Andrew Freiden in the James River Park System on Richmond’s South Side (Photo by Shawnee Custalow)
Most engaging local television personality
Andrew Freiden, NBC 12
Andrew Freiden’s on-camera persona comes naturally. “I never really had a specific presentation mentor or someone I emulated,” he explains, though he credits Robin Reed of Roanoke’s WDBJ as his meteorological guide. “I think the best broadcasters are the people who are themselves on camera and not trying to sound like they think a TV person should sound,” he says. “That said, if you are a jerk in real life, you should probably fake it a little.”
2. Curt Autry, NBC 12
3. Nikki-Dee Ray, CBS 6
Best place to take a first-time Richmond visitor
The James River (Belle Isle, T-Pot Bridge, etc.)
“First impressions are so important, and to know that people bring family and friends to our parks is a real honor,” says Bryce Wilk, superintendent of the James River Park System. Belle Isle and the T-Pot Bridge are “wonderful introduction places, as both highlight the ‘wilderness-in-the-city’ dynamic, the rich history, and really show what Richmond has to offer and put things in perspective.” Others agree. The James River Parks received 1.6 million visitors in 2018.
2. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
3. Maymont
Mayor Levar Stoney (Photo by Jay Paul)
Most effective local politician
Mayor Levar Stoney
Asked for some of Richmond’s biggest wins over the past year, Mayor Stoney cited passage of the city’s 2019-20 budget and its funding for public schools, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the Eviction Diversion Program, as well as the creation of a public art master plan, a History and Culture Commission, and the Shockoe Alliance. We like to think his establishment of Kindness Week, inspired by Binford Middle School student Jalia Hardy’s entry in the statewide “If I Were Mayor” essay contest, also sparked our readers’ kindness when voting.
2. Gov. Ralph Northam
3. Joe Morrissey (not in office currently, but now the Democratic nominee for state senate in the 16th District)
Least effective local politician
Mayor Levar Stoney
To quote The Persuaders’ 1971 R&B hit, “It’s a thin line between love and hate,” and it’s also a Best & Worst tradition for Richmond mayors to demonstrate the concept, as with then-Mayor Doug Wilder’s 2007 wins for Best- and Worst-Dressed Public Figure. Now it’s Stoney’s turn to embody that thin line. “Once you are elected, you learn quickly that you can’t please everyone all the time,” Stoney says. “You also realize that things move slower than you want them to. We can always do better.”
2. Rep. Abigail Spanberger
3. Sen. Tim Kaine
The proposed BridgePark is ...
A cool idea
The verdict is in, and most of you think the BridgePark is a cool idea. An embodiment of Richmond activities, the proposed 2-mile-long pedestrian greenway would incorporate biking, walking, sightseeing, historic sites, art, gathering spaces and an up-close view of the James River while linking Jackson Ward and Manchester. Following along the Manchester Bridge, the proposed park would connect the business district, Virginia Commonwealth University and South Side.
2. A bad idea and/or a waste of money
3. What is this?
Best idea for Monument Avenue
‘Keep the statues as is.’
Camden Whitehead, an associate professor in Virginia Commonwealth University’s arts department, works with the VCUarts Middle of Broad (MOB) Studio, which, along with Storefront for Community Design, received a $30,000 grant for contemplating Monument Avenue, leading to two exhibitions at The Valentine. He hopes the community will “explore and discuss ... how a broader idea of context might be realized on Monument Avenue,”
he says.
2. Remove/replace the Confederate statues.
3. Add context to the statues.
Worst street for potholes
Broad Street
It seems like we just got finished with all the Pulse-related construction on Broad Street, but another issue seemingly remains eternal for one of Richmond’s most-traveled thoroughfares: potholes. Mayor Levar Stoney notes that the city’s current budget “makes historic investments in streets and sidewalks ($16.2 million) so we can stop playing whack-a-mole with potholes.” Request a fix at rva311.com whenever new craters crop up, and maybe we can eliminate this category next year. (Hope also springs eternal.)
2. Forest Hill Avenue
Photo courtesy The Richmond Experience
Best local Instagram account
Samantha and Sean Kanipe’s Richmond Experience is 2 years old, and the couple marked their second year together July 22. They arrived in Richmond after college. Sean, from southern Virginia, graduated from Virginia Tech, and Sam, of New Jersey, from Rutgers. “Starting the Instagram page was quite serendipitous and a culmination of ideas and experiences from both of us,” Sam says. “If we can help people feel more comfortable with getting out and experiencing things, then we are doing something right.”
