Vera House Podcast
A creative dispatch with Richmond entrepreneurs, founders, and modern creatives shaping the future — one story, one project, one idea at a time. Recorded in Richmond, Virginia, Vera House is where conversation meets craft. From local legends to global movements, this is for makers, artists, creators, and doers.
Vera House Podcast
Richmond “City of Darkness”, Chaos & Coverups (FOIA concerns, traffic, growth, etc) — Unscripted #046
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Got thoughts? Throw them at us by sending a text here
Vera Creative Club Merch:
https://veraclub.myshopify.com/
In this episode of Vera House Unscripted, we discuss a range of Richmond topics including city growth, driving culture, government transparency, and local events. We start with how quickly Richmond is growing and how that’s showing up in everyday life, especially on the roads with more traffic, distracted driving, and increasingly unpredictable behavior.
The conversation expands into broader observations about awareness, personal responsibility, and how small decisions from others can have real consequences. We talk about how modern distractions, especially phones, are impacting attention and behavior in public spaces.
We also discuss Richmond being labeled the “City of Darkness” in relation to FOIA concerns, and what that means for government transparency, access to information, and overall trust in local systems. From there, we get into a wider conversation around power, influence, and how access and relationships often matter more than money.
Throughout the episode, we also touch on Vera House’s involvement in the Richmond community, including events like the Monument Avenue 10K, Pyre Sauna, and Rest Fest, along with ideas for future community-driven experiences.
Topics include Richmond growth, traffic and driving culture, distracted driving, public awareness, FOIA and government transparency, City of Darkness, power and influence, Richmond events, Monument Avenue 10K, Pyre Sauna, Rest Fest, and Richmond community culture.
Quick interjection to invite you to Vera House Studios. If you are a local Richmond business, entrepreneur, brand owner, or service provider—and you know you need to create better content to get your products and services in front of the right people—we can help.
Get more info about our studio here.
This podcast is produced by Vera House — a creative club and premium media studio based in Richmond, Virginia. Our studio exists to champion local brands, creative expression, rva culture, and produce high-impact content for founders, makers, and modern businesses.
Follow the movement:
Hosted by Myke Metzger & Perri Young:
Welcome back to the Vera House podcast. Welcome back, Mike. It's been a while. I know. It has. Yeah. We we get into some really fun topics today. We've had quite a little bit of time to observe our community as it were. And we we always find just the most crazy things to talk about. Just the other day, someone sideswiped a car outside of the studio, and it just reminded us of the inherent and ongoing traffic and automobile issues that we have in the city. So we talked about that. We talked about, and speaking of cars, we talked about a 40-car break-in that happened in Henraiko. 40 cars are broken into in one night, which is just absolutely insane. And then we talked about some history around old buildings, old landmarks, locations that have been sitting decrepit for a long time, and maybe the not so savvy way that some developers are reinventing those spaces and how we feel about them. What else we talk about? We talked about how Richmond is officially the city of darkness.
SPEAKER_03I don't know what that means, but I kind of love it. I mean, you know, you got to tune in to find out what it means. It's it's not good. It's not good, but at least it sounds cool. It does. It sounds very cool. We also talked about um my dream of owning a go-kart. Yeah. And uh yeah, you may have seen a little Mario Kart character zipping around the city in a go-kart. So we talked about that. And we also talked about our new merchandise line. Um, so for anybody who doesn't know, we have merch. We have swag and uh gear. I know that sounds typical. I know that sounds cliche of like we have merch. Uh, but the truth is, Perry and I, we made these for ourselves, truly. Uh, but if you would like to have one, if you would like to support the show, you can get these directly on our Instagram or at Verahouse.co. We hope you enjoy the episode. So I love that Richmond is growing, but at the same time, that means more and more people. And that means more and more people on the road, more and more people with a steering wheel in one hand and a phone in the other hand. Yeah. And it's getting wild, dude. It's getting it's the wild, wild west out there.
SPEAKER_00That drives me nuts. Yeah. Now, I will fully admit, big fan of uh one hand and a phone. I do like, you know, trying to get my messages going or check the Instagram, but I try to not do that as often. I'll put my phone down, I'll put the playlist on, and I'll like let it do its thing or put it in the stand, and then I'll just, you know, go about my driving. And the other thing that I notice is that it's more frequent than you think. Now, I ride motorcycles, so as a motorcycle rider, I'm always paying attention to what other people are doing because that's how you avoid getting into an accident. You can be the best rider in the plan on the planet, but if somebody isn't paying attention to you, it doesn't matter. Yeah, so you have to be paying attention to them. Yeah. So I'm always looking in somebody's window and looking at them, literally set at a stoplight, look at the phone, see the green, the the light turns green, they put their foot on the gas and immediately look down at the phone. It's like you're not even driving the car anymore. Instagram is driving the car.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's crazy, dude. That's crazy. Yeah. And are you checking Instagram on the motorcycle too?
SPEAKER_00When I can, you know, I I just I bring my extra hand so I can do that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, I can't be doing this podcast solo, dude. So cut it out. I'll keep it safe. I promise. I got hit by a drunk driver on a motorcycle. My uncle died in a motorcycle accident, hit by somebody else. Yeah, you just never know, dude. You never know. Yeah. You gotta stay safe out there. Yeah. But no, no in no doom scrolling while driving.
SPEAKER_00Don't doom scroll. If you have to doom scroll, do it at the 7-Eleven parking luck like everybody else.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, you know, like on the way here, I guess it's kiddie baseball season. You know, so it's like peewee baseball. Yeah, pee-wee baseball. Yeah. So it's like, yeah, everybody's driving around like crazy trying to find parking, like, you know, rubber necking, looking for spots, trying to learn how to parallel park because they have no idea how to do it. By the way, we definitely still need to do the parallel parking championships.
SPEAKER_00Yes. If you want us to do a parallel parking championship where we will moderate publicly over a loudspeaker and comment on you as the contestants trying to park in a parking space, let us know in the comments. We will absolutely do this. It'd be sweet.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. We'll basically be like um, we'll be like Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier for anybody who gets that reference, right? Like the UFC commentators. Right. So we'll have a commentator desk and we'll have our microphones and we'll commentate on the parallel parking championship. Yep. Dude, we'll have a podium. Yep.
SPEAKER_00Oh man. You will be crowned the parallel champion, parallel parking championship of the entire city of Richmond that the crown will allot you all kinds of privileges, including but not limited to be first dibs on parking spaces.
SPEAKER_03We gotta do it. Yeah. How about that guy in the Porsche that just decided to like slam into all the cars right out front of the studio?
SPEAKER_00Speaking of parking, this person, we're we're literally pulling up to the studio last week to do some work here. And I just I'm inside. I think you're outside, but I heard just like the crunch of car on car, which is in the city, it's unmistakable. Yeah. And I think I know that there was a time where you know people would hear like the screeching of tires and then wait for the smash and then like see if there was an accident. You know, obviously, hopefully nobody gets hurt. But yeah, it it was like six o'clock in the evening, and this Porsche SUV was coming down our street and completely sideswiped a parked car. Not somebody in this in the lane that they were in, just the car was already parked, had been parked, person wasn't even in it. Sideswiped the car. And then I walked outside because I heard it, and I see the car, the Porsche at the intersection, and they like stop at the stop sign, look back for a second, and then they keep driving. And there was like some runners that stopped. There are people that came out of their apartments to see what happened. There were people walking from the opposite direction. There were two cars behind the Porsche. So there were like 10 people that saw it. There's no getting away. And he inevitably pulled up at the next stop sign, the cops showed up, the lady came out, it was a whole thing.
SPEAKER_03So that's like the opposite, right? You were talking like you hear the you hear the screech and you're waiting for the crash. This is like you hear the crash first and then they screech because they're taken off.
