Becky Johnsen

Betty Joyce Nash

Jessie Romero

English

Research Papers in Economics

UPFRONT
Regional News at a Glance
The Hipp
1914 Theater Comes to Life in Richmond 
In a city that already boasts several downtown 
live-music venues, the Hippodrome stands apart. 
“The Hipp” is located in a National Historic Landmark.
Jackson Ward has been a predominantly black commu-
nity since the early 20th century, and became nationally
recognized for its economic and cultural vibrance. In
particular, 2nd Street boasted a number of theaters,
earning the community the nickname “Harlem of the
South.” 
In 1914, the Hippodrome Theater opened to the
community, presenting both vaudeville acts and films.
The theater was part of the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a group of
venues in the eastern and southern United States where
black entertainers could perform when racial segrega-
tion was prevalent. After its heyday in the 1930s and
1940s, the Hippodrome showcased popular acts such as
Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Ethel Waters, and James
Brown. 
In 1945, the building caught fire, and it was rebuilt as
a movie theater. In 1970, the Hippodrome became a
church, and was rarely used after 1982. The historic
venue was not completely forgotten, however. 
Richmond developer Ronald Stallings inherited the
property from his father. His dream has been to reopen
the Hipp as an elegant nightclub, a venue for rhythm
and blues, jazz, and soul artists. Stallings is the president
of Walker Row Partnership, which has renovated or
redeveloped dozens of properties in Jackson Ward. Its
mission  is to provide Jackson Ward with places to “work,
shop, live, and play,” all in keeping with “New Urbanism,”
an urban design movement that promotes walkable
mixed-use communities. 
After years of planning, Stallings secured financing
for the ambitious project in October 2009. Construc-
tion took a year and was completed in February. The
complex includes a theater, two restaurants, retail
space, and 29 apartments. The project cost about $12
million, with $8 million of that going toward the theater
renovation. The project received $600,000 from the
city and federal funds.
In early February, Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones
delivered his second State of the City address in the
newly transformed theater. For Jones, whose address
promoted “creating healthy and sustainable communi-
ties,” it was an ideal setting.                      —BECKY J OHNSEN
The Hippodrome Theater will open this spring in Jackson Ward, a historic neighborhood in
Richmond. The event caps a decade’s worth of planning and investment and construction.
E
veryone loves a snow day, except the people paying
for the cleanup: taxpayers. Through the end of
February, North Carolina had spent $55 million clearing
snow and ice from state roads. The annual budget for
snow removal is $30 million, more than enough in a typ-
ical year. But when big storms hit, as they have the last
two winters, the state has to pull money from projects
such as pothole repair or tree trimming, according 
to Julia Merchant, spokesperson for the state’s
Department of Transportation. Those choices are
tough, especially when money is already tight. The
South Carolina Legislature passed a special bill this year
that exempts school districts from making up all of the
snow days; the districts can’t afford them. 
2 Region Focus | First Quarter | 2011 
The Hippodrome’s new marquee brightens 2nd Street on the
evening of Mayor Jones’ State of the City address.
P
H
O
T
O
G
R
A
P
H
Y
:
 
