A Reminder that the James River is Richmond’s Greatest Asset

Laura and I ate lunch today at the Conch Republic at Rocketts Landing and enjoyed the perfect temperature, delightful breeze and wonderful views while seated outside on the deck. Rocketts, a residential-retail development retrofitted from old industrial acreage just south of the Richmond city line, didn’t exist when I moved to Richmond three decades ago. But it’s thriving now — and it serves as a great example of how this metro area has changed for the better.

The Capital Trail, which leads to Williamsburg, is visible in the photo above. It wasn’t as busy as Arlington’s biking trail along the Potomac, but we did see many dozens of bikers. We also saw kayakers and recreational boaters on the river today. The Richmond Rowing Club’s crew team puts its sculls into the water nearby as well. Biking, hiking, kayaking, rowing and motor boating — those are amenities that people value when they decide where to live. They comprise the soft infrastructure of the 21st-century knowledge economy. For a long time, Richmond didn’t have it. At last it does.