I feel like this is a rite of passage.

The amount of rage I feel when stuck behind someone wanting to turn left from blvd between 3 and 5 pm is much more aggressive

Overview apartments in Shockoe Bottom

Tried to make one also ended up with this.

https://i.imgur.com/4Ib2gdO.png

The cross laminated timber stuff is exciting next level building tech in it's infancy, think cool artsy buildings in Sweden. The podium building we are talking about looks like good old two by fours and two by tens nailed together by framing crews with big nail guns. Albeit probably w trusses and some LVL s in the mix. I think the tenement comparison is a bit much, people in tenements didn't have hot running water, refrigerators and AC, much less pools and gymnasiums and one bedroom apartments all to themselves. I agree w you, to an extent. It would be nice to see the six story concrete apartment blocks that seem to predominate in Europe, but the country is having a housing crisis. Yes the evil developers will make money, they aren't philanthropists, but lots of apartments are going up all over town. So something is working? I wonder how much of this has to do w bringing residential construction to commercial rental world in terms of enabling immigrant labor in the mix. These folks work very very hard , no union coffee breaks or paid holidays. Sad, but capitalism ain't always pretty.

I commute to the DC area twice a week. Richmond to Fredericksburg doesn’t have much traffic, but it will take 45 to 60 minutes depending where in Richmond you are. Another great commute option is the train. I take the train every other week and pay $20 round trip to Alexandria. Not sure how much it is to Fredericksburg, but it’s really nice and stress free. The morning trains originate in Richmond, so rarely run more than a couple minutes late. You do have to buy in advance to get the best deals.

10% with no dishwasher or w/d. richmond real babyyyy

Considering my homeowners insurance went up $500 from $900 to $1400 plus another $600 in property taxes, I'd say they are being reasonable. This isn't even taking into consideration labor and material increases for maintenance

Awesome.

Climate change is going to fuck shit up but VA is a better place than most.

For instance our winter codes are way more robust than Austin. This last Christmas was probably a portent though.

My understanding is these structures are kept together by commercial adhesives and thousands of bolts per floor.

>People need places to live and i assume this cuts building expense , not having the heavy duty steel i beam or concrete construction.

The origin of these structures is some developer figured out that a county code had been changed to no longer require steel and concrete construction as long as they had a fire suppression system that conformed to a new more stringent code. Once one of these things was built other developers in that city took notice, it spread across the state and then country.

I agree that it is a cost cutting measure and a solution to the problem of people not being able to afford to live. Similar to the construction of tenements was a response to horrible economic conditions.

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> It won't last as long as pyramids but it doesn't need to.

The pyramids are tombs

> And there are very old wood structures around, i feel like the longevity of a building has a lot to do with care and upkeep.

I'm not denying that but I would think a concrete and steel structure requires much less upkeep and repair than a wood strucutre. Even with the outer layer of weather blocking that these structures have. I wonder if it will ever make economic sense to repair the top 4 floors above the concrete bases.

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> I work in the fan on old houses and i assure you it takes a huge budget and an army of tradespeople to keep those things from totally falling apart.

Fan houses are not 4 stories tall. Nor do they have the density of these so the potential fire risk is greatly mitigated. I'm sure you know the exorbitant cost of rehabbing or maintaining one of these properties, even though it has been decades now where it made economic sense to refurbish and upkeep the houses.

> The new apartment buildings probably aren't meant to last a hundred years, they can always be pulled down and rebuilt.

I agree that they wont last 100 years and will probably require being torn down sometime in the future whether from degradation or their outlawing as fire risks.

> Who knows how people will want to use the space that far in the future?

I think the "fuck it let the people down the line figure it out" is a horrible way to urban plan.

Not sure what glue you mean, like in the plywood?

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I thought these were made of Glue laminated timber or Cross laminated timber but maybe I was mistaken

This is a frequent tactic in NYC, best used when the sinkhole is in the middle of the road.

I live in Northside RVA and commute to the Fredericksburg area for work. Very doable

Lava Lofts in Church Hill, super high ceilings and enormous windows

Same. Our landlord sent us a letter basically saying, "We could have raised it more but we didn't, you're welcome ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

15% with Gumenick yet the current listings for new applicants is almost $60 less than I pay. Not sure how that works

Lucky Strike in Shockoe Bottom has 15 ft ceilings and windows at least 8ft tall.

The building was under construction so it was very vulnerable the fire retardant materials and sprinkler system were not installed yet. Wind was blowing smoldering embers of insulation that were causing house roofs in Carver to catch fire

Please tell me you at least fixed it...

A mixed used building was almost done being built and some idiot on the construction crew threw a lit cigarette down the trash chute into a dumpster full of saw dust. Dumpster caught on fire and took several buildings with it.

I was in class in one of the Hibbs lecture halls, and we saw a bunch of students in the hallway running towards the windows facing north. My professor poked his head out and said, “Oh wow! That new building on Broad St is on fire!”

We started to get up to see and he said, “oh, don’t worry, it’ll still be on fire when class is over.” And finished the lecture. It was indeed still very much on fire when class was over 30 minutes later.

My now-husband has picture of him and his roommate watching the fire from the roof of their apartment on W Grace. Might make him pull those up if we can find the hard drive.

That’s the Pizza Hut that gorilla crew “blew up” right?

That they did.

The Otis in Scott’s Addition

Ya know, I wanted to put that in there, but I wasn’t 100% certain. Those old seagraves served the city well

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