Richmond Bizsense takes a look at Fountainhead Development’s progressive plans for Manchester:

“It will be the poster child for new urbanism in that it will be apartments, office, an adult day care center and artist studios,” Gregory said… It’s not just mixed-use, but also mixed income. The apartments will be a mix of subsidized and market rate, and some will be designed for people with disabilities.

Now that the plan for a Shockoe stadium is officially dead, what will happen? Reynolds Packaging Group is suggesting that the city take a look at Manchester, specifically the area between the Manchester and 14th Street Bridge overlooking the city skyline. A formal proposal has not been submitted to the city, but real estate investor Charlie Diradour, who advocates for a Boulevard stadium, is not surprised that people are now talking about a Manchester stadium.

In semi-related news, with Reynolds closing its operations, their property that currently divides the Canal Walk will be available for redevelopment.  [via]

A new bar/club has popped up over night, and is apparently trying to create a red carpet experience on Main Street.

The Shockoe Tomato Festival is back this weekend treating Richmonders to everything tomato. From 11 am- 5 pm Saturday, the 17th Street Farmer’s Market will have tomatoes in every conceivable form. There will also be live entertainment and activities.

Richmond Varietease! is bringing you a little sand, surf and skin this month with their Burlesque Beach Party show at the Canal Club this Saturday!

Richmond Varietease! is a monthly stage show full of sin and skin! We showcase the best local and traveling burlesque talent as well as sideshow acts, jugglers, contortionists, magicians, and all the other odd acts your little heart desires.

This month’s special guest is Washington, DC’s (and soon to be NYC’s) burlesque queen Miss Bambi Galore. The show will also feature Richmond’s only burlesque sister act, The Sinclaire Sisters.

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Lieutenant Williams’ Sector 112 report for June (PDF) is available. Sector 112 encompasses the communities of Belle Island, Oak Grove, Blackwell, Manchester, Old Town Manchester, Ancarrow’s Landing, Brown’s Island, Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom and Hillside Court.

During the next 30 days officers will continue to attack problems that tend to spike our crime. Officers will be focusing in the areas of Blackwell, Hillside and Shockoe to impact violent crime and theft from autos. Also in July, Hull Street will see the return of the “Beat Cop”, Officer Deadra Swilley will begin walking daily on the 6th. She has set several goals and hopes to build a strong community presence.

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12 12 Gallery has announced the call for entries for their fourth annual photography competition, the National Juried Photography Exhibition 2009. This year’s juror is Julian Cox, who currently serves as the Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia.

artspace has announced the radius250 2009 award recipients, honoring Erin Riley with Best in Show and Aaron Sizemore, Alexander Grabiec, and Scott Hazard with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places. radius250 is a juried show of artists working within a 250 mile radius around Richmond. The show runs through Sunday, August 23.

From the folks with Back Porch Initiatives:

Today, July 13th, we will focus on climate change commitments addressed by world leaders at the 2009 G-8 Summit and national leaders in the federal cilmate change legislation. As we overview the specifics and implications of these current events, we will also take a look at the way that environmental communities are responding–from the major American environmental organizations like Sierra Club and Greenpeace to small grassroots movements across the country. Are the stipulations made by these leaders enough to curb climate change? If not, what can we do to keep pressing them to take the necessary steps?

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The Department of Community Development is hosting a public talk to discuss creating a great waterfront.

The Vice-President of the Project for Public Spaces (PPS), in New York City, is coming to Richmond Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 am to speak on key steps for creating great waterfronts. The public is invited to attend a talk by Ethan Kent followed by a Question-and-Answer session.

As more cities envision their waterfronts as lively public destinations that keep people coming back, PPS outlines the following principles to make that happen. They are not all hard and fast laws, but rules of thumb drawn from 32 years of experience working to improve urban waterfronts around the world. These ideas can serve as the framework for any waterfront project seeking to create vibrant public spaces, and, by extension, a vibrant city.

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Style Weekly brings forward another idea for the parking lots of Shockoe Bottom, this time from former mayoral candidate Lawrence Williams.

Williams envisions a four-square-block complex in the Bottom bounded by Main Street Station and 18th streets, running from the end of the 17th Street Farmers’ Market north to Broad. It would be a smaller-scale park on the “same footprint as the Coliseum in Rome,” Williams says. Unlike the Highwoods proposal, he’s shifted the orientation of the baseball stadium and added removable bleachers behind the outfield. This would accommodate an overlapping regulation football and soccer field, and, who knows, maybe a seasonal ice rink, in the same facility allowing for year round use, he says.

Far from stadiums and entertainment, former mayoral candidate Paul Goldman has his own vision for Shockoe Bottom. He wrote an opinion piece for Style Weekly a month ago outlining his plan to make Richmond a hub of medical technology.

By turning the Bottom into the top of the medical world, we would be in a unique position: No other such complex in America would be a destination — within a short walk of the high-speed rail line being planned for our part of the country. The facility would be an employment machine, thus attracting residential and retail development and eventually revitalizing the East End to the Henrico County line, where a commuter shuttle could run on the train tracks that run parallel to the James River.

Word has it that Aziza’s on Main, one of Shockoe’s new favorite lunch spots, will soon be opening for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays from 5 pm – 9 pm beginning this week.

Paul Hammond who writes Lost Art of the City attended this morning’s discussion on how to create a great waterfront, and has posted a brief recap of what was discussed.

Not all of this squared with the Downtown Master Plan behind the discussion, but PPS made clear these were decisions that we had to make. They were just offering us the benefit of their experience. I think we should look at what they have shared with us. We have a tremendous resource and the opportunity to put a stamp on the city that will last for generations. Look at what has been done elsewhere. We can do just as good or better here.

RVA News has their own, slightly more critical recap of the meeting.

Excuse us for not jumping up and down about the lessons that Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, San Diego, and Vancouver offer for Richmond’s waterfront development. A more realistic and relatable example might have helped.

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Dock Street between S. 17th and S. 21st will be closed Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day to allow crews to complete repairs for CSX railroad.