From this post, Coming to Racial Terms with Trickle-Down Urbanism: A personal TOD journey (Part II), on Mariia Zimmerman’s blog:

We fall into the trap of trying to convince the community that transit and TOD are the answer, and then asking them to help us tweak the explanation and buy into the argument. The irony is that improved transit and greater housing choices are most likely what the community wants as well, but it’s the process of engagement, trust and partnership with local residents and business owners where we often fall short.

Read the whole thing, but the above quote is especially pertinent to Richmond. We can do better, and, I believe, we (RVA Rapid Transit, GRTC, the region) are taking steps in the right direction.