Richmond City, in the last few decades, has seen massive change regarding its housing landscape. As a result, Richmond has also seen a profound shift in its demographic makeup, not only in its urban core but also in its outlying suburban areas. These changes can be attributed to the numerous changes regarding urban development but also recent social changes and have resulted in a decrease in affordable housing and an increase in environmental problems.

In the 1850s, Richmond was a “walking city.” Most of the people living in Richmond city’s center were working-class people and they lived close to the industrial and commerce central zone. This allowed them to live within walking distance from many of their jobs, allowing Richmond to function without massive transportation needs. Typically, though, the wealthier individuals lived in the outer parts of the cities including Church Hill and Gamble’s Hill. Richmond had been very evidently broken up by a class system.

After the Civil War, it was more clearly seen how the city was often gerrymandered, and forceful attempts to segregate the city by race were seen. Once African Americans had fought and won their voting rights, there was a clear gerrymandering present in Richmond to limit representation on the city’s council. This, along with the invention of streetcars, saw massive growth in suburban communities, especially by White individuals. This concept is known as “White flight,” where White communities tend to move from urban to suburban areas, caused mainly by racist notions towards minority groups that housing realtors pushed onto places generally occupied by these minorities. Numerous attempts were made to segregate Richmond, including the residential segregation ordinance of 1911 allowing racial zoning codes. Finally, in 1917, residential segregation was ruled unconstitutional by Buchanan v Warley. Although ruled unconstitutional, many areas tried to shortcut it and find other means to segregate the city, including a law that banned minority groups from moving into a neighborhood where they could not legally marry the majority population. However, in 1968, along with the Fair Housing Act, many previous housing practices were finally deemed unconstitutional including blockbusting and redlining practices.

Although many improvements have been made to Richmond, many remnants of the city’s history can still be seen today. For example in the 1940s and 1950s, public housing forced impoverished communities towards the center of the city, while allowing for wealthier communities to grow outwards. This pushed many impoverished communities close to the industrial center. These public housing efforts were often forcibly pushed onto African Americans by bankers and real estate workers. However, today, Richmond has been seen getting more diverse, with various groups making up the demographics of the city. There are still many noticeable similarities to the forced practices placed onto minorities and impoverished individuals. As a result of many impoverished communities being pushed into the core of the city, and with an increase in housing prices, there is a clear decline in affordable housing and an increase in eviction rates. This places massive stress on individuals with lower incomes.

This has caused a process known as gentrification, which can be seen as wealthier individuals moving in and displacing working-class and poorer individuals. Elderly individuals, in particular, are harmed by this process as many of them have been living in Richmond for a lengthy amount of time and are now unable to afford increased rent prices. Wealthier individuals moving into the city is caused by many of Richmond’s improvements, including reduced crime rates, fewer job market restrictions, and better schools, which drive wealthier individuals to the city. Although Richmond is seeing great improvement, one area it is lacking in is affordable housing. Between 2000 and 2005, the median housing cost shot from $120,000 to $180,000, which constitutes a 50% increase. Increased housing costs with a lack of housing types disadvantage many single parents, youths, workers, and senior citizens. Since Richmond’s main housing projects are working to build more single-family homes, anyone not in need of or able to afford a single-family home is extremely disadvantaged. Wages have also not been growing in line with the housing cost increase, making it even more difficult for working families. This gap between household income and housing costs is expected to continue to widen. Between 2000 and 2011, it was estimated to have grown 46%.

Additionally, Richmond has been seeing major growth in its population, which has been due to many migrant populations. This has allowed Richmond to become more diversified. There has been a significant increase in the Asian population in recent years. With this increased population, there is a clear increase in automobile usage, which has caused a massive increase in traffic and energy emissions. This causes extreme stress on the environment especially because Richmond’s population’s main source of transportation is automobiles.

As Richmond continues to grow, significant strides must be made to combat the housing affordability issues and to help create a more sustainable city for future generations. Richmond has evolved tremendously over its history, improving in many ways, and still holding many of the characteristics it had earlier.