About RVA Design Coalition

Who Are We?

Formed in 2015 as Richmond Citizens' Coalition, we are now known as RVA Design Coalition.  

We are neighbors throughout the City who expect Richmond zoning to support the Richmond 300, Climate Equity Action Plan, and SolSmart commitments. This includes mandatory carbon and solar impact analysis for structures over 3 stories, protection of historical architecture, neighborhood design overlays, demolition review, maintaining yard percentages for resiliency, and a demolition carbon tax.

We are excited about density that blooms on derelict lots, density that contributes to our health, density that does not take away from neighborhood resources but enhances the area to grow without choking existing communities and demolishing affordable housing. Density should not destroy valuable resources.

Thoughtful density enhances and protects the beautiful neighborhoods they created: diverse, vibrant places that grow, not shrink, sustainability and resilience opportunities for future generations. 

We believe yards should not be removed from zoning, that their percentages be protected, further detailed as soil, and increased to ensure Richmond's resiliency, sustainability, and tree canopy baselines for our City.

We have lived here for decades and days, own and rent, and deeply love Richmond's vibrancy and promise as a special place that protects our natural resources of trees, solar, river, and soil potentials.  

We are concerned as we watch rents jump near every new build apartment tower, watching the dismay and wilting of neighbors in their literal shadow. We worry for overshadowed neighbors' health, and we worry for the new residents' security when facing infrastructure crises. 

We know the best way to stop sprawl is by protecting farmland and supporting hybrid/remote work.

We know suburban developers in Hanover, Powhatan, Chesterfield, and Amelia have never stopped building and expanding their profitable suburban businesses because of multiunits built in Richmond.

We know suburban people don't want to live in Richmond (read any comments on articles celebrating Richmond. They don't want to live here.). But for the people who do? We celebrate and protect our existing RVA, helping to grow thoughtfully for the future.

Our Coalition formed out of concerns over public transit in Richmond with representatives from the NAACP, Monument Avenue Preservation Society, The Fan District Association, Kinfolks, The Museum District, Historic Jackson Ward, The Fan Area Business Alliance, West Grace Street Association, West Avenue Association, the Arts District, Newtowne West Association, and others. Our Coalition connects civic associations from all corners of the city because neighborhood issues are bigger than the neighborhood. We share our concerns and our wish lists, and we speak with a larger voice when we speak together.