SPEAKER_00You know, it's like a hit and run. It was. It was almost a hit and run, which is unfortunately that's city living. Like you kind of deal with that as a risk. Like I I remember, especially when I was working nights at the bars in the fan, I would work a Friday or a Saturday, and then Sunday I'd be going back to work for whatever reason, or going back through the fan, and I would see like, you know, five or six just smashed up bumpers all anywhere in the fan, then like Monument Avenue in the fan, and on Boulevard, especially, and you know it was just somebody drunk, hit and run, that person's car is totaled. There's no one that's going to be held accountable. They're just up the creek.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, that was like worse than a side swipe, right? Like it was a little, like, yeah, you he freaking smashed into that thing. Yeah. And I've, you know, we felt so bad for the girl. She's like, I just, like, I just re-upped my insurance. I just put brand new tires on. Like, yeah, it wasn't just a side swipe because he hit that rear quarter panel so bad, like so hard that it popped the rear tire. Oh, I mean, the whole car was like smashed in. Like, yeah, that thing's hand hands down totaled.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, man. And it's it just again, it's an unfortunate but real part of living in the any any city, not just here, but any city. You park on the street, the roads are narrow, you know, there's people driving back and forth all across town. And not to say that everyone that commits a hit and run was inebriated or drinking or under any sort of influence. Like we don't know what happened with that guy. We didn't, we don't have the final report. We assumed that if you hit a parked car, you you were either playing with your phone or you were drunk. Like those those are really the two main like how did you not see it? It's it is the size of your car. You you're in one. Like, how did you not see that? That you're supposed to be paying attention. And if you weren't, those are usually the reasons.
SPEAKER_03Did you see that video of the guy who drove his pickup truck like through the bus stop into like the government building on East Broad Street? I did not. So yeah, I don't even really know the whole story behind that, but um where's it at? This guy, he he had a pickup truck, and like it's like the craziest sight you could ever see. It's like this guy who drove like through the bus stop where you can like sit. You know how the city built those little glass like containers where you can sit and wait for the bus stop when it's raining and stuff?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, yeah, he like ran into a one of those bus stops and like drove into the government building. His truck was like stuck there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so you know, it's a way to get around the parking lot, I guess. I guess so. You know, like, hey, you know, I was in a rush. Well, it makes you wonder like, how how are these people doing this, man? How is this like how is this happening? You know, I I ask myself that question all the time. And again, I'm not the expert and I'm not perfect, but I like to think that I'm a pretty good driver. I have a clean record and I haven't been in an accident in like almost 20 years. And I I like to be good at driving. I enjoy my car, I want to take care of it, I want to be able to travel back and forth across town and mind my business. So I take pride in being good at driving. So I'm paying attention to certain things, I'm obeying the traffic laws, I'm ignoring the ones that are stupid, admittedly. But I know that there are people that just don't really register any of that. Oh, yeah. Like I've talked to plenty of people that barely even understand how their car works, much less what it's doing when they're driving. And it's like anyone can get a license. Right. You just have to be 18 and pass a really, really easy test. Now, I say it's easy, but I did fail it like eight times. But that's not because I didn't know what I was doing, it's because I'm bad at tech and test. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. But that's the thing, is like everyone gets a license and everyone has this ability, this leisure, this luxury, and this responsibility that most some people just neglect completely or like take it for granted.
SPEAKER_03Dude, I will say you reminded me of this like Tosh.0 joke that I love that was so funny. And he's talking about how um he's like, oh, I'm he's like, I'm not stupid, I'm brilliant. And he's like, uh, but when it gets to the point where we test what you know, all of a sudden you forget everything.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you're bad at taking tests? Yeah. That sounds like a cop out. Right.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. But it is true, you know, people struggle with like, I mean, it's all kinds of different stuff, right? Dyslexia, memory retention, and all these different things. It's like it totally is because I was never a great test taker either. And now it's weird because like I have like pretty extreme memory retention. I remember like all kinds of like random stuff, you know? And uh, as we know, in true ADHD fashion, it's like, yeah, I don't remember it because I don't care about it and I'm not interested in it. Yeah. The stuff I want to remember, I remember.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things where now we know we have the understanding and we have the experience of like going through all of that and realizing now after the fact, like, oh, that's why I failed math because I didn't like math. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. Not because I'm not good at math. I'm all right at it. I just don't care. Yeah. And I the stuff that I do really like and the stuff that I do really care about, I know as much as I can possibly know about it. Yeah. And it takes me like zero effort to learn it and retain it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I wonder the same thing too, though, like going back to the driving thing. Like sometimes you're just driving down the road and you're really wondering, it's like, dude, do these people just have zero spatial awareness? Yes. And yeah, I would say the answer is definitely yes, because I feel like it it translates in and out of the car. Because sometimes you're just walking through the mall or walking through Carytown, and you'll be walking behind somebody and they just stop, you know, like in the middle of the sidewalk where it's like you're standing in the middle of a walkway that people are walking on, like, not just one person, like many people are walking here. It's like a Saturday afternoon in Carrytown, and it's like a group of people just blocking the whole sidewalk, and then they think, I'm just gonna stop here and like talk and look. And it's like, hey, I understand.
SPEAKER_00But move out of other people's way. Yeah. It's called common courtesy, it's called spatial awareness, it's called self-awareness. Yeah. I look, it's called get the F out of the left leg. Get the F out of the if you're gonna stop, just pull over. Yeah. Just pretend you're in the car. Yeah. Just pull over. But speaking of accidents and speaking of traffic in the city, I found this Reddit post that was surprising in terms of what it really means when, like inevitably, when you get into an accident. And I'll read you what it says, and you'll probably you'll be surprised at how this plays out. We all know that the local RVA driving milestones, surviving the Monument Avenue traffic circles without getting sideswiped, dodging people who treat the pulse bus lanes on Broad Street like VIP parking or VIP passing lane, and merging onto I-95 when the on-ramp looks like Mario Kart track. But I had a close call near VCU yesterday that sent me down a rabbit hole. I realized there was a legally that there's a legal reality in Virginia's Virginia that's way scarier than the potholes. Virginia is one of the only states left with a law called pure contributory negligence. Basically, if someone completely runs a red light on Carrie Street and T-bones you, but their insurance adjusters are able to argue that you were even one percent at fault, maybe you were going two mile put two mile an hour over the speed limit and you didn't break or you were distracted. Or if they claim that you were even a little bit at fault, your insurance gets 100% denied, you get zero dollars, and your car is ruined. It's just like I was trying to figure out how this actually works, so I talked to some lawyers who wrote about this. Insurance companies actively weaponize this 1% rule, they'll act super friendly on a recorded phone call right after the crash just to get you to casually admit that you were in a hurry. Glanced at your phone, looked at the radio, and boom, claim denied. So this is a reason that people don't get held accountable for traffic accidents like that, which probably has a long-term trickle-down effect of nonchalantness. Like, oh it's fine, I'll be fine, I'm not worried about this. What happens? Who cares if I get in an accident? Insurance will cover it. But if it's not your fault, you still won't be covered. Like that the chances of you getting into an accident and even like and your insurance not covering your repairs is very high. And I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, it's like at this point, do I even need to say that I think insurance is a scam? You know, it's like, now is it always, and and can it be helpful and beneficial? Of course. But it's like, dude, they're not your friend. They don't want to pay you. No, you know, they want to collect your money and then, yeah, find every loophole that they can. And it's similar to the health industry. The health industry does the same thing. You know, it's like, you know, oh, you have uh a stroke or something, and then they're like, oh, well, actually, based on your blood test, you had this pre-existing condition that you didn't tell us about on your policy. So, like, yeah, sorry, we can't help you. Yeah. You know, like, oh, you smoked a cigarette that one time when you were 13 hanging out with your buddy's sister in the shower or like hot box in the bathroom, and like, you know, we found out about that on your blog. And uh, yeah, sorry, we can't cover you because uh you lied about smoking cigarettes. So, you know. And it's like, yeah, dude, they use they have millions of dollars in AI systems to scour your social media and your LinkedIn page and everything that they possibly can to match it to your human profile and say, oh, yeah, we can't cover you. Sorry. And yeah, automotive stuff is the same way. And now with all these electric vehicles and all the dash cams and Palantir and like all, you know, not Palantir, but you know what I mean. I start going on a crazy rant, but you get my, you know what I mean? You have all these systems now that like, yeah, it's all surveillance. Yeah. And it's like any, you know, any of these companies that partner with the big insurance brokerages, they're gonna find a way to say, yeah, we can't, you know, we can't accept your claim, or like, oh, your onboard computer says that like you turned, you know, you turned three degrees prior to, you know, so we think we determined that you were out of the lane by, you know, four inches, therefore, like we can't cover you because you might have been at fault for this. Yeah. And yeah, that's that's where we're headed, dude.