C
O
U
R
T
E
S
Y
 
O
F
 
A
M
Y
 
A
N
D
 
R
O
N
 
S
T
A
L
L
I
N
G
S
 
Snow Job
Winter Can Cost, but Also Benefit
 Urban Growth
D.C. Population Reverses 60-Year Decline
Region Focus | First Quarter | 2011  3
States pay for snowplows, salt for the roads, and
overtime pay for the plow drivers. Virginia stocked
up on 48,000 tons of sand and 281,000 tons of salt
this winter. But the budgets don’t come close to the
total cost of a major storm.
The economic impact of a one-day shutdown
includes lost wages, slow retail sales, and less tax
revenue. The total can be in the hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars, according to a study of 16 states by
IHS Global Insight for the American Highway
Users Alliance. In Maryland and Virginia, IHS esti-
mates the impact at $183.5 million and $260 million,
respectively. The federal government loses $71 mil-
lion per day when it closes, as it did for an
unprecedented four straight days during last year’s
“snow-pocalypse.” And those estimates don’t
include property damage, crop loss, car crashes,
repairing power lines, or flight delays, all of which
add billions to the cost of winter storms. 
When government offices are closed, people
can’t file for unemployment benefits. Amajor storm
that hit Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and
South Carolina in January contributed to the
biggest drop in unemployment filings in nearly one
year, but when offices reopened the following week
claims increased by 51,000. Bad weather may not
affect the unemployment rate, since workers who
were paid during any part of the survey period are
counted as employed. But it does affect the number
of hours people work, particularly in the construc-
tion industry. 
Not everyone loses money when it snows.
“When weather is in the news, it is very good for
business,” says Scott Bernhardt, Chief Operating
Office of Planalytics, a company that models 
the economic impact of weather for retailers, 
manufacturers, and utilities, among others.
Snowplow manufacturers and salt suppliers do well
during a snowy winter, but some retail stores also
benefit. “People grocery shop like crazy. People
order pizzas. Convenience stores sell out of just
about everything,” Bernhardt says. Still, most of the
lost sales due to a storm don’t get made up, particu-
larly in regions where snow is uncommon,
according to Bernhardt: “When snow falls in the
South, it’s a net loss.”  —JESSIE R OMERO
I
n the 20th century, New Deal policies and
World War II added to the federal payroll and
propelled the District of Columbia’s population
to its peak of 802,000 people in 1950. After that,
D.C.’s population declined for decades — until the
most recent census, when D.C. grew by nearly
30,000 people, or roughly 5 percent.
“The overall numbers have a story to tell us
about exactly how much the population has
increased and how rapidly,” says Harriet Tregoning,
the director of the D.C. Office of Planning. “We
haven’t seen growth like this since World War II
and this hasn’t been a time of remarkable mobility.”
The population in 2010 reached 601,723. Fully
12,000 of those people came in the past two years,
10,000 in 2009 alone. Though the data explaining
the growth have yet to be published, the rebound
likely reflects multiple factors: government growth
following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as
well as a general trend of young people and empty
nesters moving into cities. From 2007 through
2009, some 4,685 people aged 25 to 34 moved into
Washington along with 5,798 people aged 60 to 64,
according to American Community Survey (ACS)
data released late last year. 
“This follows the anecdotal information we’re
getting,” Tregoning says. “There are particular areas
where we’re getting growth, particularly Capital
A snowplow clears the Cherohala Skyway 
in western North Carolina.
P
H
O
T
O
G
R
A
P
H
Y
:
 