Most engaging local radio personality or duo
Melissa & Jack, 103.7 PLAY
Come October, Melissa Chase and Jack Lauterback will celebrate eight years before the mic together. “We were like brother and sister from the start,” Lauterback recalls, “in that we both bickered and fought over petty things, which we still do. … Sometimes it makes for good radio.” Sometimes, they crack each other up — with perhaps an inappropriate joke. According to Lauterback, “Genuine laughing on air is always a good thing.”
2. Jeff Katz, WRVA
3. John Reid, WRVA
Best local podcast
In 2018, Richard Foster, a seasoned reporter and author and the new editor of Virginia Business, released a 10-part podcast about the Richmond summer of 1987, when five women died and at least 10 were raped before the terror ended. The “Southside Strangler” case revolutionized criminology involving DNA typing. “Because of the horrible suffering these women endured, we now have modern DNA policing that’s led to perpetrators getting taken off the streets,” Foster says. “Southern Nightmare” has racked up 325,000 downloads from listeners in more than 95 countries.
2. Tie: “Origin of Speakcies”; “Young House Love Has a Podcast”; “Eat It, Virginia!”
Photo by Justin Betman courtesy Jason Mraz
Favorite RVA native who made it big
Jason Mraz
There are many reasons to be proud of our top three, but we’re guessing that Mraz got the nod for his continued devotion to the Richmond region. He featured local students in the video for his 2018 song “Have It All,” which was filmed here, and the former SPARC student’s ongoing support of the children’s arts organization has seen him return every year since 2012 for the nonprofit’s Live Art concert.
2. Russell Wilson
3. Arthur Ashe
Alewife’s swordfish carpaccio with pickled redbuds, yuzu & hyssop (Photo courtesy Alewife)
Best way Richmond got in the news this year
Food/restaurant scene
By the time GQ’s Brett Martin named Alewife one of the Best New Restaurants in America in April, calling Richmond “a city that has forced its way onto my dining map lately,” we were already well into a year filled with culinary accolades, from Bon Appetit dubbing us “America’s Next Great Restaurant-Obsessed Town” to five Richmond restaurants being named 2019 Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists by the James Beard Foundation.
2. National Teacher of the Year Rodney Robinson
3. Beer scene
Scandals
Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring in blackface and sexual-assault allegations against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax
This is usually where we start in with the jokes, but despite providing fodder for comedians throughout the land, these scandals were far from a laughing matter for most Virginians. They also present something of a problem for Virginia Democrats heading into 2019’s General Assembly elections. After taking the commonwealth’s top three elected offices and making major gains in the General Assembly in 2017, Democrats largely kept that momentum going in 2018’s midterms, but it’s anyone’s guess whether voters will be feeling so positive about the party this fall.
Worst way Richmond got in the news this year
1. Gov. Northam, AG Herring and Lt. Gov. Fairfax
2. Crime/shootings/murders
3. Confederate monuments, whether removing or preserving
The worst story to come out of local government this year
1. Gov. Northam, AG Herring and Lt. Gov. Fairfax
2. Issues with Richmond Public Schools
3. Proposed tax increase
Image courtesy Jeff Kelley
Best aspect of the proposed Navy Hill project
New Coliseum
Cher hasn’t performed here since a 2003 concert at the Richmond Coliseum, when one of her wigs, worth $8,000 to $10,000, was stolen. (It was later returned to Richmond Police.) She then canceled her 2014 concert at the Coliseum (and the rest of that tour) due to an infection affecting her kidneys. So implementing a $1.4 billion redevelopment project that includes a new, 17,500-seat arena may be our last chance to get her to return.
2. Affordable housing
3. Revitalizing downtown
Worst aspect of the proposed Navy Hill project
Traffic congestion
After decades of large-scale projects that haven’t always lived up to their promises, Richmonders are skeptical. Adding a bigger arena and a 20,000-square-foot food court (among other elements) might mean more cars on the road, but if some of the new venues’ attendees come from the 2,800 nearby housing units or the 527-room hotel that have been proposed, maybe they’d just walk.
2. The cost
3. Gentrification, displacement of residents