SPEAKER_00It's wild. It's it this blows my mind a little bit because for as long as I can remember, the school of thought is if someone hits you, it's their fault, no matter what the circumstances are. If like you literally didn't do anything to instigate the collision and they hit your car, uh their insurance covers you. Yep. Not the other way around, and not any sort of denial process. But this is not only an insurance issue, this is a state law issue, which we all know, Virginia being a very old state, has old laws just like this one that protect the insurance companies from having to pay out people that are legitimately not at fault. Yeah, it's not good. It's not good.
SPEAKER_03It's not good, dude. I mean, it's a big, you know, it's a big pyramid scheme. It is. And I think if I remember correctly, insurance companies like they don't have to publicly disclose like their PLs and their profit margins and stuff. Because if they did, people would realize, like, oh wow, these companies have like 90 plus percent margins. And that's because they collected billions of dollars and then they pay out like a couple hundred million or whatever, you know? And it's like, oh wow. This, you know, if you put it out, drew it out on a piece of paper, you'd be like, wow, this looks like a big pyramid scheme.
SPEAKER_00Now, I will say, I've had uh fortunately I haven't had to deal with the insurance companies for like motor vehicle issues too many times. Um, you know, I've always paid for insurance for the car, I paid for insurance for my motorcycle. And the motorcycle insurance was actually the version of dealing with a claims adjuster that wasn't a nightmare. Somebody hit my bike when I wasn't around, call it a hit and run. Fortunately, there was another accident that happened that it didn't involve my bike. So there was a police officer there and they left a police report. A city bus sideswiped someone on the street, and that the cops came to deal with that, and then when the person who got hit was leaving, they hit my bike. Oh wow. And the cop was like, Okay, now we gotta deal with this too. So I go out to my bike and it's like on its side with a police report on it, which is way better than a hit and run, because then I can use that. The other person's insurance takes care of it. So I'm talking to my insurance, and you know, they're dealing with the police and blah, blah, I got all the report and everything. And the guy's super chill, and you can tell he's working from home. He's like at home, he's got the kids in the background. He's like, Yeah, he's like, I ride bikes too. What kind of bike do you have? Yeah, it's a cool bike, yada yada. I know the style, and it would blah, blah, blah. He's like, all right, let me look it up. Let me see what the value is here. He's like, what year is it? How many miles? And he says, Okay, I see the value. You got anything done to it? I was like, uh, you know, maybe a little of this is like no. Do you have anything done to it? Anything extra, any mods, any of this? I'm like, yeah, you know, I got a couple of things. And I listed all of them. He's like, okay, we can use this. Increases the value. He's like, How often do you ride it? Like, I don't know, maybe here and there. He's like, no. The more you ride it, the more this affects the value of it. It's like, okay, all right, I hear what you're saying. And he was able to get me an estimate for the value of all of the parts that were broken, and then some. So I was able to fix it all and then get better stuff. Yeah. And I was like, this is great. If insurance adjusts were just like this, no one would have a problem.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, see, that's our guy. He's that's the mole on the inside, right? He's like, I'm gonna get in this system and rot it from the inside out. I'm gonna I'm gonna take all this insurance money and give it out to my homie Perry. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00They got they know like the little loopholes and the criteria, and they're like, I well, you have to say it, but I'm gonna lead you on a little bit. Yeah, you know, I'm gonna tell you where to step. Then you just take that step.
SPEAKER_03Well, and that's cool because yeah, you've got people like that that are like, yo, I work for this big insurance company. I don't care. They're not some small local business. They're like, I don't care. They're like, I'm just gonna talk on Zoom calls all day and try to get these people the biggest payout I can. And it's like, word, that's cool. Yeah, you know, but then you got these other people that are like these nerdy Reddit mods that like get a power trip from like screwing people over. You know what I mean? And like take it on the runway. Yeah, exactly. And they're like, they're like, what do you have done to your bike? You're like, oh, well, like, yeah, I got this this and this done. They're like, oh, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00Oh, so illegal modifications.
SPEAKER_03Right, right. They're like, Oh, okay. So it's not so it's not OEM, it's not factory. Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00So it looks like we're not going to be able to give you the full retail value. We're going to give you about 40% of full retail back.
SPEAKER_03It's like since you've adjusted you know, since you've altered the vehicle from OEM, we can't pay out full factory price. Yeah. Yeah. So then there's the other side of it. There's definitely that side of it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's dude. It's it's a whole gambit. Fortunately, like I said, I haven't had to deal with it too many times. And the times that I have, it's worked out in my favor. Now I know that's not the case for everybody, especially people who are cynical but also like to live life by their own rules, so to speak. They kind of like live on the edge and like they just those are the people that unfortunately usually have to like deal with insurance adjusters or deal with like lawmakers and city officials more often than not. You and I both know it's a racket.
SPEAKER_03I know. I was gonna say you're kind of like describing me, but luckily I'm uh I'm I'm a reformed law-abiding citizen, you know, and luckily I don't deal with insurance. But a couple summers ago, I did have somebody that I was on Main Street, I was driving home from getting groceries, doing the speed limit, driving normally. I'm actually pretty good, like I really don't mess with my phone while I'm driving. And also I just got like the whole car play set up in my car, so which is great. So like I really don't mess with my phone, and I also only drive like two minutes at a time, I don't go anywhere. Um, but I was driving home one day from Whole Foods, I'm on Main Street, I'm driving in front of, I forget what it's called now, but it was called District 5. Um, but I was driving in front of that place and I'm in the left lane, just going 20 miles an hour or whatever, and there's a guy in the right lane, like slowing down with his left putting his left blinker on. And it's like, well, you don't slow down to move over on a lane, right? So I'm like, I'm like, I don't know what this guy's doing. Maybe he needs to turn. And I'm like, surely he's not just gonna turn in front of my truck. Well, I was wrong, and uh, that's exactly what he did. So as I'm driving past him, he tries to make a left turn from the right lane and he drives underneath my truck. So he drives underneath my lifted FJ cruiser and literally like a Tonka truck, I just drive over his car. Like I drove over the hood of his car and just crushed the whole front of his car. And uh, I don't know if I totaled it, but I mean, he literally turned like underneath my car. I drive over the top of the front of his vehicle. I'm just like, whoa. Like I come back down and I'm like, what the hell? And you know, in the back of my mind, I'm like, I can't believe that guy actually did that. Like in my mind, I'm like, yeah, that's maybe what he might do. Yeah, but he can't be that stupid. That nobody would do that. Bro, well, he did do that, and so I pull over, I pull over, and I'm like, dude, this guy just like totally jacked my truck up. Yeah. So I put it in park, I get out, and I I like look at the guy, and he gets out, and um he like looks at me like he's like confused. And I was like, what the hell was that, dude? And he's like, I had my blinker on, and I was like, You can't you can't be serious, right? Like, are you being for real? And he's like, What? And I'm like, What are you talking about, man? I'm like, you try to you turned underneath my truck from the rock. I was like, where were you turning? He was like, I was trying to pull into into there, and I was like, You're in the right lane, homie. Like, what are you doing? What? And uh anyway, so then I walk around my truck and I'm looking at it. There's not a single scratch on my truck. Like, literally, I just like a monster truck, I just drove over top of his car. His whole front of his car is crushed, his bumper's hanging off, all his headlights are broken. And then I realize he's an Uber driver. He's got like a flashing Uber driver thing. I'm like, dude, you drive for a living. Like, what were you thinking? Like, you drive every day, man. Like, how did you do that?
