand new urban community along the Boulevard is in danger from minor league baseball. The first Richmond-Henrico public transportation option may well grind to a halt over lost parking spaces.  

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” so the saying goes. For example, the entire format of the first public meeting on the Boulevard plan was altered when the peanut gallery decided they didn’t come to do group exercises, but, instead, wanted to be heard. So, what ensued were monologues about why baseball should remain on the Boulevard.

Another example: Much of the community meeting with the Maggie Walker statue designer was a pure embarrassment, with the excuses flowing — the square is too small, why can’t we put her in Abner Clay Park, the tree is a living thing so we can’t cut it down, we shouldn’t close Brook Road, and the intersection will be too congested with Bus Rapid Transit coming.

Richmond is a deeply divided city — divided by race, class, age, how long you’ve lived here and where in the city or county you live. My husband and I want to get involved. We want to make a difference. But, at this point, we don’t know where to start. Ultimately, this has left us wondering if moving to Richmond was the right decision for us after all.

MELISSA DAVIS-TAYLOR

Richmond