N
O
R
T
H
 
C
A
R
O
L
I
N
A
 
D
E
P
A
R
T
M
E
N
T
 
O
F
 
T
R
A
N
S
P
O
R
T
A
T
I
O
N4 Region Focus | First Quarter | 2011 
W
hen times are tough, business owners need to get
creative. At least three programs in the Fifth
District boost problem-solving abilities through art-based
activities: the Innovation Institute in Charlotte and Fun
Days and Creative Meetings in Richmond.
At Art Works Studios and Galleries in Richmond, 
Fun Days classes serve to reinvigorate organizations. 
Co-owner Glenda Kotchish says the sessions provide a
creative environment where teams can interact. Kotchish,
a former computer system consultant and lifelong artist,
understands the power of the combined analytical 
and creative sides of the brain. The Fun Days host small
groups, tailored to each organization; past programs
include crafting album covers while listening to music,
painting a group mural, and assembling handmade books. 
The Visual Arts Center of Richmond offers Creative
Meetings. According to director of education Aimee
Joyaux, the program was created in response to recent
buzz about creativity in the office. “Richmond has a thriv-
ing art community and a thriving business community, but
there has not been a lot of overlap between the two,” she
says. A former student is Jana McQuaid, director of grad-
uate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University’s
School of Business. McQuaid participated alongside
members of groups from both nonprofit and for-profit
sectors, and she says the class encouraged her to reorgan-
ize her professional life to encourage creative thinking. 
“Our team was working on a new procedure for pro-
cessing applications,” says McQuaid. “Previously I might
have created a draft template and asked for everyone to
submit individual written comments. Instead, this time
we all met as a group with a large board and Post-It notes.
We posted everyone’s ideas and we were able to really 
feed off of one another’s comments, coming up with a
Riverfront and Columbia Heights.” The riverfront neigh-
borhood is in the southeast on the Anacostia River, south
of Capitol Hill, and Columbia Heights lies in the north-
west quadrant of the city. Across from the Columbia
Heights Metro station, Target and Best Buy anchor a retail
complex. Transportation and vibrant neighborhoods are
what Tregoning calls the “pull” factors, elements that now
attract residents. “We have so many neighborhoods that
are now interesting to people and good transit; they’re
increasingly served by neighborhood retail,” she says. 
The city’s demographic composition has changed as
well. ACS data indicate that the white population was esti-
mated at nearly 39 percent in 2009, up from 34.5 percent in
2006, while the black population fell from 55 percent to 53.2
percent during the same period. (In 1980, black residents
comprised roughly 70 percent of the city’s population.) 
The Hispanic population remained about the same — 
rising from 8.2 percent in 2006 to 8.8 percent in 2009.
D.C. also grew the natural way — more births. Births
have increased annually from about 7,600 in 2000 to more
than 9,000 in 2009, with a natural increase (births minus
deaths) of about 27,000 since 2000. D.C. also attracted
more than 24,000 new residents from outside the United
States since 2000. Possibly because of the city’s continued
job growth, it also attracted domestic migration. Between
2008 and 2009, about 4,450 more people moved to the
area from other states than moved away, according to the
D.C. Planning Department.
The job mix in D.C. remains almost one-third federal
— 29 percent of its 728,300 jobs — and that may have
attracted people to the area. The private sector comprises
two-thirds of jobs, and D.C. government and transporta-
tion-related jobs make up the rest.
While the District of Columbia’s population has
increased, the U.S. population as a whole grew more 
slowly than during any decade since the Depression, 9.7
percent. The recession slowed immigration and birth
rates, demographers say, and that may continue for the
short term. —BETTY J OYCE N ASH
D.C. Population Rebound
T
H
O
U
S
A
N
D
S
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau
900
800
600
400
200
0
100
300
500
700
1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Art in the Office 
Businesses Learn Creativity 
 process that is much better than submitting feedback in
isolation.”
The Innovation Institute in Charlotte puts executives
from multiple industries under the instruction of painters,
sculptors, photographers, or printmakers. Barbara
Spradling, the Institute’s Director and a retired bank exec-
utive, says that artists take risks. That means they fail,
sometimes regularly, while corporations traditionally do
not support failure. Consequently, artists have much to
offer the business world, and in turn the business world
pays artists to host creative classes, making this a “very
symbiotic relationship.” 
Spradling reports that the recession increased enroll-
ment in these courses as many business leaders increasing-
ly encourage innovation. Art Works and the Visual Arts
Center indicate similar success. Each has attracted well-
known clients: Members of the Virginia Senate have had
their own “Fun Days;” Creative Meeting has hosted
Capitol One and Wells Fargo; and the Innovation Institute
sent representatives to California to teach classes to
Motorola employees. 
The term “starving artist” was coined for those who
depend upon their creativity as a livelihood. As more com-
panies enlist artists to help stimulate innovation, creativity
could become more lucrative.  —BECKY J OHNSEN
A
resolution to study the possibility of an alternative currency for Virginia
may have stalled out, but it’s an idea that’s also being introduced in
other state legislatures. 
Virginia delegate Robert Marshall, a Republican who represents parts 
of Prince William and Loudoun counties, recommended to the General
Assembly that the Commonwealth adopt its own currency of gold and 
silver. The resolution went to a subcommittee, which voted to take no
action, meaning that it will not come before the full legislature for a vote. 
In his resolution, Marshall argued that the Federal Reserve’s monetary
policies could lead to economic instability, including runaway prices. But
it’s unlikely that the United States would face the kind of drastic hyperin-
flation that would imperil the U.S. economy, says Randall Parker, an
economist at East Carolina University whose work has specialized in the
causes and consequences of the Great Depression. “I don’t think that
hyperinflation on the order of magnitude that would cease to have the
dollar as a functioning medium of exchange is very likely at all.” For that to
happen, Parker says, inflation would have to reach Zimbabwe- or Serbia-
like levels. Inflation hit 500 billion percent before Zimbabwe abandoned
its currency. The Federal Reserve and professional forecasting groups proj-
ect inflation in the United States between 1 percent and 2 percent for the
next several years.
Marshall joins legislators in about nine other states who have made
similar proposals. Bobby Franklin in Georgia introduced an act that would
require the use of pre-1965 silver coins and silver and gold “American Eagle”
coins to pay all debts to and for the state. John Dougall in Utah says he will
propose allowing residents to mint gold and silver coins in their homes that
would be accepted as part of his proposed new currency. 
The last time states issued their own currencies was during the Civil
War, when Virginia and other Confederate states, including North and South
Carolina, needed to fund wartime operations. Several Indian Territory
nations, allied with the South, also had their own currencies. The
Confederacy printed money to pay for the war because they were cut off
from foreign trading partners and bullion deposits in the North. They had
no gold or silver. By the midpoint of the war, Southern currency was a mix
of state-issued notes, Confederate notes, and private bank issues (not to
mention a healthy supply of counterfeits) — all of which were worthless
when the war ended. But today, a Civil War-era 100-dollar Virginia note can
be worth as much as $5,000 to collectors. 
Collectors may be interested in another of Marshall’s proposals. His bill
authorizing the State Treasurer to mint gold, silver, and platinum commem-
orative coins passed both chambers and is on its way to the governor. 
—JESSIE R OMERO
Region Focus | First Quarter | 2011  5
Coins for the Commonwealth
Alternative Currency Proposal Fails
P
H
O
T
O
G
R
A
P
H
Y
:
 
F
R
I
E
N
D
S
 
O
F
 
B
L
U
E
M
O
N
T
 
(
V
A
.
)
,
 
C
O
U
R
T
E
S
Y
 
O
F
 
J
U
D
Y
 
A
N
D
 
B
U
D
 
A
N
D
E
R
S
O
N
These one- and 10-dollar notes were issued in 1862. Virginia
issued a total of $5.3 million in currency during the Civil W ar. 

Upfront: Regional news at a glance

http://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/region_focus/2011/q1/pdf/upfront.pdf

Upfront: Regional news at a glance

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Research Papers in Economics