SPEAKER_00Honestly, bro, you told me the story once before. It's so fucking funny. Honestly, man, Uber drivers are sometimes the worst drivers. Yeah, they drive every day, and then yeah, they drive for a living. They make money being in the car all the time. But I've been in a lot of Ubers. They're not the good, they're not the best drivers. No. Some of them are like shouldn't even have a license up to a point. And that's it's unfortunate to say because like, you know, these people out here trying to make money, and I I get all that. But like I said earlier, I take pride in being a good driver. And I take pride in knowing what being a good driver means and like knowing what your car is capable of, knowing how big the car is, knowing where the bumpers are supposed to be, knowing how close you can get to somebody, knowing when you need to start hitting your brakes because your car is a little heavier versus when your car is a little lighter, so on and so forth. Like I like to know all that stuff. So that helps you be a better driver. Just, you know, talk about, you know, situational awareness or spatial awareness, car awareness. Like when you're in the car, you are should be aware of the entire car, including the antenna on the top and the headlights at the front, all of that stuff. And there's people out here that are just like, they're not driving, they're riding in the driver's seat. They're just like foot's on the gas, like kind of ever so slightly, they're fucking with the phone, and the car is like on cruise control. And they're like, I don't know what happened. I was like, You were you did that. The reason it happened is because you did it. Not it didn't do it by itself. It's not gonna go and drive into the person in front of them without you in the front seat. Yeah. And it's just so funny how people just don't have that awareness. And it's to the point where you know, there's there's obviously there's levels to it, right? So there's there's the guy that will cut across two lanes no matter what the situation is, because I I have to go there. And like this is the mindset is like, that's my turn. I I'm gonna miss my turn. I can't, if I don't turn here, I can't get into the parking lot. I gotta, I have to go now. It's like so that's the completely just oblivious to everything that's happening around him. And then there's the person that's like, well, I gotta go that way, but yeah, I'm gonna slow down and make sure that I I'll wait for these people to go, but I'm gonna block all the traffic behind me because I have to make this turn right here, right now. There's no the world is over if I can't take this left turn. And there's just all the I have a laundry list of pet peeves, of people that do dumb sh dumb shit in the car that I've like, I'm just I'm observing all of it, and I have like a catalog of it. People that leave their blinker on after they've taken the turn, or don't mean to take that turn and they leave it on anyway, or turn the other way, turn the opposite direction of their blinker. Drives me bananas. Yeah. People that drive too slow, they don't drive the speed limit, they're driving under the speed limit, and they're just like, you know, my dad used to call it rubbernecking, they're just like you know, I was looking around like, oh yeah, what's this this is a cool looking palm tree or whatever the hell. Then there's the people that are like, you know, speed diving through the through the things, like that's kind of fine as long as you don't hit anybody like because I used to do that. Sure, yeah. But bro, we should host it like uh in the spirit of education. If Vera House is going to be expanding our our resources and our community engagement to include education in 2026, and I think we should do a class in tandem with our parking championship.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Vera House Driving School.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yes, 100%. And it is it's it's not DMV accredited, it is only about how to drive in Richmond.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Thankfully, no crazy Richmond drivers ran over the Mario Kart go-kart guy. Yeah, I saw that guy. Like, I'm quite jealous because have you ever seen those nine-bot Segway go-karts? They're like electric go-karts. Yeah, I think. Okay, there's also this brand on Instagram called go-kart god, and it's like an e-kart. Yeah, and it is so fast. Yeah, like so, so fast. And I I think like probably at least 11 times a day, I think about I should probably quit my job and just buy a go-kart. So to see some guy zipping around on a go-kart living my dream is just depressing for me, man. It looks through a go. It's so fun, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_00I don't know on the sidewalk and everything, too.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I think I heard that he was like maybe a journalist or a reporter for RVA Mag. And I don't know the story behind it, but yeah, he was dressed up as Mario and just zipping a go-kart around the city. And I'm not so jealous. I'm like, that is all I want to do. Yeah, the guy is out there just living my dream.
SPEAKER_00I mean, there's nothing stopping you now. Like, you know, you can get away with it because it's probably it was one of those things where it's like, can I actually do this without getting arrested? I know.
SPEAKER_03Probably. Yeah. Well, the the go-kart that I want, I dude, it's so fast. Yeah, it's so fast. But yeah, he was, you know, he was definitely driving around the sidewalk, but he's just zipping it down the street, you know. And yeah, the first comment on here says, that dude better be careful considering how Richmonders drive nowadays. He'll end up as a flattened banana.
SPEAKER_00Game over. Flattened banana. Oh, I love that. Yeah, man. Like, I that that's definitely like a childhood, childhood like wish and a want that I would probably thoroughly enjoy is using the streets for things that the streets aren't meant for. You know, you think about the the people that are out here doing like the street takeovers. It's like a way tamer version of that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know? Yeah. It's like, let me get a little, let me get a golf cart out there, and let me get a go-kart, let me get a little couple scooters, and then we'll just take over the street.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, he was he was blasting through, you know, the broad street bus lanes and you know, all the different, you know, carry town, all that good stuff. And a bunch of people said, like, this man must be protected at all costs. If someone sees this who knows this guy, please tell him to attach a flag on a tall pole to the back of the cart so it's visible to drivers even when they are close enough to not be able to see the cart itself. And yeah, I mean, it just fits in line with everything that we're saying. And uh, funny enough, here's a picture of him. And uh I guess he's making friends with the police.
SPEAKER_00Is that making is it who is that?
SPEAKER_03I mean, I don't think he's making friends. I don't think he's making friends, you know. Friendly, maybe. Yeah. Um, but yeah, and actually that looks like the Segway nine-bot go-kart, the one that I mentioned. It's so yeah, it's actually pretty cool. It's like a go-kart that connects to you know the Segway, it doesn't come all the way up, it like it has like the holster in between your knees. So basically, it's almost like those little two-wheeled little go-kart things, but it basically attaches to a full-size go-kart. And okay, all right, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm looking at it now. I haven't seen this before, but yeah, yeah. Didn't the guy that owns Segway like run it off a cliff or something? Maybe. Yeah, I think he did. I think that's how he died. Probably. He like rode a Segway off a cliff.
SPEAKER_03I mean, dude, if you're, you know, if you're gonna do that, you might as well do it on your own invention, right? Yeah. Like if you dude, if you're gonna launch yourself off a cliff, it might as well be on like the go-kart that you built, you know?
SPEAKER_00All right, so these look pretty sweet, and I'm looking at it, it's around three grand for one of these Segway Go-Kart Pro 2.
SPEAKER_03But if I'm gonna spend three grand on a go-kart, I'm gonna just spend the nine grand to get the other one, the go-kart god one. That one is like go-kart. It's like, dude, it is like terrifyingly fast.
SPEAKER_00I've seen a couple of these like insanely like fast go-karts that have like I've seen go-karts that have like Hayabusa motors on them. That's what I mean.
SPEAKER_03That's insane. That is like actually insane.
SPEAKER_00Like a thousand horsepower motorcycle motor on the back of a go-kart.
SPEAKER_03That's yeah, okay, that's like another level. But the thing about the the e-karts is like the torque is instant. Yeah. So they just take off so fast. Um, I'll show you the video of this one that I'm talking about. And these people crush it. Man, they probably make so much money on these things. Look at how fast this is.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Jesus. Yeah, you mean you're easily like, yeah. One wrong, like yeah, one wrong clip. You're like, you're in the hospital. Oh, yeah. 100%.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. All right, yeah, those are cool. I want to they're very cool. Me too. Dude, so imagine we get a couple Vera House go-karts zipping around. I know. Yeah. And then you'll have to be on here solo and be like, yeah, Mike launched himself off the teapot bridge on accident. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But, you know, it'll be worth it because it'll be great content.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, dude. You know, you know. It'll be our yeah, it'll be my my Sayanara. It's like, well, my podcasting career didn't last very long. Yeah. Because I bought a go-kart.
