Richmond Brainstorm

Many cities offer a regularly scheduled walking tour of their historic landmarks and other curious locations.  Richmond has many interesting destinations and historic structures located within a few miles of each other in and around the center city.  We could easily create a tour that showcases the past and present life of the town while also offering something unique for tourists (and residents) to do.   

Guides could be local history buffs, student interns, or other local residents who can tell a compelling story about our city.  Local experts at the Library and beyond could collaborate to put together a script.  The Starr-Gennett Foundation has already produced one kind of music-themed history tour on CD, so we could draw on that material as well.

Most tours like this have some small fee associated with them, and so it could be part of a business model in a for-profit venture, or to help recover expenses if it's sponsored by the City, Tourism, etc.  Variations could include having a tour done on rented bicycles, or even on rented Segway personal transporters.  

It would be important to advertise this tour to local hotels and B&Bs, and to make sure that it happens consistently during the tourist season (e.g. every Saturday at 9 AM, starting at the City Building) so that visitors can easily join in.