Downtown Richmond, Virginia

The Fan district borders it to the west, Highland Park to the north, Church Hill to the east, and Manchester to the south.

The James Monroe Building and Truist Place tower over 449 ft, and 400 ft, respectively, making them Richmond's tallest buildings, and the state's second and third tallest in the behind the Westin Virginia Beach Town Center at 508 ft. Other towering skyscrapers include the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Bank of America Plaza, the James Center, Richmond City Hall, the Riverfront Plaza twin towers, the James Madison Building, Dominion Energy headquarters building, Main Street Centre, the Central National Bank, and VCU Medical Center (which includes several hospitals, most over 200 feet, and the new School of Medicine under construction will be 12 storeys).

When the Civil War came, though, Richmond became much of a military town, serving as the capital of the newly formed Confederate States of America.

As the war came to an end, the South, in a last resort, deliberately set fire to Richmond, so that when the Union troops arrived, the entire city was ablaze.

Developers were quick to take advantage of the generous re-development loans especially since there was a ready-made market in the form of students requiring cheap housing.

Canal Walk is under consideration for development both on the residential and service sector sides, however it is not clear whether there is real consumer appetite for additional restaurants, bars and coffee shops in Richmond.

Residential conversion of the historic John Marshall hotel is also aimed to provide inner-city living space for an optimistic planning target for residency.

Further housing and redevelopment is a theme favored by Mayor Dwight C. Jones, citing plans for large apartment and condominium towers on the Canal Walk and hoping that it will attract tourists to Richmond.

However although much has been done in Richmond towards establishing a true urban core there are still concerns among both civic and private institutions that the city will risk crime and dilapidation in the Downtown areas unless investment is forthcoming.