SPEAKER_00You know, there are stupider ways to go. Yeah. I mean, you know, what else is there to do? Well, did you did you hear that there were 40 cars broken into in Rico? No. That's a lot of cars. That's a lot of was it by like one person or one group? It it was by a group. Think of like, you know, I when I hear a group and I when I hear this many cars, I think of like crime syndicate. Yeah. But I also imagine that it's like 15 idiots that just break into cars on a regular basis. But between 4 and 8 a.m. on Wednesday, March 11th, 11th, officers within Rico County Public Raico County Police Division responded to several calls for for reported vehicle break-ins and vandalism. See the 400 block of International Center Drive, 9,900 block of Mayland Drive, 11,000 block of West Broad Street, 12,000 block of West Broad Street, and the 200 block of the Tower Center West Boulevard. String of larcenies and vandalism may be tied to the same person or persons, police said they thought the investigation is ongoing. So that makes me think, like, well, that's an organized effort for sure. But it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. If you've lived in Richmond long enough, and we might have even talked about this before, vandalism and theft of like vehicles is like uh unfortunately a like a common thing. This is a lot. Like this is yeah, this is up there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I used to live around the corner from here on Greyland, and um I was coming home from work one day, and I saw somebody like open or like check a car door that was locked, and then go to the next car and check that door that was locked, and then go to the car after that and open the door because it was unlocked. And they like climbed in it and like climbed in the backseat and then just started hand overhead throwing stuff like from the back of the trunk, like rifling through, is what like you know, how you would say it. And then they get out of the other side of the car, walk to the car behind it, check the door, walk to the car behind it, check the door. I'm like, okay, this is this is insane. I'm watching a crime. Crime's happening, you're seeing it. So I'll call a 911. Cops show up and they said, give us the description of the guy. It was nighttime. It was like black guy wearing a black t-shirt. Super descriptive. Right. You know, so uh the the guy, the cop did come, but the lady on the phone was like, make sure you go inside so no one gets confused. She's like, All right, go inside. And they call me and say, We didn't find the guy. This happens pretty regularly. Our advice is to just keep your doors locked. And at the time I was living next to a friend of mine, and I told him the next day what had happened. And they had been there for years, and I'd only been there for maybe a few months. And he was like, Yeah, nothing you can do about it. They're usually only looking for change, so just keep your doors locked. Sure enough, anytime that I didn't lock my door, which was rare, but every now and then I would forget, I would get into my car and everything was there, including the valuable stuff that I often left in there, but all the change was gone. So it was homeless people looking for change. Wow. It wasn't anyone trying to steal the cars, or it wasn't anyone trying to steal anything valuable. Interesting. I'm a DJ, occasionally I leave my headphones in there, maybe, you know, some you know, some other valuable things, clothes or what have you. It's all it was always all there. Yeah. They just wanted the change.
SPEAKER_03Well, I guess if you're actually homeless, like, you know, what are you gonna do with a pair of ray bands? Like, that doesn't do anything for you. Exactly. You know?
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_03That's crazy.
SPEAKER_00And yeah, and this 40 cars on one night is like have you ever seen Gone in Sixty Seconds? Yeah, a long time ago. I did see that one. That's what it makes me think of. It's like Nicolas Cage and a ragtag group of like retired car thieves have to like steal 100 cars to save his brother from getting murdered by a British mobster. Yeah. Yeah. So that was all in one, like a 24-hour period. So this says between 4 and 8 a.m. on Wednesday 11th, Wednesday, March 11th, officers responded to several car calls for reported vehicle break-ins. That's impressive.
SPEAKER_03So it must have happened all night all in one night. Henrico, man. Henrico. That's like Richmond.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Henreiko's is is the county. I know.
SPEAKER_03You see their new logo drop? Did you see Hen Reiko's new logo? Whoa. Look at that. Super peaceful. That's fancy. Super swaggy. I like the extra little feather they threw in there.
SPEAKER_00What's the feather for? I don't know. Is it because there's trees in Henreico and not in Richmond?
SPEAKER_03Someone made this one. They said, why nominate this one instead? Because everyone loves Comic Sans font and Dreamcatchers. Comic Sans font. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yes.
SPEAKER_03And I will say that's actually better, I think.
SPEAKER_00It's actually. But like, all right. So the feather on the first one is like, what's the feather for? My first thought was like Native Americans. And then the Comic Sans with the Dreamcatcher is definitely Native American vibe.
SPEAKER_03If it imagine, yeah, if we came full circle, it's like, oh, we removed the Native American from the diamond or whatever. Yeah. Only just to come back, and Hen Rico slaps it on their logo. It's like, come on.
SPEAKER_00It's a nod to the Native Americans.
SPEAKER_03Like you can kick rocks with all that. Yeah. I can feel what was going on in the designer's head. Hmm. It feels a little empty. Screw it. Let's throw a feather in there. Yeah. Somebody commented, bitch love feathers. Oh man. It's crazy. My apologies. My apologies. I'm just reading. Look, I'm just reading comments. Someone said should have used papyrus. You ever seen the Ryan Gossing? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Papyrus. That's what I was thinking about. Because it's like um Avatar, right? The papyrus spot. Yes. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_03Oh my God. Someone says the feather represents the hen in henraiko. I love when the internet takes takes it and runs with it. Oh, dude. So good. Oh man. Yeah. So uh, dude, henraiko, you know, they're on one.
SPEAKER_00I mean, Henriko, I used to live in Henraiko, and I will say it's a county, yeah, but it is it was always kind of a combination of places. And it in a microcosm, it is comparatively a lot like portions of downtown Richmond, right? I always find it fascinating that there is a lot of diversity and there's a lot of mixing of different cultures and different like types of people, type types of communities. But there's also pretty hard in-the-ground lines between those communities from time to time. A really good example is over where I live now is I live on Broad Street, just past Scott's Edition. So past the Belt Lake, the Beltway Highway. And on Broad Street, it's just you know, mostly like car dealerships and a crispy cream. There's not a lot going on. Right. But if you're going towards the river from where I am, I'm on Lafayette and Broad. Two blocks down, pretty chill neighborhood, nice houses, you know, one story ranchers. If you go across Monument, you're in Malvern Gardens and West O Hills. The streets are twice as big and everyone drives a Land Rover. And if you're in Malvern Gardens, you're on River Road at that point, you take a left, you're three block blocks from Carrytown. And it's just if you've ever driven down River Road after leaving Carrytown, you the the neighborhoods could not be more different. And the people that live there cannot be more different. Yeah. But the proximity, it's it doesn't really click. But Richmond is geographically a small place. You have more money in that neighborhood than most of the entire state. And it's the wealthiest part of this part of Richmond. But six blocks away, you got dudes looking through my Jeep Cherokee for 50 cents. And it just kind of blows my mind. And Henraiko is a larger microcrossm of that, right? So there's nice neighborhoods and nice subdivisions and nice school systems in Henraiko that are right next to the ghetto.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. And I mean, yeah, suburbs, there's always part of the suburbs that's going to be low income and and have a lot of the same elements that the city does. I guess with the city, you know, the big difference is that you have faster access because it's a more condensed area. You know, so it's like, yeah, you can kind of get around a little bit easier. And if you If you're really, really low income and you're homeless, like yeah, you you want to be in the city, you know, because you can access whatever you need to in in theory, right? But yeah, man. Henrico's on one. But you know who's on one, dude? We are. We are, yeah. We are. This is a new little Yeah, we threw these up in the back of the studio, and I kind of love the look.
