Code Refresh isn’t a threat. The status quo is.

May 25, 2026, Richmond Times-Dispatch

by Amy Wentz and Thomas Okuda Fitzpatrick

Many Richmonders are worried about displacement and gentrification. And they should be. We’ve watched neighbors get pushed out. We’ve watched Richmond cease to be a majority-Black city, a distinction it held from 1970 until 2020.

When people ask whether Code Refresh — the first overhaul of Richmond’s zoning code since 1976 — will make that worse, the question deserves a real answer.

The two of us work on these issues every single day, pursuing environmental justice in Southside and fighting to defend Virginians’ civil rights in housing. Here’s what we know:

The status quo is what’s making housing here worse. Code Refresh is how we change it.