Development

For CyberTran movement in the right direction, albeit not yet high-speed

It may take a lot of baby steps before public transit technology can take a huge leap forward. CyberTran International, the Richmond-based “ultra-light rail” start-up that secured a public-private partnership with the city back in September,  landed its  second public-private partnership this week. I-Gate, a state sponsponed business incubator, invited the “ultra-light rail” company to join their network of green transportation and clean-energy technologies. Together larger facilities like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC Berkeley can provide “young entrepreneurial green…

Mayor shares Richmond’s year in review, year ahead

The mayor and many of the 50 or so residents who filled the Whittlesey Community Room Friday night said it countless different ways, but it all boiled down to the same thing: 2011 was a great year in Richmond. “I can’t think of a place I’d rather live right now,” said longtime resident Mike Peritz. The year behind and the year ahead were the topics during the open gathering held by Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and touted as a state-of-the-city report…

Sixth Street residents receive renovation makeover

Guadalupe Corral likes to keep a tidy house. But this past Monday the main rooms in her home of two and a half years were in complete disarray— dishes were stacked on the table instead of in the cupboards, a large aqua ladder blocked off half of her beige couch set and tools were scattered in the bathroom around a medium sized hole meant for a sink. But Corral couldn’t be happier because she knows the chaos is temporary. Once…

Richmond program installing solar panels with help of local labor

When Juan Lores delivered pizzas in the late 1980s, the area around Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street was so dangerous his manager wouldn’t let his drivers deliver there after dark. A lot has changed in the last 20 years. Lores in 2009 moved his family into the neighborhood he used to steer clear of. And on a sunny Thursday this week, he looked on as shiny new solar panels were installed on his home’s roof – at no cost to…

Talks break down, Richmond North Shoreline plan in limbo

Four hours of debate Tuesday night brought elected leaders no closer to resolving a decade-long dispute over the future of the city’s North Shoreline. The Richmond City Council deadlocked on three separate development guidelines, finally agreeing only to return the measure to the Planning Commission to craft a fresh approach. The north shoreline is a mix of a parkland, open beach, dormant industrial land and marsh. Owners there have offered several ideas for what they may develop there, including a…

City officials celebrate friendship, new trade possibilities, with Asian sister cities

City officials ground green tea and talked trade with Richmond’s sister cities of Shimada, Japan, and Zhoushan, China, during a December trip to celebrate a history of friendship and new trade opportunities. Port of Richmond executive director James Matzorkis led the business-related trip to Zhoushan, a city in the northeastern Zhejiang province of Eastern China; the two ports are planning out the future trade of automobiles, as well as dry and liquid bulk products. Accompanying Matzorkis were City Manager Bill…

Richmond 2011: The year in review

2011 was quite a year, to borrow a favorite phrase from longtime resident Sims Thompson, in “our fair city.” I know that’s vague, but it’s tough to turn a pithy phrase that sums up a year in a vibrant, bustling and changing city. We had tragedy and triumph, tumult and harmony. Alliances and rivalries. Echoes of the past and glimmers from the future.