SPEAKER_00It makes us look I mean, I feel like it looks like we're in a we're in like a cool like our podcast, like and I think I've heard this before. I don't know if you've heard this, but from from the way that we we have this the wide shot angle and like the the shots of us, it's kind of hard to tell what the studio really looks like and where it's located. So you know, it is it is in an undisclosed location at the moment, but now it looks like we're like a cool, swanky like retail shop in Southern California.
SPEAKER_03It does look like that, dude. It does. And yeah, so for anybody, you know, if you're watching, obviously you can see what we're referring to. If you're not and you're just listening, we just dropped our first merchandise collection. So yeah, people may have seen it like here and there, kind of discreetly, like whether it's you wearing a T or me wearing a hoodie or vice versa. Um, and it's a small limited run of hoodies and tees, all built around the idea of having something comfortable that you can wear every day. And for us, that's inside and outside of the studio. And like, yeah, it's like our go-to clothing item. I'd wear the hoodie all day at my house.
SPEAKER_00I really, I mean, honestly, I was surprised at how often I wanted to wear the t-shirt more than I wanted to wear pretty much anything else. Yeah. And I have another shirt by the same company that makes the t-shirts that we print on, and it was also my favorite shirt. Yeah. It's just ever so slightly like thicker and a little bit heavier. And the heavyweight articles of clothing make you feel good and they feel structured. I've washed it a few times, it didn't shrink. That is my biggest pet peeve with like designer clothing or from small batch streetwear brands is if you wash it, it ruins the shirt, messes up the print, or it shrinks. None of that happened.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. No, everything has that kind of oversized, trendy, cool, kind of comfortable, heavyweight feel. And it's designed to actually be worn and hold its shape over time, just like you said. Everything is made from 100% organic cotton. This collection is modern, durable, and meant to be worn often. So we did not make these as like cheap little $15 shirts to make money. Like that's not what it's about. We wanted to make something that we wanted to make something for ourselves that we really loved, that we really enjoyed, that represented something that we felt meant a lot to us. And there's a reason that these hoodies don't say Vera House, right? Like we labeled it Vera Creative Club because like we are creatives. We were just talking about this yesterday. Like the, you know, the archetype of a creative person. You know what I mean? So these aren't branded as Vera House. The idea is you don't have to feel like you're repping somebody else's brand, right? We want you to feel like this is kind of a Richmond-based brand. That's what we did it for. And genuinely, we made these for us in a way that the quality was what we wanted and it represented what we wanted. So if you're somebody who's been following what we've been building with VeraHouse, this is just an extension of that. And if you want to support the show, you can check everything out through our Instagram or at Verahouse.co. So in the same vein, we are now known as the City of Darkness. Did you know that? Richmond, the city of Darkness. Yeah. I kind of like it.
SPEAKER_00I mean, it sounds cool, but I'm also guessing that there's some there's some sketch behind it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, I think, you know, earlier we had mentioned that I think it was one of the reporters or journalists that works for RVA Mag that was zipping around in the uh in the go-kart. Yeah. Um, well, they had posted this thing titling, you know, saying Richmond earns City of Darkness Award over FOIA concerns. And so for anybody who doesn't know what FOIA is, it's the Freedom of Information Act. And basically the Freedom of Information Act states that, you know, when you want to request uh public documentation from the government, you can submit a request and they provide you with that information. So let's say something that you're wanting to know, whether it's like, oh, how many people did XYZ or like whatever, uh, the government is required to answer your questions because they are public servants, right? We are the boss, they are our employees. It's kind of how it works. We pay them an insane amount of money, right? So it's the government. Anyway, um, what this says is as Sunshine Week wrapped up, Richmond picked up a distinction that's less celebration and more indictment. The city was named a 2026 recipient of the City of Darkness Award, part of the Foilies, an annual project from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Muck Rock that calls out the worst offenders when it comes to government transparency. These are released each year during Sunshine Week, a national initiative focused on open government. The project is is designed to highlight, often with a bit of dry humor, the agencies and officials that thwart the public's right to know through excessive redactions, delays, or outright obstruction of public record requests. This year, Richmond made the list. And so, yeah, there's a there's a lot of different things that Richmond has done, you know, kind of recently, where they are obstructing things, you know, even going back to the water crisis with the whole EPA thing and how they just completely lied about it. Um, at the center of this, the criticism is the city's newly created FOIA library, a system that on paper looks like a move towards greater public access, but it has actually raised concerns about who controls that access and how much of it the public will actually be able to see. Richmond opted against a plan that would have published all eligible public records released under Vid Virginia's Freedom of Information Act. Instead, the city council backed an alternative proposal from the mayor's office that gives the administration authority to decide which records make it into the library. The same officials who may be the subject of those records are also responsible for determining who sees those records. Yeah. You know, and there's so much stuff. Like Richmond is also in the middle of an ongoing legal battle involving former city FOIA officer Connie Clay, which we've talked about this on the podcast before. She alleged that she was fired for trying to advocate for the city to better comply with the public records law. So when she worked for the city and brought up the point of like, hey, we have all these FOIA requests, like we really need to be fulfilling these, and we're kind of like falling into a gray area. We're not complying, they fired her. So it's like, hmm, wonder what that's about. You have somebody that works for the city trying to do this, you know. Sounds dark.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So they tried to block her from filing her own FOIA request. And then like so she requested it, and then it led to her termination. And then the city attempted to secure a gag order, limiting her ability to speak publicly about the case. The financial cost is already significant. So rather than settling the dispute for 250 grand, the city has spent more than $633,000 in taxpayer funds on legal fees to shut her up. So they could have just paid her $250,000 to settle the case and admitted wrongdoing, but they didn't do that. Now they've paid three times that to try to keep her quiet. So the trial and the roll, the rollout of the FOIA library are expected to play out this summer. So basically, it gets into all this stuff about how government is now using technology and future advancement for safety and protection to really like obfuscate and hide things.
SPEAKER_00What are they hiding?
SPEAKER_03I mean, who knows? You know, who knows, dude? I think there's like $10 million missing from the city budget. So it's like, where'd that go?
SPEAKER_00You know, and if we look at a little bit of change.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You know, and it's like if we look at any other city or anything else, it's like, huh. Well, when there's missing money, you end up finding out that it's going to all this crazy stuff, right? Like in California, there was like $50 billion that went to like all this fraud around like government grants. They're just giving away money to like fraudulent applicants for things. Um, whatever it is, right? Um, you look at the stuff that was going on in Minnesota where you have these fake daycare companies that were receiving tens of millions of dollars in grants for businesses that aren't real. And that's all taxpayer money. So it's like, I'm not saying that that type of stuff is going on in Richmond, but it's like, where'd the money go? Yeah. Where's it at?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03And it's like, and if people are requesting records, like, hey, where's the record of this? Where's the financial statements? And they're like, oh, well, we can't answer that. It's an indicator of like, hmm, what's up with that?
SPEAKER_00You know, I used to be blissfully unaware of all of this. Yeah. Until I met you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I mean, and I wish I could go back, dude. I wish I didn't know any of this shit or even care about it or look into it.
SPEAKER_00Because now it's not that you know, when you learn about it, it's like, oh yeah, I'm educating myself. It's like, well, the more you learn about it, the more it informs the other opinion or the other point of view. Which it doesn't make you feel good to be like super skeptical and distrusting of the people that run the place that you live. It's like, come on, guys. We're we're we're doing this together. We're in we were supposed to do this as a team. Yeah. We're supposed to be on the same side. I like the lake, you like the lake. You want to pay for the water, I want to use the water. It should be very simple, but for some reason, and I would assume you know, I I'm gonna go out on a little tangent here, but corruption is in is human nature. Dishonesty is human nature, aggression and complication is human nature. Despite our best abilities to be noble and forthright and to be righteous, so to speak, to be like, you know, I'm gonna fight the good fight. Even those people have crossroads that they have to come across and make a decision that leads them down a path where they end up doing something nefarious. I don't know. Uh if you you you're not watching the live version of this, I got my hands up in the I don't know, question mark pose, if you will. I don't know, dude. I don't know what the answer is.
