Hull Street Road Revitalization Plan - College of Humanities and ...

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Hull Street Road Revitalization Plan SWOT ANALYSIS • Lack of pedestrian amenities. This creates dangerous conditions for the substantial pedestrian traffic observed along the road. There are very few sidewalks; in fact, only two stretches exist the city. In the absence of sidewalks, pedestrians are forced to use improvised footpaths along the shoulders, often in close proximity to fast-moving traffic. The lack of pedestrian amenities along Hull Street Road extends into the neighborhoods found just off the corridor. With the exception of the sidewalk near Chippenham Place Apartments, no other sidewalks connect neighborhoods with Hull Street Road. GRTC bus service does not extend into these neighborhoods, and designated bike lanes are nonexistent in the area. Another obstacle to pedestrian circulation is the lack of crosswalks and crossing signals within the corridor. Pedestrians generally cross Hull Street Road without the aid of crosswalks or signals. This often results in pedestrians crossing one direction of traffic and then waiting in the dangerously narrow medians to cross the other lanes of traffic. Observations of the corridor have shown significant numbers of pedestrians crossing Hull Street Road on a daily basis. • Small parcels create obstacles to attracting large businesses. The majority of parcels fronting Hull Street Road are too small to attract larger businesses. Combining parcels into an area that is big enough to attract some desired businesses would involve negotiating with several different land owners simultaneously and arranging a sale or lease to the same business or property owner. Furthermore, the disjointed nature of the land uses and zoning along Hull Street Road presents a challenge to the creation of continuous commercial districts and a sense of cohesive design. • Lack of retail variety. The majority of businesses are convenience retail who serve the surrounding neighborhoods but do not provide any destination shopping goods or services that attract people to the corridor from outside the area. Additionally, shopper-intercept surveys highlighted a distinct lack of clothing stores, restaurants or entertainment options. This may hurt convenience retailers, as shoppers make convenience purchases in other business districts closer to the wanted shoppers’ goods. Page 23 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Figure 8: Pedestrian footpaths connect neighborhoods with shopping centers. Figure 9: Poorly defined boundaries between public and private space. • Resident and shopper dissatisfaction. As indicated by shopperintercept surveys conducted during the study, residents are generally displeased with several key aspects of the corridor, including a lack of adequate shopping selection and specials, the absence of restaurants, and entertainment options. Shoppers most often make single-destination trips into the corridor, most often for necessary convenience goods. • Crime in the area. Crime statistics from Chesterfield County and the City of Richmond indicate a higher rate of crime in the residential areas surrounding the Hull Street Road corridor than elsewhere in the city and county. The areas measured for these statistics, however, are far larger than the corridor study area and therefore it would be incorrect to conclude that the corridor itself is unsafe. Still, corrdor users perceive the area to be unsafe, and this perception is bolstered by the run-down appearance of the buildings and infrastructure, and the presence of many vacant structures. This perception of crime is strongest within the City of Richmond, and is most likely influenced by crime that takes
Hull Street Road Revitalization Plan SWOT ANALYSIS place along the corridor farther east in the city and in surrounding residential neighborhoods. Shopper-intercept surveys indicated that this perception actually discourages residents of the county from patronizing businesses in the city, further complicating revitalization efforts. 12 • Psychological barrier of Chippenham Parkway. Shopper-intercept surveys indicated that this highway effectively functions as a barrier between the city and county that very few people are either willing or able to cross. Many survey respondents who live in Chesterfield County do not want to go to the city, and respondents living in the city cannot use mass transit to get to shopping options in the county, since GRTC lines do not run into the county. This weakness could present significant challenges for implementation of planning recommendations. • Apathy towards improving the corridor. Based on survey responses, particularly those relating to merchants’ attititudes toward a possible business association and shoppers’ overall perception of the corridor, there exists a lack of concern over progress. This apathy poses a barrier to the success of any redevelopment plans along the corridor, since residents and business owners must “buy in” to the idea of a redeveloped Hull Street Road corridor and be willing to actively participate in the process. Although many of the plan’s recommendations address action items for the City and County, private businesses and residents will be key partners in the implementation of these proposals. • Lack of historic identity. The majority of the development along Hull Street Road has taken place since World War II, resulting in the lack of an historical identity that could assist in marketing the corridor or building on its background to engage residents and business owners. Furthermore, the few older structures that do exist, such as Elkhardt Middle School, are churches or schools and, as such, would be unlikely to function as incentives for commercial development. Page 24 • No current corridor business association. There are no existing business associations, either corridor-wide or industry-specific, to help organize and empower existing businesses and attract new businesses. This lack of organization also means that there is no association to collect funds in order to implement any of the recommendations for businesses along the corridor. Merchant surveys have indicated only minimal interest in establishing such an association, with the lone exception being the Hispanic business cluster. • Current City district plans do not address the corridor as a single entity. Hull Street Road serves as the dividing line between the Broad Rock and Midlothian District Plans. The Broad Rock plan contains the southern side of Hull Street Road and the Broad Rock plan contains the northern side. These plans focus on other corridors within their districts and simply prescribe further study of Hull Street Road. Neither plan identifies a specific character for the corridor and in some cases, they propose differing recommendations for adjacent areas. • History of poor City/County cooperation. This joint planning effort marks an important step forward for Richmond and Chesterfield. But as our surveys revealed, much work needs to be done before residents and shoppers will see the area as one corridor. 12 See Appendix A for detailed crime statistics
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