Downtown!

Petula Clark sang about it. These people are living it.
Boomer Life takes a look at what’s luring boomers back to the city.

by Jo Lord

“When you’re alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go … downtown!” Petula had the right idea, but when it comes to baby boomers’ revived interest in downtown Richmond, there’s more to the story. Here, creative developers are attracting a willing populace downtown with sleek, new high-rises, and hip condos and apartments fashioned from historic former factories and warehouses.

In growing numbers, boomers are trading suburbia for the urban intimacy of downtown in Oregon Hill, Jackson Ward, the Central Business District, the River District, Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom and along Broad Street. According to Bill White, president of Richmond real estate company Joyner Fine Properties, the move downtown began in earnest about five years ago. He says, “The scene has come thousands of miles in the last five years.” In his estimation, the downtown population has doubled since about 2002, in large part due to baby boomers. Some 95 percent of the housing that attracts them has been built since then.

Amenities, Lifestyle And Convenience Are Big Reasons

“The overarching issue is that baby boomers are at a stage of life where more and more are becoming empty nesters,” says Matt Thornhill, founder and president of the Boomer Project, a marketing research and consulting firm specializing in boomers. “They have more house than they need out in the suburbs, they’re driving downtown to go to work and they realize, ‘I moved to the county for the schools. I don’t need that anymore.’”

Bill White believes many boomers are attracted to downtown for what he calls “lifestyle housing” with abundant amenities. Outside, boomers have pools, tennis courts, security cameras and elevators, as well as views of the city and river. Inside, they’ve got granite countertops, larger bathrooms and modern kitchens. “It’s more than just bricks and mortar,” White says. “It’s the amenities, the convenience and the lifestyle, with restaurants within walking distance, the Canal Walk, Tredegar Park for dog walking and entertainment venues like Toad’s Place in the Central Business District.”

While boomers have their choice of condominiums, houses and apartments downtown, most are choosing to buy rather than rent. “Most of the boomers like to own,” White says. “They’ve done well with home ownership.” He says many of the buyers are “double-income” empty nesters with children in college. They own vacation homes at the river or mountains but also enjoy downtown living, so they’ve opted for a downtown pied-àterre. “Richmond is so well located,” he says. “People work here, enjoy life here and have a vacation house to go to for the weekend — and precious little grass to mow.”

Marti Cooke knows a thing or two about boomers looking to own. Cooke is director of sales and marketing for Rocketts Landing, the new, much-buzzed-about multi-use community along the James River in the city’s River District. “We’re seeing a lot of interest from baby boomers,” she says, “and have sold to a lot of them, mostly moving from the West End. They’re interested in downsizing and in low-maintenance living. They like downtown’s vibrant lifestyle and being a part of the city’s fabric and community.” She adds that multi-generational living is another appeal for boomers who choose the age diversity of downtown over the homogeneity of age-regulated communities such as those for people 55 plus.

Other Reasons Are More Personal

To get the story straight from the source, BOOMERlife talked to a number of boomers about what makes downtown attractive.

For Josh Dare, it’s the character. The 50-year-old executive at a Shockoe Bottom PR firm hasn’t moved downtown yet, but he hopes to. He and his wife lived in Washington, D.C., for years before their move in 1997 to Richmond, largely for its livability, and to the West End, mainly for its school system. The downside? “Where we live now could be anywhere in America,” he says. “It’s leafy suburbia — houses with decks on the back and porches on the front, and trees and lawns you have to tend to. There’s nothing characteristically Richmond.” When his high school- aged kids finish college, he’d like to move downtown. “The vibrancy of the urban core is incredibly attractive and incredibly appealing.” (Good thing he still has a few years to convince his wife, who’s not so sure.)

For Deborah Fisk, it’s a fresh start. The 59-year-old computer graphic designer and her husband feel tied to Richmond because their children and grandchildren are here. She says, “We owned a very large home in Bellgrade. We wanted to make a change and scale down, but it had to be something really special to make us do it.” They decided on Rocketts Landing, the new multi-use community in the River District. She says they were drawn to it because of its location on the James River and its proximity to downtown’s arts and music scene.

For Mary Mullany, it’s the lure of a city on the verge of fulfilling its promise. Mullany has lived all over the world, and yet chooses to live in downtown Richmond. The 58-year-old, self employed real estate investor owns a two-story brownstone in Church Hill. “I grew up as an Air Force brat and went to work for the airlines for 30 years, and I’ve traveled all over the world,” she says. “I don’t really have a place I’m from, so I’m a gypsy.” Mullany felt drawn to Richmond after visiting friends here two years ago. She says the city’s grace, conservative values and history attracted her, combined with “Richmond being on the precipice of incredible growth and the energy that comes with that.”

For Bridgforth Allen, it’s history and architecture. Like Mullany, Allen is a Church Hill devotee. The 56-year-old computer software writer has lived there off and on for 35 years and was one of the first to buy and renovate historic homes there in the ’70s and ’80s. As he puts it, “Whenever I’m in Virginia, I’m in Church Hill.” Allen, who rents an apartment in a grand, old Church Hill building, sees the steeple of St. John’s Church when he walks out his front door. “People talk about amenities, and that’s true, but you get that in the suburbs,” he says. “I like the architecture and the history. To me, that’s the romance of the city.”

Finally, for Marti Cooke, it’s love. Cooke, who is in her 50s, was living and working in Chicago when she met a Richmonder at a real estate conference there. She moved to New York City shortly thereafter, on August 30, 2001. The plan was that he would fly to New York on September 14 for their first date. With the airlines at a standstill after the events of September 11, he drove to New York instead, determined to see her. They kept a long-distance relationship going for two more years before she quit her job, packed up her belongings and moved to the Fan to be with him in 2003. They celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary in May.

Jo Lord is a freelance writer and baby boomer who lives and works out of her little bungalow in Richmond, Virginia. Her work regularly appears in numerous publications around the city.