SPEAKER_03I don't know either, you know. But I will say it's super interesting when you look at like the average psychological profile of people that are interested in pursuing politics, you know, and they often are psychopaths. Well, they are people I didn't say it, you said it, but you know, but you know, I mean, the and it of course it's not all people. Some people genuinely do it for the love of the game and they want to serve the people and they want to do good and they want to make change. And I think, you know, it's a little bit naive to think that, like, oh, everybody that wants to get into um civil service and being a public servant, working for the government, working for the city or the town, um, everybody's like that because they're not, dude. You know, a lot of people they get off, they get a high from control and power and coming up with legislation and telling people what to do and you know, being the person that everybody reports to. And I and I can't blame them, right? It's like at the end, at the at the core of our being is a deep desire to be recognized, to be listened to, to be heard, to be validated, for people to say, wow, it's an amazing idea. Thank you for doing this for us. And it just so happens that most government bureaucracy kind of lays out a roadmap for you to become that person where, you know, you start at the bottom, and yeah, maybe you work at City Hall and you work your way up and whatever, right? You know, like surely some of these people don't do it for the money. You look at these people, and many of them had very well high-paying careers before going into politics. And I'm not, I'm not gonna name names, but there are people in Richmond who they had a very high-paying career prior, and then they move into government. And it's like, okay, so it's not for money. Then right. So then it's like, what is it? What is it for then? Sorry, so my throat. Yes, yes. And it's, dude, it's for the gold-foiled plates and it's for the ceremonies, and it's for the applause, and it's for, you know, it's for the attention. It's for, and you know, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm totally off base, and maybe I'm painting something the wrong color and I'm and I'm wrong, and I and I've got it pinned incorrectly. Cool, I'll just call the cops. Yeah, exactly. You know, but I do, I I do think that, you know, it's like there's a reason that, you know, there's shows like House of Cards and the other one that you mentioned. Um yes, you know, there's like there's a reason that these shows exist, and it's because, yeah, they're not making up of you know, a fake trope that isn't real. It's like it is real. And yeah, people fight for power, man. And it's like, what's more valuable than money? And it's connections, network, power, control, access, you know, and I've dude, I've said this for literally over a decade. Like, when you're rich, everything is free. So it's like, especially when you're rich, not just monetarily, but through who you know and who knows you and what you have access to and the strings you can pull, the world is yours. You know, the world is yours. And it's like sometimes you got nothing better to do, so you're like, you know what? I think I am gonna pursue that. Yeah. And uh yeah, Vera House for mayor, I guess. Vera House for city council. How about that? Yeah, let's start there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, let's start with our driving school and see how that goes. I'm actually really pumped on this driving school and our potential parallel parking championship.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. I think it'll be, who knows? It might be a bit of a bit of a shit show, you know?
SPEAKER_00That's entirely the point. I think at this point, you know, people that watch the show, people that listen to the show, they kind of know what to expect. Let's throw them a curveball.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Switch it up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You know? Yeah. Keep them on the toes. We'll show up on the next uh the next episode in suit and tie and start going through our proposed bills. Yeah. And also the rules for uh the rules for the parallel parking championship.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01Look hear me out.
SPEAKER_00This could be a really positive event, positive influence for the community, a way for the community to night to unite on a common issue, to share knowledge with each other, and to learn how to treat your neighbor better by not scuffing their bumper when you have to go to the daily.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think we would improve the parking skills in the city by at least 13%. At least, you know? Yes. Yeah, we gotta, you know, we gotta make it competitive. We gotta make it good. We're gonna make it competitive, but we're also gonna make it very entertaining. Definitely, definitely. Pop quiz. What is this random building in Richmond, do you think, if you had to guess?
SPEAKER_01Let me see that. It looks like DMV, but it does. I don't think it is. It's not. Manchester. I don't know. So here are the guests. The guesses. I think it's a fart factory. It's insane.
SPEAKER_03No, it's a vape shop. Someone says the vape shop I've ever seen. With a tattoos with a tattoo studio around the back? Yep. Yes, it's by appointment only, but if you don't have an appointment, you can play the illegal slot machines. It's a vacant office building in a sea of asphalt that should be torn down and replaced with a grocery store and a bunch of homes. Um, Edit, forgot to mention that yes, this was a former fart factory. Per comments below. My bad. It's a four over one boxy apartment. Best offer. No grocery store. Four grocery stores over one apartment, and you got yourself a goddamn deal. Um, so the answer of what it oh, somebody else said, uh, that will be the next Spirit Halloween store. Yes, yes, it will. Someone said, I freelance fart and can confirm I've done work in this building. Just Jesus. Like, dude, it's like people are just so funny, man. Um okay, so what it actually was was a uh a freight factory, I believe. So overnight UPS freight, T Force Freight. It was like a big freight office. Um, T-Force was the last owner. It was a building built in the 1970s by overnight transportation. The company founder sold the trucking company to Unique Union Pacific for over $1 billion in 1986.
SPEAKER_00That's a lot of money now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um the founder, uh Jay Harwood Cochrane, died at 103 years old. And uh he was a billionaire.
SPEAKER_02Dang.
SPEAKER_03From selling uh yeah, from selling the company to Union Pacific in 19, dude, a billion dollars in 1986. That's a lot of cash. Bro, yeah. I just I couldn't help but laugh at this because like some random person just gave this fart factory answer and everybody just ran with it. Yeah. And someone's like, actually, I freelance fart and I can confirm that I worked there. You know what this reminds me of? What? Have you ever heard of Azalea Mall?
SPEAKER_00I don't think so. That's funny. Um, because I used to go there when I was a kid. So on Azalea Avenue in Hinraiko, I guess maybe it's still technically Richmond City, but it's like Chamberlain Avenue and Azalea and Brook Road. There's like a shopping district over there, and there used to be like a shopping center, but it was also an indoor shopping mall in the 80s and in the early 90s. And I was I used to go there when I was a kid. And you could there was a movie theater there, there were all these shops. There is back when like malls were everywhere, and it eventually shut down, closed, they demolished the mall, but they left the empty parking lot. This kind of reminds me of that.
SPEAKER_01That was in 1999.
SPEAKER_00It's still an empty parking lot today. That's crazy. Yes, it's been an empty parking lot as long as I can it's been an empty parking lot longer than it's been a mall.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so over two decades, like two and a half decades.
SPEAKER_00That's crazy. So it just a quick little Google search is the first enclosed shopping mall located at Brook Road and Azalea Avenue, which opened in 1963 and was demolished in 1999. And if you look at the pictures of it, it looks pretty pretty cool, right? Like, look at this.
SPEAKER_01That's not it, but this is what it looked like on the inside. Wow. Like it's like super 80s retro. Big plot and land. Obviously, you know, they don't want you to watch it for or look at it for free.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, like in like the peak, and I remember a lot of these places in Richmond, like the 6th Street Marketplace, which is a was a big shopping district, Broad Street, that area of Broad Street was a big shopping district. So places like this were all over the place. And for the longest time I would drive by and see the empty lot and wonder what's gonna go there. I wonder what's gonna go there. Is it gonna be an apartment? Is it gonna be another shopping center? Is it gonna be another movie theater? Is it gonna be an IKEA? What who knows? And to this day, it's still a mystery. Nobody knows what's going on, nobody knows what's gonna be built there. There haven't been any developments, there haven't been any publicly released statements by developers coming in to buy the land. I don't know if the city owns it, I think they they probably still do. But put it on the list of things that could probably fall under this city of darkness. No one has any idea what's going on with the Sixth Street Marketplace, Navy Hill, the Coliseum, or Azalea Mall. If you do know, please message us.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. I mean, I love the you know, the retro architecture and like that whole vibe, and yeah, it's a bygone era. And it's it's cool to look at, but it's also like kind of a bummer to look at too. Because it's like, yeah, we'll you know, we'll likely never see anything like that again in our lifetime, you know. Uh it is very cool though. You know, when I think of these retro buildings, did you see that the Greyhound bus station on Boulevard was sold? I did. Yeah, so I mean that's been there forever, you know, literally forever. I've taken a Greyhound bus from there only a couple times, but um, you know, that's like a staple of the boulevard. It is, and yeah, it's sold uh to a developer for $15 million.
