2022-2024 Crater

2024 Crater One-Year Virtual Progress Workshop

The Petersburg and Hopewell RAFT One Year Progress Review Workshop was held virtually on Friday April 12, 2024. The workshop was an opportunity for both the Cities of Petersburg and Hopewell as well as regional partners in the Crater Planning District Commission (Crater PDC) to come together to reflect on the past twelve months of implementation progress; share successes, lessons learned, and challenges from the implementation of Resilience Action Checklist (RAC) priorities; and explore opportunities for collaboration moving forward at the local and regional levels.

Workshop Summary

Workshop Slides

Workshop Recording

2023 Crater Resilience Action Workshop:

The Crater Region RAFT workshop was held virtually on February 16, 2023. The workshop was hosted by The RAFT Core Team to orient participants to The RAFT process and goals, review the region’s Scorecard results and opportunities for improving Crater resilience, and support and guide participants through the process of developing a draft One-Year “Resilience Action Checklist” (RAC) for each locality. The RAC development process is designed to allow participants to elevate up to five specific actions to improve resilience over the next year. During the workshop, members of The RAFT Core Team provided context for The RAFT, shared Crater resilience findings, and opportunities that surfaced through interviews and focus groups, and facilitated the development of draft resilience action checklists for each locality.

Crater Cross-Locality Analysis:

Cross Locality Analysis

2022-2023 Crater

Hopewell

The City of Hopewell is located at the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers, at the northwestern end of Prince George County. The city has a total area of 10.8 square miles and is located approximately 9 miles from the neighboring City of Petersburg. Hopewell is 22 miles southeast of the state’s capital, Richmond. According to the 2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the City of Hopewell has a population of 22,456 people. The median age is 36, which is 2.0 years younger than the national average. In the City of Hopewell, 23.6% of residents live below the poverty level. The median household income is $39,030, which is $27,083 lower than the national median income. Within the City of Hopewell, residents are 52.8% white, 44.9% African American, 2.0% Asian, and 0.6% Native American. Of Hopewell’s residents, 24.7% have a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education, compared to the national rate of 32.1% The entirety of Hopewell’s geographic area drains directly or indirectly into the Chesapeake Bay through the James and Appomattox Rivers. Due to the historic presence of industrial activity along Hopewell’s waterfront, preservation of its ecologically and economically vital riparian resources is critical. The Hopewell Comprehensive Plan, published in 2018, outlines several initiatives to enhance waterfront sustainability. These include (1) emphasizing policies, action plans, and implementation efforts that reduce the contribution of stormwater pollutants and water runoff issues; (2) pursuing public education efforts to better inform the public and stakeholders of expectations and requirements of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act; and (3) incorporating necessary initiatives to meet all DEQ expectations for specific Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act policies.

Photo courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Program

Hopewell's Scorecard and Updated Scorecard (August 2024)

Hopewell's Opportunity List

Hopewell's Resilience Action Checklist

Resilience Planning Recommendations: Vulnerability, Consequences, and Adaptation Planning Scenarios (VCAPS) Workshop

In August 2024, Old Dominion University's Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience, as part of the RAFT process in Hopewell, engaged city staff using a modified VCAPS workshop to better understand how staff perceive the current priority action items for Hopewell's resilience efforts. Through collecting stakeholder input, evaluating relevant municipal documentation, and analyzing regional climate data, researchers compiled a report and additional recommendations for resilience planning in Hopewell, Virginia available for download here. Additionally, an accompanying Heat Action Toolkit Comparison is available for download here.

Petersburg

The City of Petersburg is bounded to the north by the Appomattox River, at the northeastern end of Dinwiddie County. The city has a total area of 23.2 square miles and is located approximately 9 miles from the neighboring City of Hopewell to the northeast. Petersburg is 22 miles south of Richmond, Virginia. According to the 2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the City of Petersburg has a population of 31,362 people. The median age is 38.1, which is 0.1 years older than the national average. In the City of Petersburg, 24.1% of residents live below the poverty level. The median household income is $38,679, which is $27,434 lower than the national median income. Within the City of Petersburg, residents are 78.4% African American, 19.4% white, 1.4% Asian, and 0.6% Native American. 28.2% of residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education, compared to the national rate of 32.1% Preservation of the Appomattox has profound implications for both public and environmental health, as well as economic development along the riverfront. According to the City of Petersburg, Virginia Comprehensive Plan 2014, several initiatives have been identified to allow for simultaneous economic development and ecological conservation. These include (1) preserving selected greenfields on the Southside to bolster flood resilience through low-lying marshlands; (2) redeveloping downtown brownfields along the Appomattox through economic revitalization efforts; and (3) improving wastewater treatment infrastructure to reduce nitrate and phosphorus contamination.

“Downtown Petersburg” by Ken Lund is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Petersburg's Scorecard

Petersburg's Opportunity List

Petersburg's Resilience Action Checklist

Greening Petersburg: Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives Open House

On September 23, 2024 the City of Petersburg hosted an open house at the Petersburg Public Library. The event was hosted by the City of Petersburg with support from community partners and facilitation from the Institute for Engagement & Negotiation (IEN) at the University of Virginia as part of The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) process and the Green Infrastructure Center. The Open House summary is available to download here.

Petersburg Trolley Survey Results

The City of Petersburg partnered with the Institute for Engagement & Negotiation at the University of Virginia and local partners involved with the Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) to collect and synthesize community input, develop a proposed free trolley route, and develop resources needed to apply for funding to support the operations of a new free trolley route. The results of the survey are available to download here.

Products from Professor Bev Wilson's Civic Technologies Class at the University of Virginia

In the fall 2023 semester, students at the University of Virginia utilized mapping and storytelling tools to develop presentations on micro-mobility, food access, equitable broadband, and oral histories in the City of Petersburg. The student presentations can be viewed here. The students' StoryMaps and final products are available below.

The Case for Micro-mobility (map)
PHOPs Food Access (map)
Equitable Broadband (map)
Civil Rights Oral Histories (site)

Products from Professor Karen Firehock's Green Sites Class at the University of Virginia

In the Spring 2024 semester, students at the University of Virginia developed green infrastructure design proposals at various sites across the City of Petersburg. These projects aimed to analyze urban sites and create design standards for a stormwater and ecological retrofit plan – finding ways to infiltrate and clean water and add green spaces and habitat for people and wildlife. These projects were prepared as recommendations to the City of Petersburg from students at the University of VA. These are for consideration by the city but are not yet adopted as policies.

Wilcox Lake Revitalization
City of Petersburg: Tree Ordinance Review and Recommendations
Halifax Triangle Design Proposal
Beautifying and Revitalizing Petersburg's Downtown
BrickHouse Run Redesign

Products from Professor Karen Firehock's Green Infrastructure Class at the University of Virginia

In the fall 2023 semester, students at the University of Virginia developed a comprehensive, Strategic Green Infrastructure Plan spanning Trees, Water, Parks & Recreation, and Culture & History. This report on Green Infrastructure Strategies was prepared as recommendations to the City of Petersburg from students at the University of VA. These are for consideration by the city but are not yet adopted as policies. Original land cover data used to inform the work was created pro bono by the Green Infrastructure Center Inc. under a grant from the VA Department of Forestry.

Products from the Urban & Environmental Planning Graduate Capstone Class at the University of Virginia

In the Spring 2023 semester, graduate students at the University of Virginia proposed the CREATE program for the City of Petersburg. The program was envisioned to address the issues that the city currently faces relating to climate adaptation planning, land use and transportation planning, and economic development. The full report can be accessed here.

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