Scott’s Addition: A Photo Essay on a Neighborhood Full of Grit & Potential

Next week will mark a year since I moved to Scott’s Addition (and probably about the same amount of time since I last blogged, to be honest). Moving here, into a recently renovated warehouse, was a stark contrast to life in Short Pump, but I couldn’t be happier to have happened upon this neighborhood.

I wasn’t really even considering Scott’s Addition when it came time for the apartment search, mainly because I didn’t know much about it or think there was much in the way of housing. But thanks to my roommate Lizzy and a Craigslist post, we found a cool place in a great up-and-coming neighborhood.

To me, Scott’s Addition is full of grit, brimming with character and ripe for re-development, much of which is already taking place or in the works.

But it doesn’t necessarily exude the same image nearby neighborhoods do–yet. Unlike the nearby Fan area, full of stately, established old homes and tree-lined streets, Scott’s Addition is industrial and scrappy. The buildings themselves, built anywhere between the late 1920s and 1950s (my particular building was constructed in 1944, according to city records), don’t all all have the same inviting character of an old home. What they do have, though, is just as much character.

Just in the past year, I’ve seen dramatic transformations in my neighborhood. Blighted warehouses have been turned into creative apartments, blending old and new (much like mine). and neglected stockrooms have been transformed into thriving breweries (Isley Brewing Co. and Ardent Craft Ales both opened within the past year).

Just up the street from me on Summit Avenue, in fact, a business corridor has come together with the addition of Lamplighter Roasting Company, Health Warrior, Isley Brewing Co., Richmond Bicycle Studio and Studio Center Total Production. There’s even an Urban Farmhouse Market & Cafe on the way, slated to open in September.

Pair these recent additions with hole-in-the-wall gourmet diner duo Lunch and Supper, Fat Dragon Chinese Kitchen and Bar and the ever-enduring Dairy Bar (in business since 1946), and you’ve got a nice little neighborhood vibe going on, not to mention it’s all just a short walk or bike ride away from the amenities and establishments of The Fan.

I took a walk around the neighborhood to document the state of the neighborhood and its progress last weekend. Here are some of the sights, in monochromatic glory.