SPEAKER_00And it's gonna be apartment, apartment buildings, yeah, pretty sure.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Is that the new um like mock-up of it? That's a rendering. Let me see. Yeah, so you know, who knows if that's exactly what it'll look like. But sure enough, apartment buildings. And maybe it's just me, dude, but it kind of irks me when people put all these nice apartments together and none of them have balconies.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. What is the deal with that, dude? They do like the the like the the mini balcony thing where it's like here's your you know, your 600 square foot unit and here's 12 feet of a balcony.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, if that, if that, you know, like in these, you can see where maybe what you would consider like a penthouse is allegedly going to have these big open air balconies, which that looks sick. But um, it just doesn't make sense to me. You know, you go to every other big city and it's like, you know, if you're paying $2,000, $3,000 plus dollars for an apartment, I better have a balcony, dude. Yeah, a nice balcony. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Plenty of space.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It's like Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's insane. Um it's new. Like these apartment buildings, this this design language, this style of apartment, it's all new for Richmond. So the developers are experimenting, but you know just as well as I do that if you're on the fringe, you're less likely to sell it.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Because you're too early. Now that doesn't mean you're wrong. It doesn't mean that people don't like it. It just people might be it's not popular now. And if your goal is to make your money back after you invested $15 million in buying the property and then another 30 million in developing and building the apartment complex, you need to sell, you have to sell the units. And if you have massive balconies on small apartments that look like it should belong in a Disney World, like rodeo or something like that, then yeah, maybe you'll get some eccentric people that are willing to like be the first people to rent as tenants, but everybody else is like, no, I'm just gonna live in Scotts City. Right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah, you know, and it's funny because like the title here it says ISOR, former Greyhound station on Arthur Ash Boulevard, sold to developer for 15 million. And of course, people are like, ISOR? You mean the bus station that many of us used and is now closed down to build unaffordable apartments? It's like exactly what we're talking about, right? And um, yeah, someone said, I saw is a wild choice of wording here. And someone said, Nice, I hope it's another store that sells diamonds and rare gens or bars of gold or really anything that will push undesirables on people that don't look like me and have no Bitcoin.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, the you know, forgiving the grammar, the grammar in you know, his choice of words, that's super accurate. Yeah. Like my apartment building is one of the older buildings, but it's still relatively new. It's like four years old. Yeah. Five years old, I guess, at this point. And among the trends, the first floor of my building has like retail space on it. And there's like a yoga studio, there's an indoor indoor golf studio, there's a gym, there's a hair salon. But to his point, there's a jewelry store at the end of the block that does sell diamonds and gold. And then there's a wedding dress shop. A wedding dress shop. It blow Mike, it blows my mind. The the I don't know what these apartments are going for. Yeah. They're not the most expensive, which is great, like to you know, to my benefit, and I hope I hope they don't listen to this because I don't want them to raise my rent. It's relatively affordable, all things considered. I have a lot of space. The the comp, like the the the building is nice, it's updated, it's renovated, it's always kept clean.
SPEAKER_03And you're still like just right there in Scott's to where it's like still like perfect location.
SPEAKER_00It's perfect. I don't have to deal with Scott's traffic, but I'm not so far that I'm at Willow Lawn. Right. Right. And when I'm coming in and out, I see the people that live there like, who the frick lives here that can afford a $30,000 wedding dress? Right. Or a $250,000 tennis bracelet. I just don't I don't I don't understand. And I look at the guy that like is like, you know, had opened the jewelry shop within the last year, and he's like, you know, putting out his displays and he's got like these nice kind of displays, and the shop looks nice. I'm like, who the F is rolling up to this apartment complex to buy a diamond ring from you?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It doesn't, I mean, yeah, I agree. It doesn't check out to me. And obviously we've hung out plenty and I've I've drove over there and I I mean I never see anybody in these stores, you know. And then of course my brain is like money laundering, you know, immediately like they're laundering money. Must be, must be the case, right? It's like all the mattress stores and whatever, right? Yeah. Who knows what's going on, dude? Who knows? You know, and people may not know this, but like over 90% of all businesses fail within 10 years, you know. And so many times you might be driving down the road looking at a strip mall, and it's like, how does this business survive? And the truthful answer is they don't. Yeah, they don't, you know, sadly. Uh and yeah, sometimes people just gotta learn, you know, but who who knows why? It may be a high-end jewelry store, but they but maybe it's a commercial lease that they can afford. So they just take what they can get and wing it and see what happens. Yeah, who knows?
SPEAKER_00And I get that. And like, you know, the other side of this coin is like the entrepreneurial spirit, right? I was uh I was driving down Boulevard, and I don't remember the name of the complex, but it's the new one right across from River City Tattoo on Boulevard.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And the whole first floor is all retail, but it's all for lease now. There's nothing in there yet. I think there's maybe like a like a restaurant that's gonna open up or whatever. But it does make you think, as business owners, like light bulb, retail space because retail space is hard to come by, and uh especially in Richmond, a lot of them are already occupied or they're like you know, just insanely expensive. And these buildings are like building more. So trying to see it as a glass half full, yes, maybe they don't look as appealing aesthetically as compared to the old skyline. Things change, things evolve, things grow, and that's exactly what's happening. Now, is it happening too fast? Debatable. Is it uncomfortable? Yes, change is always a little uncomfortable. Does the Carmax Park look like a Lego block? Yes, it does. But is it really cool? From what the from the pictures that I've seen, it looks pretty freaking cool.
SPEAKER_03I've heard that people really liked it actually. And I heard that it wasn't super expensive, people were happy with the prices. I've only heard good things so far. So that's nice to hear.
SPEAKER_00So it's it's you know, and I this is as a Richmond error, and I I know that this is a thing that longtime residents of the city don't like change because uh for better or for worse, Richmond is like a little Goldilocks place. It has all the things you want in a big city in a small package, it's relatively affordable and it's it stays like that. It's easy to traverse back and forth. You have everything you want and need at arm's ding, arm's distance or arm's reach. So when things change, it's like don't mess it up. It's it's so good. Yeah. I've been to New York, New York sucks. I've been to California, California sucks. Richmond is cool, man. Don't mess it up. But it's also old and it's really, really outdated. Yeah. And all the things that are happening now have happened to other cities decades ago, and it's now commonplace there for these things to exist. This is just our turn.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Richmond is very cool, and it's probably a good opportunity to tell everybody. Um, anyone who came and joined us and ran the Monument 10K, thanks for being a part of it. That's a great example of like a cool Richmond staple, something that has been around for a long time, that is growing but hasn't really changed. Uh, but our participation in it this year is something that, you know, obviously we've never done before. We weren't around for it last year. Yep. Um obviously we're new, but our goal is to be involved in the community, do fun social stuff. And so throughout April and May, depending on when you're listening to this episode, um, obviously, if you participated in the Monument 10K with us, thank you. We appreciate you. We hope you had a fun time. We hope you got a little bit of a workout. We've also got the soft opening of Pirasana coming up, and we've got Rest Fest on May 9th.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, so we're gonna be at all these fun things. Um, and it's a blast. And so thanks for everybody for your support. If you want to find another way to support us, don't forget we now have this merch here. And uh give you a beautiful merch. Give you a glance at it. And so you can get this straight through our Instagram or also at VeraHouse.co. Look at that quality.
SPEAKER_00It's so crispy. I love it. This podcast was recorded at Vera House Studios in Richmond, Virginia, and produced by Perry Young and Mike Metzger.
